Herodotus and the Phoenicians

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Herodotus, the “father of modern history,” wrote his most famous book, Histories, a detailed account of the Greco-Persian wars, the lives of important kings, and famous battles such as Marathon. He provided a cultural background to battles from the standpoint of geography, ethnography, and historiography. His contemporaries accused him of providing “legends and fanciful accounts” in his Histories. Herodotus defended himself that he wrote what he “saw and [what was] told to him.” But a large portion of his accounts have been confirmed by modern historians and archeologists. Herodotus traveled extensively, collecting materials and impressions for his book. On this journey of historical discovery, Herodotus, not a rich man, was probably a sailor and merchant, the preferred trade of most adventurers of those times.