Greek historical literature follows the same course of development as
Greek poetry; it begins in epic form in Ionia and ends in dramatic type
at Athens.
Herodotus, "the father of History", was born at Halicarnassus in Asia
Minor about 484 B.C. He travelled widely over the East, Egypt, North
Africa and Greece. He was acquainted with the Sophoclean circle, joined
the Athenian colony at Thurii in South Italy and died there before the
end of the century. His subject was the defeat of the Persian attack on
Greece and falls into three main divisions. In the first three books he
tells how Persian power was consolidated: in the next three he shows how
it flooded Russia, Thrace and Greece, being stemmed at Marathon in 490;
the last three contain the story of its final shattering at Salamis
and Plataea in 480 and of the Greek recoil on Asia in 479. It is thus a
"triple wave of woes" familiar to Greek thought. His dialect is Ionic,
which he adopted because it was the language of narrative poetry and
prose.
His introduction leads at once into Romance; he intends to preserve the
memory of the wonderful deeds of Greeks and Barbarians, the cause of
their quarrel being the abductions of women, Io, Europe, Medea, Helen. A
more recent aggressor was Croesus, King of Lydia, who attacked the Greek
seaboard. The earlier reigns of Lydian kings are recounted in a series
of striking narratives. Gyges was the owner of the famous magic
ring which made its possessor invisible. His policy of expansion was
continued by his son and grandson. But Croesus, his great-grandson, was
the wealthiest of all, extending his realm from as far as the Halys, the
boundary of Cyrus' Persian Empire. Solon's famous but fictitious warning
to him to "wait till the end comes before deciding whether he had
been happy" left him unmoved. Soon clouds began to gather. A pathetic
misadventure robbed him of his son; the growing power of Persia alarmed
him and he applied to Delphi for advice. The oracle informed him that
if he crossed the Halys he would ruin a mighty Empire and suggested
alliance with the strongest state in Greece. Finding that Athens
was still torn by political struggles consequent upon the romantic
banishments and restorations of Peisistratus, he joined with Sparta
which had just overcome a powerful rival, Tegea in Arcadia.
Croesus crossed the Halys in 554. After fighting an indecisive battle
he retired to his capital Sardis. Cyrus unexpectedly pursued him. The
Lydian cavalry stampeded, the horses being terrified by the sight and
odour of the Persian camel corps. Croesus shut himself up in Sardis
which he thought impregnable. An excellent story tells how the Persians
scaled the most inaccessible part of the fortress. Croesus was put on a
pyre and there remembered the words of Solon. Cyrus, dreading a similar
revolution of fortune, tried in vain to save him from the burning
faggots; the fire was too fierce for his men to quench, but Apollo heard
Croesus' prayer and sent a rainstorm which saved him. Being reproached
by the fallen monarch who had poured treasure into his temple, Apollo
replied that he had staved off ruin for three full years, but could not
prevail against Fate; besides, Croesus should have asked whose Empire he
was to destroy; at least Apollo had delivered him from death. The Lydian
portion ends with a graphic description of laws, customs and monuments.
The rise of Persia is next described. Assyria, whose capital was
Nineveh, was destroyed by Cyaxares of Media, whose capital was Ecbatana.
His son Astyages in consequence of a dream married his daughter Mandané
to a Persian named Cambyses. A second dream made him resolve to
destroy her child Cyrus who, like Oedipus, was saved from exposure by a
herdsman. Later, on learning Cyrus' identity, Astyages punished Harpagus
whom he had bidden to remove the child. Harpagus sowed mutiny in the
Median army, giving the victory to the Persians in 558. Cyrus proceeded
to attack the Asiatic Greeks, of whom the Phocaeans left their home
to found new states in Corsica and Southern Gaul; the other cities
surrendered. Babylon was soon the only city in Asia not subject to
Persia. Cyrus diverted the course of the Euphrates and entered the town
in 538. In an attack on Tomyris, queen of a Scythian race, Cyrus was
defeated and slain in 529.
His son Cambyses determined to invade Egypt, the eternal rival of the
Mesopotamian kings. Herodotus devotes his second book to a description
of the marvels of Egypt, through which he travelled as far as
Elephantiné on the border of Ethiopia. He opens with a plain proof that
Egypt is not the most ancient people, for some children were kept apart
during their first two years, nobody being allowed to speak with them.
They were then heard to say distinctly the word "bekos" which was
Phrygian for "bread". This evidence of Phrygian antiquity satisfied even
the Egyptians.
In this second book there is hardly a single leading feature of Egyptian
civilisation which is not discussed. The Nile is the life of the
land; being anxious to solve the riddle of its annual rise, Herodotus
dismisses as unreasonable the theory that the water is produced by the
melting snow, for the earth becomes hotter as we proceed further
south, and there cannot be snow where there is intense heat. The sun is
deflected from its course in winter, which derangement causes the river
to run shallow in that season. The religious practice of the land are
well described, including the process of embalming; oracles, animals,
medicine, writing, dress are all treated. He notes that in Egyptian
records the sun has twice risen in the west and twice set in the east.
A long list of dynasties is relieved with many an excellent story,
notably the very famous account of how Rhampsonitis lost his treasures
and failed to find the robber until he offered him a free pardon; having
found him he said the Egyptians excelled all the world in wisdom, and
the robber all the Egyptians. The Pyramids are described; transmigration
is discussed and emphasis is laid upon the growing popularity of Greek
mercenaries. The book closes with the brilliant reign of Amasis, who
made overtures to the Greek oracles, allied himself with Samos and
permitted the foundation of an important Greek colony at Naucratis.
The third book opens with the invasion of Egypt by Cambyses in 525 on
account of an insult offered him by Amasis. A Greek mercenary named
Phanes gave the Persians information of the one means of attacking
through the desert. After a fierce battle at Pelusium Egypt was beaten;
for years afterwards skulls of both armies lay around, the Persian heads
being easily broken by a pebble, the Egyptian scarcely breakable by
stones. In victory Cambyses outraged Psammenitus, the defeated King; a
fruitless expedition against Ethiopia and the Ammonians followed. The
Egyptians were stirred by the arrival of their calf-god Apis; Cambyses
mockingly wounded him and was punished with madness, slaying his own
kindred and committing deeds of impiety.
At that time Egypt was leagued with the powerful island of Samos, ruled
by Polycrates, a tyrant of marvellous good fortune. Suspecting some
coming disaster to balance it, Amasis urged him to sacrifice his dearest
possession to avert the evil eye. Polycrates threw his ring into the
sea; it was retrieved by a fisherman. On hearing this, Amasis severed
his alliance.
In the absence of Cambyses two Magi brothers stirred up revolt in Susa,
one pretending to be Smerdis, the murdered brother of Cambyses. That
monarch wounded himself in the thigh as he mounted his horse. The wound
festered and caused speedy death. Meanwhile the false Smerdis held the
sovereignty. He was suspected by Otanes, a noble whose daughter Phaedymé
was married to him. At great personal risk she discovered that the King
was without ears, a manifest proof that he was a Magian. Otane thens
joined with six other conspirators to put the usurper down. Darius, son
of Hystaspes, warned them that their numbers were too large for secrecy,
advising immediate action. The two pretenders had meanwhile persuaded
Prexaspes, a confidant of Cambyses, to assure the Persians that Smerdis
really ruled. Prexaspes told the truth and then threw himself to death
from the city walls. This news forced the conspirators' hands; rushing
into the palace, they were luckily able to slay the usurpers.
The next question was, who should reign? Herodotus turned these Persians
into Greeks, making them discuss the comparative merits of monarchy,
oligarchy and democracy. They decided that their horses should choose
the next king; he whose steed should first neigh should rule. Darius had
a cunning groom named Oebares; that evening he took the horse and his
mare into the market-place; next morning on reaching the same spot the
horse did not fail to seat his master on the throne in 521. A review of
the Persian Empire follows, with a description of India and Arabia.
Polycrates did not long survive. He was the first Greek to conceive
the idea of a maritime empire. He was foully murdered by the Persian
Oroetes, who decoyed him to the mainland by an offer of treasure and
then crucified him. In the retinue of Polycrates was a physician,
Democedes of Croton, who was captured by Oroetes. His fame spread to
Susa at a time when no court doctor could treat Darius' sprained foot.
Democedes was sent for and effected the cure; later he healed the
Queen Atossa of a boil. Instructed by him she advised Darius to send
a commission of fifteen Persians to spy out the Greek mainland under
Democedes' guidance. After an exciting series of adventures the
physician succeeded in returning to his native city. But the idea of an
invasion of Greece had settled on Darius' mind. First, however, he took
Samos, giving it to Syloson, Polycrates' brother who years before in
Egypt had made him a present of a scarlet cloak while he was a mere
guardsman. Darius consolidated his power in Asia by the capture of the
revolted province of Babylon through the self-sacrifice of Zopyrus, son
of one of the seven conspirators. The vivid story of his devotion is one
of the very greatest things in Herodotus.
Persia being thus mistress of all Asia, of Samos and the seaboard,
began to dream of subduing Greece itself. But first Darius determined to
conquer his non-Greek neighbours. The fourth book describes the attack
which Darius himself led against the Scythians in revenge for the
twenty-eight years' slavery they inflicted on the Medes. A description
of Scythia is relieved by an account of the circumnavigation of Africa
by the Phoenicians and the voyage of Scylax down the Indus and along the
coast of Africa to Egypt.
The war on the Scyths was dramatic and exciting, both sides acting in
the spirit of chivalry. Crossing the Bosporus, Darius advanced through
Thrace to the Danube which he spanned with a bridge. The Scyths adopted
the favourite Russian plan of retreating into the interior, destroying
the crops and hovering round the foe; they further led the Persians
into the territories of their own enemies. This process at last wearied
Darius; he sent a herald to challenge them to a straight contest or to
become his vassals. The reply came that if Darius wished a conflict
he had better outrage their ancestral tombs; as for slavery, they
acknowledged only Zeus as their master. But the threat of slavery did
its work. A detachment was sent to the Danube to induce the Ionian
Greeks to strike for freedom by breaking down the bridge they were
guarding, thus cutting off Darius' retreat. To the King himself a
Scythian herald brought a present of a bird, a mouse, a frog and five
arrows, implying that unless his army became one of the creatures it
would perish by the arrows. The Scyths adopted guerilla tactics, leaving
the Persians no rest by night and offering no battle by day. At last
Darius began his retreat. One division of the Scythian horsemen reached
the bridge before their foes, again asking the Ionians to destroy it.
The Greeks pretended to consent, breaking down the Scythian end of it.
Darius at last came to the place; to his dismay he found the bridge
demolished. He bade an Egyptian Stentor summon Histiaeus, the Greek
commandant, who brought up the fleet and saved the Persian host which
retired into Asia.
In 509 a second expedition was dispatched against Barca, a colony of
Cyrene. The history of the latter is graphically described, the first
king being Battus, the Stammerer, who founded it in obedience to
the directions of Apollo. Cyrene was brought under Cambyses' sway
by Arcesilaus who had been banished. He misinterpreted an oracle and
cruelly killed his enemies in Barca. When he was assassinated in that
town his mother Pheretima fled from the metropolis Cyrene to Aryandes,
the Persian governor in Egypt. Backed by armed force she besieged Barca
which resisted bravely for nine months; at the end of that term an
agreement was made that Barca should pay tribute and remain unassailed
as long as the ground remained firm on which the treaty was made. But
the Persians had undermined the spot, covering planks of wood with a
loose layer of earth. Breaking down the planks they rushed in and took
the town, Pheretima exacting a horrible vengeance. Yet she herself died
soon after, eaten of worms. "Thus," remarks the historian, "do men, by
too severe vengeances, draw upon their own heads the divine wrath."
The fifth book begins the concentration on purely Greek history. Darius
had left Megabazus in command in Europe, retiring himself to Sardis. In
that city he was much struck by the appearance of a Paeonian woman and
ordered Megabazus to invade the country. He subdued it and Macedonia in
506-4, but in the process some of his commanders were punished for an
insult to Macedonian women, revenge being taken by Alexander, son of
King Amyntas; a bride shut the lips of a party sent to discover their
fate. In Thrace, Megabazus began to suspect Histiaeus, the Ionian who
had saved Darius and in return had been given a strong town, Myrcinus on
the River Strymon. The King by a trick drew Histiaeus to Sardis and
took him to the Capital, leaving his brother Artaphernes as governor
in Sardis. But Histiaeus had been succeeded in Miletus by his nephew
Aristagoras; to him in 502 came certain nobles from Naxos, one of the
Cyclades isles, begging restoration from banishment. He decided to apply
to Artaphernes for Persian help; this the viceroy willingly gave as it
would further the Persian progress to the objective, the Greek mainland,
across the Aegean in a direct line. The Persian admiral Megabates soon
quarrelled with Aristagoras about the command and informed the Naxians
of the coming attack. The expedition thus failed. Aristagoras, afraid
to face Artaphemes whose treasure he had wasted, decided on raising a
revolt of the whole of Ionia; at that very moment a slave came to him
from his uncle in Susa with a message tattooed on his head, bidding him
rebel.
Aristagoras first applied to Sparta for aid. When arguments failed, he
tried to bribe the king Cleomenes. In the room was the King's little
daughter Gorgo. Hearing Aristagoras gradually raise his offer from ten
to fifty talents, the child said, "Father, depart, or the stranger will
corrupt thee". Aristagoras received a better welcome at Athens. That
city in 510 had expelled Hippias, the tyrant son of Peisistratus, who
appealed to Artaphernes for aid. Hearing this, the Athenians sent an
embassy asking the satrap not to assist the exile, but the answer was
that if they wished to survive, they must receive their ruler back.
Aristagoras therefore found the Athenians in a fit frame of mind to
listen. They lent him a fleet of twenty sail and marched with him to
Sardis which they captured and burned in 501. The revolt speedily spread
over all the Asiatic sea-coast. On hearing of the Athenians for the
first time, Darius directed a slave to say to him thrice a day, "Sire,
remember the Athenians". He summoned Histiaeus and accused him of
complicity in the revolt, but Histiaeus assured him of his loyalty and
obtained permission to go to the coast. Meanwhile the Persians took
strong action against the rebels, subduing many towns and districts. The
book ends with the flight of Aristagoras to Myrcinus and his death in
battle against the Thracians in 496.
The next book opens with the famous accusation of Histiaeus by
Artaphernes: "Thou hast stitched this boot and Aristagoras hath put
it on." Histiaeus in fear fled to his own city Miletus; being disowned
there, he for a time maintained a life of privateering, but was
eventually captured and crucified by Artaphernes. The Ionian revolt had
been narrowed down to Miletus and one or two less important towns. The
Greeks assembled a fleet, but a spirit of insubordination manifesting
itself they were defeated at sea in the battle of Lade in 495. Next year
Miletus fell but was treated with mercy. At Athens the news caused the
greatest consternation; a dramatic poet named Phrynichus ventured to
stage the disaster; the people wept and fined him a thousand talents,
forbidding any similar presentation in future. Stamping out the last
embers of revolt in Asia the Persians coasted along Thrace; before
their advance the great Athenian Miltiades was compelled to fly from the
Dardanelles to his native city. In 492 Mardonius was appointed viceroy
of Asia Minor. He reorganised the provincial system and then attempted
to double the perilous promontory of Athos, but only a remnant of his
forces returned to Asia.
Next year Darius sent to all the Greek cities demanding earth and water,
the tokens of submission. The islanders obeyed including Aegina, the
deadly foe of Athens. A protest made by the latter led to a war between
the two states in which Athens was worsted. Sparta itself had just been
torn by an internal dissension between two claimants of the throne, one
of whom named Demaratus had been ejected and later fled to the Persian
court. The great expedition of 490 sailed straight across the Aegean,
commanded by Datis and Artaphernes. Their primary objective was Eretria
in Euboea, a city which had assisted the Ionians in their revolt. The
town was speedily betrayed, the inhabitants being carried aboard the
Persian fleet. Guided by Hippias the armament landed at the bay of
Marathon, twenty-five miles from Athens. A vain appeal was sent to
Sparta for succours; Athens, supported by the little Boeotian city of
Plataea, was left to cope with the might of Persia.
It was fortunate that the Athenians could command the services of
Miltiades who had already had some experience of the Persian methods of
attack. The details of the great battle that followed depend upon the
sole authority of Herodotus among the Greek writers. Many difficulties
are caused by his narrative, but it seems certain that Miltiades was
in command on the day on which the battle was actually fought. He
apparently clung to the hills overlooking the plain and bay of Marathon
until the Persian cavalry were unable to act. Seizing the opportunity,
he led his men down swiftly to the combat; his centre which had been
purposely weakened was thrust back but the two wings speedily proved
victorious, then converged to assist the centre, finally driving the foe
to the sea where a desperate conflict took place. The Persians succeeded
in embarking and promptly sailed round the coast to Athens, but seeing
the victors in arms before the town they sailed back to Asia. The
Spartan reinforcements which arrived too late for the battle viewed the
Persian dead and returned after praising the Athenians.
A slight digression tells the amusing story how the Athenian
Hippocleides in his cups lost the hand of the princess of Sicyon because
he danced on his head and waved his legs about, shouting that he didn't
care. The great victor Miltiades did not long survive his glory. His
attempt to reduce the island of Paros, which had sided with Persia,
completely failed. Returning to Athens he was condemned and fined,
shortly after dying of a mortified thigh.
In the third portion Herodotus gradually rises to his greatest height
of descriptive power. Darius resolved on a larger expedition to reduce
Greece. He made preparations for three years, then a revolt in Egypt
delayed his plans and his career was cut short by death in 485. His
successor Xerxes was disinclined to invade Europe, but was overborne by
Mardonius his cousin. A canal was dug across the peninsula of Athos, a
bridge was built over the Hellespont, and provisions were collected. A
detailed account of the component forces is given, special mention being
made of Artemisia, Queen of Herodotus' own city, who was to win great
glory in the campaign. The army marched over the Hellespont and along
the coast, the fleet supporting it; advancing through Thessaly, it
reached the pass of Thermopylae, opposite Euboea, in 480.
On the Greek side was division; the Spartans imagined that their duty
was to save the Peloponnese only; they were eager to build a wall across
the isthmus of Corinth, leaving the rest of Greece to its fate. But
Athens had produced another genius named Themistocles. Shortly before
the invasion the silver mines at Laureium in Attica had yielded a
surplus; he persuaded the city to use it for building a fleet of two
hundred sail to be directed against Aegina. When the Athenians got an
oracle from Delphi which stated that they would lose their land but be
saved by their wooden walls, he interpreted the oracle as referring to
the fleet. Under his management the city built more ships. The Council
of Greece held at the Isthmus of Corinth decided that an army should
defend Thermopylae while the fleet supported it close by at Artemisium.
The Persian fleet had been badly battered in a storm as it sailed
along the coast of Magnesia, nearly four hundred sail foundering; the
remainder reached safe anchorage in the Malian gulf, further progress
being impossible till the Greek navy was beaten or retired.
At Thermopylae the advance-guard was composed of Spartans led by
Leonidas who determined to defend the narrow pass. A Persian spy brought
the news to Xerxes that this small body of warriors were combing their
hair. The King sent for Demaratus, the ex-Spartan monarch, who assured
him that this was proof that the Spartans intended to fight to the
death. After a delay of four days the fight began. The Spartans
routed all their opponents including the famous Immortals, the Persian
bodyguard. At length a traitor Ephialtes told Xerxes of a path across
the mountains by which Leonidas could be taken in the rear. Learning
from deserters and fugitives that he had been betrayed, Leonidas
dismissed the main body, himself advancing into the open. After winning
immortal glory he and his men were destroyed and the way to Greece lay
open to the invader.
In three naval engagements off Artemisium the Greek fleet showed its
superiority; a detachment of two hundred sail had been sent round the
island of Euboea to block up the exit of the channel through which the
Greek navy had to retreat, but a storm totally destroyed this force.
When the army retreated from Thermopylae the Greek ships were obliged
to retire to the Isthmus; in spite of much opposition the Athenians
compelled Eurybiades the Spartan admiral to take up his station at
Salamis, whither the Persian navy followed. Their army had advanced
through Boeotia, attacking Delphi on the way. The story was told how
Apollo himself defended his shrine, hurling down rocks on the invaders
and sending supernatural figures to discomfit them. Entering Attica the
barbarian host captured a deserted Athens, Xerxes sending the glad news
to his subjects in the Persian capital.
The Greeks were with difficulty persuaded not to abandon the sea
altogether. Themistocles was bitterly opposed in his naval policy by
Adeimantus, the Corinthian; it was only by threatening to leave Greece
with their fleet that the Athenians were able to bring the allies
to reason. By a stroke of cunning Themistocles forced their hands; a
messenger went to Xerxes with news of the Greek intention to retreat; on
hearing this the Persians during the night blocked up the passages round
Salamis and landed some of their best troops on a little island called
Psyttaleia. The news of this encircling movement was brought to the
allies by Aristides, a celebrated Athenian who was in exile, and was
confirmed by a Tenian ship which deserted from the Persians. Next
morning the Greeks sailed down the strait to escape the blockade and
soon the famous battle began. Among the brave deeds singled out for
special mention none was bolder than that of Artemisia who sank a friend
to escape capture. The remainder of the Persian captains had no chance
of resisting, being huddled up in a narrow channel. Seeing Artemisia's
courage Xerxes remarked that his men had become women, his women men.
The rout of the invaders was quickly completed, the chief glory being
won by Aegina and Athens; the victory was consummated by the slaughter
of the troops on Psyttaleia. The Persian monarch sent tidings of this
defeat to his capital and in terror of a revolt in Ionia decided to
retreat, leaving Mardonius in command of picked troops. He hurriedly
passed along the way he had come, almost disappearing from Herodotus'
story.
Mardonius accompanied him to Thessaly and Macedonia; he sent Alexander,
King of the latter country, as an envoy to Athens, offering to rebuild
the temples and restore all property in exchange for an alliance.
Hearing the news the Spartans in fear for themselves sent a
counter-embassy. The Athenian reply is one of the great things in
historical literature. "It was a base surmise in men like the Spartans
who know our mettle. Not all the gold in the world would tempt us
to enslave our own countrymen. We have a common brotherhood with
all Greeks, a common language, common altars and sacrifices, common
nationality; it would be unseemly to betray these. We thank you for your
offer to support our ruined families, but we will bear our calamities as
we may and will not burden you. Lead out your troops; face the enemy in
Boeotia and there give him battle."
The last book relates the consequences of the Athenian reply to
Alexander. Mardonius advanced rapidly to Athens, which he captured a
second time. The Spartans were busy keeping the feast of Hyacinthia;
only an Athenian threat to come to terms with the foe prevailed on them
to move. Mardonius soon evacuated Attica, the ground being too stony for
cavalry, and encamped near Plataea. The Greeks followed, taking the high
ground on Mount Cithaeron. A brave exploit of the Athenian infantry in
defeating cavalry heartened the whole army. After eleven days' inaction,
Mardonius determined to attack, news of his plan being brought secretly
at night to the Athenians by Alexander. The Spartans, afraid of facing
the Persians, exchanged places with the Athenians; when this movement
was discovered by Mardonius, he sent a challenge to the Spartans to
decide the battle by a single conflict between them and his Persian
division. Receiving no reply, he let his cavalry loose on the Greeks
who began to retire to a place called the Island, where horse could not
operate. This action took place during the night. When morning broke the
battle began. The Persian wicker shields could not resist their enemies'
weapons; the host fled and after Mardonius fell was slaughtered in
heaps. The Greek took vengeance on the Thebans who had acted with the
Persians, of whom a mere remnant reached Asia under the command of
Artabazus.
The victorious Greek fleet had advanced as far as Delos, commanded by
Leotychides, a Spartan of royal blood. To them came an embassy from
Samos, urging an attack on the Persians encamped on Mycale. It is said
that the battle was fought on the same day as that of Plataea and that a
divine rumour ran through the Greek army that their brothers had gained
the day. In the action at Mycale the Athenians took the palm of valour,
bursting the enemy's line and storming his entrenchments. This victory
freed Ionia; it remained only to open the Dardanelles. The Spartans
returned home, but the Athenians crossed from Abydos in Asia to Sestos,
the strongest fortress in the district. The place was starved into
surrender; with its capture ends the story of Persia's attempt to
destroy European civilisation.
In this great Epic nothing is more obvious than the terror the Greeks
felt when they first faced the Persians. The numbers arrayed against
them were overwhelming, their despondency was justifiable. It required
no little courage from a historian to tell the awkward truth--that
Herodotus did tell it is no small testimony to his veracity. Yet only
a little experience was needed to convince the Greeks that they were
superior on both land and sea. Once the lesson was learned, they never
forgot it. Mycale is the proof that they remembered it well. This
same consciousness of superiority animated two other Greek armies, one
deserted in the middle of Asia Minor, yet led unmolested by Xenophon
through a hostile country to the shores of the Black Sea--the other
commanded by Alexander the Great who planted Greek civilisation over
every part of his conquests, from the coast to the very gates of Persia
itself.
Modern history seems to have lost all powers of interesting its readers.
It is as dull as political economy; it suspects a stylist, questions
the accuracy of its authorities, tends to minimise personal influence
on events, specialises on a narrow period, emphasises constitutional
development, insists on the "economic interpretation" of an age and
at times seems quite unable to manage with skill the vast stores
of knowledge on which it draws. To it Herodotus is often a butt for
ridicule; his credulity, inability to distinguish true causes, belief
in divine influences, love of anecdote and chronological vagueness are
serious blemishes. But to us Herodotus is literature; we believe that
he himself laughs slyly at some of the anecdotes he has rendered more
piquant by a pretended credulity; this quick-witted Greek would find
it paid him to assume innocence in order to get his informers (like his
critics) to go on talking. Like Froissart, Joinville, de Comines and
perhaps even like Macaulay he wishes to write what will charm as well as
what will instruct.
Yet as a historian Herodotus is great; he sifts evidence, some of
which he mentions only to reject it; the substantial accuracy of his
statements has been borne out by inscriptions; in fact, his value
to-day is greater than it was last century. If a man's literary bulk
is measured by the greatness of his subject, Herodotus cannot be a
mean writer. His theme is nothing less than the history of civilisation
itself as far as he could record it; his broad sweep of narrative may
be taken to represent the wide speculation of a philosophic historian as
opposed to the narrower and more intense examination of a short period
which is characteristic of the scientific historian. He tells us of
the first actual armed conflict between East and West, the never-ending
eternally romantic story. As Persia fought Greece, so Rome subdued
Carthage, Crusader attacked Saladin, Turkey submerged half Europe,
Russia contended with Japan. The atmosphere of Herodotus is the
unchanging East of the Bible, inscrutable Egypt, prehistoric Russia,
barbarous Thrace, as well as civilised Greece, Africa, India; had he
never written, much information would have been irretrievably lost,
for example, the account of one of the "Fifteen decisive battles" in
history. Let him be judged not as a candidate for some Chair of Ancient
History in some modern University, but as the greatest writer of the
greatest prose-epic in the greatest literature of antiquity.
Of his inimitable short stories it is difficult to speak with measured
praise; it is dangerous to quote them, they are so perfect that a word
added or omitted might spoil them. His so-called digressions have always
some cogent reason in them; they are his means of including in the
panorama a scene essential to its completeness. The narrow type of
history writing has been tried for some centuries; all that it seems
able to accomplish is to go on narrowing itself until it cannot enjoy
for recording or remembering. It is a refreshing experience to move
in the broad open regions of history in which Herodotus trod. If it
is impossible to combine accurate research with the ecstasy of pure
literature, be it so. Herodotus will be read with joy and laughter
and sometimes with tears when some of our modern historians have been
superseded by persons even duller than themselves.