And now we move on to the story of Cyrus the Great, Emperor of the Persians and arguably the mightiest of the House of Achaemenes. Funny side note: the Achaemenid dynasty ruled the Persian Empire for about four hundred years, … Continue reading →
Before we move on to the second half of CLIO, the epic rise and fall of Cyrus the Great, there are a number of anecdotes and digressions that we need to cover. Herodotus is great for these little side-stories; heck, … Continue reading →
# Then the gods punished Croesus for his arrogance, says Herodotus, in a rare bit of editorializing. The gods sent him a prophetic dream, in which his son and heir, Atys, was slain with an iron spear-point. Croesus awoke convinced … Continue reading →
Herodotus opens with an explanation that his goal, in setting down his Histories, is twofold. First, he preserves the deeds of men that might otherwise be forgotten, and should not be forgotten because they were cool and impressive. But second … Continue reading →
Amasis was, at this point, king of Egypt (569-525 BC, making him a contemporary of Croesus’s). Lowly born, he suffered somewhat as the stodgy Egyptian aristocrats didn’t like bowing and scraping before him. Eventually he won them over with his … Continue reading →
Herodotus doesn’t mention this, but Psammis died while still a child. How it was he came to have the son Herodotus credits him with is thus a mystery. But Psammis was succeeded by Apries, whom Herodotus declares to have been … Continue reading →
Science-King Psammetichus! What a guy! Herodotus has already mentioned him in passing a couple of times, because you can’t talk Egypt without talking about Psammetichus. He’s the guy who stationed over two hundred thousand troops near the Ethiopian border, didn’t … Continue reading →
Herodotus Tells Tales From Egypt’s Hoary Past! Today’s installment: A Handful of Random Bits and Pieces! So once upon a time, a couple of generations after Mycerinus, the king of Egypt was a man named Anysis, who was blind. When … Continue reading →
Herodotus Tells Tales From Egypt’s Hoary Past! Today’s installment: Cinderella? Mycerinus was the son of the brother of Cheops, and succeeded them. His tomb was probably discovered at the end of the 19th century, but his effects were lost en … Continue reading →
Herodotus Tells Tales From Egypt’s Hoary Past! Today’s installment: Cheops and the Pyramids! We’re ready to move on from Remphis, though first I should point out that Herodotus heard this story about how he went into the underworld and played … Continue reading →
