Description

CTESIAS’ HISTORY OF PERSIA

At the beginning of the fourth century BCE Ctesias of Cnidus wrote

his twenty-three book History of Persia. Ctesias is a remarkable figure:

he lived and worked in the Persian court of the Achaemenid monarchs

and, as a doctor, tended to the world’s most powerful kings and

queens. His position gave him special insight into the workings of

Persian court life and court politics.

His History of Persia was completed at a time when the Greeks

were fascinated by Persia and seems, on one level, to cater to a

contemporary Greek interest in Persian wealth and opulence, powerful

Persian women, the institution of the harem, kings and queens,

eunuchs, and secret plots. However, Ctesias’ work is more than simple

palace gossip; it is suggested here that Ctesias was attempting to

write something quite new: a history of Persia from the inside, a

Persian account of the past.

Presented here in an unabridged English translation for the first

time with an extensive introduction, Ctesias’ History of Persia: Tales

of the Orient offers a fascinating insight into Persian history and reevaluates

Ctesias’ legacy as a historian of the ancient Near East.

Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones is a Lecturer in Ancient History in the

School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of

Edinburgh. His research interests include Persian and Greek cultural

history, ancient gender, and the reception of antiquity in popular

culture. He is the author of Aphrodite’s Tortoise: The Veiled Women of

Ancient Greece and the forthcoming King and Court in Ancient Persia.

James Robson is Senior Lecturer in Classical Studies at the Open

University. His research interests include Greek comedy, translation,

humour theory, and Greek sexuality. He is author of Humour, Obscenity

and Aristophanes and Aristophanes: An Introduction.

Additional Information

0 Reviews for CTESIAS’ HISTORY OF PERSIA