Bust of Herodotus in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 2007

Marble bust of Herodotus
Roman, Imperial period, 2nd century AD
Copy of a Greek bronze statue of the 1st half of the 4th century BC
Found in Benha, ancient Athribis, Lower Egypt
Inscribed HERODOTOS

Accession # 91.8

Herodotus (ca. 484-424 BC) of Halikarnassos achived fame in his lifetime for his Histories, which chronicle the Greek wars with Persia in the first quarter of the 5th century BC and the years surrounding those monumentous events. His most brilliant and original accomplishment was his conception of a narrative that interweaves local traditions in a span of more than 70 years and encompasses much of the world known the ancient Greeks through fact and fiction. Cicero called him the father of history. This work is one of numerous extant Roman copies that stem from a Greek statue, probably of the first half of the 4th century BC. Portraits of Herodotus also appear on Roman bronze coins from Halikarnassos.

Text from the Metropolitan Museum of Art label.