A Commentary on Herodotus Books I-IV (Bks. 1-4)

Review

"David Asheri, a first-class Israeli Herodotean, who as overall editor of the project has also contributed a lengthy and brilliant, introductory essay on Herodotus and his work. The original Italian version of this essay has now been carefully updated and elegantly translated. For the general reader it, and all four individual books, remain the most valuable and accessible matter in an advanced commentary." --New York Review of Books

"Asheri, Lloyd, and Corcella are exceedingly well-informed concerning the scholarship on the ancient Near East and Scythia produced by those who work in the pertinent sub-fields.... The level of their erudition is breathtaking.... It makes one anticipate with bated breath the publication of the succeeding volume."--Paul A. Rahe, Claremont Review of Books

"Asheri's general introduction...must now be the first port of call for anyone interested in Herodotus: it is distinguished by wide leaning and discriminating judgment and virtually every aspect of Herodotus' work is treated thoroughly and judiciously. Asher's commentaries themselves possess the same qualities.... great benefits to be won from this volume. The editors and their team of translators must be commended.... a volume that should be in the hands of every student and scholar."--John Marincola, Classical World

Product Description

Herodotus, one of the earliest and greatest of Western prose authors, set out in the late fifth century BC to describe the world as he knew it - its peoples and their achievements, together with the causes and course of the great wars that brought the Greek cities into conflict with the empires of the Near East. Each subsequent generation of historians has sought to use his text and to measure their knowledge of these cultures against his words.

This commentary by leading scholars, originally published in Italian, has been fully revised by the original authors and has now been edited for English-speaking readers by Oswyn Murray and Alfonso Moreno. It is designed for use alongside the Oxford Classical Text of Herodotus, and will replace the century-old historical commentary of How and Wells (1912) as the most authoritative account of modern scholarship on Herodotus.

Books I-IV cover the history and cultures of Lydia, Egypt, Persia, and the nomads of Scythia and North Africa, in their contacts with the Greeks from mythical times to the start of the fifth century BC; these themes, with many digressions, are woven into an account of the expansion of the Persian Empire and its relations with the Greeks.