BMCR 2009.04.03, John Claughton, Herodotus and the Persian Wars

John Claughton, Herodotus and the Persian Wars. Greece and Rome: Texts
and Contexts.  Cambridge/New York:  Cambridge Univ. Press, 2008.  Pp.
vii, 152.  ISBN 9780521689434.  $25.00 (pb).

Reviewed by Abram C. Ring, Franklin and Marshall College
([email protected])
Word count:  2297 words
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Table of Contents
(http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0834/2008273759-t.html)

I. Introduction and abstract

Claughton's Herodotus and the Persian Wars provides a lively new
translation of selections from the Histories, most of which come from
the major battle narratives.  The notes are often helpful in giving
cross-references within Herodotus (and sometimes to other authors) and
in explaining common Greek customs and beliefs.  The numerous color
illustrations and maps are valuable and laudable additions.  However,
the lack of variety in the selections, the omission of an introduction,
the restricted bibliography, and the failure to address much modern
scholarship will limit the usefulness of this text.

II. Purposes of the series and this book

According to the back cover, this book is part of a new series that is
"suitable for both advanced secondary school and undergraduate study"
and designed to give students "direct access to the ancient world by
offering new translations of extracts from the key texts of its
literature, history and civilization, and by setting them in their
historical, social and cultural contexts."  The back cover also
highlights three features of the series: thought-provoking questions,
notes on the same page as the text, and illustrations.  On the  website
of Cambridge University Press
(http://www.cambridge.org/uk/education/secondary_projectpage.asp?id=2501671)
, one can find a similar description of the series with the following
features listed: "user-friendly layout," "[n]ew translations" in
"approachable, readable English," and "[t]ranslations and commentaries
by key scholars in the Classical field." According to this webpage, the
series is appropriate for students at key stage 4 through Post A-level.
For readers not familiar with the British system, this includes
secondary students (from about 14 years of age) and beginning college /
university-level students.

Claughton's own preface (vi) sets out his five aims: 1) to make key
passages available in relaxed style with explanatory notes and
questions; 2) to show Herodotus exploring historical causation in his
own way--perhaps unlike modern history; 3) to guide the reader to other
passages of Herodotus not included here; 4) to promote thought about
the different world that Herodotus describes; 5) to make one think also
about the similarities between his world and our own because "it was
not only in 480 BC that East and West faced each other."

III. Clear triumphs

Cambridge and Claughton himself have made good on many of their claims.
First, the layout of the book is certainly "user-friendly" in that
every page has the primary text above in a large readable serif font
and the commentary below in a small, yet still quite readable
sans-serif font.  Furthermore, the text is printed in bold blue
characters whenever it receives a comment; in the commentary at the
bottom of the page, the lemma is again printed in blue before the
corresponding note.  The numerous full color illustrations--including
maps and pictures of art and archaeological remains--are likewise
inserted exactly where they might be of interest and accompanied by
captions to explain their significance.  As this book does not provide
a complete text of Herodotus, Claughton often has to summarize certain
sections of the Histories, and he does so in light blue text boxes that
are easily distinguished from the main text and commentary.  Similarly
throughout the book, Claughton has interspersed short selections of
other classical texts for comparison with certain passages of
Herodotus; these comparative selections are also printed in blue boxes.
For example, Claughton includes Thucydides 1.22 and Livy pref. 9-11 to
compare with Herodotus 1.1-5 and Bacchylides Ode 11 on Croesus to
compare with Herodotus 1.86-88.  All of these additional selections
have been translated by Claughton.  The translations are all in
readable, contemporary English prose.

The footnotes are plentiful and many of them provide explanatory
glosses on proper names and places such as Aea and Medea (5) or
discussion of ancient customs, traditions, and beliefs (13, gods
begrudging man too much good fortune; 44, Panathenaea; 64,
guest-friendship).  Some notes lead the reader to compare the current
passage with another in Herodotus or another ancient author.  As
Claughton promises, he sometimes guides the reader to passages not
found in this edition.  Other notes suggest that Herodotus and his
world are not too dissimilar from us.  For example, Xerxes' claim that
the Sun will "look down on no land other than our own" is compared not
only with ancient Roman rhetoric (Vergil Aeneid 1.279) but also with
the more recent British empire "on which the sun never set."
Claughton's prefatory allusion to conflicts between East and West is
developed through direct reference to the 2003 invasion of Iraq (52)
and in a more general remark comparing Xerxes' claims to recurring
excuses for imperialism and expansionism (58).

The questions periodically interspersed throughout the text often ask
students to consider similarities and differences between Herodotus'
world and their own.  After selections from Book I, Claughton asks:
"How does Herodotus tell his story?  What are the strengths of his
method?  How does it differ from a modern historical method?" Later,
after the selections about the Battle of Marathon, he asks: "How does
this narrative compare with oral accounts of any modern war?" and "With
what other battles in history can Marathon be compared as an embodiment
of a nation's identity?  What impact does that aspect have on the
narrative?"  The latter question seems to be hinting at a
reader-response criticism of the text and could certainly stimulate
interesting discussion.

Another useful feature is the brief bibliographic essay in which
Claughton describes several books that students may consult to find
about more about Herodotus and his Histories.  Likewise, the short
index may prove useful because it lists many of the major people and
places mentioned in the text.

IV. Shortcomings

This book has much to offer novice students of the classical world, but
it will not work for all courses.  At $25 it seems overly expensive for
a short paperback (a trait shared by all volumes in this series),
though perhaps the abundant color makes this unavoidable.  Still, there
are less expensive, well-annotated translations of Herodotus such as
the Oxford World Classics edition by Waterfield ($10.95) and the
abridged Focus edition by Shirley ($8.95) with which Claughton's book
must be compared.  Furthermore, the paperback edition of The Landmark
Herodotus is similarly priced ($24.95) but includes a new translation,
an introduction, maps, illustrations, notes, and numerous useful
appendices, whereas Claughton's edition does not include an
introduction or appendices.  Readers must plunge directly into
Claughton's selections without any clear overview of Herodotus' ideas,
methods, and subject matter.  Furthermore, since Claughton focuses on
Herodotus' introduction and battle narratives, you will not find some
well-known passages such as the story of Gyges or the Persian
constitutional debate.  None of Herodotus' books are presented
complete, and books 4 and 5 are omitted entirely.  These omissions are
to be expected owing to the size of Herodotus and the Persian Wars (152
pages) but will make it less attractive to some. I have recorded the
specific section numbers in the table of contents at the end of this
review for ease of reference.

Though the translation has been thoroughly modernized, an American
reader may occasionally be distracted by Briticisms such as "rubbished
it" (p.17), "lay up glory" (91), "it is all to play for" (117),
"was...off his head" (129), and "stickability" (131).  Similarly notes
and questions comparing ancient events with the Battle of Britain (38)
and Battle of Hastings (48) will baffle many American students, though
Claughton sometimes gives multiple points of reference as when he
compares Thermopylae with Dunkirk and the Alamo (80).

Claughton often defends Herodotus against charges of dishonesty and
error (10, story about Solon meeting Croesus; 34, explaining his
descriptions of gold digging ants; 128, Pitanate company).  He
sometimes cites charges by Plutarch (47, 90, 92 ) but never
specifically addresses criticism by modern scholars.  In the
bibliography he says (149): "I remain deeply antipathetic to Fehling's
argument".  However, neither there nor elsewhere does he explain what
Fehling's argument is.  It would have been more useful to explain at
least briefly the nature of Fehling's criticism, to note that other
scholars similarly question Herodotus' truthfulness, and to answer at
least a few of these charges explicitly in the notes so that students
could have an opportunity to follow both arguments on their own.

Although the many comparative references to Homer (46, 68, 84, 93-4,
120-1, 140, ...) are instructive, the comparisons with Marco Polo (23,
29-30, 34) and Shakespeare (66) are perhaps interesting but not very
helpful for understanding Herodotus himself.  On the other hand, there
is no mention of Hecataeus of Miletus, arguably Herodotus' most
influential predecessor, in connection with Herodotus' prologue which
has clearly been modeled on Hecataeus'.  Since Claughton also includes
neither of the later episodes involving Hecataeus (Hdt. 2.143, 5.36),
he never provides an opportunity to assess Herodotus' attitude toward
this predecessor whose rationalization of the "silly stories" (FGrH 1 F
1) of the Greeks profoundly influenced Herodotus' logical methods.

A few notes are misleading, erroneous, or emotive rather than
informative.  For example, Claughton strangely implies that the oracle
about Athens's "wooden walls" was truly prophetic, and that
Themistocles was the only one who rightly understood it (100).  Surely
many ancient Greeks would not have read this story so credulously.  In
comments on the talents and daric staters of Pythius (64), Claughton
implies that silver talents must consist of Greek denominations and
says that staters were silver coins weighing 130 grams (.287 lb).
Talents were used by virtually all Mediterranean societies, so the
talents of silver need not be Greek.  Daric staters were gold coins
weighing 130 grains or 8.4 grams.  Thus Pythius' fortune is divided
into silver and gold, not Greek and Persian, portions.  Elsewhere
Claughton implies that Herodotus' remark about Athens being the most
ancient city would have insulted the Spartans (41), but this cannot be
true.  Sparta had never claimed to be very old because the Spartans
were supposed to be immigrants to the Peloponnese, while Athens was
generally thought to be very ancient.  When Herodotus comments on
Egyptians preventing embalmers from having sex with corpses, Claughton
jests (32): "there is a kind of comfort that even Herodotus can succumb
to sensationalism and a ghoulish fascination with necrophilia."  While
notes often mention recurring themes in Herodotus, they do not draw
attention to many structural and verbal aspects of his style.  For
example, one finds no significant discussion of oral features, ring
composition, frame narratives, and meaningful word play in the logoi
(e.g. Tellos = telos, "end"; Adrastos = "inescapable").

Though it is useful to have an index, the two pages (151-2) might have
been expanded.  For example, we find no references to the notes in the
index.  Furthermore, the following list illustrates some persons and
places mentioned by Herodotus that do not appear in the
index--Claughton's page numbers in parentheses:  Helen (5),  Cleobis
and Biton (11), Homer (26), Libya (27), Pindar (33), Harmodius and
Aristogeiton (43), Epizelos (47), Perseus (91),  Simonides (95),
Mnesiphilos (98), Asopus (127), Cithaeron (130), and Callicrates (138).

V. Conclusion

Some of the issues outlined above may discourage secondary and
university-level instructors from adopting this book, especially since
there are a number of other choices if one is looking for a modernized,
annotated edition of Herodotus.   Still, Claughton's translation is
smoothly readable, his notes often helpful, and the format quite
pleasing and easy to use.  The rich color maps and illustrations are
well done and may stimulate much interest especially in more visually
inclined readers.

VI. Table of Contents

Claughton's page numbers are in parentheses.  The corresponding section
numbers in Herodotus are in square brackets.  An asterisk (*) indicates
where Claughton has omitted part of the numbered section of
Herodotus--one should note that in the text these omissions are often
indicated neither by notes nor by ellipses.  If preceding the section
number, an asterisk indicates an omission from the beginning of the
section; if following, the omission is from the end. For example,
*1.29-34*  marks one omission at the beginning of Hdt. 1.29 and another
at the end of 1.34.

1. Introduction and the kidnapping of women (1-8)

Introduction (2) [Book 1, prologue]

The kidnapping of women (3-7) [1.1-5]

2. Croesus, the king of Lydia (9-22)

Croesus and Solon (10-14) [*1.29-34*]

The fall of Croesus (15-20) [1.86-91]

3. Egypt and the wonders of the world (23-37)

The Nile and the reason for its flooding (23-27) [2.19-27][[1]]

The wonders of Egypt (27-28) [2.35]

Cats and crocodiles (28-30) [2.66-70]

Mummification (30-32) [2.85-89]

Darius and the treatment of the dead (32-33) [3.38]

India, Arabia, and the far north (33-37) [3.101-106, 111, 113-116]

4. The battle of Marathon, 490 BC (38-48)

Preparations for battle (39-41) [6.102-103*,  104-108*][[2]]

The battle (42-48) [6.109-117, 120]

5. The coming of the Persian invasion (49-78)

The decision to invade Greece (49-62) [*7.4-18][[3]]

Xerxes and Pythius 1 (63-64) [7.27-29]

The bridge at Abydos (65-66) [7.33-36*][[4]]

Xerxes and Pythius 2 (66-67) [*7.37-40*][[5]]

Xerxes and Artabanus at Abydos (68-73) [7.43-53]

Xerxes and Demaratus at Doriscus (74-78) [*7.100-105*][[6]]

6. The battle of Thermopylae, 480 BC (79-96)

Thermopylae and Artemisium (80-81) [7.175, 177]

The Persian numbers (81-82) [7.184-187]

The battle's preliminaries (83-86) [7.201-204*, 206-209][[7]]

The battle (86-94) [7.210-225]

The glorious dead (94-95) [7.226-228, *238][[8]]

7. The battle of Salamis, 480 BC (97-118)

The debate amongst the Greeks at Salamis (97-101) [8.56-63]

The sons of Aeacus and the Eleusinian Mysteries (102-103) [8.64-65]

The situation amongst the Persians: Artemisia' Advice (103-105)
[8.66-69][[9]]

The Greeks before the battle (105-109) [8.70-72, 74-6, 78-82][[10]]

The battle (110-115) [8.83-95]

8. The battle of Plataea, 479 BC (119-147)

The banquet at Thebes (119-120) [*9.15-16][[11]]

Mardonius and Artabazus (121-122) [9.41-42]

The night mission of Alexander (123-124) [9.44-45][[12]]

Greek manoeuvres before the battle (124-130) [9.46-57]

Mardonius' speech and the Persian attack (130-132) [9.58-59]

Pausanias' message to the Athenians (132) [9.60]

The battle (132-137) [9.61-70]

After the battle (138-142) [*9.72, 76, 78-80, 82][[13]]

The end of it all (142-146) [ 9.116-122]


------------------
Notes:


1.   Section 2.27 is incorrectly included as part of 2.26.

2.   6.103 ends in mid-sentence without any indication of omission; the
beginning of 6.108 is marked as part of 6.107.

3.   The end of 7.4 marked as 7.5; sections 7.10a-h = 7.10 alpha-theta.

4.   A large part of 7.36 is missing but is summarized in block.

5.   Large parts of 7.37 and 7.40 are missing.

6.   A small part of 7.100 and a large part of 7.105 are missing.

7.   7.204 is missing the statement that Leonidas became king
unexpectedly.

8.   7.238 is missing a short phrase.

9.   The Greek-lettered subdivisions of 8.68 are not marked.

10.   Here omissions include the list of Peloponnesian peoples (8.73)
and Herodotus' quotation of and comments on an oracle of Bakis about
Salamis (8.77).  Claughton's section heading on p. 105 misleadingly
reads "8.70-82." As elsewhere, there are no ellipses to mark the
omissions.

11.   A very large part of 9.15 is missing.

12.   In the omitted 9.43, Herodotus asserts that Mardonius wrongly
thought the oracle in 9.42 referred to the Persians and then quotes
another oracle that he claims actually refers to the Persians.  There
is no note explaining the content of this omission.

13.   A small sentence is missing from 9.72.