He was born at Halicarnassus in Asia Minor. He traveled widely in Greece, the Middle East, and North Africa. The things he learned in his travels formed the materials of his histories.

He is famous for the nine books he wrote on the rise of the Persian Empire, the Persian invasion of Greece in 490 BC and 480 BC, and the final Greek victory.

Herodotus put together a long and involved historical narrative of the Persian wars without bias against foreign customs.