Embedded Inscriptions in Herodotus and Thucydides

by: Allgaier, B.

The two founding works of the Western historiographical tradition, Herodotus? Histories and Thucydides? History, feature, among many other things, mentions and quotations of inscriptions (that is, texts written on durable materials such as stone).
This book explores the epigraphic dimension of Herodotus? Histories and Thucydides? History (including potential allusions to inscriptions in general, possible instances of a tacit use of epigraphically recorded information, and explicit references to specific inscriptions) and offers a number of case studies aimed at elucidating the subtle uses to which specific embedded inscriptions are put in the works of Herodotus and Thucydides. Special attention is paid to the ways in which these inscriptions contribute to the characterisation of historical actors and to the self-fashioning of the Herodotean and Thucydidean narrator.
The book may appeal to literary classicists, ancient historians, epigraphists, and other readers with an interest in ancient historiography and/or epigraphic culture.

ContentsAcknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . VII1 Introduction: Inscriptions and Classical Greek Historiography . . . . . . . . 11.1 The Pseudo-Herodotean Inscription in Beazley?s Herodotus at the Zoo . . . . . 11.2 The Epigraphic Dimension of Herodotus? Histories and Thucydides?History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51.3 Outline of the Study . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12Part I: Herodotus2 The Epigraphic Dimension of the Histories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173 Darius? Epigraphic Activities: Royal Self-Presentation and Its Limitations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.1 A Display of a Remarkable Achievement (3.88) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393.2 A Fragile Monument to Military Might (4.87) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 453.3 A Marker of Excellence (4.91) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 514 Inscribed Funerary Monuments: A New Lease of Life? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 534.1 Alyattes? Monument and Lydian Prostitution (1.93) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544.2 The Horticultural Foundations of Cheops? Pyramid (2.125) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 604.3 Asychis? Loquacious Pyramid (2.136) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 654.4 Nitocris? Epigraphic Trap (1.187) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 674.5 The Thermopylae Epigrams and the Politics of Memorialisation (7.228) . . . 744.6 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Summary of Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Part II: Thucydides5 The Epigraphic Dimension of the History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 896 The Plataean Tripod and the Funeral Oration: Exploring the Power of Epigraphic Commemoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956.1 Pausanias and the Plataean Tripod (1.132) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 956.2 The Appeal to the Plataean Tripod in the Plataean Debate (3.57) . . . . . . . . . . 1056.3 Limits and Possibilities of Commemorative Inscriptions in the Funeral Oration (2.43) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1126.4 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1207 The Inscriptions in the Pisistratid Excursus: Evident Traces of the Past? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1217.1 Epigraphic Reflections of Pisistratid Rule in Athens (6.54–55) . . . . . . . . . . . . 1227.2 Archedice?s Modest Memorial (6.59) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1317.3 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1338 Quoted Interstate Treaties: Set in Stone? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135Summary of Part II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1459 Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149Appendix: Explicit References to Inscriptions in Herodotus? Histories and Thucydides? History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1591 Herodotean Inscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1592 Thucydidean Inscriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160Note on Editions, Translations, and Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163Indexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191General Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191Index Locorum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 194

Embedded Inscriptions in Herodotus and Thucydides

by: Allgaier, B.

• ISBN-13: 9783447117913 / 978-3-447-11791-3
• ISBN-03: 3447117915 / 3-447-11791-5
• Harrassowitz Verlag, Wiesbaden, 2022