The ancient Greek historians (Harvard lectures) by J. B. Bury.

216 ANCIENT GREEK HISTORIANS LECT.

coloured his account of Achaean politics, and he is
distinctly unjust to the Aetolians. The danger of
such partiality did not escape him. "A good
man," he says, "should be fond of his friends and
of his country, he must share in the hates and
affections of his friends. But when he undertakes
to write history, he must forget these attachments,
he must often bestow the highest praises on
enemies when facts require it, and, on the other
hand, censure severely his most intimate friends
when their errors demand such censure."' Elsewhere,2 in censuring two Rhodian historians (Zeno
and Antisthenes) for twisting facts to the credit of
their country, he discusses the question whether a
historian should allow himself to be influenced by
patriotic feelings. "Admitting," he says, "that
historians should lean to their countries, I deny
that they should make assertions inconsistent with
facts. We writers must unavoidably fall into
many errors through ignorance, but if we write
what is false, for our country's sake or to please
our friends or to win favour, and measure truth by
utility, we shall discredit the authority of our
works and be no better than politicians." The
indefeasible claim of historical truth cannot be
more explicitly expressed or emphatically enforced;
and the significance of these passages lies in the
challenge which was thrown down to the prevailing practice of the rhetorical school of history.
But Polybius has not absolutely adhered himself

' i. 14. 4.

- xvi. 14.