ABSTRACT
Little is known about the life of Herodotus – the man credited by some as being the ‘Father of History’. He was born between 490 and 480 BC at Halikarnassos, modern Bodrum, on the south-west coast of Asia Minor (Sélincourt 1962: 28). In his youth he travelled widely and it is considered highly probable that he had visited Upper Egypt, Thrace and parts of Scythia (the south of the former USSR), and that he was also familiar with parts of Greece and southern Italy (ibid.: 30). The precise limits of his travels are, however, uncertain. In addition to implying that he had visited the places he had written about he stated that he had spoken with the inhabitants of over forty Greek cities and districts, and of more than thirty other countries.
