Gifts for Cyrus, Tribute for Darius

In the introduction to the famous list of nomes Herodotus offers a rather idiosyncratic characterization of Darius I by means of calling him a huckster. Furthermore, he maintains that Cyrus II received gifts, whereas since the time of Darius the people of the Persian Empire had to pay tribute (phoros). Both issues are discussed against the background of Athenian history and political life in the fifth century BC. It is argued that Herodotus here as elsewhere in the Histories used the Persian Empire and its Kings as a mirror for the developments of his own times. In doing so he offers his opinions as to why the Persians failed in waging war against the Greeks, and consequently, the Athenians’ defeat in the war against the Spartans as well.