Editing Oral tradition (section)

==== Rome ====
The potential for oral transmission of history in [[ancient Rome]] is evidenced primarily by [[Cicero]], who discusses the significance of oral tradition in works such as ''Brutus'',<ref>Cicero, Brutus, (75) translated by E. Jones (1776) Attalus, available at: Attalus</ref> ''Tusculan Disputations'',<ref>Cicero, Tusculan Disputations, (1.3) translated by J. King. Loeb Classical Library. London: Heinemann, 1927</ref> and ''On The Orator''.<ref>Cicero, On The Orator, (3.197) translated by E. Sutton. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1942</ref> While [[Cicero|Cicer]]o’s reliance on Cato’s Origines may limit the breadth of his argument,<ref name="ReferenceA">Wiseman, T. Historiography and Imagination. Exeter: University of Exeter Press, 1994</ref> he nonetheless highlights the importance of storytelling in preserving [[Roman history]]. [[Valerius Maximus]] also references oral tradition in Memorable Doings and Sayings (2.1.10).<ref>Valerius Maximus, Memorable Doings and Sayings, translated by D. Shackleton Bailey. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 2000</ref>

Wiseman argues that celebratory performances served as a vital medium for transmitting Roman history and that such traditions evolved into written forms by the third century CE.<ref name="ReferenceA"/> He asserts that the history of figures like the house of Tarquin was likely passed down through oral storytelling for centuries before being recorded in literature.<ref>Wiseman, T. Roman Legend and Oral Tradition, The Journal of Roman Studies, 79, 129-137. Available at: JSTOR</ref> Although Flower critiques the lack of ancient evidence supporting Wiseman's broader claims,<ref>Flower, H. (1995). Fabulae Praetextae in Context: When Were Plays on Contemporary Subjects Performed in Republican Rome? The Classical Quarterly, New Series, 45(1), 170-190. Available at: JSTOR</ref> Wiseman maintains that dramatic narratives fundamentally shaped historiography.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>