a natural eagerness of curiosity. The Historian's description is framed so as to give a rough but clear idea of the government of the Scythians, their manners, and the nature of their country. The Scythians adopted a system of warfare which compelled Darius to retreat into his own states 76. But at the time that Darius was carrying on an unsuccessful war against the Scythians, another mighty expedition" was undertaken, by the Persians stationed in Egypt, against the town of Barce, on the northern coast of Africa. This affords the Historian an opportunity of touching on a subject which must have been no less interesting than instructive to his countrymen: it is, the foundation of the Greek colonies in Libya, which began then to assume an important station. This history he likewise traces from its beginning, and continues down to the time of the inroad of the Persians on the Libyan territory. Herodotus knew, also, too well the instruction which civilized nations may derive from contrasting their situation. with that of men cramped beneath the oppressive weight of barbarism, to neglect the opportunity now before him of giving some account of the vagrant hordes resident on the north coast of Africa. All the events here mentioned are necessarily and intimately connected with the history of the Persians; and perhaps equally so with that of the Grecians, inasmuch as they enable us better to appreciate the importance of the noble victories which they won over the Persians; and not only the valour of the other Greek confederates, but more particularly that of the Athenians, who, to use the Historian's emphatic language, "engaged the Persian at "Marathon single-handed, fought and conquered six and "forty nations." 6 Lib. iv. 120, &c. 77 Lib, iv. 145. 78 Lib. ix. 27. DIGRESSIONS OF THE HISTORY. Such, then, are the principal lines of the plan of History adopted by Herodotus: and if we consider the probable motives which may have induced him to choose so vast a field, we shall, no doubt, trace them to that thirst of universal acquaintance with human nature which enabled him to face the hardships of travel in so many and distant countries. Happily for mankind in general, to the thirst here alluded to is always united an equally irresistible desire of communicating the knowledge obtained. Nor is this turn of mind perceptible only in the general outline of the method: it characterizes the execution of each individual part of the History. The anxiety of the writer to explain and expatiate, and by his explanations to instruct, is every where too visible to escape notice; and one is sometimes tempted to think that the work must have been composed by some mathematician, accustomed to define as he advances. Hence the numerous digressions from, and interruptions of, the narrative, which are met with in the course of the History; many of these are naturally introduced by the subject in hand, while others, according to his own fair avowal, are rather far-fetched: προσθήκας γὰρ δή μοι ὁ λόγος ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐδίζητο7. ó But having touched on the subject of the digressions of Herodotus, it will be proper to extend a little farther our observations; particularly as the objections made to the History on this score, unlike most others, proceed frequently from persons whose talents entitle their opinion. to some respect. Many minds are naturally endowed with a fretful curiosity to see the sequel and termination of the events announced by a history: hence their judgment condemns whatever obliges them to lose sight for a moment of the object of their sole interest: to such persons, Herodotus must always appear exceedingly garrulous; and 79 Lib. iv. 30. indeed the reader must be a very prejudiced admirer of the Historian, who can see his attention diverted, in the middle of the brilliant description of the battle of Thermopylæ, to the marriage of a Persian lady, and the amount of her dowry, and yet deny that he is at least annoyed. But examples of such preposterous interruptions are very few: presuming that his reader has the time and inclination to attempt a perfect knowledge of the country he is going to travel over, the Historian disdains to whirl him along the straight and sandy road, but leads him, by the hand, over hill and dale. The digressions then of Herodotus may be divided into two classes; those naturally suggested by the subject, and those which are not so. The object of the first is, the antiquities of nations, their manners, customs, and religion; the constitution of states; the geographical definition of countries; the fulfilment of oracles and predictions; the origin of the worship of the gods, and of the Grecian mysteries. These subjects were all of high interest to the Greek people, who could not but hold themselves indebted to the writer who attached so much useful information to the narrative of their deeds of glory. The art with which some of those digressions are linked on to the whole is truly surprising. Darius, in his expedition against Scythia, goes to contemplate the Euxine: the Historian seizes the opportunity to describe that sea. Aristagoras of Miletus is about to answer the question of Cleomenes, king of Sparta, how far it is from Ionia to Susa: he is interrupted in his reply; and the Historian, having thus whetted the curiosity of the reader, takes up the subject, and describes himself the road 82. The consideration of the Hyperboreans leads the Historian to consider the opinion of those who held that the world was round as a shield: he refutes their opinion, in a digression, rich of geographical knowledge. 80 Lib. vii. 224. 8l Lib. iv. 85. 82 Lib. v. 50--52. Lib. iv. 36, &c. The expression of the Historian is, 'Nxsavór rs ῥίοντα γράφουσι πέριξ τὴν γῆν, ἐοῦσαν κυκλοτερία ὡς ἀπὸ τόρνου: the usual translation given is, as if turned by a lathe." The mistake of the Croesus, desirous of repressing the power of the Persians, seeks the alliance of the Greeks: this introduces the earliest history of Sparta and Athens 4. Aristagoras of Miletus, intending to levy war against the Persian empire, goes to Lacedæmon, to solicit assistance: the Historian seizes the opportunity of continuing the history of Sparta 85. The same individual proceeds on the same errand to Athens; when the history of that state is likewise continued 86. In the account of the Libyan tribes, the Historian has occasion to mention an island, where, according to the statement of the Carthaginians, the girls procure gold sand by dipping bunches of feathers daubed with pitch into the mud of a lake: Herodotus signifies his unwillingness to decide whether the tale is correct or not, but takes the opportunity of describing, as an eye-witness himself, a phænomenon in the island of Zacynthus, where bitumen is obtained from a lake by a similar contrivance; and thus conveys a piece of information which would be despised by none but the hermit of the closet. The above are but a very few instances of the art of Herodotus, the illustrations of which, as has been observed before, would fill a volume; and every where this astonishing skill of execution is to be traced to a desire of instructing this art even sometimes borders on cunning. Sosicles, the Corinthian deputy, opposes the tyrannic principles of the Spartans: Herodotus grasps the opportunity of placing in his mouth the history of the Cypselidæ 88. translators might be excused, but not the sneer of ignorance which some indulge at the idea that Herodotus should have laughed at those who represented the world as globular. The fact is, that Herodotus probably had no idea of the world being spherical: "he derides those who make "the world like a shield, with the ocean surrounding the flat circle "of the earth." See the Tabulæ Herodoteæ. I had not seen the prefatory observations to that valuable little book when I translated that part of Melpomene: I am glad, however, to find my explanation corroborated by this authority. See vol. i. p. 285, note 4; where I have shewn that rógvos means a compass. 84 Lib. i. 56-69. 87 Lib. iv. 195. 85 Lib. v. 39. 88 Lib. v. 92. 86 Lib. v. 55. DIGRESSIONS OF THE HISTORY. 90 xvii Leotychides, addressing the Athenians, is represented as producing an old Spartan tradition, which can hardly be said to bear on the question: and, to speak the truth, even the brazen plate of Aristagoras seems to have been introduced only to afford an opportunity of giving geographical information to a people, who, but a few years before, were so ignorant of the state of the world, that many among them fancied Samos was as far from Delos as the pillars of Hercules". But these digressions stand in need of no defence: all patient readers will be grateful for the instruction which the Historian thus finds the means of conveying; and, far from regarding them as superfluous ornaments, will deem them an essential part of the History itself; which may be compared to a vigorous tree, well set with branches, and adorned with rich foliage; an object truly more gratifying to the eye than a dry trunk with two or three leafless stems. It is not, however, so easy to account for those of the second class; in which the writer has evidently strayed out of his road, in search of an opportunity of introduction. The study of history and of foreign countries having engaged the mind of Herodotus in a constant and deep consideration of human nature, he must necessarily have framed a system of morality and religion, which he himself no doubt thought the best, and the principles of which none can deny that it was not only his right, but his duty, to record, and, when possible, to exemplify, in the course of his work. This appears to be the only reasonable grounds on which we can account for several digressions, that have no relation, either in point of time, 'or in their other bearings, to the thread of the narrative. The fate of Periander 2 of Corinth was too striking an illustration of the chastisement of the wicked, even in this world, for Herodotus not to wish to shew his readers, by a detail of that tyrant's domestic misfortunes and miserable Lib. vi. 86. 91 Lib. viii. 132. VOL. I. 90 Lib. v. 49. &c. |