Herodot und das Ende der Perserkriege

Ein Beitrag zur Tendenz der Historien

Abstract

Herodotus’ choice to conclude his narrative in 479 BCE is usually taken for granted. Other historians of the fifth and fourth centuries however, including Thucydides, chose the endpoints of their narratives with an eye to specific political interpretations, and this contribution argues that the same is true of Herodotus: by excluding further conflicts between Greeks and Persians after 479, he intended to present the victory of the Greeks as a result of the cooperation of Athenians and Spartans, a political message with a particular salience in the late ‘thirties.