Arnaldo Momigliano (1908–1987)

This is a collection of eight essays originally given at the Warburg Institute in London in the 1960s by some of the leading figures (Courcelle, Marrou, Momigliano, Bloch) in the study of Late Antiquity at the time. Some of the essays have dated less well than others—Barb's contribution on magic versus religion was quite problematic for me—and much scholarship in the field has since improved on the ideas presented here. Still, it's worth reading if only to get a sense of where later show more important figures in the field—such as Peter Brown, a former doctoral student of Momigliano's—started from. show less

A collection of six scholarly lectures on classical historiography. The lectures deal with the transmission of certain historiographical traditions from antiquity to about the 18th century. What interested me most was that the dominance of political history over other forms of historical scholarship, a dominance which lasted almost to the present day, was a consequence of Thucydides' great influence.

Picked this up due to Momigliano's student Anthony Grafton constantly raving about him. It seemed like a brilliant (as well as short) essay on different modes of history-writing in antiquity, but it was honestly a little over my head, and it just kind of got pushed aside for other reading. I hope to return to it someday. I may try Momigliano's earlier essays on historiography first, some of which I've read and enjoyed even though these also seem, well, kind of too hard. I am also curious show more about his lectures on ancient biography. show less

Momigliano is great, but I wouldn't make this your first experience of his essays.