The Twitter Herodotus

About the Project

Having written my History of the Persian Wars at considerable length I have decided to produce an abbreviated version of it, a "Twitter Herodotus" for the modern age: one 140-character tweet per day, one tweet (I anticipate) per section.

The project, begun on October 29, 2010, will take almost five years to complete. I should be posting the final tweet in January of 2015. You can follow the posts here or subscribe via RSS, Twitter or Facebook.

READING HERODOTUS A Guided Tour through the Wild Boars, Dancing Suitors, and Crazy Tyrants of The History
By Debra Hamel
	"Hamel presents Herodotus and his material in an original, illuminating, and entertaining way. By leading the reader through Herodotus’s text from beginning to end, the book provides an accessible introduction both to Herodotus and to an exciting period of Greek history, which culminates in the Persian Wars." -- Timothy E. Duff, University of Reading paperback \| Kindle \| hardcover (US) paperback \| hardcover (UK)

	6.32 They had the best looking boys in the captured cities castrated. They sent the pretty girls to Darius & burned the cities and temples.
	Posted on 05-06-13 \| Permalink

	6.31 Thus the end of Histiaeus. The next year the Persians captured Chios, Lesbos, & Tenedos. They hunted down all the islands' inhabitants.
	Posted on 05-05-13 \| Permalink

	6.30 Darius might have, but Artaphrenes impaled Histiaeus & sent his head to Darius. Darius wasn't happy. He buried H's head with ceremony.
	Posted on 05-04-13 \| Permalink

	6.29 Histiaeus was taken alive bc when he was about to be killed he spoke Persian & identified himself. He figured Darius would forgive him.
	Posted on 05-03-13 \| Permalink

	6.28 Histiaeus next laid siege to Thasos, then went to the mainland opposite Lesbos, where the Persians under Harpagus captured him.
	Posted on 05-02-13 \| Permalink

	6.27 There had been signs presaging calamity, e.g., sickness. Now, weakened by the sea fight, the Chians were easily conquered by Histiaeus.
	Posted on 05-01-13 \| Permalink

	6.26 Histiaeus, in Byzantium, heard the news about Miletus. He sailed for Chios with a bunch of Lesbians and attacked the place.
	Posted on 04-30-13 \| Permalink

	6.25 After capturing Miletus, the Persians gave Samos to Aeaces. The Samians' temples weren't burnt, their reward for deserting the Ionians.
	Posted on 04-29-13 \| Permalink

	6.24 Scythes, the former king of Zancle, wound up at the court of King Darius in Persia. He died there later, very old and very wealthy.
	Posted on 04-28-13 \| Permalink

	6.23 The Samians wound up taking the city of Zancle when its people were away rather than founding a new colony.
	Posted on 04-27-13 \| Permalink

	6.22 Some of the Samians who were anti-Persian, together with some Milesian fugitives, sailed to found a colony in Sicily.
	Posted on 04-26-13 \| Permalink

	6.21 When Phrynichus produced his play The Capture of Miletus the Athenians, upset over events, fined him and forbade its future production.
	Posted on 04-25-13 \| Permalink

	6.20 The Milesian POWs were brought to Susa, and Darius settled them near the Red Sea. He gave Miletus itself to the Carians.
	Posted on 04-24-13 \| Permalink

	6.19 The oracle had said that the Milesian women would wind up washing the feet of long-haired warriors: the Persians wore their hair long.
	Posted on 04-23-13 \| Permalink

	6.18 After their victory the Persians laid siege to Miletus and captured it. The oracle the Milesians had received thus came to pass.
	Posted on 04-22-13 \| Permalink

	6.17 Dionysius of Phocaea, seeing the Ionians were finished, captured three enemy ships and sailed off to become a pirate in Sicily.
	Posted on 04-21-13 \| Permalink

	6.16 But afterwards some of them made for home overland, arriving at Ephesus at night. The Ephesians, thinking them thieves, killed them.
	Posted on 04-20-13 \| Permalink

	6.15 Of those who stood firm, the Chians fared the worst. They captured many enemy ships and lost many of their own.
	Posted on 04-19-13 \| Permalink

	6.14 During the battle that followed, all but 11 Samian ships deserted the Greeks mid-fight. Their withdrawal prompted others to leave too.
	Posted on 04-18-13 \| Permalink

	6.13 The Samians, seeing the Ionians' lack of discipline, decided to accept their tyrant's offer and quit the Ionian alliance.
	Posted on 04-17-13 \| Permalink