The Landmark Herodotus:
The Histories
Edited by Robert B. Strassler
Herodotus was a Greek historian living in Ionia during the fifth
century b.c.e. He traveled extensively through the lands of the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea and collected stories, and then
recounted his experiences with the varied people and cultures he
encountered. Cicero called him “the father of history,” and his only
work, The Histories, is considered the first true piece of historical
writing in Western literature. With lucid prose that harks back to the
time of oral tradition, Herodotus set a standard for narrative
nonfiction that continues to this day.
century b.c.e. He traveled extensively through the lands of the
Mediterranean and the Black Sea and collected stories, and then
recounted his experiences with the varied people and cultures he
encountered. Cicero called him “the father of history,” and his only
work, The Histories, is considered the first true piece of historical
writing in Western literature. With lucid prose that harks back to the
time of oral tradition, Herodotus set a standard for narrative
nonfiction that continues to this day.
In The Histories, Herodotus chronicles the rise of the Persian
Empire and its dramatic war with the Greek city-states. Within that
story he includes rich veins of anthropology, ethnography, geology,
and geography, pioneering these fields of study, and explores such
universal themes as the nature of freedom, the role of religion, the
human costs of war, and the dangers of absolute power.
Empire and its dramatic war with the Greek city-states. Within that
story he includes rich veins of anthropology, ethnography, geology,
and geography, pioneering these fields of study, and explores such
universal themes as the nature of freedom, the role of religion, the
human costs of war, and the dangers of absolute power.
Ten years in the making, The Landmark Herodotus gives us a new,
dazzling translation by Andrea L. Purvis that makes this remarkable
work of literature more accessible than ever before. Illustrated,
annotated, and filled with maps, this edition also includes an
introduction by Rosalind Thomas and twenty-one appendices written
by scholars at the top of their fields, covering such topics as Athenian
government, Egypt, Scythia, Persian arms and tactics, the Spartan
state, oracles, religion, tyranny, and women.
dazzling translation by Andrea L. Purvis that makes this remarkable
work of literature more accessible than ever before. Illustrated,
annotated, and filled with maps, this edition also includes an
introduction by Rosalind Thomas and twenty-one appendices written
by scholars at the top of their fields, covering such topics as Athenian
government, Egypt, Scythia, Persian arms and tactics, the Spartan
state, oracles, religion, tyranny, and women.
The Landmark Herodotus is destined to be the most readable and
comprehensively useful edition of The Histories available.
comprehensively useful edition of The Histories available.
7 3/8 x 9 1/4, paperback
Anchor Books
“The only good is knowledge, and the only evil is ignorance.”
—Herodotus, The Histories
Copyright © 2010 by Robert B. Strassler
Bust of Herodotus
Croesus on the pyre
Eupalinos’ tunnel
“[The Landmark Herodotus is] the
most densely annotated, richly
illustrated, and user-friendly edition
of his histories ever to appear.”
—Daniel Mendelsohn,
The New Yorker
In Print
Forthcoming