The concept of historical report can be understood from two perspectives: as a historiographical genre and as a subgenre of a novel.
a historiographical genre
Some historians, politicians and soldiers of Greek and Roman civilization inaugurated a new genre: historiography. This can be defined as the record of historical events. The most renowned Greek philosophers in this genre were Herodotus, Thucydides and Strabo, as well as the Romans Titus Livius, Tacitus and Suetonius. All his works narrated real events such as battles, political situations of his time, social conflicts, etc. For historians, these accounts of the past offer a testimonial value of great interest, as the events described in these works make it possible to know the deeds of the past, the highlighted characters and the circumstances that acted as a historical context. Historical Report
The historical account of the classical world established the beginning of a course for treating history itself as a scientific discipline . In addition to the traditional historical account , there are other historiographic sources: the press, cinema, advertising and television.
History as a story is a synthesis of objective and subjective aspects. The historian needs to resort to objective sources and bring concrete data . However, these objective elements are interpreted from their subjectivity.
the historical novel
Historical account and historical novel are equivalent concepts. The historical novel is a literary genre that usually presents itself with a particularity: the fusion between fiction and reality . Usually the writer of a historical account creates characters and a plot, all within a historical context. In this sense, it can be said that this type of story creates a fiction filled with real facts. Historical Report
The historical novel as a genre is probably one of the most accepted narrative trends among readers. In fact, some historical novels have become veritable Best Sellers, such as Gary Jennings’ “The Traveller,” which chronicles Marco Polo‘s travels; “The Pillars of the Earth” by Ken Follet, which tells the construction of a Gothic cathedral in the context of the Middle Ages; and Howard Fast’s “Spartacus,” which tells the story of a 1st century BC Thracian slave who led a rebellion against the Romans.
The relationship between historiography and the historical novel
The example of the novel “Spartacus” serves to illustrate the relationship between the historiographical accounts and the historical novel of its famous character, thus, Plutarch, a contemporary Greek historian revealed this character in his work “The revolt of Spartacus” which served as a source for Howard Fast’s novel. Historical Report
