Rudolf Heni: Die Gespräche bei Herodot. Pp. 192. Heilbronn: Heilbronner Stimme, 1977.

Abstract

THE CLASSICAL REVIEW codicum ifieat:, tpees, in 85.2, to ipeVac,-ec; surely the deepest pitfall in the book; but alas, too late. The old emendation appears again, without even a justificatory mention of its source: a scholion, presumably from the Byzantine world, in which priests did not bear arms. It is rash to emend the consensus on such evidence, especially when a word appears twice, giving the square of the probability that the manuscript tradition is sound; and ample if scattered evidence shows that in Greece, as still more clearly at Rome, many (not all) priests were members of the highest social class, prominent in war and politics. Such, surely, are the men whom Sparta honoured with a special tumulus, rather than the eirenes (supposedly Ipeves in Hdt.), whom M. explains as the young soldiers 'dai venti ai trent' anni'; though Plut. Lyk. 17, the only reference given, suggests rather 20 to 21! Even if Amompharetos, one of the men here in question, was a mature young man of thirty, it is still surprising to find him not only commanding a local (not age-group) battalion, but arguing (pp. S3 ff.) with the prince-regent and C.-in-C.; while such conduct is more credible in a senior aristocrat. In other text matters, M. is more conservative, keeping the consensus' Sena OT&SUL in 57.2 (rightly; it is most unlikely that either Herodotos or an early copyist wrote the 'alphabetic' numeral 6'), and 'H0t)c in 98.2 for the password at Mykale. He points out, after Macan, that the name of Hebe, wife of the deified Herakles, is quite a suitable slogan for choice by a Herakleid king; though here Roscher's emendation 'Hpt)?, the fleet having sailed that morning from the Heraion of Samos, is certainly tempting. There is no map or plan, and little topographical discussion, which, if an editor is not to go into great detail, is probably prudent. It is surely time that Grundy's perverse identification of the Dryos Kephalai pass 'leading to Plataia' (39,3) as that of Gyphtokastro was forgotten. It is at least not implicitly accepted (notes, pp. 171 f.). Other places 'non possono essere identificate con precisione', (p. 163) which is unexceptionable, if unexciting. On p. 172, a note might have been added on the possible identity of Pharnakes, father of Artabazos, with the important official of that name in the Persepolis tablets. However, this is an agreeable little book, which may be commended at least to any readers of CR wishing to improve their Italian.