To What Extent does Herodotus’ Histories Indicate the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Success in Administration and Organization?

Research Article
Open access

To What Extent does Herodotus’ Histories Indicate the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Success in Administration and Organization?

Xuanming Zhao 1*
  • 1 Shanghai American School, Lingbai Road, Shanghai, China    
  • *corresponding author xuanming01pd2023@saschina.org
CHR Vol.4
ISSN (Print): 2753-7072
ISSN (Online): 2753-7064
ISBN (Print): 978-1-915371-31-7
ISBN (Online): 978-1-915371-32-4

Abstract

Herodotus’ Histories is one of the first works of history (Momigliano) and serves as a record of the ethnic groups, cultures, and events from around the Mediterranean and in West Asia and North Africa from mythological antiquity to around the Greco-Persian Wars. Because it is founded on the tradition of oral storytelling, bias, myth, misinformation, and judgment are apparent throughout. Therefore, this paper aims to examine Herodotus’ rhetoric and evaluate to what extent the Achaemenid Persian Empire was successful, as indicated by his description. This is done by analyzing the flaws and biases in Herodotus’ writing and then analyzing the Achaemenid system of governance, physical infrastructure, and failures in the Ionian Revolt. The paper concludes that although Herodotus highlights the shortcomings of Persian administrators, the overall competence of the regime seen in the descriptions outweighs its flaws.

Keywords:

ancient history, histories, Achaemenid Persian Empire

Zhao,X. (2023). To What Extent does Herodotus’ Histories Indicate the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Success in Administration and Organization?. Communications in Humanities Research,4,413-417.
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References

[1]. Momigliano, A. (1958) The Place of Herodotus in the History of Historiography. History, 43 (147), 1–13.

[2]. Herodotus. (1920-1925) Histories (4 volumes). Translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

[3]. Harrison, T. (2012) Polychronicon: Interpreting the Persian Wars: The Persian Version? Teaching History, 149, 36–37.

[4]. Atkinson, K. M. T. (1956) The Legitimacy of Cambyses and Darius as Kings of Egypt. Journal of the American Oriental Society,76(3), 167–77.

[5]. Brown, P. (1963) From Anarchy to Satrapy. American Anthropologist, 65(1), 1–15.

[6]. Cameron, G. G. (1973) The Persian Satrapies and Related Matters. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 32(1/2), 47–56.

[7]. Marincola, J. (2016) The Historian as Hero: Herodotus and the 300 at Thermopylae. TAPA, 146(2), 219–36.

[8]. Fukuyama, F. (2014) Political Order and Political Decay: From the French Revolution to the Present. Profile Books.

[9]. Britannica. (2018) Roman road system. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/Roman-road-system.

[10]. French, D. (1998) Pre and Early Roman Roads of Asia Minor. The Persian Royal Road. Iran, 36, 15–43.

[11]. Forrest, W. G. (1979) Motivation in Herodotos: The Case of the Ionian Revolt. The International History Review, 1(3), 311–322.

Cite this article

Zhao,X. (2023). To What Extent does Herodotus’ Histories Indicate the Achaemenid Persian Empire’s Success in Administration and Organization?. Communications in Humanities Research,4,413-417.

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About volume

Volume title: Proceedings of the International Conference on Interdisciplinary Humanities and Communication Studies (ICIHCS 2022), Part 2

ISBN：978-1-915371-31-7(Print) / 978-1-915371-32-4(Online)
Editor：Faraz Ali Bughio, David T. Mitchell
Conference website: https://www.icihcs.org/
Conference date: 18 December 2022
Series: Communications in Humanities Research
Volume number: Vol.4
ISSN：2753-7064(Print) / 2753-7072(Online)

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References

[1]. Momigliano, A. (1958) The Place of Herodotus in the History of Historiography. History, 43 (147), 1–13.

[2]. Herodotus. (1920-1925) Histories (4 volumes). Translation by A. D. Godley. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

[3]. Harrison, T. (2012) Polychronicon: Interpreting the Persian Wars: The Persian Version? Teaching History, 149, 36–37.

[4]. Atkinson, K. M. T. (1956) The Legitimacy of Cambyses and Darius as Kings of Egypt. Journal of the American Oriental Society,76(3), 167–77.

[5]. Brown, P. (1963) From Anarchy to Satrapy. American Anthropologist, 65(1), 1–15.

[6]. Cameron, G. G. (1973) The Persian Satrapies and Related Matters. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 32(1/2), 47–56.

[7]. Marincola, J. (2016) The Historian as Hero: Herodotus and the 300 at Thermopylae. TAPA, 146(2), 219–36.

[8]. Fukuyama, F. (2014) Political Order and Political Decay: From the French Revolution to the Present. Profile Books.

[9]. Britannica. (2018) Roman road system. Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/technology/Roman-road-system.

[10]. French, D. (1998) Pre and Early Roman Roads of Asia Minor. The Persian Royal Road. Iran, 36, 15–43.

[11]. Forrest, W. G. (1979) Motivation in Herodotos: The Case of the Ionian Revolt. The International History Review, 1(3), 311–322.

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