Herodotus and the Birth of FreedomLiberty in Ancient Greece and Persia

Offers a pioneering and rehabilitating examination of Herodotus’ account of Persian freedom in the History

• Provides a novel interpretation of Herodotus’ History derived from the original Greek
• Features a variety of archaeological case studies from recent discoveries in Egypt, Babylon, and Persia
• Offers a comparative analysis of Greek, Persian, Babylonian, and Egyptian sources that document the development and administration of the Persian Empire
• Examines secondary literature and research from a range of disciplines, including political theory, reception & intellectual history, classics, philology and Near Eastern studies

Herodotus and the Birth of Freedom examines Herodotus’ presentation of Persia in the History, arguing that Herodotus considered the Persians to be free rather than slaves and the Persian monarchs to be legitimate kings rather than oppressive tyrants. Matthew K. Reising offers a new interpretation of the History, supported by a variety of textual and archaeological case studies, drawing on research and secondary literature from across a range of disciplines, including comparative political theory, ancient Near Eastern studies, intellectual history and reception studies.

After making the case that Herodotus considered the Persians to be politically free, this book offers a comparative analysis of the diverging conceptions of freedom found in Greece, Persian, Babylonian and Egyptian sources, and argues that the comparison helps us to clarify the relationship of freedom to constitutional self-government, institutional accountability, political participation and civic equality.