Herodotus – “Father of History”

CNG 105, Lot: 575. Estimate $2000. Sold for $3250. This amount does not include the buyer’s fee.

CARIA, Halicarnassus. Trajan. AD 98-117. Æ (23mm, 7.14 g, 6h). AYTO KAI NЄP BAC TPAIANOC ΓЄ ΔA, laureate head of Trajan right / HPOΔOTOC AΛIKAPNACЄΩN, APCЄM/IA, draped bust of Herodotus right. RPC III 2152 corr. (rev. described as Zeus); otherwise unpublished. Near VF, brown surfaces. Apparently the second known and the finer of the two. Extremely rare depiction of the historian Herodotus.

Herodotus (circa 485-425 BC) was born to a wealthy family in Halicarnassus, at the time under Persian control, although his family was exiled from the city while Herodotus was quite young and he appears to have only briefly returned to his hometown as an adult. He traveled widely and included accounts of his experiences in his famous The Histories, a description of the Graeco-Persian Wars. Cicero referred to Herodotus as “the father of history” due to his systematic investigation of historical subjects (although others have branded him “father of lies,” as Herodotus seems to have subscribed to the idea of not letting facts get in the way of a good story!).