It’s really crazy how premodern historians used to just completely make things up.

Even if the exaggerations and fibs are not as extreme I have a private suspicion that most of recorded history is essentially false.

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I mean, gotta get paid though right?

I remember when I learned about Marco Polo and how it's still very unclear if he even existed and if the literature about him was intended to be historical or pure fantasy. Apparently in several accounts he meets magical beasts etc like it's the Odyssey, or Gulliver's Travels or something.

Historians throughout history did their writing to make money and be recognized, and unfortunately those that spice up their work with a good story will have wider distribution. Super easy to justify embellishing when you're hungry. Those old historians were all still just people trying to get by.

I definitely don't envy modern historians working to piece all that together.