He frequently tells us specifically the status and source of his information, and one can picture him on his eager quest for what would now be called oral history – ‘The priest Deda … a most reliable authority … told me that one of the oldest inhabitants had described to him …’, etc.29 Bede is the equal of Thucydides in this respect, and a good deal less credulous than Herodotus (see pp. 35–6).
Herodotus gives way more sources than Thucydides. Although does not sort.
