HERODIANUS

herodianus, aelius, called [greek: ho technikos], alexandrian grammarian, flourished in the 2nd century a.d. he early took up his residence at rome, where he enjoyed the patronage of marcus aurelius (161-180), to whom he dedicated his great treatise on prosody. this work in twenty-one books ([greek: katholike prosodia]) included also an account of the etymological part of grammar. the work itself is lost, but several epitomes of it have been preserved. his [greek: hepimerismoi] dealt with difficult words and peculiar forms in homer. herodianus also wrote numerous grammatical treatises, of which only one has come down to us in a complete form ([greek: peri monerous lexeos], on peculiar style), articles on exceptional or anomalous words. numerous quotations and fragments still exist, chiefly in the homeric scholiasts and stephanus of byzantium. herodianus enjoyed a great reputation as a grammarian, and priscian styles him "maximus auctor artis grammaticae." the best edition is by a. lentz, _herodiani. technici reliquiae_ (1867-1870); a supplementary volume is included in uhling's _corpus grammaticorum graecorum_; for further bibliographical information see w. christ, _geschichte der griechischen literatur_ (1898). herodotus (c. 484-425 b.c.), greek historian, called the father of history, was born at halicarnassus in asia minor, then dependent upon the persians, in or about the year 484 b.c. herodotus was thus born a persian subject, and such he continued until he was thirty or five-and-thirty years of age. at the time of his birth halicarnassus was under the rule of a queen artemisia (q.v.). the year of her death is unknown; but she left her crown to her son pisindelis (born about 498 b.c.), who was succeeded upon the throne by his son lygdamis about the time that herodotus grew to manhood. the family of herodotus belonged to the upper rank of the citizens. his father was named lyxes, and his mother rhaeo, or dryo. he had a brother theodore, and an uncle or cousin panyasis (q.v.), the epic poet, a personage of so much importance that the tyrant lygdamis, suspecting him of treasonable projects, put him to death. it is probable that herodotus shared his relative's political opinions, and either was exiled from halicarnassus or quitted it voluntarily at the time of his execution. of the education of herodotus no more can be said than that it was thoroughly greek, and embraced no doubt the three subjects essential to a greek liberal education--grammar, gymnastic training and music. his studies would be regarded as completed when he attained the age of eighteen, and took rank among the _ephebi_ or _eirenes_ of his native city. in a free greek state he would at once have begun his duties as a citizen, and found therein sufficient employment for his growing energies. but in a city ruled by a tyrant this outlet was wanting; no political life worthy of the name existed. herodotus may thus have had his thoughts turned to literature as furnishing a not unsatisfactory career, and may well have been encouraged in his choice by the example of panyasis, who had already gained a reputation by his writings when herodotus was still an infant. at any rate it is clear from the extant work of herodotus that he must have devoted himself early to the literary life, and commenced that extensive course of reading which renders him one of the most instructive as well as one of the most charming of ancient writers. the poetical literature of greece was already large; the prose literature was more extensive than is generally supposed; yet herodotus shows an intimate acquaintance with the whole of it. the _iliad_ and the _odyssey_ are as familiar to him as shakespeare to the educated englishman. he is acquainted with the poems of the epic cycle, the _cypria_, the _epigoni_, &c. he quotes or otherwise shows familiarity with the writings of hesiod, olen, musaeus, bacis, lysistratus, archilochus of paros, alcaeus, sappho, solon, aesop, aristeas of proconnesus, simonides of ceos, phrynichus, aeschylus and pindar. he quotes and criticizes hecataeus, the best of the prose writers who had preceded him, and makes numerous allusions to other authors of the same class. it must not, however, be supposed that he was at any time a mere student. it is probable that from an early age his inquiring disposition led him to engage in travels, both in greece and in foreign countries. he traversed asia minor and european greece probably more than once; he visited all the most important islands of the archipelago--rhodes, cyprus, delos, paros, thasos, samothrace, crete, samos, cythera and aegina. he undertook the long and perilous journey from sardis to the persian capital susa, visited babylon, colchis, and the western shores of the black sea as far as the estuary of the dnieper; he travelled in scythia and in thrace, visited zante and magna graecia, explored the antiquities of tyre, coasted along the shores of palestine, saw gaza, and made a long stay in egypt. at the most moderate estimate, his travels covered a space of thirty-one degrees of longitude, or 1700 miles, and twenty-four of latitude, or nearly the same distance. at all the more interesting sites he took up his abode for a time; he examined, he inquired, he made measurements, he accumulated materials. having in his mind the scheme of his great work, he gave ample time to the elaboration of all its parts, and took care to obtain by personal observation a full knowledge of the various countries. the travels of herodotus seem to have been chiefly accomplished between his twentieth and his thirty-seventh year (464-447 b.c.).[1] it was probably in his early manhood that as a persian subject he visited susa and babylon, taking advantage of the persian system of posts which he describes in his fifth book. his residence in egypt must, on the other hand, have been subsequent to 460 b.c., since he saw the skulls of the persians slain by inarus in that year. skulls are rarely visible on a battlefield for more than two or three seasons after the fight, and we may therefore presume that it was during the reign of inarus (460-454 b.c.),[2] when the athenians had great authority in egypt, that he visited the country, making himself known as a learned greek, and therefore receiving favour and attention on the part of the egyptians, who were so much beholden to his countrymen (see athens, cimon, pericles). on his return from egypt, as he proceeded along the syrian shore, he seems to have landed at tyre, and from thence to have gone to thasos. his scythian travels are thought to have taken place prior to 450 b.c. it is a question of some interest from what centre or centres these various expeditions were made. up to the time of the execution of panyasis, which is placed by chronologists in or about the year 457