Histories

In the opening sentence, Herodotus introduces himself as a native of Halicarnassus, a Greek city on the western coast of Asia Minor (modern Turkey), announces his theme, and describes his purpose in writing the Histories. Herodotus’ subject is the conflict between the Greeks and their Asiatic neighbors, whom he calls “barbarians” (a non-judgmental term meaning the non-Greek-speaking ethnic groups that inhabited the region comprising the modern states of Turkey, Iraq, Iran, and north-western and central Asia). This conflict culminates in the wars fought between the Greek city-states and the Persian empire in the early fifth century BCE, within living memory of many of Herodotus’ contemporaries.

Herodotus begins by tracing the antagonism between Europe and Asia back to a series of abductions of women, involving Io of Argos, Medea of Colchis, and Helen of Sparta. The kidnappings of foreign women inaugurated a succession of grievances and retribution that set the Greeks against their barbarian neighbors to the East, eventually resulting in the Trojan War. Herodotus, however, dismisses this legendary explanation, which he ascribes to the Persians, for the enmity that led to the conflict of civilizations. Preferring to rely on his “own knowledge,” he announces he will reveal “who it was in actual fact that first injured the Greeks,” referring to the Hellenic settlements that dotted the coastline of Western Asia Minor (5). Noting that “human prosperity never abides long in the same place” (5), Herodotus declares he will tell the story of both great and small cities as his account of the clash between the Hellenes and the Asian empires proceeds.   

The true starting point of the history now begins with an account of the kingdom of Lydia, which occupied the western half of Anatolia, the ancient name for Asia Minor. Croesus, ruler of Lydia from 560-547 BCE, was the first foreign sovereign to come into direct contact with the Greeks. He conquered several Greek cities on the Aegean seaboard and formed an alliance with the Lacedaemonians, a Hellenic tribe dominated by Sparta that inhabited the Peloponnese, the southern part of mainland Greece. Prior to Croesus’ subjugation of the Ionian, Aeolian, and Doric Greeks on the coast of Asia Minor, all the Hellenic communities had been self-governed, according to Herodotus.

Herodotus traces the genealogy of the Lydian kings back to the Heraclids, who claimed descent from the mythical hero Heracles. The Heraclid dynasty was overthrown when Candaules, king of Lydia, invited Gyges, a favorite in his bodyguard, to see the queen naked. Horrified at the impropriety of the king’s suggestion but afraid of the consequences of refusing, Gyges consented. That evening he hid behind a curtain in the royal bedroom as the king’s consort disrobed. As he left, she caught sight of him, realized at once her husband’s deception, and resolved to have revenge. The next morning, she summoned Gyges and demanded that he either kill Candaules and take the throne or be killed himself. Gyges begged the queen not to force such a difficult choice on him, but seeing she would not relent, opted to live. With the queen’s help, Gyges murdered Candaules, usurped the throne, and took her as his wife.

The regicide enraged the Lydians, but the Delphic oracle confirmed Gyges’ legitimate claim to the throne and thus the monarchy passed from the Heraclids to the Mermnadae. However, the oracle also declared that the Heraclids would have their revenge five generations later.

Gyges and his successors made several wars against Smyrna and Miletus, coastal Greek cities, and against the Medes, whose empire bordered Persia. Shortly after concluding a truce with Miletus, Gyges’ great grand-son Alyattes died and was succeeded by his son, Croesus. Beginning with Ephesus, Croesus attacked all the Greek cities on the mainland of western Asia Minor, forcing them to pay tribute. Because Lydia was not a naval power, he formed peace treaties with the Ionian islanders. In due time, Croesus’ empire encompassed all western Asia Minor, bringing the Lydian capital Sardis great wealth and prosperity.

Many distinguished Greeks visited Sardis at this time, including Solon, the Athenian law-giver. Croesus entertained Solon hospitably and arranged for him to see the royal treasuries and architectural monuments of the capital. He then asked Solon, “Who is the happiest man you have ever seen?” (13). Expecting the honor would fall to himself, the king was surprised when Solon replied, “an Athenian called Tellus” (13). Solon explained that Tellus came from a prosperous city, had fine sons, adequate wealth, and after dying gloriously in battle, was celebrated by the Athenians with a public funeral. Solon’s answer was meant as a moral rebuke to Croesus, but the king thought he would at least be considered the second-happiest man. Solon, however, gave that honor to two Argive brothers, Cleobis and Biton. They had means, were physically strong, and died an honorable death after carrying their mother several miles to a religious ceremony. Gratified by the praise she and her sons received for this feat, she prayed to the goddess Hera to bestow on them the greatest blessing that can fall to man. After the festivities they lay down in the temple and never woke. The Argives, considering them the best of men, erected statues of them at Delphi.

Thoroughly vexed, Croesus asked Solon what he thought of his own happiness; didn’t it deserve more consideration than that of mere commoners? Solon replied:

God is envious of human prosperity and likes to trouble us […] You seem to be very rich, and you rule a numerous people; but the question you have asked me I will not answer until I know that you have died happily […] Often enough God gives a man a glimpse of happiness, and then utterly ruins him (14-15).

Croesus angrily dismissed Solon, thinking him a fool. After Solon’s departure, nemesis fell upon the king, just as the Athenian sage had predicted. Croesus dreamt that his son Atys would be killed by an iron weapon. He forbade his son from military service and had all the iron spears removed from his quarters. Shortly afterward, an exile arrived at the Lydian court seeking asylum. Adrastus, the supplicant, had inadvertently killed his brother and been driven from his homeland by his father. Croesus expiated Adrastus of the blood-guilt and accepted him as a guest in the palace. Atys and Adrastus then accompanied a Lydian detachment on a mission to kill a gigantic boar that was ravaging neighboring farmland. Croesus, at first unwilling to expose his son to the dangerous mission, entrusted Adrastus with the youth’s safety after Atys argued that his father’s dream couldn’t possibly apply to the boar’s tusks. During the hunt, however, Adrastus hurled a spear that missed the beast and struck Atys instead.

Overcome with grief and shame, Adrastus begged Croesus to execute him for the unforgiveable crime, but the king was moved to pity by his remorse. Croesus realized the accident was not Adrastus’ fault, but divine will. After the funeral, Adrastus, mortified for having killed both his brother and the son of his protector, took his life on the tomb of Atys. Croesus grieved the death of his son for two years, then turned his attention to the expansion of the Persian empire. Croesus devised a test of the most famous Greek oracles to see whether they were trustworthy, so that he might inquire if he should undertake war against Cyrus, ruler of Persian. Satisfied with answers from the Delphic priestess to a test question, Croesus offered enormous sacrifices and gifts of gold to the sacred site attempting to buy the favor of the oracle.

Croesus instructed his envoys to ask the Delphic priestess if he should march against Persia and form an alliance to assist in the campaign. The oracle replied that if Croesus attacked the Persians, he would destroy a great empire, and he should ally himself with the most powerful Greek state. The answer pleased Croesus, and he sent more gold to Delphi, inquiring if his rule would be a long one. The oracle responded that he had nothing to fear until a mule sat on the throne of Media. Overjoyed at this response, Croesus assumed he and his successors would rule Lydia forever.

Croesus then applied to Athens, the foremost city of the Ionian Greeks, and Sparta, the most powerful among the Dorian Greeks, seeking an alliance against Cyrus. In a digression, Herodotus summarizes the political environment in Athens and Sparta during Croesus’ time. Athens was ruled by the tyrant Pisistratus, who, through a series of ruses, had seized power in the city. The most famous of these deceptions occurred after he was forced into exile shortly after first gaining control of the Athenian government. The tyrant’s allies spread the rumor that Athena herself favored Pisistratus and was accompanying him in a chariot to the Acropolis, the Athenian citadel. A tall, beautiful woman from the Attic countryside, dressed in armor and striking a commanding pose, rode next to Pisistratus as he triumphantly returned to Athens, welcomed by awe-struck and credulous townsfolk. Herodotus is surprised that the Athenians, praised for their intelligence, were taken in by this absurd trick. After defeating another attempt to depose him, Pisistratus firmly established himself in power, forcing his enemies to flee Athens.

The Lacedaemonians owed their good government to their lawgiver Lycurgus, who reorganized the Spartan army and civil bureaucracy. Desiring to expand their sovereignty northward into Arcadia some years earlier, they pursued a costly war against the Tegeans. The tide turned when the Delphic oracle proclaimed the Lacedaemonians would be victorious if they brought home the bones of Agamemnon’s son, Orestes, which lay beneath the Tegean plain. A retired Spartan officer discovered the grave of the legendary hero, collected the bones, and returned them to Sparta. Ever since, Herodotus claims, the Spartans have prevailed in every struggle and dominated most of the Peloponnese. The Lacedaemonians welcomed the Lydian delegation and accepted Croesus’ request for an alliance. Croesus targeted Cyrus for three reasons: 1) he wished to expand the Lydian empire; 2) he was emboldened by the oracles he had received, and 3) he wanted to punish Cyrus for his treatment of Croesus’ brother-in-law Astyages, the king of Media.

Astyages was Cyrus’ maternal grandfather. One night he dreamt that his daughter urinated in such quantity that it flooded Ecbatana, the capital of Media, and swamped the whole of Asia. Astyages was so alarmed by the dream that he gave his daughter to Cambyses, a Persian, rather than allow her to marry a Mede and remain in the country. Not long after the marriage, Astyages dreamt that a vine grew from his daughter’s genitals and spread over Asia. He sent for his daughter, now pregnant, intending to abduct her newborn, as the Magi had prophesied that the child would grow up to usurp Astyages’ throne. Astyages instructed Harpagus, his steward, to take the newborn infant and kill it. The steward, however, could not bring himself to murder the king’s grandson and instead entrusted a shepherd with the task of exposing the infant. This shepherd’s wife, coincidently, had just given birth to a stillborn child, and the couple decided to swap the babies. They dressed the dead infant in the princely robes of Cambyses’ son and presented the body to Harpagus as proof that the child had been killed as ordered. The shepherd’s wife brought up the other child as her own.

When the boy was 10, his identity was revealed. Having mistreated another boy of a prominent family, he was brought before Astyages to answer for his behavior. The physical appearance of the child and the nobility of his response was revealing; Astyages instantly guessed that it was his grandson whom he had ordered exposed as an infant. Concealing his anger from Harpagus, Astyages asked the steward to send his own son to the palace to meet the king’s newly discovered grandson and invited Harpagus to dinner that night. When Harpagus’ son arrived, Astyages had him butchered and cooked, and served to his father at the dinner table as punishment. At the end of the dinner, servants brought a cauldron containing the boy’s head, hands, and feet before Harpagus, asking him to open the lid and take what he wanted. Though horrified, he kept his composure, acknowledged what he had eaten, and said “May the king’s will be done.” After this, Astyages asked the Magi whether the survival of his grandson still posed a threat to him. They reassured him that the dream had been fulfilled and Astyages had no further reason to fear him. The king sent the boy, Cyrus, to his birth parents in Persia, who were overjoyed to discover that he was still alive.

In a few years, Cyrus distinguished himself as the bravest and most popular young man in Persia, which, at this time, was subject to the Medes. Harpagus, who had been burning for revenge against Astyages, secretly encouraged Cyrus to lead a revolt of the Persians against the Median empire, promising to support the effort. Cyrus orchestrated the revolt by convincing the Persians he had been appointed their commander by Astyages. After entertaining his assembled warriors with a magnificent banquet, he asked them whether they preferred hard labor or feasting and amusement. When they replied that they preferred pleasure, he urged them to overthrow the yoke of Median domination and fight for the enjoyments of freedom. Herodotus notes, “at last [the Persians] had found a leader and welcomed with enthusiasm the prospect of liberty” (53). When Astyages heard that the Persians were marching on him, he appointed Hapargus commander of his army, forgetting the atrocity he had inflicted upon him. The Median army fled and Astyages was captured alive. Hapargus mocked the captive king, but Cyrus treated him graciously and allowed him to live the remainder of his life at the Persian court.

Croesus blamed Cyrus for deposing his brother-in-law and sought revenge, invading Cappodocia, which lay to the east of Lydia across the Halys river. The Persian and Lydian armies fought without a clear victory for either side. Croesus, whose army was severely outnumbered by the Persians, hoped to encourage the Egyptians, Babylonians, and Lacedaemonians to join him, and returned to Sardis intending to set out again the following spring. He disbanded his mercenary soldiers, assuming Cyrus wouldn’t pursue him after the inconclusive battle. However, a portent occurred: Snakes swarmed into the outskirts of Sardis, and horses came and ate them. The omen signified that the Lydians would be destroyed by an invading army.

Cyrus pursued and caught the Lydian king off guard. The Lydians, courageous fighters and excellent horsemen, took up a defensive position on the plain of Sardis. Cyrus, fearful of the Lydian cavalry, ordered that pack camels be used to lead the attack with his own cavalry taking up the rear. The stratagem worked; the camels panicked the Lydian horses into chaotic flight and the Persians enjoyed the advantage. After heavy losses on both sides, the Lydians were forced to withdraw behind the city’s walls where they were besieged. Croesus appealed to his allies for help. The Spartans, who were currently at war with Argos, prepared a relief force but before their ships could embark for Sardis, word came that the city had been captured.

During the fall of Sardis, a Persian soldier was about to kill Croesus who, in his misery, did not care whether he lived or died. Seeing the sword about to strike, Croesus’ mute son cried out “Do not kill Croesus!”; the first words the boy ever uttered. Thus, Herodotus observes, the oracle was fulfilled; after reigning 14 years, Croesus had destroyed a mighty empire—his own. The captive Croesus was chained to a funeral pyre. In despair, remembering what Solon had told him, Croesus sighed and uttered the Athenian’s name. Asked by Cyrus who Solon was, Croesus told the story of how Solon came to Sardis, made light of its splendor, and that everything came true as he said, with Croesus the prime example of how the gods destroy those who pride themselves on their good fortune.

Touched, Cyrus reflected on his own situation and that he was now putting to death someone who had been as fortunate as he was. He ordered the fire be put out, but it had gained hold and was rapidly consuming the pyre. Realizing that Cyrus had a change of heart, Croesus implored Apollo to save him, if any of gifts he had made had pleased the god. In answer to his prayer, rain fell from the cloudless sky and extinguished the fire. Seeing this convinced Cyrus that Croesus was loved by the gods. He asked Croesus why he chose to make war against him. Croesus replied that the god who encouraged him to fight was to blame: “No one is fool enough to choose war instead of peace—in peace sons bury fathers, but in war fathers bury sons. It must have been heaven’s will that this should happen” (37).

Croesus advised Cyrus that the Persians plundering Sardis would eventually rise against the Persian king, greedy for more riches. Cyrus ordered that a tenth of all the spoil be given to Zeus to prevent such a rebellion. Croesus then asked Cyrus to have the chains in which he was bound brought to the temple at Delphi as a reproach to Apollo, who had repaid the gifts of the Lydian king with enslavement. The Delphic priestess told the Lydian messengers that not even gods can escape their fate, and that though Apollo wished that the fall of Sardis would occur during the reign of Croesus’ sons, the god could not avoid the expiation of Gyges’ crime falling upon Croesus himself. Croesus had misunderstood the oracle twice: He assumed the empire destined to fall would be Persia’s, not his own, and he didn’t realize that Cyrus, a child of Mede and Persian parents, was the mule indicated by the priestess. Upon hearing the oracle’s explanation, Croesus agreed that he had been mistaken and the god was innocent.

Turning to the background of Cyrus’ rise to power, Herodotus describes the ascendancy of the Median empire, which destroyed the Assyrian empire that had lasted over 500 years. Deioces (ruled 700-647 BCE) consolidated the Median peoples under his monarchy and was succeeded by his son Phraortes, who died in an unsuccessful war against the Assyrians. Phraortes’ son Cyaxares defeated the Assyrians but was attacked while besieging Ninevah by a Scythian army, which had swept down from the north and overran Asia Minor. After 28 years of Scythian rule in Asia, Cyaxares invited the Scythian leaders to a banquet and murdered them. The Medes recovered their former power, dominating all of Asia Minor and Persia. Cyaxares died after ruling 40 years and was succeeded by his son Astyages, Cyrus’ grandfather.

After a description of Persian customs, Herodotus returns to the thread of his historical narrative. Once Lydia fell to Cyrus, the Ionian and Aeolian Greeks applied to him for the same favorable terms they had received from Croesus. Cyrus refused them, except the people of Miletus. The mainland Ionians and Aeolians then erected defenses and appealed to Sparta for aid; the islanders had nothing to fear as Persia did not have a navy.

The Spartans rejected the Aeolian and Ionian request but dispatched a ship to the Asiatic coast for observation. A Spartan envoy was sent to Sardis to forbid Cyrus, on behalf of the Lacedaemonians, from harming any Greek city. Cyrus dismissed the messenger with insults. Leaving Sardis in the hands of a Persian governor, he headed east, planning attacks against Egypt and Bactria. Once Cyrus left Sardis, the Lydians rebelled, recruited allies from neighboring towns, and besieged the Persian governor who took refuge in the acropolis of the city. Cyrus asked Croesus for advice on handling the insurrection. Eager to save the Lydians from slavery and destruction, Croesus encouraged Cyrus to punish the leader of the rebellion, disarm the Lydians and force them to adopt an effeminate way of life, thus preventing any further Lydian threat to the Persian king’s authority.

Cyrus then appointed Hapargus leader of a Median army, commissioning him to conquer the Ionian towns along the coast of Asia Minor. Hapargus first attacked Phocaea, whose inhabitants were seafaring pioneers. The Phocaeans abandoned their city and fled in ships to Chios, ultimately sailing to Corsica, where many died in battle and as prisoners of war. The remainder fled to Rhegium in Italy. Of the remaining Ionians, the inhabitants of Teos also chose voluntary exile, fleeing the Median army and founding the city of Abdera on the Thracian coast. The rest eventually succumbed to Harpagus, and Ionia for a second time was subjected to foreign domination. After the defeat of the mainland cities, the Ionian islanders surrendered to Cyrus. After the subjugation of Ionia, Harpagus attacked Caria, Caunia, and Lycia, regions lying to the south of the Ionian cities. Most of the settlements in these areas surrendered with little struggle, but a few fought bravely to the last man. Meanwhile, Cyrus conquered every remaining people in the north and east of Asia Minor.

Cyrus then set his sights on Assyria. After describing the grandeur and architectural magnificence of the Assyrian capital, Babylon, Herodotus mentions the achievements of Babylon’s two queens, Semiramis and Nitocris, who undertook monumental engineering projects that fortified the city, diverting the course of the Euphrates river that flowed through it. Cyrus’ attack was directed against Nitocris’ son, Labynetus, king of Assyria. During the invasion, one of Cyrus’ sacred horses was swept away when crossing a swift river. Enraged at the river’s audacity, he ordered his army to divide the waterway into 360 channels as a punishment for the offense. This took the entire summer and Cyrus was forced to delay his attack on Babylon until the following spring.

Cyrus then laid siege the city and had his men alter the course of the Euphrates to lower the water level as it entered Babylon. This enabled part of his army to ford the river and enter the capital, which they took by surprise. Herodotus describes the immense wealth of Babylon, which supplied a third of all the tribute and provisions the Persian empire received from its vast territories in Asia. Assyria was the breadbasket of the ancient Near East, producing tremendous quantities of grain. Among the many customs of the Babylonians that Herodotus mentions is one he considers most shameful: Each woman is forced to prostitute herself once at the temple of Aphrodite, giving herself to the first man who throws a coin in her lap.

After conquering Assyria, Cyrus desired to subdue the Massagetae, who lived east of the Caspian Sea, north of Persia. Believing himself invincible, he sought to extend his empire to the distant extremities of the world. He asked for the hand of Tomyris, queen of the Massagetae, in a bid to gain her territory without hostility. Realizing Cyrus’ offer was deceptive, she rejected him and suggested their armies meet in battle. On the eve of crossing into the land of the Massagetae, Cyrus dreamt that Darius, the son of one of his generals, appeared with two wings on his shoulders, one shadowing Europe and the other Asia. Cyrus interpreted the dream to mean that the young Persian was plotting against him, not realizing that the dream foreshadowed his own death and Darius’ ultimate succession to the throne.

On the advice of Croesus, the Persians laid out a magnificent banquet before the Massagetae army and withdrew most of their forces. After killing the small remnant of Persians left behind, the Massagetae gorged themselves on food and wine and were then slaughtered in a surprise attack by the main Persian force. During the attack, Tomyris’ son was captured by Cyrus. Enraged at the Persians’ subterfuge, Tomyris delivered an ultimatum to the Persian king: Release her son and leave the country or prepare for a bloodletting. Cyrus ignored the threat and a violent engagement occurred in which the Persians were defeated, and Cyrus was killed. Locating Cyrus’ body on the battlefield, Tomyris pushed his head into an animal skin full of blood, crying, “Though I have conquered you and live, yet you have ruined me by treacherously taking my son […] I fulfill my threat, you have your fill of blood” (84).