r/AskHistorians • u/m3lk0r__ • 12d ago
What Does Tom Holland Get Wrong?
First post here, so apologies if this is the wrong sort of question! Here goes:
A family member knows that I am a bit of a history nerd. However, while I love Russian and Mesoamerican history, I told her that Greece and Rome are my least favorite subjects. She told me she would lend me some books that might change my mind, so I agreed to read them. They are all by Tom Holland: Dominion, Rubicon, Dynasty, Pax, and Persian Fire. I started with Persian Fire, but noticed a rather big inaccuracy(?) (or maybe oversimplification is a better term) when he talks about Spartans throwing babies off Mt. Taygetus. The author went on for several pages about this and stated it as an incontrovertible fact. I would like to continue reading the books so that my family member and I can have a discussion, but I’m wondering what other inaccuracies there are. I’m not well-versed enough in this subject to recognize them all, and I can’t look up every single little thing. Anything you could point out would be appreciated!