Question

why is it important to read the works of early historians such as herodotus and thucydides

Answer 1

The nature of historical writing has changed over the millennia since Herodotus, the father of history, and Thucydides were writing. Herodotus includes anecdotes, unlikely anecdotes and hearsay although he often questions their veracity. Also the Greek historians were writing from the viewpoint of a particular city state and this must be taken into account rather than assuming total objectivity on the part of the writer.