"The father of history," as Cicero called him, and a writer possessed of remarkable narrative gifts, enormous scope, and considerable charm, Herodotus has always been beloved by readers well-versed in the classics. Compelled by his desire to "prevent the traces of human events from being erased by time," Herotodus recounts the incidents preceding and following the Persian Wars. He gives us much more than military history, though, providing the fullest portrait of the classical world of the 5th and 6th centuries.

Translated by Robin Waterfield, a distinguished translator whose version of...

The perfect introduction to Herodotus, this Norton Critical Edition includes the complete text ofThe Histories. The translation is fully annotated and is accompanied by an introduction, a chronology of events, and a note on the Persian Wars. Seven maps--all new to the Second Edition--give readers a visual understanding of events and places, 490-479 B.C.E. "Backgrounds" includes a rich collection of historical works by Aeschylus, Bacchylides, Thucydides, Aristotle, and Plutarch. New to the Second Edition are contrasting accounts, by Diodorus of Sicily and Strabo, of the Amazons who...

The story of the Greek city-states uniting to repel a superior Persian army is the main theme in this classical narrative, but Herodotus fleshes out his text with digressions, describing the wonders of Egypt and recounting stories and folk tales.