Herodotus – 5th Century BC
“This is the display of the inquiry of Herodotus of Helicarnassus, so that things done by man not be forgotten in time, and that great and marvellous deeds, some displayed by the Hellenes, some by the barbarians, not lose their glory, including among others what was the cause of their waging war on each other.”
Herodotus, The Histories 1.1 “Preface”
So begins Herodotus’ work The Histories (‘ἱστορία’ meaning ‘enquiries’ in Greek), a document recording Herodotus’ enquiries into the reasons for the Greek-Persian wars.
Herodotus was an ancient Greek historian, born in Helicarnassus (modern day Bodrum, Turkey), a city in Lydia, which was at that time a part of the Persian Empire. He lived between c. 484 and 425 BC.
Herodotus is sometimes known as the ‘Father of History’ (according to Cicero) or the first historian, since he broke away from previous writing styles of recording deeds in epic poetry intermingled with mythology and supernatural beings. Herodotus instead sought to preserve the facts of the events where possible, and sometimes gave two accounts he had heard, when he could not ascertain which was true.
Herodotus wrote about the Persian Achaemenid Kings such as Cyrus the Great, Darius the Great and Xerxes; and about the events leading up to and contributing to tensions between the Persians and the Greeks, and about their battles, victories and defeats.
However, he was also prone to digressing, about all sorts of other subjects, in order to give the background information he felt necessary for his reader to understand the situation. Although all these digressions can sometimes make the narrative difficult to follow, it has provided modern historians with a wealth of information about the geography of the region, ethnography of the diverse peoples and cultures, descriptions of buildings and cities, transport, administration of the empire and the strategies used in warfare, helping us to build up a picture of the ancient world in and around Greece, Asia Minor and the Middle East.
Although Herodotus has not always been accepted as reliable, for many events of this period he is our only literary source. Sometimes there are other conflicting accounts which call into question his reliability; however on the whole most historians accept that Herodotus is fairly reliable, although it is always worth bearing in mind that no writer is completely free from bias.
Xenophon – 5th / 4th Century BC
Xenophon was an Athenian Greek philosopher, soldier and historian, and a student of the famous philosopher Socrates. Xenophon was a mercenary in the Persian army under Cyrus the Younger.
He wrote a number of works, including ‘Hellenica’ covering the final years of the Peloponnesian War, and ‘Anabasis’ about the expedition of Cyrus the Younger against his brother Artaxerxes II, in which Xenophon took part alongside Cyrus the Younger, and about their journey home.
But for the Achaemenid period, the most important work is the ‘Cyropaedia’, which he wrote about the background and rule of Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Empire, a ruler Xenophon admired and idealised. Xenophon’s ‘Cyropaedia’ was not just intended as a history of the life of Cyrus the Great, but as a way of setting out his beliefs about rulership, and his political and moral philosophy. Therefore some of his writings have an ulterior motive and therefore we have to be careful when using this source.
Compared to Herodotus’ versions of events, Xenophon often embellishes the truth and fictionalises some of the events of Cyrus’ life. However there are occasions where Xenophon’s account is taken as the more likely, such as his version of Cyrus’ accession to the throne of Medea.
As with all primary sources, and particularly ancient sources, it is always important to bear in mind the potential bias in the writings of any given author. Almost everyone will have a preference for one ruler over another, or one philosophy over another, and therefore their beliefs will be reflected in their writing.
Ctesias – 5th Century BC
Ctesias was born in Cnidus, Caria, which was near to Helicarnassus and also a part of the Persian Empire at the time he lived there (modern day Turkey). He was a physician to Artaxerxes II, whom he accompanied in expedition against his brother Cyrus the Younger. (Remember, Xenophon fought as a mercenary with Cyrus the Younger against Artaxerxes II.)
His work ‘Persica’ was written about the history of Assyria and Babylon prior to the founding of the Persian Empire, and covers the history of the Achaemenid kings until 398 BC. The work was written in opposition to Herodotus, to give an opposing view.
‘Persica’ only comes down to us in fragments that have been preserved in the writings of other authors, including Photius, who made an abridgement of Ctesias’ work, and the writings of Athanaeus, Plutarch and Diodorus Siculus.
Ctesias’ history of Assyria does not always agree with the archaeological evidence (cuneiform inscriptions). Later writers do not credit Ctesias with much reliability, but it is useful to have a contrasting view to that of Herodotus, which in many cases is our only or main source. Sometimes it is necessary to evaluate and compare two or more sources relating to an event and use our best judgement to work out which is more likely to be true.
Cuneiform Inscriptions
Fortunately, we do not need to rely on Greek writers alone. We also have a number of cuneiform inscriptions from the period, commissioned by the Achaemenid kings themselves. Cuneiform is a type of script made by carving or chiselling wedge-shaped marks into stone, metal or clay to produce characters (see the image below for an example). It was first used by the Sumerians, but many cultures of Mesopotamia used cuneiform script including the Elamites, Assyrians and Babylonians, and indeed the Achaemenid kings used it to leave inscriptions on the walls and friezes of their palaces, and on the bases of statues.
Cuneiform inscriptions are useful because they give us an insight into the beliefs and values of the Achaemenid kings themselves, and of the image they wished to portray, to other rulers, their citizens and their enemies.
Although these inscriptions are a form of propaganda – a deliberate portrayal of a ruler in a particular light, in order to influence the way they are perceived by their enemies or their subjects – and are therefore not completely reliable as a factual interpretation of events, they are nevertheless useful for gaining an understanding into the motives of the kings, the views they held, and the messages they wanted to convey.
Among the most useful cuneiform inscriptions for this period are:
- The Cyrus Cylinder – an account of Cyrus’ accession to the throne of Medea and Persia that contradicts Herodotus.
- The Behistun Inscription – a long inscription in which Darius I claims lineage to previous kings and therefore authority to rule; lists of his conquered territories, narratives to other events, and some of his religious beliefs.
- Darius’ Tomb Inscriptions – outlines Darius’ ideas of good and bad citizenship, what he expects from his subjects.
- Xerxes’ inscriptions at the Gate of All Nations – contains Xerxes’ claim to have continued the work of his father
- People Lists – there are a number of these, and can be found with frieze depictions of people in various cultural/ethnographic costumes bearing local produce. The inscriptions list the names of the groups of people that the depictions relate to.
There are many more inscriptions that are useful for the study of the Achaemenid period, which will be looked at in more depth in other articles.