No survey of the Classical Greek world would be complete without reading The Histories by Herodotus. I've now actually read it twice, which only speaks to its importance in the study of the ancient world.
Like reading much ancient writing, the book is most appreciated when you recall just how long ago it was actually written. Modern readers would say it meanders too often, providing backstory upon backstory, before it really gets to the main topic (the Persian wars with Greece).
But when you take into account how long ago it was written, and the fact that it's considered the world's first history book, the book's beauty redounds.
The sheer scope of the project, without aid of modern technology and a foundation of other histories to draw from, is unfathomable.
And its language, albeit in translation from the original Greek, reads in a surprisingly modern way.
Anyhow, I'm glad I read it again, perhaps 20 years or more since I read it the first time.
Next up will be Thucydides, followed by Xenophon, in my study of the ancient historians.
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