Translated with Notes by George Rawlinson With an Introduction by Tom Griffith Herodotus (c 480-c 425) is & The Father of History& & his Histories are the first piece of Western historical writing They are also the most entertaining Why did Pheidippides run the 26 miles & 385 yards (or 42195 kilometres) from Marathon to Athens? & what did he do when he got there? Was the Battle of Salamis fought between sausage-sellers? Which is the oldest language in the world? Why did Leonidas & his 300 Spartans spend the morning before the battle of Thermopylae combing their hair? Why did every Babylonian woman have to sit in the Temple of Aphrodite until a man threw a coin into her lap & how long was she likely to sit there? & what is the best way to kill a crocodile? This wide-ranging history provides the answers to all these fascinating questions as well as providing many fascinating insights into the Ancient World