the debate goes back much further than that, at least as far as niebuhr's
"social" history (contrast to ranke's elitist mode), and maybe to the
criticism levelled at early archaeologists wasting time looking at stuff
that was so obviously of no interest to anyone, simply because no one had
ever had any interest in documenting what Roman togas, sandals, toilets,
etc., looked like...
----- Original Message -----
Subject: Re: An academic-type question
. There was much debate on this in the
> 60s and 70s...