This was actually quite interesting. One full star off for the modernism; I see no evidence that Herodotus was a culture relativist, just an honest observer. No further demerits for the mention of "Clash of the Titans", but it was unnecessary. ( )

I’ve made half-hearted stabs at Herodotus over the years, but I am now getting ready to tackle him in earnest. This book by James Romm is often recommended as a useful introduction. It’s the first of the Hermes series that I’ve read. This series is aimed at the nonspecialist adult or the “intelligent but uninstructed beginning student,” according to John Herington’s introduction. This book lived up to that aim.
In thirteen brief, well-organized chapters, Romm deals with a variety of topics from the political background of the sixth century BCE to Herodotus as a storyteller. He expects that most who pick up this book will go on to read Herodotus in translation (a bibliographic note in the book discusses some of the notable translations published in the last half of the twentieth century — at least two notable ones have appeared since). Yet Romm explains key Greek terms. An English-speaking reader will find it helpful to know what “history” or “myth” meant to Greek-speakers twenty-five hundred years ago.
Romm only gives an inkling of current scholarly debates, such as whether Herodotus actually traveled to the lands he claims to have visited (Romm sees no inherent difficulty in this assertion). The author who emerges is more of a storyteller than historian in the modern sense of the word. Yet, Romm clearly admires the curiosity and ability of Herodotus. I’m eager to tackle The Histories. ( )

This is an excellent book: educational, entertaining, well written, thematic rather than just a summary of the Histories, written from a base of deep knowledge of the subject and its context, and written with real affection for the object: Herodotus and what he achieved in producing his Histories.

Romm describes Herodotus’s work as, “a voyage of discovery on the order of Columbus’s crossing of the Atlantic: an experiment on a monumental scale, the adaptation of the form and magnitude of Homeric poetry to the new and as-yet humble craft of prose narrative.” And what are the new elements of this voyage of discovery: a redefinition of the author’s responsibility for his work (“These are the researches of Herodotus of Halicarnassus…); and Herodotus’s “bold decision to make not merely the conflict between East and West but the cause of that conflict a major theme of his investigation.” The scope of Herodotus’s ambition and his achievement are wonderful and impressive; he is insatiably curious about everything and he, in turns, deals with ethnography, geology, biology, sociology, political history, cartography, cultural anthropology in addition to being an entertaining story-teller and an observer of personalities and character development; there are over 1,000 characters referred to in the Histories, many mentioned only in passing, but others are dwelt upon for their personal histories and the lessons that their lives teach.

Romm provides useful historical background for the context of not just the events in the Histories, but also for the social and political currents of Herodotus’s time. He explores a number of themes in the Histories. One is the “downfall from greatness” wherein, as Solon tells Croesus, “One must look to the end of every matter, how it will turn out; for the god has shown a glimpse of happiness to many men, then destroyed them root and branch.” As Room puts it, “These related ideas of divine balance and moral retribution pervade Herodotus’s understanding of the cosmos, and so they appear everywhere within the text of the Histories.” Another theme has to do with the structure of the earth and the ills that befall those who try to change it, thus angering the gods, because these are bounds of nature that should not be superseded. In a chapter entitled “The Kingdom of Culture”, Romm explores Herodotus’s “remarkable evenhandedness in dealing with barbarian nomoi [customs] and in comparing them with those of the Greeks.” Herodotus shows an appreciation of foreign customs that is, “exceptional for his time and inspirational for ours.” Failure to respect the cultures of others is often invoked by Herodotus to explain reckless diplomatic and military blunders.

Romm expands upon Herodotus’s strengths as a story teller and as an observer of character and its development, as well as his analysis of the relative merits of different political systems and how he used Persian and Greek models to explore these.

This is an excellent introduction to Herodotus and should inspire readers to go to the original. It is also an excellent review for those familiar with the Histories. Romm deserves re-reading as an intelligent and thought-provoking guide to the sprawling and ambitious and ultimately successful scope of the Histories.