HERODOTOS OF HALIKARNASSOS

Birth: BC between 490/480 in Halicarnassus = Bodrum;
Death: BC 430/420 in Thurii city / Southern Italy.

Born in Halicarnassus in the early 6th century BC, Herodotus and his family were exiled to the island of Samos in the 460s due to their opposition to the ruler named Lygdamis, who was the head of the local government there. After Lygdamis was deposed from the position of leadership, Herodotus returned to Halicarnassus in the year 455 but soon after left the city, never to return.

Herodotus, who journeyed to Athens this time, made observations while traveling to Egypt, Babylon, the Black Sea, Thrace, and Macedonia, according to his own accounts. Some scientists believe that this claim is untrue and that the locations specified has never been visited by Herodotus due to his continous work at a desk.

The Peloponnesian war's early years were also mentioned by Herodotus, who moved to Thuri in Southern Italy in 444 and became a citizen of that city, lived in there afterwards and died there somewhat between 439 and 429 to be buried in the city's agora. It is believed that the monument that was built here as Herodotus' tomb endured for a very long time and was frequently visited.

Herodotus wrote his work in the form of sections that have the integrity of the subject. Aegean and Mediterranean city-states as well as the establishment and rise of the Persian kingdom in the B.C. 6th century and its battles in the BC. 5th century were covered in the text.

When the work of Herodotus, known as Historiae( Histories), was published is a matter of debate among scholars working in the field of historiography. Different publication date suggestions are made until 424 BC. Herodotus was arranged in nine chapters and the names of the muses were given in the 2nd century BC. It is estimated that it was organized in the Alexandreia (Alexandria) school to honor Herodotus in the century.

The famed Roman orator and politician Cicero de legibus who lived during 1st century in B.C., referred to Herodotus as the "Father of Historiography" in all languages and owing to him, Herodotus is known as pater historiae, which translates as "Father of History."

The fact that the army prepared by the Persian kingdom for the military expedition to seize the city-states on the Mediterranean coast was multinational led Herodotus to make detailed researches about the physical structures, clothes and cultures of the peoples in this army. In order to make this detailed study, Herodotus organized trips to some of the regions where the peoples of the Persian army lived, and conveyed his own observations in his work. Thus, Herodotus illustrates how these peoples' policies as a sovereign authority effect the foundations of their administrative systems while also providing information about the daily lives, customs, and religious ceremonies of the peoples living around the Mediterranean.