1. Regard history as a branch of literature and pay attention to literary description. The proofreader in Alexandria, Egypt divided the history written by Herodotus into nine volumes, which were marked with the names of nine muses (literary goddesses) in Greek mythology, proving that historiography was regarded as a vassal of literature at that time. Thucydides argued that history must be recorded. But in his History of the Peloponnesian War, about 1/4 pages are carefully written speeches.
Most historians in ancient Greece and Rome only wrote the contemporary history of their time. Historians themselves are mostly military strategists or politicians to educate future generations through personal experience.
3. Pay attention to moral education. Historians in ancient Greece and Rome wrote books to educate the world. Politios pointed out: "The insights gained from research are the best education for real life. Tacitus wrote in his Chronicle of Rome: "The highest function of history is to reward good and punish evil", and advocated moral education with historical facts.
Except Thucydides, historians in ancient Greece and Rome are superstitious about "fate" and believe that there is a supernatural power that dominates everything in the world. There are even fairy tales in Li Wei's works.
5. There is no uniform chronological standard. For example, the ancient Greeks used "Olympiad" (that is, from 776 BC, it is said that since the first Olympic Games were held, there was an "Olympiad" every four years). The ancient Romans used the names of successive consuls to record the years.
(Original source: China Encyclopedia? "History of Western Historiography" in World History Volume, article 97 1-972.