When I turned to the composition of historical novels, I desired to
ascertain if the historical method had been reduced to a system. I read
Lucian's _Instructions for Writing History_, an essay with the same
title, or with a very similar one, by the Abbé Mably, some essays by
Simmel, besides a book by a German professor, Ernst Bernheim,
_Lehrbuch der historischen Methode_.
I next read and re-read the Roman historians Julius Caesar, Tacitus,
Sallust and Suetonius.
_Sallust_
All these Roman historians no doubt were worthy gentlemen, but they
create an atmosphere of suspicion. When reading them, you suspect that
they are not always telling the whole truth. I read Sallust and feel
that he is lying; he has composed his narrative like a novel.
In the _Mémorial de Sainte Hélène_, it is recorded that on March
26, 1816, Napoleon read the conspiracy of Catiline in the _Roman
History_. The Emperor observed that he was unable to understand what
Catiline was driving at. No matter how much of a bandit he may have
been, he must have had some object, some social purpose in view.
The observation of this political genius is one which must occur to all
who read Sallust's book. How could Catiline have secured the support of
the most brilliant men of Rome, among them of Julius Caesar, if his only
plan and object had been to loot and burn Rome? It is not logical.
Evidently Sallust lies, as governmental writers in Spain lie today when
they speak of Lerroux or Ferrer, or as the republican supporters of
Thiers lied in 1871, characterizing the Paris Commune.
_Tacitus_
Tacitus is another great Roman historian who is theatrical,
melodramatic, solemn, full of grand gestures. He also creates an
atmosphere of suspicion, of falsehood. Tacitus has something of the
inquisitor in him, of the fanatic in the cause of virtue. He is a man of
austere moral attitude, which is a pose that a thoroughgoing scamp finds
it easy to assume.
A temperament such as that of Tacitus is fatal to theatrical peoples
like the Italians, Spaniards, and French of the South. From it springs
that type of Sicilian, Calabrian, and Andalusian politician who is a
great lawyer and an eloquent orator, who declaims publicly in the forum,
and then reaches an understanding privately with bandits and thugs.
_Suetonius_
Suetonius, although deficient both in the pomp and sententiousness of
Tacitus, makes no attempt to compose his story, nor to impart moral
instruction, but tells us what he knows, simply. His _Lives of the
Twelve Caesars_ is the greatest collection of horrors in history. You
leave it with the imagination perturbed, scrutinizing yourself to
discover whether you may not be yourself a hog or a wild beast.
Suetonius gives us an account of men rather than a history of the
politics of emperors, and surely this method is more interesting and
veracious. I place more faith in the anecdotes which grow up about an
historical figure than I do in his laws.
Polybius is a mixture of scepticism and common sense. He is what Bayle,
Montesquieu and Voltaire will come to be centuries hence.
As far as Caesar's _Commentaries_ are concerned, in spite of the
fact that they have been manipulated very skilfully, they are one of the
most satisfying and instructive books that can be read.