Herodotus, one of the earliest and greatest of Western prose authors, set out in the late fifth century BC to describe the world as he knew it. This commentary by leading scholars, originally published in Italian, has been fully revised by the original authors and is now presented for English readers.

This volume offers a historical and factual commentary on Herodotus book 6. The introductory discussions include one on the background to the Ionian revolt and the role of Histiaeus. The commentary aims to assess the reality behind Herodotus' text: the revolt and its aftermath; the various aspects of Spartan affairs in the middle of the book; Datis' invasion of Eretria and Attica; and Miltiades' expedition the following year. Material that cannot conveniently be dealt with in the commentary itself, and a number of related topics that merit consideration, are considered in a series of appendices. These include discussions of Cleomenes' madness in relation to his activities in Arcadia, and the Argive reaction to his victory at Sepeia.

Book V of the Histories focuses on the Persians and their expansion into Thrakia and Makedonia, as well as their conflict with the Greeks of Ionia.

Modern scholarship judges Herodotus to be a more complex writer than his past readers supposed. His Histories is now being read in ways that are seemingly incompatible if not contradictory. This volume interrogates the various ways the text of the Histories has been and can be read by scholars: as the seminal text of our Ur-historian, as ethnology, literary art and fable. Our readings can bring out various guises of Herodotus himself: an author with the eye of a travel writer and the mind of an investigative journalist; a globalist, enlightened but superstitious; a rambling storyteller but a prose stylist; the so-called 'father of history' but in antiquity also labelled the 'father of lies'; both geographer and gossipmonger; both entertainer and an author whom social and cultural historians read and admire. Guiding students chapter-by-chapter through approaches as fascinating and often surprising as the original itself, Sean Sheehan goes beyond conventional Herodotus introductions and instead looks at the various interpretations of the work, which themselves shed light on the original. With text boxes highlighting key topics and indices of passages, this volume is an essential guide for students whether reading Herodotus for the first time, or returning to revisit this crucial text for later research.

Book IX of Herodotus' Histories provides the conclusion and climax to his work, as the victories at Plataea and Mycale complete the improbable Greek victory over Persia. The major themes of the work are all here echoed, modified, and revisited, and Book IX is thus essential for exploring its meaning (or range of possible meanings). This commentary, the first in English devoted solely to Book IX in over a century, treats Herodotus' work as both an historical narrative and a work of literature, incorporating the results of recent scholarly work in the fields of Greek history and historiography. It contains a Greek text together with detailed philological, literary, and historical notes designed to assist the intermediate and advanced Greek student. It will also be of use to graduate students and scholars.