The Histories

Written in the fifth century BCE, Herodotus's Histories inquire into the rise of Persia and the wars between the Persians and the Greek cities. The narrative moves through Lydia, Egypt, Babylon, Scythia, and the court of the Great King before concentrating on the Ionian Revolt, Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea. Along the way Herodotus records customs, geography, and competing stories about how peoples live and why they fight. Principal figures include Croesus, Cyrus, Darius, Xerxes, and the Greek commanders who resist them. The work is both a war history and an ethnographic enquiry into the known world of his time.

Translation by Aubrey de Selincourt. Revised with an introduction & notes by John Marincola. K. Rabb. 18 colour plates. Brown cloth boards with gilt title to spine and gilt vignettes. Dark brown slipcase.