Herodotus
Herodotus is often described as the father of history for his narrative of the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BC.
Introduction
Human beings are endlessly fascinating creatures.
We are the most advanced life form on Earth, yet human nature suffers from serious flaws that have caused tragic consequences throughout history. We can only begin to come to grips with the flaws of humanity by studying the tiny fragments of our history that have survived antiquity and remain accessible to us today. It is tragic that so many people regard history as boring. Reciting endless facts and figures can often be boring. But describing history through the actions of flawed human beings is anything but boring.
Herodotus is often described as the father of history for his epic narrative of the Greco-Persian Wars of the fifth century BC. However, his interests were wide ranging and he recognized that fully understanding the history of war requires an examination of geography, natural history, anthropology, and human nature. As a result, Histories presents the reader with a sweeping view of the ancient world. More specifically, Herodotus describes the land, people, and culture of the Mediterranean in much detail, with attention also paid to more distant lands including Scythia and the Indus Valley.
Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus, a Greek colony located in Asia Minor. Much of the action in his history takes place in what is modern-day Western Turkey in the struggle for power between the Greeks and the Persians, so Herodotus had the benefit of knowing the region well from personal experience. He also traveled widely around the Mediterranean and presented the reader with first-person accounts. He spoke to a wide variety of people and often reported on what he was told with some skepticism, suggesting that the reader should weigh the stories he conveys and decide for themselves. In a world before widespread written records, Herodotus had to rely on oral history and his own judgment. Much of the contemporary criticism of his work attempts to judge Herodotus by the standards of modern scholarship that would have been impossible to adhere to in the fifth century BC.
The Greek victory over Persia took place in 479 BC when Herodotus was just five years old. Throughout most of his six decades of life, Herodotus would have had access to men who had first-hand experience fighting in the wars, and the richness of his accounts of the battles reflects this. However, first-hand accounts of war can often be distorted, particularly when it comes to the size of opposing forces. In the extensive footnotes and appendices of The Landmark Herodotus, the reader is given some guidance on areas where modern historians differ with Herodotus. In particular, the size of the Persian forces that invaded Greece in 480-479 BC was most likely vastly overstated by Herodotus.
Was Herodotus a propagandist, writing a story intended to build up a glorious Greek victory, or did he just make some honest mistakes? After spending over thirty hours in a long “conversation” with Herodotus, I think it is clear that he strived to convey an accurate picture of the world as he saw it, but he had to contend with very serious limitations that modern-day scholars scarcely need to think about.
Here is the very first line of the book describing his motive for preserving his research:
“Herodotus of Halicarnassus here presents his research so that human events do not fade with time. May the great and wonderful deeds — some brought forth by the Hellenes, others by the barbarians — not go unsung; as well as the causes that led them to make war on each other.”
Much of what we know about the fascinating world of the ancient Mediterranean region and beyond is due to the tireless efforts of Herodotus to bequeath his knowledge to future generations. His work was considered important during his lifetime and in the centuries that followed, and this resulted in its preservation over the past 2,500 years. Like all great written works, Herodotus resists being summarized.
The history of the Greco-Persian Wars is available on many websites, and it is far easier to turn to these secondary sources if the primary goal is to simply understand the broad contours of that series of conflicts. However, readers who take the time to learn directly from Herodotus benefit from the insights of a man who was far closer to the actual events and had access to men who bore witness to what took place.
Herodotus is sometimes criticized for his digressions, but I found those sections of the book most fascinating. In this article, I’ll discuss one early digression and then turn to the specific features that make the Landmark edition of Herodotus so useful for modern readers.
Richer Than Croesus
Early in his history, Herodotus spends a great deal of time describing the rise and fall of Croesus of Lydia who reigned in the mid-sixth century BC, long before the Greco-Persian conflict. Many readers are likely to be familiar with the expression that someone is “richer than Croesus” which refers to his vast wealth.
Croesus took power in 560 BC when his father died after a fifty-seven year reign. Croesus added to the conquests of his father and, at the height of its power, the Lydian empire encompassed most of Western Asia Minor, which is part of modern-day Turkey. Readers familiar with the New Testament will recognize many of the locations in the Lydian empire since St. Paul would stop in many of these cities on his missionary journeys over five hundred years later.
The quest for power and wealth drove nearly all early rulers. Croesus subjugated the people and extracted tribute. From his throne in the ancient city of Sardis, Croesus was riding high and viewed himself as unassailable and perhaps even the happiest man in the world, but as Proverbs 16:18 attests, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” Croesus was on top of the world and was headed for a fall.
A wise man from Athens arrived at Sardis. His name was Solon and he was on a trip to see the ancient Mediterranean world. When he arrived, he was treated with customary hospitality at the court of Croesus. After a few days of rest, Croesus gave Solon a tour of his vast treasures. Knowing that Solon had traveled widely, Croesus eagerly asked whether anyone else surpassed him in happiness and prosperity. Much to Croesus’s disappointment, Solon identified several other men as candidates for most fortunate.
Solon identified a profound philosophical truth: one cannot judge whether a man was truly happy and prosperous until knowing how his life will end. If a typical human life encompasses seventy years, that translates to about 25,000 days of life. Solon’s point was that so much of human life boils down to luck and a single day out of the 25,000 could bring about events totally different from all of the other days of a man’s life. Solon could not judge the great king’s happiness until he learns how his life has ended.
“You see, the man who is very wealthy is no more happy and prosperous than the man who has only enough to live from day to day, unless good fortune stays with him and he retains his fair and noble possessions right up until he departs this life happily.
For many wealthy people are unhappy, while many others who have more modest resources are fortunate. The man who has great wealth but is unhappy outdoes the fortunate man in only two ways, while the fortunate man outdoes him in many ways. The former is more capable of gratifying his passions and of sustaining himself in adversity, but the fortunate man, although he does not have the same ability to sustain himself in adversity or passion, avoids these anyway by virtue of his good fortune.
Moreover, he has no injury, no sickness, no painful experiences; what he does have is good children and good looks. Now if, in addition to all these things, he ends his life well, too, then this is the man you are looking for; he alone deserves to be called happy and prosperous. But before he dies, refrain from calling him this — one should rather call him lucky.”
— Herodotus 1.32.5-7
Croesus was not convinced and he angrily dismissed Solon from his court, “thinking him worthless and extremely ignorant” but he should have instead thanked Solon for the warning. Croesus would be severely tested by unimaginable adversity in the years to come.
Croesus had a dream in which he was told that he was fated to lose his son who would be mortally wounded with an iron spear. Naturally, Croesus thought that he could prevent this tragedy by stopping his son from participating in wars, so he stripped him of his military title. Croesus even tried to prevent the young man from joining a hunting expedition, but this emasculated his son and caused great distress in a society that prized physical valor. His son could hardly show his face in public while being treated as a child.
Croesus finally relented and allowed his son to join a boar hunt. Tragically, he was hit by a javelin which missed the boar and the young man died. Croesus was obviously saddened by this event but attributed the tragedy to the will of one of the gods. Obviously, it was impossible to restore his son’s life no matter how much wealth and power the king had access to. His remaining son was afflicted by muteness and was hardly a suitable heir to the throne. Maybe Solon was right.
After losing his son, Croesus felt a great degree of risk aversion, no longer seeing himself as invincible. His empire sat to the west of a rising Persian power and Croesus decided that he needed to consult the Oracle of Delphi before challenging Persia for regional supremacy. After sending large gifts to Delphi, his representatives were told that if Croesus were to wage war against Persia, he would destroy a great empire. This overjoyed Croesus when he received the news! The Oracle had obviously predicted that he would be victorious over Persia and greatly expand his empire to the east.
While the Oracle could generally be trusted to tell the truth, one had to fully consider the response rather than to merely hear the most favorable interpretation. When the Oracle predicted that a great empire would be destroyed, it was not stated which empire would be destroyed. It turned out that the empire that Croesus would destroy by waging war against Persia was his own empire.
When the Persians overran Sardis after a siege, Croesus was captured. His fourteen year reign had come to an inglorious end. Cyrus, the King of Persia, ordered Croesus to be put to death by being burned alive upon a pyre. At this point, Croesus remembered the words of Solon.
“And now everything had turned out just as Solon had said, and indeed it was clear that his words applied no more to Croesus himself than to the whole human race, and especially to all those who consider themselves happy and prosperous.”
— Herodotus 1.86.5
As Croesus related the tale of Solon to Cyrus while on the pyre, Cyrus had a change of heart and began to fear retribution if he allowed the execution to proceed. But it was too late. Cyrus ordered the pyre to be extinguished but it had already begun to burn out of control. Croesus called out to Apollo to save him and suddenly a heavy rainstorm extinguished the fire. Croesus was saved. Cyrus viewed this event as divine intervention and ordered Croesus to be untied and treated him with great respect. While no longer a king, Croesus went on to serve as an advisor of Cyrus and his son in events recounted later by Herodotus.
This is a great story, but it should be noted that it is highly improbable that Solon and Croesus ever met. The Landmark Edition notes that Solon served as archon of Athens in 594-93 BC and was likely dead for many years before Croesus assumed his throne in 560 BC. Whether Herodotus believed his sources to be true and was simply mistaken or just felt that this was a great story to tell is not clear. Herodotus wrote his history a century after the Lydian/Persian war and he did not have access to the kind of written records modern historians take for granted.
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The Landmark Edition
I would encourage anyone interested in the ancient world to read Herodotus, but it is easy to get bogged down and frustrated. Herodotus was presenting his work to his contemporaries who were very familiar with the geography and culture of the ancient world. Modern readers, especially those who are products of American schools in the twenty-first century, lack any meaningful knowledge of this world. We badly need context, maps, and guides to follow what Herodotus has to say.
I own a copy of Great Books of the Western World, a fifty-four book set that includes Herodotus but provides very limited context or supplementary information. This is consistent with the philosophy of the editors, as explained in The Great Conversation, the first book in the set. I have doubts about whether the typical reader in 1954 could have understood Herodotus without supplementary materials and I am certain that today’s reader cannot do so. I certainly would have been lost without context, maps, and extensive notes.
Fortunately, the Landmark Edition has an excellent introduction along with extensive footnotes, a glossary, and an appendix with numerous articles that provide the background information most contemporary readers lack. Best of all, the book contains excellent maps that are usefully presented. While the maps are often repetitive, showing the same regions multiple times, the editors highlight the cities and geographical features relevant to the nearby text. This makes it easy to locate places that Herodotus discusses.
In this article I did not attempt to provide any information about the main subject of the book, the Greco-Persian war. This is not because that conflict was unimportant, but because it would be next to impossible to “summarize” the war in a useful way that is not readily available elsewhere. Herodotus methodically sets the stage for the conflict by providing the reader with a tour of the ancient world, delving deeply into the culture and history of the people involved. When Persia invaded Greece, their army and navy was comprised of their subjects from all across the empire. It was a truly multi-cultural force.
The victory of the Greek alliance launched a golden age for Athens that lasted nearly fifty years before the outbreak of the Peloponnesian war. I think that a parallel can be drawn between the golden age of Athens in the mid fifth century BC and the American golden age following the Second World War. Both cases feature a civilization at the height of its power and prestige.
Athens was brought down by a “forever war.” American civilization still stands despite nearly constant wars during the twenty-first century and a massive erosion of trust in our society. Hopefully, we will experience a happier eventual outcome, although our trajectory is currently leading in a very negative direction.
Reading Herodotus is an essential preparation for reading Thucydides who wrote the most comprehensive account of the Peloponnesian War. I plan to write about Thucydides later this month.
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