The Histories
Herodotus, c. 430 BCE
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The Histories, written in the fifth century BC by Herodotus of Halicarnassus, is the founding work of Western history. Its stated aim is to keep the deeds of Greeks and non-Greeks from being forgotten, and to explain why they went to war. Herodotus follows the rise of the Persian Empire through Lydia, Babylon and Egypt, then the Greek resistance at Marathon and Thermopylae. He mixes eyewitness report, hearsay, geography, customs and story, and often says when he doubts what he was told.
Where it happens
- Halicarnassus Herodotus's home city, named in the first sentence of the book.12
- Babylon Assyrian city whose design and ways are described before Cyrus attacks it.1
- Giza Site of the Great Pyramid, which Cheops builds with machines, in the account of Egypt.1
- Delphi Oracle that tells Croesus that if he attacks, a great empire will fall.1
- Marathon Athenian victory under Miltiades that spurs Darius to raise a new army.1
- Thermopylae Pass where Leonidas's small force is sent to delay the Persians.12
- Hellespont Strait that Xerxes crosses with a pontoon bridge, and in anger has lashed.12
- Plataea Town whose alliance with Athens is explained; the summary of Book VI notes its help to Athens.1
Through time
- 585 BCThales predicts the solar eclipse of 28 May, which falls during the Battle of Halys.1
- 484 BCHerodotus is born, by the conventional dating c. 484 BC.1
- 425 BCHerodotus dies, by the conventional dating c. 425 BC.1
- 900The oldest surviving copies of the Histories are Byzantine manuscripts of the 9th and 10th centuries.1
Who is in it, and behind it
Herodotus author
Born about 484 BC at Halicarnassus; counted as the first Western historian and the source of almost everything the book reports.12
Croesus king of Lydia
Rules the nations west of the river Halys, tests the oracles, and is defeated by Cyrus before becoming his advisor.1
Solon Athenian visitor
Answers Croesus's question about the happiest man, and tells him to look to the end of every matter.1
Cyrus II of Persia king
Conquers Lydia and Babylon and dies attacking the Massagetae.1
Cambyses II king of Persia
Son of Cyrus; attacks Egypt and defeats Psammetichus III, then his madness is described.1
Xerxes king of Persia
Succeeds Darius, bridges the Hellespont, and marches against Greece.1
Leonidas I king of Sparta
Leads the small Greek force sent to hold Thermopylae against the Persian army.12
Dienekes Spartan warrior
His sayings are recorded at Thermopylae, including a joke about fighting in the shade.2
Gyges bodyguard of Candaules
Seizes the Lydian kingdom after the king makes him see his wife naked.12
Themistocles Athenian commander
Is paid thirty talents in the account of the fleet's stand in front of Euboea.2
What it is about
Inquiry as the aim
The word historia means enquiry; the stated purpose is to stop deeds from fading and to explain the cause of the war.12
Freedom against empire
Persian despotism is set against the Greek city-states, though Herodotus does not make Greeks all heroes.1
Fortune turns
Solon tells Croesus to look to the end of every matter and that the Deity is altogether envious.2
Customs and difference
Long sections on Egypt, Babylon and Scythia show peoples by their own laws, an early comparative ethnography.1
Hubris of kings
Xerxes has the sea whipped and fettered; Herodotus reports it with distance and says he heard it said.2
In its own words
Showing forth of the Inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos, to the end that neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works great and marvellous, which have been produced some by Hellenes and some by Barbarians, may lose their renown;
the Deity is altogether envious and apt to disturb our lot. For in the course of long time a man may see many things which he would not desire to see, and suffer also many things which he would not desire to suffer. The limit of life for a man I lay down at seventy years:
since the time when Psammetichos having become king desired to know what men had come into being first, they suppose that the Phrygians came into being before themselves, but they themselves before all other men.
bade them scourge the Hellespont with three hundred strokes of the lash and let down into the sea a pair of fetters. Nay, I have heard further that he sent branders also with them to brand the Hellespont. However this may be, he enjoined them, as they were beating, to say Barbarian and presumptuous words as follows:
Thou bitter water, thy master lays upon thee this penalty, because thou didst wrong him not having suffered any wrong from him: and Xerxes the king will pass over thee whether thou be willing or no; but with right, as it seems, no man doeth sacrifice to thee, seeing that thou art a treacherous and briny stream.”
he said that their guest from Trachis brought them very good news, for if the Medes obscured the light of the sun, the battle against them would be in the shade and not in the sun. 227.
The shape of the book
15 chapters, 286,025 words. Point at a bar.
How it came to be here
Herodotus lived about 484 to 425 BC. He says he travelled widely, interviewing people and collecting stories, mostly in territories of the Persian Empire. He presents the conflict as one of Persian slavery against Greek freedom, though the account is not impartial. Later editors split the work into nine books named for the Muses. The oldest surviving manuscripts date from the 9th and 10th centuries AD. This edition is G. C. Macaulay's English translation, about 288,000 words, from Standard Ebooks.
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Sources
Text: PG 2707, 2456 | translator: G. C. Macaulay. CC0 (Standard Ebooks).