Reflections on historical writing: an investigation of the application of Cicero's rules for the historian in Victor's "Historia Persecutionis"

Abstract

Historiography is concerned with the historian’s perception and account of events, the latter often being formulated to achieve a particular end. The present article attempts to explore this notion through an investigation of Victor’s Historia Persecutionis. In his De Oratore II, 15, 63, Cicero, who commented on the scope of history and the task of the historian, lays down the basic rules (fundamenta) for the historian: (i) ne quid falsi audeat – the historian must speak no untruth; (ii) ne quid veri audeat – he must speak the whole truth; and ne qua suspicio gratiae sit in scribendo, ne qua simultatis – there should be no indication of prejudice or enmity in his work. In his Historia Persecutionis, Victor complies with the first two requirements. However, by showing prejudice he does not comply with the third, and therefore does not do justice to classical historiography. It must be borne in mind, however, that Christian ecclesiastical history is presented from a particular point of view.