Herodotus

About Herodotus

Herodotus, ranked #106 in historical importance by MIT's Pantheon project, is widely regarded as the "Father of History." Living in the 5th century BCE, his primary contribution was his comprehensive work, *The Histories*, which documented the Greco-Persian Wars. This massive ethnographic and historical narrative established the tradition of historical inquiry, attempting to record the deeds of both Greeks and 'barbarians' for posterity.

Despite this foundational importance, Herodotus's modern digital footprint suggests a significant attention gap. In 2025, his annualized Wikipedia views totaled 635K, placing his attention ratio at a mere ~1x relative to his historical rank. To provide contrast, Constantine the Great, ranked #154 (less important), garnered 1.6M views, while Marcus Aurelius, ranked #235, attracted 2.8M. This suggests that the creator of systematic history receives substantially less contemporary internet attention than his later ancient counterparts.

Furthermore, Herodotus is experiencing a slight but notable decline in recent interest. His Wikipedia viewership saw a year-over-year decrease of -18.7%, and his Q1 versus Q3 momentum indicates a -2% slowdown in engagement within 2025, signaling a continued drift from the public digital sphere.