Description: Momigliano traces the growth of ancient biography from the fifth century to the first century B.C. By clarifying the implications of the fact that the Greeks kept biography and autobiography distinct from historiography, he contributes to an understanding of a basic dichotomy in the Western tradition of historical writing.
Review Quotes: Momigliano sets out to 'provide an elementary but independent introduction to an important problem: the separation of biography and historiography.' The result is a small, compact book of great importance... The book is a pleasure to read and to study.--F. W. Walbank "History and Theory"