Historians of the classical

period
Herodotus – “The Father of
History”
Who is the Historian?
Herodotus
c.484 BC - c.432 BC
• The date of Herodotus’ death
is ambiguous. Some record it as
429BC, while some of his dates
in “The Histories” suggest that
he lived until 413BC.

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Background to Herodotus
• Believed to have been born in the Greek colony of
Halicarnassus, Caria. This town was just inside the
borders of the Persian Empire.
• Born into a upper class family of the region.
• His high level of literacy suggests his family’s affluence
and education.
• Shared the language and culture of the Greeks.
• Reported that Herodotus was involved in a coup against
a tyrant in his home town about 454 BC.
• Travelled widely throughout the Mediterranean and the
local empires.
• Lived in Athens and Italy for extended periods of time.
• Writing in the shadow of great epic poets such as
Homer.
When was he writing?
• Herodotus lives and writes in a time of
great change for the region commonly
referred to as Greece.
• Sparta was already a strong and developed
city-state, while Athens was developing
into one. Persia was the most powerful
empire in the region, headed by men such
as Darius and Xerxes.
• Politically it was a time of great diversity:-
– Persia: ruled by a monarchy
– Athens: developing democratic reforms under
Solon, but stilled by the rise a tyrant for a time.
– Sparta: unique form of government, with kings,
oligarchy, democracy and aristocracy.
• Socially there is great class distinction
across both the Persian Empire and the
Hellenic (Greek) world.
• Major events in the time of Herodotus include:
– Persian Wars (490-479 BCE): attempts by the Persian
Empire, firstly by Darius I and then by his son Xerxes
to subjugate the Hellenic city-states. Darius I failed in
his attempt especially in the Battle of Marathon.
Xerxes attempted to avenge his father, and launched a
number of attacks. He was initially slowed by the
Spartans at Thermopylae, and later combined efforts
of all Greeks resulted in expelling the Persians.

– Delian League and the Athenian Empire: after the

defeat of the Persians, Athens became the leading
city-state. Initially this was well received, but later
turned into more of a tyrannical head of the military
league. In response to this, a number of city-states
turned to Sparta to stop the Athenians empire
building.

– Peloponnesian War (431 – 404BC): Ultimately the

Athenians and the Spartans with their respective
military leagues clashed. A long and unusual war
develops with the Athenians being a naval power and
the Spartans being land based. End result – Sparta
prevails!
Type of History written by
Herodotus
• Most famous work is “The Histories”, believed
to have been written while living in Italy,
between 430 – 424 BC.
• “Herodotus of Halicarnassus, his Researches
are here set down to preserve the memory of
the past by putting on record the astonishing
achievements both of our own and of other
peoples; and more particularly to show how
they came into conflict” (The Histories).
• Narrative of events.
• Focus of his “book” is the Persian Wars, thus
directly discussing military conflict.
Herodotus’ historical
technique
• The use of the term “histories” is
questioned by some modern historians, and
have determined that his use of the word
does NOT mean research into the past, as
contemporaries would see it.

• Travelled extensively and gathered his

information from oral traditions. These
were not always eye-witness recounts.

• Tempered differing accounts by recording

both. Not any more reliable though.

• Oral stories also came mostly from the

great families and priests of holy places.
Herodotus: purpose and
motivation
• “Herodotus of Halicarnassus, his
Researches are here set down to
preserve the memory of the past by
putting on record the astonishing
achievements both of our own and of
other peoples; and more particularly
to show how they came into conflict”
(The Histories).

• Identify the purpose of Herodotus’

work “The Histories” from the extract
provided above.