History existed to be retold, with more panache but not necessarily greater accuracy.

Stacy Schiff
About This Quote

The historian, a profession I am considering pursuing myself, isn’t going to get you very far. There is a certain amount of subjectivity involved in history. The original intent of historians is to remember the past and pass on their knowledge. You can’t get too specific or you will ruin the story.

Also, the intent of historians is to tell a story, not to get all up in someone’s face about how they interpreted this or that. In that sense, the historian is merely a narrator.

Source: Cleopatra: A Life

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