Herodotus, ever curious, ever open-minded, is the exception that proves the rule. ‘Philobarbaros’ – ‘barbarian-lover’ – one indignant patriot labelled him:22 the closest to the phrase ‘bleeding-heart liberal’ that ancient Greek approached. Yet even Herodotus, writing about remote and peculiar peoples whose languages he did not speak, has to be excused the occasional inaccuracy, the occasional prejudice, the occasional tendency to treat early Persian history as a fairy tale.
