Note 187 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
Herod. iii. 134.—The style of Herodotus is highly dramatic, and we by no means intend to say that such a conversation took place, though there are circumstances attendant on the narrative which may satisfactorily answer the natural question, how came it to be reported and known? But whether we believe it to be genuine or not, it embodies a plausible reason for an expedition which seems at variance with the character of Darius, and probably contains the grounds on which Herodotus accounted for it.