Monumental Absences in Ancient Historiography

Abstract

Abstract This article demonstrates that ancient historians did not simply draw upon inscriptions and statues as sources, but also subverted the original messages of these artefacts by placing their own spin on events. These readings ‘against the grain’ take place both where the historical monument exists and has been seen by the historian, as in Thucydides’ digression on the Peisistratids’ inscriptions and decrees, and where the monument is either inaccessible or nonexistent (e. g. Livy’s discussion of the 493 BC Latin treaty and Tacitus’ analysis of the senate-decrees issued for Germanicus’ funeral). By reinterpreting monuments, historians enable sources to transcend their semiotic function and elevate them into commemorative objects. However, this process of reframing and negotiation does not only occur to individual monuments; as this chapter demonstrates, Classical historiography also includes more general commentary on the usefulness of material sources as transmitters of the past.