The Greeks in Bactria and India c9.s2.99

c9.s2.99

It is unfortunate for us that our knowledge of this historian depends to a certain extent on Justin’s Epitome of Trogus. Certainly Justin on the East is not quite the same thing as Justin on the West, because he ultimately goes back or may go back to a good source and one has to weigh carefully what he says. But he has the same faults; he does not always summarise correctly, he has no interest in history as such and omits whole chapters of Trogus on the Farther East which to us would be invaluable, for Trogus himself gave a comprehensive account;³ and accuracy to him is of small importance compared with the chance of drawing a moral lesson. Certainly ‘Trogus’ source’ has had hard measure from Fortune. He may not have been a great historian; but he is a great loss.