The Landmark Herodotus: The Histories

I've studied Herodotus pretty extensively as he is the basis of a historical novel I just published.

Herodotus is known as the 'father of history' as his The Histories is the oldest history on record (excluding the Bible). The word historie in Greek means 'to inquire.' Herodotus lived about 50 years after the events of the Persian War, which at the time was probably like the World War II of its era. Herodotus was the first person we know of to travel around Greece methodically interviewing veterans who'd been taken part in the war (the same way Ken Burns interviewed WW2 vets for his documentary The War.)

Where Herodotus gets knocked around by modern historians is that he did not check his facts. A lot of what he records were out-right exaggerations and folklore. The classic example of this was his claim that Xerxes' Persian army number one million men. Modern historians claim it would have been impossible to feed that many people that far from home. Odds are, the ex-vets told him it was a million men, simply because it was a huge force and a million was the biggest number they knew. It's pretty much excepted that Xerxes' army was probably closer to 250,000 men. Still a huge force, compared to what Greece could muster.

The folklore comes into play when Herodotus talks about stories from places like Persia, Egypt and Libya. For instance, the stories that in Egypt there were flying snakes, in India there were ants the size of dogs that dug up gold, or that it was impossible to travel north of the Danube River because of all the bees. Some people try explaining these stories, but odds are, Herodotus simply inquired among people who dished out folklore rather than facts.

Still, Herodotus has a lot of good stories to tell. He's the one responsible for giving us the tale of King Leonidas and the last stand of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae. He also reports about the Battle of Marathon, Battle of Plataea and the naval engagement at Salamis. When you read them, it's obvious Herodotus was not a mititary man as his descriptions are rather vague and confusing. He was more of a moralist than a true historian.

Thucydides is actually the better historian, and is known as the 'father of scientific history.' He was a general at Athens during the Peloponnesian War, so his knowledge of warefare is more detailed and a lot more accurate, as it seems he went to greater lengths to check his facts. Unfortunately, he did not complete his work. He stopped short of the end of the Peloponnesian War. Thankfully, Xenophon picked up the story and finished it in his Hellenica.

The Landmark Herodotus is a great edition, superior to the many other translations on the market as it includes maps on nearly every page, oft times of places that no longer exist, and it includes copious commentary. If you're going to pick up a copy of Herodotus' work, I'd go with this one. ( )

Well, "Land Mark Herodotus: The Histories" was not my first Herodotus book, I had many before but none of them was easier to read. Because of my lack of any background of history, especially the ancient history, I was only able to read few pages and then I had to stop. But this excellent, easy to read and thoroughly referenced translation, makes me able to read the exciting book in a single go. There are many maps, which make the book even more enjoyable. One other thing that makes this book more special is the annotations on almost every page which tell the summary of what is mentioned in the main paragraph, and many real time pictures of artifacts of that time of the history. There are many appendixes and a glossary in the end, and many many more feature that make this book an essential to any library in the world. Herodotus would certainly be pleased to see his purpose , which he mentions in the first few sentences of the book, taken to the ultimate, and fulfilled by the contributors and translators of this book. I certainly will recommend this book to everyone, who wants to enjoy and learn ancient history. ( )

Excellent addition to this great series reviewing and researching the best of the ancient historians.

The beginning of history as we know it; history and myth and tall tales told in a personal, chatty way ( )

The Histories by Herodotus chronicles the war between the Persian Empire and the allied Greek city-states, including the rise of that eastern empire and the events which brought them into conflict with the Greeks. Herodotus has been called the Father of History, for inventing the objective recording of history, as opposed to turning it into legends and myths. He has also been called the Father of Lies for the inaccuracies that crept into his account, such as his reporting of Persian troop numbers which are off by at least a factor of ten. Regardless of such, though, he did propound the standard of objectivity and accuracy, and made it the standard for future historians.

This book was a difficult, but enlightening read. I imagine that one has to be a fan of ancient history to really enjoy it. Some parts are a bit slow, the equivalent of the Biblical "begats". My five-star rating must be taken in that context, and it is primarily for the edition itself, which is just fantastic and deserves the "Landmark" in its title. The notes, maps, and appendices make it an invaluable resource. Whether one is reading Herodotus for a class, or doing it like I did out of a perverse sense of fun, this is the edition to have. ( )