HERODOTUS: ON the WAR for GREEK FREEDOM. Translated by Samuel Shirley and James Romm. Edited by James Romm.
Published in 2003.
Originally published about 440 B.C.
Herodotus, if you don't know, is widely considered to be the West's first historian. He investigated and wrote about the rise of the Persian Empire and the Greco-Persian wars that came as a result of a struggle over Hellenic city-states on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Turkey. Persia took them over and Athens inspired them to rebel, only to be re-conquered. After that Persia led three separate invasions of modern-day Greece by land and by sea, taking Athens twice but eventually being defeated all three times.
There are many familiar stories in Herodotus: On the War for Greek Freedom, including the Battle of Marathon (the inspiration of our modern marathon run because a soldier ran the 26.2 miles from the battle to Athens to tell the results of the battle and then died) and the Battle of Thermopylae where the 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army.
Herodotus also attempts ethnographic studies of several cultures in from Egypt all of the way to the Black Sea. Some are pretty accurate from what we know nowadays, some are clearly quite ridiculous.
The editor, James Romm, edited Herodotus' nine volume set of histories to include just the background for the Greco-Persian wars, the three invasions and a little of the aftermath. Often, he includes a well-written summary to bridge together the pieces. It is intended as an introduction to Herodotus.
I am rating this book 4 stars out of 5. I found Herodotus' style to be a little stilted, much like reading the historical books of the Old Testament, like 1st and 2nd Kings. Sometimes, the stories have real zing, sometimes they're tedious description. Nonetheless, the sheer importance of Herodotus (his name came included in my spell check) and his work makes me raise my rating to 4 stars.
This book can be found at Amazon.com here: HERODOTUS: ON the WAR for GREEK FREEDOM.
Originally published about 440 B.C.
Herodotus, if you don't know, is widely considered to be the West's first historian. He investigated and wrote about the rise of the Persian Empire and the Greco-Persian wars that came as a result of a struggle over Hellenic city-states on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Turkey. Persia took them over and Athens inspired them to rebel, only to be re-conquered. After that Persia led three separate invasions of modern-day Greece by land and by sea, taking Athens twice but eventually being defeated all three times.
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| Herodotus (484-425 B.C.) |
There are many familiar stories in Herodotus: On the War for Greek Freedom, including the Battle of Marathon (the inspiration of our modern marathon run because a soldier ran the 26.2 miles from the battle to Athens to tell the results of the battle and then died) and the Battle of Thermopylae where the 300 Spartans held off a massive Persian army.
Herodotus also attempts ethnographic studies of several cultures in from Egypt all of the way to the Black Sea. Some are pretty accurate from what we know nowadays, some are clearly quite ridiculous.
The editor, James Romm, edited Herodotus' nine volume set of histories to include just the background for the Greco-Persian wars, the three invasions and a little of the aftermath. Often, he includes a well-written summary to bridge together the pieces. It is intended as an introduction to Herodotus.
I am rating this book 4 stars out of 5. I found Herodotus' style to be a little stilted, much like reading the historical books of the Old Testament, like 1st and 2nd Kings. Sometimes, the stories have real zing, sometimes they're tedious description. Nonetheless, the sheer importance of Herodotus (his name came included in my spell check) and his work makes me raise my rating to 4 stars.
This book can be found at Amazon.com here: HERODOTUS: ON the WAR for GREEK FREEDOM.
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