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He is known for having written the Histories – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events. He has been described as "The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero.
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Herodotus (greek: Ηρόδοτος) was an ancient Greek historian...
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Mar 17, 2019 · Herodotus' History, translated from Greek by G. C. Macaulay (New York, 1890), in 318 searchable and bookmarked pdf pages. Attached to the document are multilingual HTML versions of each book, maps, and clickable resources for the History and for Herodotus' times.
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Herodotus has been called the “father of history.” An engaging narrator with a deep interest in the customs of the people he described, he remains the leading source of original historical information not only for Greece between 550 and 479 BCE but also for much of western Asia and Egypt at that time.
What did Herodotus write?
Herodotus’s History is an account of the Greco-Persian Wars (499–479 BCE) and the story of the growth and organization of the Persian empire. Herodotus covers the empire’s geography, social structure, and history before describing the events which led to Xerxes’ invasion of Greece and the Greek city-states uniting to defeat his army.
What did Herodotus do?
In addition to writing, Herodotus traveled widely, visiting a large part of the Persian empire: he went to Egypt, Libya, Syria, Babylonia, Susa in Elam, Lydia, and Phrygia. He journeyed up the Hellespont to Byzantium, visited Thrace and Macedonia, and traveled beyond the Danube to Scythia and as far as the Don River.
Is Herodotus’s History accurate?
Herodotus’s subject in his History is the wars between Greece and Persia (499–479 bce) and their preliminaries. As it has survived, the History is divided into nine books (the division is not the author’s): Books I–V describe the background to the Greco-Persian Wars; Books VI–IX contain the history of the wars, culminating in an account of the Persian king Xerxes’ invasion of Greece (Book VII) and the great Greek victories at Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale in 480–479 bce. There are two parts in the History, one being the systematic narrative of the war of 480–479 with its preliminaries from 499 onward (including the Ionian revolt and the Battle of Marathon in Book VI), the other being the story of the growth and organization of the Persian Empire and a description of its geography, social structure, and history.
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Modern scholars disagree about whether Herodotus from the first had this arrangement in mind or had begun with a scheme for only one part, either a description of Persia or a history of the war, and if so, with which. One likely opinion is that Herodotus began with a plan for the history of the war and that later he decided on a description of the Persian Empire itself. For a man like Herodotus was bound to ask himself what the Persian-led invasion force meant. Herodotus was deeply impressed not only by the great size of the Persian Empire but also by the varied and polyglot nature of its army, which was yet united in a single command, in complete contrast to the Greek forces with their political divisions and disputatious commanders, although the Greeks shared a common language, religion, and way of thought and the same feeling about what they were fighting for. This difference had to be explained to his readers, and to this end he describes the empire.
A logical link between the two main sections is to be found in the account in Book VII of the westward march of Xerxes’ immense army from Sardis to the Hellespont on the way to the crossing by the bridge of boats into Greece proper. First comes a story of Xerxes’ arrogance and petulance, followed by another of his savage and autocratic cruelty, and then comes a long detailed description of the separate military contingents of the army marching as if on parade, followed by a detailed enumeration of all the national and racial elements in the huge invasion force.
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May 19, 2015 · Penguin Publishing Group, May 19, 2015 - History - 880 pages. “Unquestionably the best English translation of Herodotus to have appeared in the past half-century.” —The Times Literary Supplement....
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Paperback. $25.00. May 19, 2015 | ISBN 9780143107545. Add to Cart. Buy from Other Retailers: Ebook. +. About The Histories. “Unquestionably the best English translation of Herodotus to have appeared in the past half-century.” —The Times Literary Supplement.
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The Histories. By Herodotus Introduction by John M. Marincola Translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt Revised by John M. Marincola Notes by John M. Marincola Consultant editor Betty Radice. Best Seller. Category: Ancient World History | Classic Nonfiction | Military History. Paperback $13.00. Apr 29, 2003| ISBN 9780140449082. Buy. Paperback$13.00.
About this book. Provides a comprehensive gateway to Herodotus' Histories, the story they tell, and the world in which they were written. The first work of its kind, this book offers students and faculty of all levels an easy-to-use, up-to-date reference tool on Herodotus of Halicarnassus (the "Father of History") and provides Herodotean ...
