Ancient Greece

Lesson 1: Introduction

Time Out

Hopefully, you will be able by now to see what I meant when I started off this lesson by stressing the point that Ancient History is very different from Modern History.

For example, we can quite safely make the assertion that "Abraham Lincoln was an American". There is sufficient evidence on which we can base such a claim.

We cannot on the other hand make the assertion "Herodotus was a Greek" with the same kind of confidence. He might have been a Greek, on the other hand he may have been a Lydian or a Carian who had learned how to speak, read and write excellent Greek. We simply do not know for certain.

There are very few 'certain facts' in Ancient History. Often, all we have are hypotheses and reconstructions, any of which can be overturned by the latest archeological evidence that turns up.

Please bear these points in mind as you study the rest of this course. Many of the statements made as the course progresses will be 'uncertain facts' that are disputed by some scholars and accepted by others.

Like all ancient historians, I will often be giving you my own point of view on a given topic.

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