The following is an excerpt from a paper I wrote for my Christian History and Literature class. In it I discuss what exactly is meant by the word ‘history,’ what it is and is not, and how scholars of all fields ‘do’ history. The was to write an outline of Neville Morley’s book, Writing Ancient History. Fun fact: when I received my paper back, my professor commented on it that it was “probably the best paper in the class.”
What is history? Though history is read by people all over the world, few people actually fully understand what history is and it is commonly taken for granted as simply being ‘stuff about the past’. In ways that is true, but history, like many words in the English language can have various meanings depending on the context in which it is used. In some cases it may refer to what happened in the past. In others it can refer to something more abstract which can be studied. History can also refer to an academic profession, or a process that academics practice. Even then the different uses of the term can and often do overlap with each other, making the question of what is history more complicated. History, in a general sense can be understood as events that happened in the past. However, the distinction must be made between accounts of the past, and the past as it really was. History cannot determine events as they really were, but can only give accounts of the past. Further, not all accounts of the past can or should be considered history. For example, the stories of King Arthur, should not be considered historical works.
History can in other ways be described as the methodical study of evidence from the past, and interpretation of that evidence. Still, in many cases Morley argues that simple common sense can be used to identify history and thus a rigid definition is not necessarily required. Tacitus’ Annals of Imperial Rome is clearly a work of history whereas Renae De Liz’ Legend of Wonder Woman is clearly fiction.
Like many other things, history originates from the ancient Greeks. Some of the earliest examples of history come from Herodotus and Thucydides. Herodotus is commonly considered to be the father of history for his work on the wars between the Greeks and Persians. Still, Herodotus also left the door open for supernatural and divine explanations, which Thucydides rejected, and wrote of “giant ants and flying snakes.” In that sense, Thucydides more closely resembles what modern historians refer to as “proper history.” Thucydides also established that the proper subjects of historical study should be war and politics, which frequently overlap. Through the works of Thucydides emerged what Morley calls one of the first examples of “something that we wish to identify as history.” (pp. 27)
Thucydides compared and contrasted history to fiction and though he was willing to utilise the works of Homer as a source for early Greek history, he qualified it by claiming that they tended to exaggerate, which is quite an understatement. Similarly, Aristotle argued that one key difference is that historians purport actual events while poets relay things that might have happened in the past. Because fiction, which in Latin (fingo) means ‘I shape, arrange, devise, or imagine’ it is inadequate as tool for historians. Historians base their findings on evidence alone, whereas fiction creates and imagines evidence which makes the two ultimately incompatible as records of the past.
The reality is that while studying ancient history may seem trivial in relation to the job market, it’s more than just the literal study of antiquity. Studies in ancient history teach students how to analyse, think critically, and how to write well, all skills that employers look for in perspective employers. What history can teach people is how to take in large amount of information, process the information, and present arguments and ideas based on that information. There are many fields, completely unrelated to ancient history, in which those skills would be immensely helpful.
Morley suggests that history is a useful tool simply because knowledge of the past is useful as it can produce predictive models for the future. Understanding the past can better help us interpret the present and build models for what we might expect to see in the future. He argues that by examining the past, “we can try to understand our society by placing it in a wider historical context.” (pp. 152)
In political circles, the past can have great influence as politicians and political parties may seek to advance ‘traditional values and idea.’ Whether it’s PM Thatcher advocating a return to ‘Victorian values’ or American political leaders advocating to return to a time when America was great, the past can greatly influence the present. Morley says that we can better understand events that are happening now by looking back at events that precede the current ones to see how they relate to the current situation. This way, history almost becomes necessary as a way to understand things going on today.
–M
d), Wonder Woman struggles to gain trust of her peers, while balancing a double life as an agent at a government agency, the Department of Metahuman Affairs, which really is not too fond of superheroes. Wonder Woman finds herself battling a seemingly unbeatable monster named Genocide. Perhaps one of the strongest opponents Diana has ever faced, the Amazon princess goes head to head––and loses. Badly. After Wonder Woman is thoroughly beaten by Genocide she is rescued and cared for by her friends. She then assembles an army of her Gorilla Knights, and a few members of the Justice League including Green Lantern, as well as Donna Troy and others. Vastly unprepared for how powerful Genocide is they all are beaten, with Wonder Woman, who has lost confidence in her ability, taking the biggest hits. 
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