Herodotus - A Quick Look at his Life and the Gold-digging Ants of India | Supplemental Podcast #9

Hey everyone, I hope that wherever you are in the world, you're doing well. At the moment, I'm actually on the road, so I thought that it'd be a good time to do a podcast. They're relatively quick, easier to put out, and a bit more informal, which I like. While traveling, I've often thought about one of the most famous ancient travel writers, Herodotus, and his monumental work, The Histories. Due to the number of times I've quoted it on this channel, you'd probably think that The Histories is one of my favorite books. And you know what? You'd be right. For those of you who may not know, The Histories is one of the earliest and most important works of western literature for its examination of not just the Greco-Persian wars, but also the traditions, geography, and politics of the ancient world prior to the 5th century BC. It's an absolutely phenomenal read, and, in my opinion, the author rightly deserves to be called the father of history. Many, though, call Herodotus the father of lies, and dispute much of what he wrote. And to be honest, I can't really blame them. I mean, the guy does talk about flying snakes and gold digging ants as if these were actual things. So which is it? Father of history, or spewer of lies? Well, let's take a quick look at the life of Herodotus, and perhaps see if we can find out. To understand Herodotus, the man, and what may have motivated him, it's important to take a look at the world in which he lived. Herodotus was born in the city of Halicarnassus, which today is the city of Bodrum on the southeastern coast of Turkey. Most scholars believe that he was born in 484 BC, which was an exciting, if not turbulent time in the history of the ancient world. Word on the street was that the great Persian king of kings, Xerxes of the Achaemenid dynasty, was planning a second invasion of the Greek mainland to complete what his father, Darius the Great of Persia, had started barely a decade before. Up until then, the Greek-speaking cities along the eastern shores of the Aegean had been under Persian rule since around 546 BC, when the Achaemenid king, Cyrus the Great, absorbed the region into his then relatively new empire. This status quo remained until 499 BC, when many of the Greek-speaking cities of Asia Minor, led by the city of Miletus, revolted against their Persian overlords. Though the rebellion was initially successful, the Persians launched a counter-offensive, and by 493 BC, had regained the entire region of Ionia. The Greeks of Asia Minor, though, were not alone. They had received support from across the Aegean, most notably from the city-states of Athens and Eritrea. As punishment, and also to prevent further revolts or any other threats to Persian territory, Darius I of Persia, also known as Darius the Great, sent two of his trusted generals to deal with the Greek menace. The Persians sacked Eritrea, but were stopped short from taking Athens due to their defeat by an Athenian-led force at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. A decade later, when Herodotus would have been a toddler, Darius' son Xerxes personally led a much larger invasion force to subdue the Greek mainland, but this ultimately failed due to Persian defeats at Salamis, Plataea, and finally Mycale in Caria, which was not too far from Halicarnassus. Though not the largest, Halicarnassus during Herodotus' day may have been one of the more cosmopolitan cities in the world. Its location near the crossroads of Asia and Europe made it a commercial hub for all sorts of goods from both continents. In the markets of Halicarnassus, Herodotus probably would have seen textiles from Babylonia, smelled incense from Arabia, and marveled at ivory from Africa that had arrived via Egypt. The intricate jewelry and metalwork from Phoenicia would have impressed him, and it's even possible that he may have tasted spices from the easternmost provinces of the Persian Empire. In addition, he would have also come across foreign traders and merchants who would have brought such goods to market. All of this action must have piqued the young Herodotus' curiosity about the world around him. We don't know much else about Herodotus' early life except for what's written in an 11th century Byzantine book called the Suda, a source whose veracity many scholars doubt. In the book, we're told that Herodotus seems to have come from a relatively well-connected merchant family. His father, Lixus, had a Carian name. His mother was probably Greek. He was also somehow related to the epic poet Paniasis. The Suda also states that he lived on the island of Samos sometime during his youth, and it's there that he supposedly learned the Ionian dialect of Greek. This is of interest to scholars and historians because the people of Halicarnassus generally spoke and wrote in the Dorian dialect of Greek, and so they tend to wonder just how Herodotus could have written so fluidly in Ionian Greek. Around the age of 25, Herodotus fled into exile due to his involvement in a failed coup against Halicarnassus' tyrant, Ligdamus. Though Ligdamus' rule had ended by 454 BC, Herodotus never returned to the city of his birth, but instead spent the next decade or so wandering around the known world and eventually writing down what he saw and heard during his many travels. Along with the Greek mainland, Herodotus claims to have visited Egypt, Phoenicia, and other parts of the eastern Mediterranean. He also describes his travels throughout Asia Minor and along the Euphrates River down to the fabled city of Babylon. In addition, he claims to have also visited the Scythian areas along the coast of the Black Sea. It must have been quite a trip. Scholars though debate as to whether or not Herodotus actually visited all of the places that he wrote about in the histories, mainly for the reason that many of his accounts in several instances greatly contradict what we today know about some of these areas. Most believe that he added, or at least greatly exaggerated, key details in many of his stories to perhaps excite and intrigue his audience. So then, why have many others, most notably the great Roman politician and orator Cicero, called Herodotus the father of history and not the father of fantasy? Surely, he wasn't the first person to write about history, since shortly after the dawn of writing in the 4th millennium BC, there had been historical accounts of events. For example, texts chronicling the conquests and great deeds of kings, or the building of temples and monuments. These were recorded by the scribes of the various kingdoms of ancient Mesopotamia, the Levant, and Egypt. Even closer to Herodotus' day, around 500 BC, there was a certain Hectaeus of Miletus who had written a work entitled Journey Around the World, where he also chronicled historical events. In fact, Herodotus actually refers to Hectaeus in the histories several times, though with a bit of contempt. What makes Herodotus unique is that he was the first writer to ever make systematic, factual inquiries into the past, which he examined by using whatever information he came across, whether through his empirical observations, eyewitness accounts, hearsay, or even age-old oral traditions, all of which he analyzed to then arrive at a conclusion about what had actually occurred. Herodotus made inquiries into the causes of past events. He asked the questions why and how. In the opening lines of the histories, which was later divided into 9 books, he states the purpose of his inquiry. It reads, Herodotus of Harley-Carnassus here displays his inquiry, so that human achievements may not become forgotten in time, and great and marvelous deeds, some by Greeks, some by barbarians, may not be without their glory, and especially to show why the two peoples fought with each other. Why did the Greeks and Persians go to war with each other, and how could the Greeks, whose forces were relatively few, defeat the Persians, who, at the time, were the world's only superpower? These are just some of the questions that Herodotus asked, and in order to obtain the answers, he claims to have traveled to several countries and personally questioned as many people as possible, whom he deemed to have had knowledge or been closest to the individuals and events that he sought to learn more about. In a sense, he was the first real investigative reporter that we know about, and though he often seems to favor the Athenians in many instances, perhaps because many of them would go on to become his patrons, most of his work is relatively unbiased. In fact, a good part of his narrative seems to be told from the Persian viewpoint. Even though Persians were the enemies of the Greeks, Herodotus often portrays many of them as brave and of noble character, and shows a deep respect for their culture and the way that they were able to keep together such a gigantic empire. In fact, Plutarch later accused Herodotus of being philobarbaros, a term that means fond of foreigners, and at least in the context that I read it, seems to have a negative connotation. One theme that's pervasive throughout the histories is that arrogance, especially of monarchs or other people in positions of power, often leads them to make foolish decisions that result in disaster and their downfall. Some of the more famous tales of hubris are those of Croesus, Cambyses II, and Xerxes. Though Herodotus points out their flaws, he also brings to light some of their good qualities. For example, Croesus is described as a good, god-fearing king who ultimately misinterpreted an oracle, while Xerxes, despite being the history's main villain, can at times be quite gracious and even pensive. Regardless of whether the one he's speaking about is Greek, Persian, Lydian, Egyptian, or some other nationality, Herodotus gives praise where it's due and admonishes those he believes to have done wrong. Now of course, Herodotus' account of events is far from perfect, something his critics, especially those who call him the father of lies, constantly point out. For example, either Herodotus was extremely naive about some of the facts and figures that he wrote down, or these were clearly embellished and exaggerated, the most famous being Xerxes' invasion force of two million men. I don't know one modern scholar who agrees with Herodotus' number. Most put it at between 50,000 at the lower end up to perhaps 200,000, which is still a massive force. Others closer to Herodotus' time, such as Thucydides in the 4th century BC, believe that Herodotus purposely fabricated many parts of the histories. I'm not going to go as far as to say that Herodotus was purposely lying, but certain tales involving a man being saved from death by dolphins or the gold-digging ants of India do seem as if someone just made them up. For example, here's what he says with regard to the latter. There are other Indians who live around the borders of the city of Kaspatiros and the territory of Paktaike, beyond the other Indians and toward the north. Their manner of life closely resembles that of the Bactrians. These are the most warlike of the Indians, and they are also the ones who go out to gather the gold. Now in the desert of sand live huge ants, smaller than dogs but larger than foxes. Some of these ants were captured and brought to the Persian court. The ants in India make their dwellings underground by mounding up the sand, just as ants do in Hellas, and they also look very much the same. But here the mounded sand contains gold, so the Indians set out to collect this sand. Sounds strange, I know, but we'll get back to this tale shortly. It's tales like these though that are often used to discredit Herodotus as little more than a storyteller and not a historian, at least not in the way that we use the word. However, let's keep an open mind and not condemn Herodotus as a liar just yet. About 2500 years ago, when Herodotus wrote the histories, the distinction between what was myth and reality was often blurred. Many of the things that we today call science were in those days either the actions of the gods or some form of magic. There was also no real way to fact check what other people were telling him, especially in places, such as India, that Herodotus never even claims to have visited. The story about the gold-digging ants was relayed to him by those who had either been to India or had heard such tales from others. Like that kid's game, telephone, by the time the tale arrived to Herodotus' ears, it may have been completely distorted. Or perhaps, not too much. In the late 1960s, French anthropologist and explorer Michael Pissel visited a remote part of Kashmir along the India-Pakistan border. It's there that he met a tribe called the Minaro and heard about a special type of marmot, or ground squirrel, that dug up gold from the earth. In a 1996 interview with Pissel, Dutch journalist Marlies Simons wrote what the French scholar had told her about the area and these most peculiar of animals. I'm going to read a passage from the article to you, word for word, because it explains his discoveries much better than I can. That place, Mr. Pissel said, is the Dhansar Plain, a high plateau overlooking the Indus River near the tense ceasefire line between India and Pakistan. It is an isolated region where the Indus comes roaring through deep gorges on its way south. On both sides of the river, Mr. Pissel said, are small settlements of Minaro tribal people, an ancient remnant who have remained so isolated in the high valleys that they still preserve some Stone Age customs. Up in these barren lands, Mr. Pissel said, he went first to study the Minaro fourteen years ago on the Indian side of the border, traveling in disguise because the military zone was off-limits to outsiders. That's where I first heard the startling news that the villagers used to collect the earth from the marmot burrows because it contained much gold dust, said Mr. Pissel, who speaks Tibetan, like the Minaro. But the Dhansar Plain, where the old people used to get the gold dust, the locals said, was five miles away on the other side of the Indus, now the Pakistani side. It took fourteen years for Mr. Pissel and a British photographer, Sebastian Guinness, to get permits to visit the Minaro on the Pakistani side, also a strategic zone. In Pakistan, he said, the Minaro villagers told the same stories. We went out to the Dhansar Plain, overlooking the Indus, at an altitude of some ten thousand feet, he said. It was astonishing. There were the marmots and the burrow and the piles of sand they had thrown up. Moreover, he said, a landslide had exposed the darker, gold-bearing soil that was three feet below the surface. That was the same soil the marmots brought up from under the sand. Mr. Pissel says his favorite explanation is that confusion set in because in Persian, the word for marmot is equivalent to mountain ant. So, Herodotus describing huge ants, smaller than dogs but larger than foxes, that make dwellings underground by mounding up the sand doesn't sound completely unbelievable when you take into account Pissel's discoveries with the Minaro in Kashmir. Herodotus may not be the most reliable source, but at least in this case, it was probably not his intention to deceive people either. His fault here, and in other places, may have been that he was simply gullible. There are many places in the histories where Herodotus shows that he recognizes the difference between myth and reality. In another story about gold, he tells us, It is clear that gold exists in by far the greatest quantities to the north of Europe, but I cannot say with certainty how it comes to be there. It is reported that there are one-eyed men called Arimaspians who snatch it away from griffins, but I cannot believe in the existence of one-eyed men who were born that way, and who would still have in all other respects a nature just like that of other humans. In any case, these peripheral regions which surround and enclose the rest of the earth, on all sides quite reasonably contain the very things we value as most beautiful and rare. Sometime between the 440s to 420s BC, Herodotus went throughout the Greek world and gave paid readings of the histories. At one reading in Olympia during the Olympic Games, the Athenians supposedly gave him a huge sum of 10 talents out of gratitude for his favorable portrayal of their city. Towards the end of his life, Herodotus is said to have journeyed to the new established Athenian colony of Thurion in southern Italy, where he likely died between the years 425-420 BC, although one tradition has it that he died and was buried in the Macedonian capital of Pella. Fascinating man, and we'll definitely talk more about him, certainly quote him, in the near future. As always, thanks so much for stopping by, I really appreciate it. I'd also really like to thank GrandKeg69, Jaap de Graaf, Pastafrola, Michael Lewis, Daniel Allen, Danny Van Eck, WanixTV, Robert Morgan, Frank, Tim Lane, Candice Whipple, Faridun Dadachanji, Cher Cam, Farhad Kama, and all of the channel's patrons on Patreon for helping to support this and all future content. Check out the benefits to being a Patreon member, and if you'd like to join, feel free to click the link in the video description. 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