In the decades after the Persian Wars, Herodotus of Halicarnassus travelled through Egypt, Babylon, Scythia and the Greek world, collecting stories, and composed the Histories about 430 BC, an account of the conflict between Greeks and Persians and its causes. It is the earliest surviving work of narrative history in the Western tradition, and gave the word 'history', which in Greek means 'inquiry'. Herodotus mixes geography, ethnography, myths and anecdotes, and sometimes reports what he does not believe. He is called the 'father of history' by Cicero, and also, by critics, the 'father of lies'.
Before and after
- from 448 BCE to 433 BCEConstruction of the Parthenon begins
- 445 BCEBirth of Aristophanes
- from 431 BCE to 404 BCEPeloponnesian War
- from c. 430s BCE to 470sStatue of Zeus at Olympia
- c. 430s BCEHerodotus writes the Histories
- c. 430 BCEBirth of Xenophon
- c. 420s BCEConstruction of Temple of Athena Nike
- 425 BCEDeath of Herodotus
- c. 421 BCEConstruction of the Erechtheion
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 3,000 BCECuneiform
- c. 1,500 BCERigveda
- from c. 1,200 BCE to 150 BCEPhoenician script
- c. 375 BCEWriting of The Republic
- 284 BCEColossus of Rhodes
- 196 BCERosetta Stone
The era
This moment belongs to the Ancient civilizations (3,200 BCE to 500 CE), writing, cities and empires. You can also browse everything in the 5th century BCE.