How to Write History

work by Lucian

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Last updated

June 29, 2026

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Lucian's How to Write History is a treatise that outlines the principles of ideal historical writing. He emphasizes the importance of impartiality, detachment, and a rigorous commitment to truth for historians. Lucian also discusses the ideal historical style and humorously critiques contemporary historians who merely imitate past styles without genuine insight. He contrasts this with the shallow practices of some rhetoricians, advocating for genuine eloquence and substance over mere showmanship.1

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Lucian
…literary criticism is his treatise How to Write History. In this work he stresses the impartiality, detachment, and rigorous devotion to truth that characterize the ideal historian. He also comments on the ideal historical style and provides amusing descriptions of contemporary historians who imitate Thucydides by introducing plagues and funeral…
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…literary criticism is his treatise How to Write History. In this work he stresses the impartiality, detachment, and rigorous devotion to truth that characterize the ideal historian. He also comments on the ideal historical style and provides amusing descriptions of contemporary historians who imitate Thucydides by introducing plagues and funeral…
Read More