Note 6 — Chapter VI · REPUBLICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND LIVY

Cicero, like many a modern statesman, desired a favorable presentation of his deeds in history and biography. However, when it was not a question of his own deeds, his historical ideals were very high. In his Brutus (292-4) he insists that history requires the same accuracy as testimony given in court under oath. In the De Oratore (ii. 62-3) he says that the first requirement of the historian is to have courage to tell the whole truth and never to deceive. He consulted the archives even to get an accurate setting for his fictitious dialogues (Ad. Att. xiii. 33, 3; xiii. 3, 3; xii. 5, 3). Some modern critics have found heart to suspect Cicero’s historical ideals because he insisted that history should be well written!