Historical Events Database - History

Re: Historical Events Database

Here's the list of ancient authors (mostly Greek/Latin) by date on various subjects that we might look into:

_http://www.attalus.org/info/ancient_authors.html

It may or may not be useful. fwiw.
 
Re: Historical Events Database

We have Michael the Syrian in French, so Pierre can do that one, translating as he goes (it's not in English).

Yes I can do that. Actually I've already extracted and translated accounts about catastrophes from most of his books, so now it's mostly about data entry.
 
Re: Historical Events Database

Laura said:
Shijing said:
Sure -- is this the one you have in mind?:

http://referenceworks.brillonline.com/browse/brill-s-new-jacoby

That's it.

I asked the library today if we have access and we don't, but one of the librarians is going to look into the possibility of purchasing it and get back to me next week. I'll give an update when I hear back.

Laura said:
Look particularly for any clues about relations with the Franks, Frankish people, environmental things (I doubt there will be much), etc. With an idea of what the situation was as I've outlined it, you should be able to catch it if something stands out as odd.

Also, if it's possible to scan it and make a PDF, that would be helpful.

OK -- let me see what I can work out in the next few days.
 
Re: Historical Events Database

It's done:

http://historicalevents.thebigrede.net

Who would like to have an user account?

A short user manual:

After you log in, you see a list of all created events, sorted by year. To add a new event, click on the "Add new event" button, you will see the input form.

1) Select the general category. Right now we have Archeology, Atmosphere, Environment, Geology, Society, Other. Only I can add a new category since it will not be that often.
2) See if the event type (e.g. comet) is already listed for the selected category. If yes, just select it. If you cannot find it because the list is too long, there is a search field. If the event type is not there, you can add it by clicking on the "Add!" button. Right now only Laura, Mr. Scott and me can add new event types since they should be chosen very carefully -- no duplicates, not too similar, not too different, they should be 'orthogonal'.
3) Under the group "Coordinates" you have to enter the year. The year is the only required attribute.
4) Fill in all other attributes if they are given in the source. Attributes which are numbers have the default value of -1, this means that it is "not specified".

Here is a list of currently available attributes, where (optional) means: may be omitted, and (auto-hints) means: when the user starts typing, a list of previously entered values is displayed. This helps to avoid different spelling, e.g. Livius and Livy, or Roma and Rome.

If someone edits or deletes an event, the changes are recorded, so nothing can be really destroyed.

Coordinates:
Year: (required)
Month: fill in 1-12 (optional)
Day: fill in 1-31 (optional)
Duration: in days (optional)
Uncertainty: in days (optional)
Location past: the ancient name of the city/area/state (optional) (auto-hints)
Location today: the modern name of the city/area/state (optional) (auto-hints)

Other:
Affected: how many were affected by the event (but did not die), e.g. for sicknesses, famine, etc. (optional)
Died: how many died due to the event, e.g. for sicknesses, famine, etc. (optional)
Witnessed: how many have seen the event, e.g. object in the sky (optional)
Intensity: can be specified for the strength of earthquakes (optional)
Notes: Any useful information that you could add to the event, e.g. doubts, hints, etc. (optional)
Keywords: Any related keywords that you can think of. it may help us later to search for a particular event (optional)

Source:
Author: The author's name of the work which mentions the event. (optional) (auto-hints)
Title: The book title where the event is mentioned (optional) (auto-hints) (auto-hints)
Page: The page/paragraph/verse where this event is mentioned (optional)
Derived from: If the author has not seen the event himself, enter the primary source (optional)
Quote: The plaintext quotation which mentions the event (optional)
Validity: estimated truthfulness/fidelity of the event report (optional)
Reported year/month/day: the date of the publication where the event was mentioned. For archeological findings, enter the date of discovery. (optional)

I'll investigate the Orbis thing which Mr. Scott mentioned: if we somehow can get GPS coordinates from the ancient location names.

Features, suggestions, complaints, etc. are welcome!
 
Re: Historical Events Database

Data said:
It's done:

http://historicalevents.thebigrede.net

Who would like to have an user account?

*Raises hand* :)

We have a lot of info to start with, but you could modify/update the database as we go along. Great job, Data! Thanks.
 
Re: Historical Events Database

I raise my hand too, to have a user account.

The texts to choose from will be posted in this thread? And then we can say that we're working with that particular text (we've chosen) here, so others will choose other texts to work on? Or how is it going to work?
 
Re: Historical Events Database

With each historian, you will want to read their entire works. Just plug away at it, maybe an hour a day, while sitting in front of the computer so you can make an entry if something appears.

So let's start with some of the majors:

Polybius
Diodorus of Sicily
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Livy (I've got him)
Marcus Velleius Paterculus
Flavius Josephus
Plutarch
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus
Suetonius
Dio Cassius
Herodian
Eusebius of Caesarea
Ammianus Marcellinus
Theodoret
Priscus
Sozomen
Salvian
John Malalas
Zosimus
Procopius
Jordanes
Nennius
Gregory of Tours
Bede
Paul the Deacon
 
Re: Historical Events Database

SeekinTruth said:
I raise my hand too, to have a user account.

Sent you a PM.

I found this catalog/database of ancient locations:

_http://pleiades.stoa.org

They have 30000 location names with GPS coordinates and time periods in CSV format. It could be easily integrated into our little app -- if needed. I'll wait for more feedback.
 
Re: Historical Events Database

I'll take Dionysius of Halicarnassus, preliminarily. I need to get his entire works.
 
Re: Historical Events Database

Zadius Sky said:
Data said:
It's done:

http://historicalevents.thebigrede.net

Who would like to have an user account?

*Raises hand* :)

We have a lot of info to start with, but you could modify/update the database as we go along. Great job, Data! Thanks.

Add me too.

I can spend 1 hour per day reading and making upd with author to this base .! :)

I will start from this:
HISTORY OF THE LANGOBARDS
(Historia Langobardorum)
by Paul the Deacon (Paulus Diaconus)
 
Re: Historical Events Database

I'd like to help. I'll start with Polybius' The Rise of the Roman Empire.

Regarding the database setup would it be useful to have something under the sources section about the branch of study? While we're starting with historians, it will also include records from ice cores, dendrochronology, archeological digs, etc, correct?
 
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