From Webster's dictionary, we get the above definition of historiography.  Although useful for certain purposes, it does not give us a true representation of what this web site is all about.  This web site is an exploration of numerous primary and secondary sources from the Hellenistic Age, accumulated, studied, and analyzed by the members of a Syracuse University History class.  For our purposes, historiography is essentially the study of primary sources for a particular time period, the analysis of them, and from this analysis, ascertaining something about the history of that time period.  This history class and web site are not just about learning the facts about a particular historical age, it is about taking what information we have from that age and applying it in order to explain the history ourselves - instead of just memorizing it.

            In the above paragraph there is a link to a short essay explaining what exactly the Hellenistic Age is.  Upon reading that, one will discover that the Hellenistic Age was quite a long time ago - over 2,000 years ago.  It would thus seem unlikely that we would have a great many sources to study, in order to do this "historiography" that we keep telling you about.  Yet the truth is quite the contrary.  The modern historian is fortunate to have numerous primary sources with which to study the Hellenistic period.  These include art (mostly sculpture), architecture, inscriptions (often decrees and public statements which were inscribed onto stone, and are thus still around), coinage, literary works (often oral tradition, first written down in the Hellenistic period, as well as histories, poetry, and scientific writings which were first made during that time period), and in some cases, papyrus writings (from Egypt, where the climate and sand made it possible for the papyrus to last throughout the centuries).  In this essay, I will explain each of these sources, and how we are able to use them to explain the history of the Hellenistic period.

            The art of the Hellenistic Age is one of the modern historian's best ways of understanding the culture, intelligence, and sociology of the people who lived during that time.  Although the majority of artwork, such as paintings, is no longer in existence, we do have numerous sculptures that we are able to study.  As a matter of fact, the sculptures which were actually created in the Hellenistic Age were typically made of bronze and were melted down by later civilizations for use for weapons in wars.  What we do have, however, are copies of the Hellenistic artworks, made by the Romans out of marble.  These sculptures have lasted much longer than the originals.  From the sculptures we can learn what the people of the Hellenistic period were interested in.  What they sculpted shows how the Hellenistic peoples had advanced since the Classical period.  One example of this is in the sculptures honoring the victories of King Attalos I, at Pergamon.  Many of these sculptures depict Gauls - the enemies of the Attalids.  Yet, these sculptures do not show the Attalids defeating the Gauls mercilessly, or the Gauls as horrific barbarians.  Rather, the Gauls were depicted as real human beings with emotions, feelings, and talents.  The Attalids of the Hellenistic period were obviously interested in more than just militaristic ideals.  They were intrigued by humanity, and by the human qualities exhibited by even their worst enemies.  For more on the Gauls, read Adam Goodman's essay on barbarians.

            During the Hellenistic Age, the artists became much more interested in individuals.  There is sculpture from the Hellenistic Age, which no longer shows just Zeus, Athena, Aphrodite, or Herakles.  These new sculptures depicted real people of the community.  From this, we can ascertain that the Hellenistic peoples were becoming less interested in higher beings, and were more in tune with society and other "real" people.  Perhaps this is a sign that idolatry of the gods was decreasing.  Or maybe it is a sign of increased intelligence of the Hellenistic civilizations - that they were now more interested in what real people thought, said, did, instead of the immortal gods.  In other words, they had a greater respect and interest in the mortal people on earth, than in the gods on Mount Olympus.  This increase in artistic representation of "normal" people is not to say that there were no longer any representations of gods, but rather that they were not the main focus of all art anymore.  For more information on art in the Hellenistic Age, please read Scott Eggiman's essay on Athletics in Art.

            Art is only one of the ways to explore history.  Another extremely important primary source which we have to help explain the Hellenistic Age is coinage.  Coinage is the minting of coins, which were used in trade and in the cities.  Each of the kingdoms of the Hellenistic Age had its own coinage.  Although they may at first seem relatively useless, a closer look will tell the historian a great deal about a particular group of people.  The coins of the Hellenistic Age can tell us certain things about the different kingdoms.  Many of the coins had pictures of previous rulers on them.  The way these rulers were depicted shows them as almost god-like - they are shown with the likeness of Zeus, Herakles, and even Alexander the Great - a man who was revered like a god.  The coinage shows that the rulers were revered as gods or as almost-gods.  By assimilating themselves with former rulers or heroes who were thought of as gods, the rulers were showing that they, too, were god-like.  The above link shows a representation of Alexander and Ptolemy I on coins, and the similarities are remarkable.

        The coins also show that the rulers wanted to make themselves known throughout their kingdoms.  By placing their own images on coins, they are proving their power and importance in the kingdom.  Because many of the kings of the Hellenistic Age were in foreign lands, the coins also show that the kings placed their images on them in order to show the natives - the people they had conquered - who was in charge.  The coins also show that the Hellenistic rulers were very interested in their past and their own history.  They wanted to create a lineage to Alexander the Great.  Because Alexander had his image on coins, they followed suit, and thus aligned themselves with the great ruler Alexander.

            Another means of historiographical research is inscriptions.  These are very helpful to a historian, because they explain the goings on of government and politics in the Hellenistic Age.  Inscriptions are decrees and public announcements, carved into stone, that were placed in public areas in cities so that everyone could read them.  They discuss governmental and religious matters, things which were important to all citizens of the kingdoms, not just the higher classes.  Because they were placed in public places, they let us know that the people of the Hellenistic Age were literate - the public was able to read.  They show, therefore, that these people were intelligent, and interested in learning and reading.  They also show that the governments wanted to allow the citizens to be notified about what was going on.  These inscriptions can be used to explain how government and religion worked in the Hellenistic Age.  One of the most important inscriptions is known as the Rosetta Stone.  The Rosetta Stone was inscribed in three languages - Greek, demotic Egyptian, and hieroglyphics.  This helped historians decipher the Egyptian hieroglyphs, which has consequently allowed us to learn more about the Egyptians as a people.  This also proves that the Hellenistic cultures were a mix of different races, people, languages, and traditions.  An excerpt from the Rosetta Stone is as follows:

            This excerpt shows us that the inscriptions of the Hellenistic Age were indeed used for decrees for both political (references to Ptolemy the king), as well as religious (Ptolemy is being worshipped as a god) reasons.  They also prove to us that there was an intermingling of cultures.  Ptah is an Egyptian god, yet the Rosetta Stone likens him with Ptolemy, the Greek king.  The Egyptian and Greek cultures were meshing, as they were beginning to combine their respective deities.  This continued throughout the Hellenistic Age.  

        Another means of learning about daily life in the Hellenistic Age is papyrus scrolls.  Although not exactly inscriptions, they often were about the same types of things.  Papyrus is like a type of paper used in Egypt.  Documents and decrees were sometimes written on papyrus, just like inscriptions.  But often they were also used for correspondence and more everyday uses than inscriptions, and in many cases provide us with the only evidence about common people. Unfortunately, the only papyri that are still available to the historian today are from Egypt, as it is the only location where the climate preserved the scrolls.  It can be assumed that other kingdoms had written decrees and announcements on something like papyrus, but these are no longer in existence.

            Literature is another important means of understanding the Hellenistic Age.  Before the Hellenistic period, literature was mostly passed down through oral tradition.  By the Hellenistic period, however, people were writing the stories down.  This shows us that more people were becoming literate, and no longer needed to rely on oral retellings of stories - they were able to read them on their own.  Along with the old stories (such as those by Homer), new retellings of old ones were being written, such as The Argonautica by Apollonius, which tells the mythological story of Jason and the Argonauts.  Through the literature, we are able to learn more about the culture of the Hellenistic peoples.  For example, The Argonautica is very focused on lineage and the sources of certain people and places.  This tells us that the Hellenistic people wanted to explain their history.  Because many of the people in the Hellenistic Age were no longer living in Greece, they desired to show that they still had connections to Greek culture.  Therefore, they would make genealogical lists that connected them to famous people from Greece.  For example:

and

            Both of these quotes from The Argonautica show that the Hellenistic Greeks were extremely interested in mentioning their roots, and how certain traditions came about.  They wanted to latch on to their heritage.  This same phenomenon can be seen in the Judaic literature of the time, especially in The Apocrypha.

            These works also show the combination of cultures that were created during the Hellenistic Age.  The fact that people were writing down the stories, as well as creating new ones, proves that the people of this time were intellectuals who wanted to learn and teach others.  For information on The Argonautica look at Mike Kaplan's and Mark Lieberman's essays.  For more on Hellenistic literature in general, please read Tessa Boyd's essay.

            There are other literary works that tell us about this time period - the Jewish people had their own literature, which deals with their isolation and how they dealt with being different among the pagans who ruled them.  Other scholarly literature was being written at this time as well - philosophy (such as Stoicism and Epicureanism), mathematic and scientific advancements (such as in astronomy), and histories.  All of these give us a glimpse into the intellect of these people, as well as vast amounts of information about how they thought, as well as their pasts.  For information on philosophies of the Hellenistic Age, please look at Kristen Syfert's essay on Epicureanism and Alex Wise's essay on Hellenistic Philosophy.  For information on the Jewish culture, please look at Katie Maguire's essay on the Jewish afterlife, and Boris Milgrom's on the Jewish Diaspora.

            There are other means of learning about the Hellenistic people.  These are the most important.  Each different topic has its own merits, which have been outlined above.  Yet they also have their weaknesses.  Only so much can be gleaned from looking at a sculpture.  A great deal of it is guesswork.  Many of the inscriptions we have are incomplete, and we must piece them together.  Literature was often for a more elite class, and is therefore not completely telltale of the entire Hellenistic culture.  The papyrus we have is only from Egypt, not the other kingdoms.  The merits of coinage, like art, must be mostly tentative.  But it is the combination of these different things, with their strengths and weaknesses, that gives us the most complete history of the Hellenistic Age.  Together they combine to give us the best glimpse possible of this time period.

            The rest of this web site will demonstrate the usage of these different sources by making brilliant scholarly arguments based on them.  To view these essays, follow this link.

(1) Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary. MICRA.  Plainfield, NJ: 1998

(2) Davis, William Stearns.  Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative Extracts from the Sources. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.         1912-1913.

(3) Hunter, Richard, trans.  Apollonius of Rhodes: Jason and the Golden Fleece. Oxford: Oxford University Press.  1993.

(4) Ibid.