Histories

Written in the fifth century BC, the Histories is considered to be the founding work of history in the Western canon, and one of the foundational works of Western literature in general. The narrative centers on the wars between the Greeks and the Persians, and is an important source of information about the peoples, locations, and events of the ancient Greek world and the Persian empire. This work is an early source on the lives of significant historical figures and events, such as the defeat of the kingdom of Lydia, the foundation of the first Persian empire, Cyrus the Great’s ill-fated inva