A distant murmur filled the bramble's maze.
Soft cooed the doves, nor ever ceased the note
Of lark and finch. About the water's edge
This way and that hovered the yellow bees
In tangled flight. The luscious summer's scent,
The scent of autumn fruit-time, filled the air.
Pears by our feet and apples at our sides
Rolled in rich plenty, and the sloe-tree's boughs
Dipped to the ground beneath their load of fruit.”
The Greek historians of the classic age have been noticed in the preceding pages and have supplied their substance. Historical writing began in Ionia, but the earliest writer whose work is extant came from the Doric colony of Halicarnassus in Caria. In the eyes of Herodotus (c. B.C. 484–425) the right preparation for writing history was travel. He there- fore visited most parts of Greece and of the Persian Empire, and made a careful study of Egypt—everywhere asking questions and visiting famous places and buildings. He loved a good story and tells it with consummate skill, but he is nevertheless careful to distinguish between what he thinks can be proved and what depends upon mere report. His work is also conceived in an epic spirit. All his researches and episodical narratives contribute to one great theme—the struggle of East and West, and lead up to one catastrophe—the victory of moderation and discipline over pride and luxury. Thucydides, son of Olorus (about B.C. 471–401), confined himself to describing one episode in Greek history, the Peloponnesian War, though his first book contains a valuable summary of the early history of Greece.
