The Historians' History of the World 04

d Flavius Josephus, op. cit.

e Diodorus Siculus, op. cit.

f Appian, Roman History.

g Justin, op. cit.

h Arrian, op. cit.

Chapter LXVI. The Kingdom of the Ptolemies

b J. G. Droysen, op. cit.

c S. Sharpe, History of Egypt.

d G. Smith, The Gentile Nations.—Pausanias, op. cit.—Diodorus Siculus, op. cit.—Josephus, op. cit.—Arrian, op. cit.—Plutarch, op. cit.—Justin, op. cit.—Eutropius, Epitome of Roman History.

Chapter LXVII. Sicilian Affairs

b L. Ménard, op. cit.—Diodorus Siculus, op. cit.—Strabo, op. cit.—Plutarch, op. cit.—Edward A. Freeman, article on “Sicily,” in the Ninth Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.—Adolf Holm, Geschichte Siciliens im Alterthum.

A GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY OF GRECIAN HISTORY

A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE SOURCES

In a previous part of this work reference has been made to the large number of historians of Greece and to the fragmentary condition in which their works have come down to us. Attention has also been called to the comparatively small aid which the historian of Greece receives from epigraphical inscriptions. There are, to be sure, various inscriptions that give an incidental aid; as, for example, the famous inscription on the leg of the statue of Ramses II at Abu-Simbel; an Athenian inscription referring to the work on the Erechtheum; inscriptions from the walls of the temples at Ephesus, at Priene, and the like. All of these, however, give but incidental glimpses; taken together they would make but a most meagre and fragmentary historical record. There is, however, one inscription extant of far greater importance. This is the so-called Parian marble or Parian chronicle, which was found originally at Paros, was brought to England in 1627 at the instance of the earl of Arundel, and was subsequently presented to the University of Oxford, where it forms part of the collection of Arundel marbles.

This inscription originally comprised an epitome of the chief events in Grecian history (with various notable omissions) from the alleged reign of Cecrops, 1318 B.C., to the archonship of Diognetus, 264 B.C. At present, however, the last part of the record is lost, so that the extant portion comes only to the time of Diotimus, 354 B.C. Various parts of the inscription are more or less illegible, and there are, as just noted, numerous very noteworthy omissions, particularly as regards political events. Moreover, the entire record, as pointed out by Clinton,[52] is everywhere one year out of the way. Nevertheless, as a guide to the sequence of events in Grecian history and as a check on the other sources, the Parian chronicle is of the very greatest importance. It is not known just when or by whom this inscription was made, but it is apparently based on earlier sources that are in the main fairly reliable.

As the entire inscription of the Parian chronicle is contained on a slab of marble only about three and a half feet in length, it is obvious that its record must be of the most epitomised character; in short, a mere sequence of names. For a fuller record of the events of Grecian history we must turn to the usual sources, the manuscripts of the historians proper. Non-historical writings are not to be altogether ignored, to be sure. In many cases they furnish us important aids in filling in gaps or in supplying details. In particular the dramatists and the orators furnish important historical data; among the former, Æschylus, Euripides, Aristophanes; among the orators, Isæus, Isocrates, Æschines, and Demosthenes. The works of Plato and Aristotle and, to a less extent, of other philosophers are also to be looked to here and there. But all of these, let it be repeated, are of meagre importance compared with the records of the historians proper.