Herodotus.
In the earliest times Herodotus may be cited as one of the most distinguished names in the former of the two groups, and Lucretius in the latter. The writings of Herodotus (circa 480-425 B.C.) are a veritable storehouse of information, from the highest civilisations down to the veriest savagery, and his work has lost none of its freshness or value through lapse of time. As a matter of fact, modern investigations carried out in the areas treated of by him more frequently confirm and exemplify than refute his statements.
Lucretius.
Lucretius (99 or 98-55 B.C.), the poet, teacher, and reformer, boldly declared that there was no Golden Age from which man has degenerated, but that his progress has continually been slowly upward from a condition of pure savagery:—
Arms of old were hands nails and teeth and stones and boughs broken off from the forests, and flame and fire, as soon as they had become known. Afterwards the force of iron and copper was discovered; and the use of copper was known before that of iron, as its nature is easier to work and it is found in greater quantity. With copper they would labour the soil of the earth, with copper stir up the billows of war.... Then by slow steps the sword of iron gained ground and the make of the copper sickle became a byword; and with iron they began to plough through the earth’s soil, and the struggles of wavering war were rendered equal.[[81]]
[81]. Lucretius, On the Nature of Things. Translated by H. A. J. Munro. Bohn’s edition, 1908, p. 214.
It is evident from his poems that Lucretius was a keen observer and a philosopher, who summed up existing Epicurean knowledge; and we are justified in believing that these particular generalisations were based upon tales told by travellers in distant lands, and upon traditional lore, which, with the exception of the recently acquired archæological evidence, is practically all upon which we have to rely. The philosophic poet apprehended the significance of various facts, and welded them into a consistent theory of the development of culture, and thereby earned the honour of being the first evolutionary anthropologist.
Strabo.
Nor should we overlook the versatile Strabo (circa 63 B.C.-21 A.D.), who was interested in many things, from climate to botany, and from sport to Druidism and Brahmanism. Alexander von Humboldt considered that he surpassed all other geographical labourers of antiquity by the diversity of the subject and the grandeur of the composition. His Geography contains much information on the early history and traditions of numerous peoples, their character, dress, dwellings, and mode of life.
In the writings of the earlier travellers (to mention but three names)—Marco Polo, in Cathay (1254-1323), Ibn Batuta (1304-1377), in Asia; and Joao de Barros (1496-1570), who was considered the greatest authority on Portuguese, African, and Asiatic travels of his time—and in the records of travels contained in collections such as those of Hakluyt (1552-1616), Purchas (1577-1626), and Pinkerton (1758-1826), much ethnological information can be sifted from among the marvellous tales. Sometimes the marvellous tales themselves can, by ethnology, be interpreted in fact, as when the “tailed men” of the Nicobars are found to owe their origin to the tail-like method of wearing the loin-cloth.[[82]] These were followed by the travellers and explorers of the nineteenth century, who brought back a vast amount of new information, both physical and cultural, from the lands they visited. Among these the names of Admiral Byron, James Bruce, L. A. Bougainville, Sir John Barrow, Captain Cook, de Lesseps, and Pallas may be mentioned.