Do Individuals Move the Course of History?

Or Do They Just Ride the Wave?

Dear Classical Wisdom Reader,

I remember back in 2016 when I saw then President of the United States of America, Barack Obama. 

Well... almost. 

It was a sunny afternoon and I was pushing my daughter’s stroller aside Calle Libertador, the large leafy boulevard that runs the length of Buenos Aires. We had just left one of the grand parks that make up the pulmones, or lungs, of the city when we noticed everything was a bit strange. 

For starters, there was suddenly no traffic on the 14 lane road, save a few cop cars and their flashing lights. Nor, did it seem, anyone was walking. 

Instead people stood in their places, smart phones out, ready to capture whatever was going to happen next. 

I stopped a local porteña to find out what all the fuss was about...

At that moment a large motorcade went by, with about 30 motorcycles, all decked in black head to toe. 

The gathering crowd continued to look on, waiting for the main attraction. 

The helicopters started coming within ear shot. 

I had a perfect viewing spot, overlooking the Monumento de los Españoles. It was lit up, so we all knew that’s where he was headed. 

And then my daughter, who is teething, began to cry. 

We turned around and headed home just as the helicopters went overhead. 

...

It occurred to me as we walked back that some things will never change... Babies will always cry from their first tooth and powerful, affluent persons will always make an impression on those around them. 

Sometimes they do it with compelling personalities. Other times with fear or greed. 

Either way we often look at politics, and indeed history, as a series of remarkable or infamous characters who determine the actions of nation states, armies or corporations. 

Whether it was Pericles leading the Athenians, Leonidas standing up to the Persians, or Alexander the Great conquering his massive empire, the annals are replete with dramatic persons that mark out the many important moments throughout time.

Alexander the Great at the Battle of Issus

But are these ‘great’ men and women really in charge? Or are they simply riding the waves of momentum that rise and fall with the collection of society? 

To paraphrase Tolstoy, are they the tug boat out front pulling the great ship? Or the dinghy bobbing along behind? 

As always, feel free to write to me at anya@classicalwisdom.com, reply to this email or comment below and let me know if you think history is made from individuals... or if movements and trends are larger than famous personalities? 

In the meantime, enjoy the musings proffered by fellow historians and classicists in reply to the question: Should we learn “outdated” history? Is there any value in it? Or should we cross it out and move along? 

Very interesting (and varied!) responses below, as well as an excellent recap on the latest ‘news’ regarding Christopher Columbus’ true identity. Enjoy!

All the best,
Anya Leonard

Founder and Director
Classical Wisdom

Time to take a step back and see if we can understand the ancient Greek culture... a task both extremely ambitious as it is rewarding. What different political systems did they test... and which ones worked? How did their mythology influence their culture... and affect their attitudes towards women? And why were they so competitive? 

This week Classical Wisdom Members can enjoy our next Podcast with Professor Jennifer Roberts, professor of classics and history at the City College of New York and the City University of New York Graduate Center. We discuss “Out of One, Many” - in our attempts to truly appreciate and comprehend the ancient Greeks. 

If you aren’t a member, make sure to subscribe today and join our growing community of Classics lovers and preservers of history throughout the world: 

Monday Mailbag

Re: Should we learn “outdated” history? Is there any value in it? Or should we cross it out and move along? 

Hi, Anya! 

Like it or not, Columbus/Colón/Colom/Colombo is part of History. Not because he "discovered" America, but because his arrival shed light on an entire continent that so far had been unheeded by European and Asian civilizations. Mark that I'm saying "civilizations", meaning Renaissance ones, from western Europe as well from far China (that could well have arrived in advance of Columbus, hadn't the emperor adhered to Confucianism philosophy and abandoned every quest to the West.) Our infamous admiral arrived at the precise time to incorporate America to the global economy. Something that Erik the Red and Leif Ericsson did not achieve when they discovered Greenland and Newfoundland. 

If we intend to complain about conquerors and violent conquests, well, we must start in the depths of History. To mention just one, remember the Exodus and how Josue put Cananean cities to anathema, that is, extermination of every local inhabitant, be man, woman or child, and even animals including livestock, in the name of the God of Israel. 

Gengis Khan, Nabucchadenazar, Senacherib; Julius Caesar and Octavian; the British Empire: no conqueror was merciful with their new subjects (those individuals willing to be "subjects" or not). Colonization (and this term comes from our vilified Columbus) has never ever been kind in any sense. Christian feelings like kindness, mercy and humbleness were usually omitted in XV century colonizations and further ones. 

So, let's leave poor Columbus to lie in peace. We won't change History just by not teaching. On the contrary, we must teach how harmful colonizations of any kind have been, so that new generations learn something good about them. 

Monica S.

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I think we should learn outdated history as a basis of comparison to the most recent credible understanding of what actually happened during those time periods.

It is important to our understanding of how people thought of those events. It could be deliberate  distortion, willful ignorance, incomplete facts, cognitive bias, or misunderstanding of what was happening at the time.

In hindsight, we tend to get a more complete picture of things but it is worthwhile to see the origins or history from the source.

Regards,

David R. C.

Hi, my name's Paul. I’m English but I have been resident in Spain for 26 years now and a big fan of history. Just read today’s article about Columbus and thought you might like an update.

This year on 12/10/24 (still a major holiday in Spain) on Spanish TV, a documentary 20+ years in the making aired. The documentary is all about the process of DNA testing which has been conducted on, let’s say, the remains kept in the cathedral of Seville and which are purported to be those of Cristobal Colon (nobody ever talks about Columbus here). Now, I don’t know if you know, but there has been a polemic concerning those remains for well over a hundred years now, as Seville claims to have the admiral’s bones and so does the Dominican Republic - they can’t both be right, right?!

Anyway, the doc starts over 20 years ago when a Spanish historian had the brainwave of comparing Colon’s bones to those of his son Hernando, also entombed in Seville cathedral. That part was done under great pomp and circumstance and it was determined that the bones were, beyond a shadow of a doubt, those of Colon (we have no idea who those in Dominicana belong to!) Then, to go a step further, Colon’s brother Diego also had his bones tested and it revealed that Diego - is NOT the brother, but rather a second or even third cousin. Family but not close family.

At this point they decided to go a step even further and, once and for all, try to determine WHERE Colon is from; a detail which has always been in question DESPITE what the history books say. Here in Spain they’ve never really believed in the version of him being Italian, there is just way too much evidence to suggest him being Spanish and ZERO evidence for him being from Genoa. What there are though, are multiple theories for who he really was and why he would hide his identity, including that he was the illegitimate son of the Prince on Viana, a minor Galician nobleman whose real name was Pedro de Sotomayor, a Portuguese corsair…any number of theories, none of which involve Genoa (there is for example, not one single document written in Italian, even letters between Colon and his ‘brother’ Diego are written in perfect Spanish). In contemporary descriptions of the man, when asked where he was from, he would always reply “soy forastero “ which translates as “I’m not from around here”….

To summarize, the team who were testing the DNA stopped their work almost 20 years ago because they knew the technology they were using was not up to the task but, at some point in the future it would be (bravo to them!) When technology had improved sufficiently, work was restarted and various universities were involved, both in Spain, Mexico, even the FBI at Cuántico got involved and one by one by one, all the theories on the table were tested genetically and taken apart (the documentary is fascinating in itself, explaining how they got genetic material to compare to Colon’s).

The first theory to go was Genoa. Dozens of people called Columbo were tested and compared and, definitively, Genoa was rejected. The match wasn’t even close!

Prince of Viana, gone.

Portuguese Corsair, gone.

Basque, gone.

Majorcan, etc., etc., all gone. 

Even the Galician connection which was to a certain extent the favorite, as the amount of evidence suggesting Galician/ Pedro de Sotomayor is pretty overwhelming (I personally believed in this one, the smoking guns are just way too many). This one too was debunked!

The only theory left on the table was the idea that Colon was a Jew and this is why he hid his identity…. Given the events in Spain of 1495, and the Inquisition, this was a smart move! The DNA holds up on this one; the testing puts Colon’s origins on the Mediterranean coast of Spain, possibly Valencia, and... Sephardic Jew.

So, although we don’t know specifically what his real name was, and exactly where he came from is still a mystery, we do at least now know where he’s NOT from.

I didn’t intend to lecture, I’m not an expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I thought maybe you’d find this interesting. I suppose word will eventually get around the history community, no doubt devout believers in Italian Columbus will refuse to accept it, hell there are still some morons who think the Earth is flat or that NASA did not put men on the moon!

All the very best

Paul S.

Tenerife, Spain

If we aren't willing to learn from history, what else is left? I have seen history defined as "everything we have learned so far", but if we insist on erasing or ignoring anything that doesn't agree with our current prejudices and opinions, how are we supposed to learn from it?

Harry Truman once commented, "There is nothing new in the world except the history you don't know." My preferred way to learn history is to read biographies of people who lived through different eras and lands. I understand and accept that "history is written by the winners", but a lot can be gleaned regarding the losers as well. 

In the meanwhile, I wonder what the history books a hundred years from now will write about our times. I sort of suspect that they will not see us in nearly as virtuous a light as many today would like to believe.

Gordon F.

Cuenca, Ecuador

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If history is outdated and unnecessary then so too are the classics and the need for your weekly missives Anya. Herodotus then is not outdated and he qualifies as a proven and expert historian. Even his bias against Persia must be forgiven; when the latter seeks his personal extinction you can understand the reason for it. He believes history written should be suspicious of miracles, rely on eyewitness accounts over written heresy and keep an open mind. Writings of history meeting these requirements are never outdated.

Lucian chose between the two women of Statuary and Literature. Choosing the latter he became an accomplished historian who described history as poetry without wings in a letter to Philo. Thucydides opined that there are two historian types. One is the person writing history for present reputation. Revisionists and victors often fall into this category. Good historians make their work a permanent possession forever. The latter are never outdated because they encompass truth and that is absolute and unchanging. Modern historians rarely, if ever, meet this requirement. Good historians bequeath truth that can be used to prevent repeating history whereas bad historian writings are less than useless in comparison.

Charles F.

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Good morning Anya, thank you for your work and writings.

In my opinion, true history would never be “outdated history” in my mind.  

History should be updated when it is discovered that something important was missed or in many cases, was purposely left out as it suited certain interests of certain people of a time. 

I hope that the teachings of truth in history include mindfulness of the ages and maturity of children to comprehend American truths, in middle school for example, and not before perhaps.  Consults with an experienced child psychologists or other professionals in the field to determine the best age to teach the dark truths of American History without scaring a child in the process…the gory details of slavery trade and the ship transport conditions, and the taking the land of Indians, etc., of peoples who were already here before the idea of Columbus came about.

Thank you for asking.

Happy Indigenous People's Day!

Cheryl "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God." Matthew 5:8

Anya

What harm does it do to look at "old history stories?"

They are charming for the most part, and it's what we as old people in this country were brought up on...  

I usually talk about both days... Columbus and Indigenous Peoples Day... That way, no one gets their shorts wedged...

Thanks for hearing me.

Chuck B.

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We still honor Columbus Day… not Indigenous day.  

We will not honor the five native American tribes, who each had as many slaves as the state of Tennessee.  Plus, what the Incas and Aztecs did with slaves and human sacrifice.  

Peeps are too busy virtue signaling rather than studying American and North America history.  It’s a real shame.  

Columbus did not bring slavery to America… it was already here. 

Michael

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From an amateur history buff: The beliefs of a people in their time and place are a part of their history. So, the exploration of the western hemisphere by Columbus and the rest of the Spaniards (and the devastation brought by them, their animals and their diseases), is an important part of history even though he's not credited with "discovering" America. 

The celebration of Columbus is part of the story of the belief system of Americans in the latter half of the 20th century. And, the fact that so many Europeans had been to North America before Columbus (and even Cicero postulated the possibility of continents mirroring Europe, Asia and Africa on the other side of the globe — since Strabo calculated the circumference of the earth.), yet Columbus was able to get away with "discovering" the continents because of the lack of reliable communication.

So, nine year olds may not need to know about Columbus unless they ask, but it should be part of modern history that it was a celebration at one time.

Thank you so much for your emails.

Judy G.

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Outdated History?  Nyet. Joseph

Should we learn outdated history?

I think that's a complicated question, no matter how simple it sounds.

I look at it this way: when teaching mathematics, we don't start with calculus. We start with 1+1=2. But that's not always true. One apple plus one orange isn't two apples or two oranges. In a college class on relativity, I asked if Newton was wrong, and was told that yes, he was. But we still teach Newtonian physics. Why? Because it isn't completely wrong. It's fine, as far as it goes.

It seems to me that we should teach history in much the same way. Taking Columbus as an example, I think it's fine to teach the basic facts. Ferdinand and Isabella financed his voyages. He found land that European society was unaware of. And so on. Leave out the mythology, such as that everybody else thought that the world was flat, or that Isabella sold the crown jewels to finance the trip.

As the student learns more and becomes more sophisticated, more nuance can be added to the lessons. Columbus did some pretty despicable things, and to ignore them is to try to whitewash history. But just as Newtonian physics is contained within Einsteinian physics, so the basic facts about Columbus should be contained within the broader history. Students shouldn't have to unlearn falsehoods they've been taught, but they should know that things are more complicated than they've been taught so far. After all, everything is.

Isaac