re: How to become a History Buff?

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That is, someone who isn't important in terms of being a head of state, or a general of an army or whatever. Just like a carpenter or whatever, who didn't suddenly do something noteworthy later (like try to kill a head of state or something), just lead an average life. Also by "reasonably construct a biography" I mean something more than "born at this time, married x, had job y, died at this time" some details about their life, that aren't merely constructed by understanding generally what it was like to be a common person at that time and place.

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My vote is for Mersu and Hekanakhte, two Egyptian men from around 2000BCE.
Hekanakhte was a ka-priest, which is...kind of hard to define in modern terms. They were like a funeral director, but they only oversaw one funeral and they did it forever. When a rich man died--in this case a man named Ipi--he left behind lands that were meant to provide an income for the maintenance of his tomb. It was Hekanakhte's job to manage those funds and make sure the rituals for the upkeep of Ipi's soul were performed.
A ka-priest was definitely an upper-class type job maybe somewhere close to a doctor in terms of social standing, so he wasn't a peasant, but also wasn't exactly Pharaoh.
Anyway, Hekanakhte's job required him to go on inspection tours of the property that supported Ipi's tomb, but Hekanakhte was a worrier and also a nag, so while he was away, he bombarded his son Mersu--remember Mersu up there?--with letters.
Hekanakhte wanted Mersu to send him grain. Hekanakhte had business advice for Mersu. Hekanakhte got himself involved in household squabbles. Hekanakhte warned Mersu that he was holding him responsible if the harvest was bad.
And so on.
The letters don't provide a complete biography, but we have some impressive details from lives lived four thousand years ago. We know the names of both men's extended family.We know that Hekanakhte was an unrelenting nag. We know that Mersu, like his father, was a priest. The letters also tell us that, though he was an old man, Hekanakhte took a concubine (or maybe a second wife) and the household hated her. Undaunted, Hekanakhte told Mersu to shut up and learn to cope ("you are five men! What can one woman do to you?").
We have the letters today because Mersu read them at a smaller tomb being built near Ipi's main tomb. After he was done reading, he apparently just threw them on the ground. When the workmen finished work on the tomb, they swept all of the debris--including the letters--into a hole and covered the hole with a stone, creating an accidental time capsule.
Some of the letters were still sealed when discovered, meaning Mersu threw them away unread.

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Where would you start?

I work with a guy who is a huge history guy. It got me wondering where you would start if you wanted to become a history buff?

Documentaries? Books?

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Seriously? How do you not know the definitive work of this Era?

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

LINK

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How to become a History Buff? by AlbertMeansWell


Where would you start?

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How to become a History Buff?
Where would you start?

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