>>But I think that the modern historian can't just leave their own moral values, you know, at the library door.
But everyone knows what those values are, because largely (with a few nuances) we all share them. We don't need an historian to remind us that war or slavery is bad. I want to know what Romans think of slavery. I can probably guess what a modern historian thinks of it.
I think much of our modern day conflicts are about disagreements over those values though.
> We don't need an historian to remind us that war or slavery is bad. I want to know what Romans think of slavery. I can probably guess what a modern historian thinks of it.
But she isn't just saying "it's bad" for no reason, she depicts the problems and the triumphs. It's not about how Romans thought about slavery, it's about providing a full and complete picture of a historical period or person, warts and all.
As a great example: most of the current political movement in America emphasizes that in the 1950s or so one man's average salary afforded him a better station in society than it does now. But that same observation leaves out that... Well, this wasn't true for any woman, or many minorities. If we just never mention that last part because "duh, I don't need a historian to tell me that" we end up with flawed rosy glasses by which we view such worlds and the policies and people who created them.
But everyone knows what those values are, because largely (with a few nuances) we all share them. We don't need an historian to remind us that war or slavery is bad. I want to know what Romans think of slavery. I can probably guess what a modern historian thinks of it.