Posted: May 07, 2015 1:38 pm
MS2 wrote:
It seems to me to get less clear the further you go back in time. That is, almost inevitably, there is less and more ambiguous evidence with ancient history, and so quite often conjecture is needed to conclude almost anything. But maybe I'm thinking here of those TV programmes that 'fill in the blanks' almost to the exclusion of everything else in order to tell us startling new conclusions. Perhaps the academic papers are far more circumspect?
Yes, definitely important not to conflate history TV shows with actual academic research. I've seen a few of those shows and they can be cringe-worthy in the sheer amount of speculation passed off as fact.