Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman statesman and scholar, was the first to call Herodotus “the father of history”, which is not an exaggeration. First, Herodotus was the foremost ancient writer who set out to put into record a description of the acts of the nations. Not just only that of his nation, but of all the nations he was able to collect information about. Using the means at his disposal, Herodotus was the first one to deliberately invest in studying and researching the past through human observation and inquiry. Unlike the ancients before him, he did not regard history as the domain of spirits and gods. Despite the poor transpoortation systems of his age, he was also the first great traveller who visited remote parts of his world in search of information to pass on to future generations.
Second, Herodotus initiated the practice of documenting for posterity. It was he who first conceived the idea that the history of the past was relevant for the future guidance of the human race. His work was neither a mere attempt to satisfy curiosity nor to fulfill some vanity. Instead Herodotus consciously worked to put into writing what had happened both in his country and abroad, so that all future generations would not be ignorant of the good and bad events that occurred before them, and appreciate the wonderful things done, regardless of who did them:
“What Herodotus the Halicarnassian has learnt by inquiry is here set forth: in order that so the memory of the past may not be blotted out from among men by time, and that great and marvellous deeds done by Greeks and foreigners and especially the reason why they warred against each other may not lack renown.”
Third, Herodotus was the first scholar who perceived the value of impartiality in historical work. Even in his account of the conflicts that pitted his own nation against other nations, he strove to be neutral. He tried to consider and report equally the opinions of rival sides. When explaining the cause of the wars between his people the Greeks and the Persians, Herodotus wrote:
“For my own part, I will not say that this or that story is true, but I will name him whom I myself know to have done unprovoked wrong to the Greeks, and so go forward with my history, and speak of small and great cities alike. For many states that were once great have now become small: and those that were great in my time were small formerly. Knowing therefore that human prosperity never continues in one stay, I will make mention alike of both kinds.”
Fourth, Herodotus strove to be unbiased. With a single exception, he did not pass judgment on foreign customs in his book. Although he was proud to be Greek, he did not think foreign nations were inferior.
In addition to geography and political history, Herodotus’s book contains ethnographic descriptions of various peoples, tales, and legends. So Herodotus is not only the father of history, he is also the first geographer1 and the first ethnographer2.
However, we should understand the limitations of Herodotus. He is the founder of History as a field of study. Herodotus is not a modern historian with modern-day standards and tools. His narrative, dealing with so many variety of topics and drawn from a motley source of information, consists some which cannot be regarded as serious history. In some pages, his book blends popular beliefs of his time with ascertained facts, hearsay with observed evidence. Thus Herodotus reminds us how the pursuit after knowledge that we call science begins: with the will and intension to find out, from what we have, and with what we can.
Reference Notes
- Geography is the study of places and the relationships between people and their environments. It is different from geology. ↩︎
- Ethnography is the descriptive study of a particular human society, culture or community. It is different from ethnology. ↩︎
Sources
Blakeney, Edward H. (1910) Introduction. The History of Herodotus. Translated by George Rawlinson. Volume I. Edited by Edward H. Blakeney. London : J. M. Dent.
Godley, Alfred Denis (1920) General Introduction. Herodotus. Volume I. Heinemann: London.
Rawlinson, George (1909) The History of Herodotus. General Introduction. Volume I. The Tandy-Thomas Company: New York.
Rawlinson, George (1862) History of Herodotus: a new English version. Chapter 1 – On the Life and Writings of Herodotus. Volume I. 2nd edition. John Murray: London.