The "Father of History." Herodotus, the great Greek historian, was born around 484 B.C. in Halicarnassus in Caria, Asia Minor, when it was under Persian rule. He traveled extensively throughout almost all of Asia Minor, Egypt (as far as Aswan), North Africa, Syria, the country north of the Black Sea, and many areas of the Aegean and mainland Greece. It seems that he lived for a time in Athens and in 443 B.C. went with other settlers to the new city of Thurii (in Southern Italy), where he died around 430 B.C.

He was “the prose associated with the bard, a storyteller of the deeds of real men and a describer of foreign lands” (Murray). Herodotus' famous account of the war between the Greeks and Persians has an epic dignity that enhances his expressive style. It includes the rise of Persian power and a reference to the Persian Empire, description and history of Egypt, as well as a lengthy digression regarding the geography and customs of Scythia. Even in the later books concerning the Persian invasions of Greece, there are digressions. All of it is extremely entertaining and produces a great unity.

After personal research and the study of rumors and other evidence, Herodotus provides us with a not uncritical estimation of the best he could find. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Herodotus is in four volumes.