BY: Shayna Roark
Greek Historians
Herodotus was important because of his books.Herodotus was born in Halicarnassus a Greek city in southwest Greece. Know by western historians as the "Father of history". He wrote to tell the facts and not the legends. He did want to tell about gods and goddess. He wrote six books that had to do with the growth of the Persian Empire and the Persian wars. In his second book Herodotus wrote about Egypt and Persia. The next four books talked about the expansion of the Persian Empire under Darius, the Ionian revolt and the burning of Sardis. The sixth book details the first Persian attack of Greece and the defeat of the Persians at the battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. where the Persians were defeated by the Greeks. A decade later the Persians, led by Xerxes, returned but were defeated at the Plataea in 479 BCE. Herodotus asked questions about the battles. He checked to be sure the information was true. He did have mistakes in his books, but he tried to leave out gods, goddesses and other legends of the Persian Empire.
Thucydides was an Athenian historian, He was a philosopher and a general. Thucydides began writing history after he was sent to exile after he lost the battle in the Peloponnese war. Thucydides wrote about the war between the Spartans and Athens he wrote the histories too. Thucydides was born in Alimos between the years 460 and 455 B.C and he died between 411 and 400 B.C. He is known for his books too. Thucydides was also an Athenian aristocrat thought to be in his late 20s or early 30s when the war first started in 431 B.C. Thucydides describes in his books to us the plague of Athens in 430 B.C, which killed nearly a third of the Athenian population and also Athens leader Pericles. Thucydides tells us a great detail of the plague and the hard time it caused the Athenians. Thucydides thought it was important to write only the facts. He knew to write about the people, not the gods.
Here's some more info about Thucydides and Herodotus click on the links below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3xVdkLbHKg