The Opening of the Histories
Original title: Ἱστορίαι, Α (prooimion) (Ancient Greek)
Herodotus Ἡρόδοτος (c. 484–c. 425 BCE)
Translated by G. C. Macaulay (1852–1915), 1890
c. 430 BCE

Cold Library · Open Stacks · S-008014 · https://coldlibrary.com/s/008014
Rights: Herodotus wrote in the fifth century BCE. Macaulay’s translation was published in 1890, and he died in 1915. Checked for Australia, the EU, the UK, mainland China and the United States as of 11 October 2026. Guidance, not legal advice.
Source: Project Gutenberg #2707, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/2707/pg2707.txt (retrieved 2026-10-11)
Generated 2026-10-14 from https://coldlibrary.com/en/open-stacks/herodotus-proem

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This is the Showing forth of the Inquiry of Herodotus of Halicarnassos, to the end that neither the deeds of men may be forgotten by lapse of time, nor the works great and marvellous, which have been produced some by Hellenes and some by Barbarians, may lose their renown; and especially that the causes may be remembered for which these waged war with one another.