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The Madness of Cambyses
'Do you see your son, standing over there, in the antechamber? Well, I am going to shoot him.' The story of the great and mad Cambyses, King of Persia, told by part-historian, part-mythmaker Herodotus of Halicarnassus. Introducing Little Black 80 books for Penguin's 80th birthday. Little Black Classics celebrate the huge range and diversity of Penguin Classics, with books from around the world and across many centuries. They take us from a balloon ride over Victorian London to a garden of blossom in Japan, from Tierra del Fuego to 16th-century California and the Russian steppe. Here are stories lyrical and savage; poems epic and intimate; essays satirical and inspirational; and ideas that have shaped the lives of millions. Herodotus (c.484-425 BCE). Herodotus's The Histories is also available in Penguin Classics.
64 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 401
19 people are currently reading
1279 people want to read
About the author
Herodotus
1,674 books793 followersHerodotus (Greek: Ηρόδοτος) (c. 484 – c. 425 BC) was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire (now Bodrum, Turkey) and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He is known for having written the Histories – a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars. Herodotus was the first writer to perform systematic investigation of historical events. He has been described as "The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Marcus Tullius Cicero.
The Histories primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information.
Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of "legends and fanciful accounts" in his work. The contemporaneous historian Thucydides accused him of making up stories for entertainment. However, Herodotus explained that he reported what he could see and was told. A sizable portion of the Histories has since been confirmed by modern historians and archaeologists.
The Histories primarily cover the lives of prominent kings and famous battles such as Marathon, Thermopylae, Artemisium, Salamis, Plataea, and Mycale. His work deviates from the main topics to provide a cultural, ethnographical, geographical, and historiographical background that forms an essential part of the narrative and provides readers with a wellspring of additional information.
Herodotus has been criticized for his inclusion of "legends and fanciful accounts" in his work. The contemporaneous historian Thucydides accused him of making up stories for entertainment. However, Herodotus explained that he reported what he could see and was told. A sizable portion of the Histories has since been confirmed by modern historians and archaeologists.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews
February 14, 2016
I love Herodotus' Histories. I see him as one of the greatest historians of all time, but this translation is so poor I could not find a way to redeem it. For a complete work and a better translation look for the Aubrey de Sélincourt copy, I gave that five fantastic stars. This is the story of the king of Persia, Cambyses, but again, because of the poor translation I was not able to enjoy the madness suppposed to be shown at all.
January 18, 2023
I did not get this at all. Maybe I needed more context.
December 30, 2018
The Madness of Cambyses is a translation of the Greek work on the Persian king: Cambyses II, Son of Cyrus the Great.
He was considered a mad king for his almost insane and extreme ways. He would kill anyone who crossed his path or some much so said a word against him, which I think became his downfall.
The theme of this little classic is quite the same. How he rose to power after his father, Cyrus; and exploited that very power to justify his extreme ways. Towards the end he kind of realizes his misunderstandings on the way and that he could've spared a few lives (ofcourse!), including his brothers' who he thought was plotting against him for the throne.
This is an okay-ish translation. As mad as I thought he would be, the words didn't support that fact much. Could've been better
But that I guess is common to many translations, imagine what we would do without them 🤷
Would recommend to people who wish to know the stories of that age and time, definitely a good collection of short snippets connected for the theme
He was considered a mad king for his almost insane and extreme ways. He would kill anyone who crossed his path or some much so said a word against him, which I think became his downfall.
The theme of this little classic is quite the same. How he rose to power after his father, Cyrus; and exploited that very power to justify his extreme ways. Towards the end he kind of realizes his misunderstandings on the way and that he could've spared a few lives (ofcourse!), including his brothers' who he thought was plotting against him for the throne.
This is an okay-ish translation. As mad as I thought he would be, the words didn't support that fact much. Could've been better
But that I guess is common to many translations, imagine what we would do without them 🤷
Would recommend to people who wish to know the stories of that age and time, definitely a good collection of short snippets connected for the theme
October 10, 2015
This was such a fun read!
The book was only about 50 pages long, but at the beginning I had a hard time getting through it with all the names of different people and places. After that beginning it was wonderful though. I love the stories about the Persian kings and in general stories about the ancient world.
Cambyses is a complete nut job who is so self-obsessed that he believes people are celebrating his lost battle when the whole of Egypt is celebrating the arrival of a god. He also kills almost everyone who crosses him, which also becomes his own downfall.
Since it was only 50 pages and a historic work I can't really say anything more about it, but if you like the Classical Antiquity this will be a great read for you :D!
The book was only about 50 pages long, but at the beginning I had a hard time getting through it with all the names of different people and places. After that beginning it was wonderful though. I love the stories about the Persian kings and in general stories about the ancient world.
Cambyses is a complete nut job who is so self-obsessed that he believes people are celebrating his lost battle when the whole of Egypt is celebrating the arrival of a god. He also kills almost everyone who crosses him, which also becomes his own downfall.
Since it was only 50 pages and a historic work I can't really say anything more about it, but if you like the Classical Antiquity this will be a great read for you :D!
August 20, 2016
An excerpt or excerpts from Heodotus' The Histories, all pertaining to Cambyses, the mad Persian King.
It is a readable, but slightly awkward collection. Many Greek and Persian names, and many Greek people and peoples make for a somewhat confusing narrative.
As is typical with the words of oracles, things seldom work out the way they are expected to, and the making of plans to avoid outcomes after the advice of an oracle, often what leads to words of the oracle coming to pass.
Clearly mad, and seldom with regret for his hasty decisions, usually involving the deaths of those closest or most faithful to him, Cambyses in a moment of clarity just prior to his death figures out where he jumped to the wrong conclusion and set in motion his own downfall.
As I said above, readable but a bit awkward. As usual with a historic work, hard to tell how big a part the translation and the selection of excerpts effects the original work. Three stars for me.
It is a readable, but slightly awkward collection. Many Greek and Persian names, and many Greek people and peoples make for a somewhat confusing narrative.
As is typical with the words of oracles, things seldom work out the way they are expected to, and the making of plans to avoid outcomes after the advice of an oracle, often what leads to words of the oracle coming to pass.
Clearly mad, and seldom with regret for his hasty decisions, usually involving the deaths of those closest or most faithful to him, Cambyses in a moment of clarity just prior to his death figures out where he jumped to the wrong conclusion and set in motion his own downfall.
As I said above, readable but a bit awkward. As usual with a historic work, hard to tell how big a part the translation and the selection of excerpts effects the original work. Three stars for me.
November 21, 2018
In comparison to some of the other Little Black Classics disasters I’ve encountered, I fairly enjoyed this one.
The mad king of Persia and his manic actions make for an interesting read, particularly the steps he takes in response to dreams, or the comments of oracles. What’s meaningful here is the moment Cambyses discovers he’s dying, and goes on to realise he was completely misguided in one of his deranged acts. There was something really poignant in this for me.
Accounts of historic custom were also incredibly enlightening, as were the ponderings of Herodotus. My only irritation was the huge number of names and places mentioned, which made things slightly difficult to keep track of.
God, I love a mad king.
The mad king of Persia and his manic actions make for an interesting read, particularly the steps he takes in response to dreams, or the comments of oracles. What’s meaningful here is the moment Cambyses discovers he’s dying, and goes on to realise he was completely misguided in one of his deranged acts. There was something really poignant in this for me.
Accounts of historic custom were also incredibly enlightening, as were the ponderings of Herodotus. My only irritation was the huge number of names and places mentioned, which made things slightly difficult to keep track of.
God, I love a mad king.
September 27, 2020
History has had its shares of crazy kings/rulers, and the Persian king Cambyses most certainly was one of them. Herodotus was a large part of our end-work for Greek in school, so I read quite some of his histories, but in Greek, before.
The Madness of Cambyses is not as famous as for examples Croesus - the richest man on Earth, but well worth a read.
~Little Black Classics #78~
Find all my reviews on https://www.urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
The Madness of Cambyses is not as famous as for examples Croesus - the richest man on Earth, but well worth a read.
~Little Black Classics #78~
Find all my reviews on https://www.urlphantomhive.booklikes.com
October 24, 2021
Oh, my. A remarkably poor translation of an otherwise terrific story. Holland lacks grace, tact, and writes with the eloquence of a tin-can.
February 17, 2022
Love Herodotus but the translation was terrible
May 1, 2019
This is a weird mixture of historical fact and mythological fiction about Cambyses, a crazy Persian king. There’s a hell of a lot of death and destruction, and you get the vibe that nobody was safe.
April 14, 2022
Good to be reminded of one of the originators of the study of history. Even though here, already, we see some of the summary of bland facts that is so characteristic of contemporary (academic) history, Herodotus is quite different not only because he uses myth, but because he dares to comment on the validity of the explanations he’s received, as well as simply make the text more of a narrative.
This greatly aids in the readability of the text.
Oh, and it’s nice to read the textual context to the famous story of Polycrates, his good luck, and his signet-ring!
This greatly aids in the readability of the text.
Oh, and it’s nice to read the textual context to the famous story of Polycrates, his good luck, and his signet-ring!
May 16, 2017
If you like your history straightforward and decisive, Herodotus probably won't be your cup of tea. If, however, you are fine with a leisurely meander, full of odd digressions and random facts, and if, like me, you are delighted with a storyteller/historian who says things like, “Now I don't actually think this is true but it's so wonderfully odd that I have to tell you about it!” you'll probably find Herodotus loads of fun.
This Penguin “Little Black Classics” edition is a selection from Tom Holland's recent translation of Herodotus's The Histories, and features the action packed reign of the Persian monarch... Cambyses (you'd guessed that though, right?). Actually, this is Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, and he died (of a self-inflicted wound, which must have annoyed the heck out of him) about one hundred years before Herodotus wrote his history. So there is a generous lot of wiggle room about the facts in his story, and Herodotus, being Herodotus, offers us pretty much all the possibilities. He tells which ones he thinks are plausible and which ones are not so terribly likely, but he's allergic to leaving things out. He wanders off down little rabbit trails of myths, customs, and folklore, and he includes irrelevant but interesting vignettes of “little” lives and ordinary people which add depth and vibrancy to his history that a more direct telling could never offer.
Herodotus seems to be one of those authors people either love or hate (“Father of History” or “Father of Lies”), but for readers who are already familiar with the general history of this period (this will not likely appeal to those with no ancient history background, but a little will suffice, and this short selection includes cameo appearances by the Apis bull, the Spartans, Croesus, and more, which is fun!) who would like a taste of Herodotus, to see how he goes down, this entry in the Penguin “Little Black Classics” series (No. 78) is a perfect sample!
This Penguin “Little Black Classics” edition is a selection from Tom Holland's recent translation of Herodotus's The Histories, and features the action packed reign of the Persian monarch... Cambyses (you'd guessed that though, right?). Actually, this is Cambyses II, son of Cyrus the Great, and he died (of a self-inflicted wound, which must have annoyed the heck out of him) about one hundred years before Herodotus wrote his history. So there is a generous lot of wiggle room about the facts in his story, and Herodotus, being Herodotus, offers us pretty much all the possibilities. He tells which ones he thinks are plausible and which ones are not so terribly likely, but he's allergic to leaving things out. He wanders off down little rabbit trails of myths, customs, and folklore, and he includes irrelevant but interesting vignettes of “little” lives and ordinary people which add depth and vibrancy to his history that a more direct telling could never offer.
Herodotus seems to be one of those authors people either love or hate (“Father of History” or “Father of Lies”), but for readers who are already familiar with the general history of this period (this will not likely appeal to those with no ancient history background, but a little will suffice, and this short selection includes cameo appearances by the Apis bull, the Spartans, Croesus, and more, which is fun!) who would like a taste of Herodotus, to see how he goes down, this entry in the Penguin “Little Black Classics” series (No. 78) is a perfect sample!
May 14, 2025
Madness was the exact word I'd use to describe Cambyses
January 27, 2017
This is how to do a good translation in this modern age, unlike O Cruel Alexis (see review).
Here we have the use of varied modern words to give meaning and context, no slang or the tranlators own re-wording of the text to suit himself.
This is how it's done classic stories told in a neat and clean presentation.
Here we have the use of varied modern words to give meaning and context, no slang or the tranlators own re-wording of the text to suit himself.
This is how it's done classic stories told in a neat and clean presentation.
January 20, 2026
An account from Tom Holland’s translation of Herodotus's Histories. This extract focuses on the reign of King Cambyses II from 530 BC to 522 BC.
Cambyses was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great, and his reign is generally viewed negatively by both ancient and modern scholars. However, Cambyses did successfully invade Egypt in 525 BC, adding it to the burgeoning Achaemenid Empire. In this account, Cambyses is, as the title would suggest, depicted as a king prone to bouts of madness. Some of the crimes described include the murder of his brother, marriage to his sister and slaying of the Apis Bull, a sacred religious animal in Ancient Egypt.
Herodotus is often viewed as untrustworthy, though it is important to note that he never claimed his Histories to be an authoritative or factual account. Instead, he merely recounted the stories that were told to him, most of which were presumably from word of mouth. Because of this reliance on oral history, his account of Cambyses, while certainly imaginative and colourful, is also quite dubious. The hostile account of Cambyses, for example, likely originates from the propaganda campaigns of Darius I seeking to contrast his benevolent rule with the despotic tyranny of Cambyses. Herodotus' influence in this regard is seen in his acceptance of the traditional accession story of Darius, which is now debated in academia and viewed by many as a fabrication to justify the illegitimate murder of Bardiya, Cambyses' Brother and successor.
The account also discusses the tyranny of Periander and Lycophron in Corinth, with seemingly no connection to the main subject, Cambyses. This felt very odd and out of place with the rest of the extract.
Overall, this account on the life of Cambyses is colourful and dramatic but of low historical value.
Cambyses was the son and successor of Cyrus the Great, and his reign is generally viewed negatively by both ancient and modern scholars. However, Cambyses did successfully invade Egypt in 525 BC, adding it to the burgeoning Achaemenid Empire. In this account, Cambyses is, as the title would suggest, depicted as a king prone to bouts of madness. Some of the crimes described include the murder of his brother, marriage to his sister and slaying of the Apis Bull, a sacred religious animal in Ancient Egypt.
Herodotus is often viewed as untrustworthy, though it is important to note that he never claimed his Histories to be an authoritative or factual account. Instead, he merely recounted the stories that were told to him, most of which were presumably from word of mouth. Because of this reliance on oral history, his account of Cambyses, while certainly imaginative and colourful, is also quite dubious. The hostile account of Cambyses, for example, likely originates from the propaganda campaigns of Darius I seeking to contrast his benevolent rule with the despotic tyranny of Cambyses. Herodotus' influence in this regard is seen in his acceptance of the traditional accession story of Darius, which is now debated in academia and viewed by many as a fabrication to justify the illegitimate murder of Bardiya, Cambyses' Brother and successor.
The account also discusses the tyranny of Periander and Lycophron in Corinth, with seemingly no connection to the main subject, Cambyses. This felt very odd and out of place with the rest of the extract.
Overall, this account on the life of Cambyses is colourful and dramatic but of low historical value.
February 20, 2025
This was such a rollercoaster to read. It is quite confusing to read for anyone who doesn’t understand historical stuff because everything is connected and there’s so many names and kingdoms which might be confusing for many to keep and there’s back and forth between events and suddenly there’s another king or another kingdom. The writing was flat as the original author didn’t have a steady flow of events and kept switching between first to second to third person. The translation was very basic too. Overall it was a good book which makes the reader know little about Egypt, Persia, Greek and surrounding countries
June 24, 2020
This was an incredibly interesting story of irony following 'The Madness of Cambyses' the King of Persia, although it took an incredibly amount of unnecessary twists and turns of other related but unnecessary stories in this tiny tale.
May 20, 2023
Small book was a taster of the histories of Herodotus.
July 24, 2023
Herodotus: I'm not convinced this happened to my buddy Eric. I'll tell you anyway
November 25, 2023
Ah Herotodus, you still suck
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January 23, 2026The Ethiopian king in this had insane aura, but that’s all I took from this
July 20, 2020
Brilliant. Kinda wanna read the Histories...
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February 4, 2017
This is a very well written (or translated, if you prefer) account of, indeed, the madness of Cambyses, an ancient Persian king who conquered Egypt. In tone it is similar to the Little Black Classic number 17, about the deranged Roman Emperor Caligula, wherein they are both as sane as a box of frogs. However, Arabic and Egypt history does not interest me all that much and I found there was a little too much information packed in to such a short piece.
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March 20, 2022
A fascinating read, this little clipping from Herodotus makes me look forward to reading more of his ancient histories.
Though the story rambles far afield at times, this short book mainly follows the aggressive, ill-conceived wars initiated by the youth King Cambyses and the horrifying atrocities he commits as he obsessed over his own reputation and his ability to amass and retain power. Cambyses is a Persian King who throws his armies into deserts without provisions and sends half his fleet across the sea to attack another kingdom while he’s in the middle of a siege. He asks his advisors what the Persians think of him and murders them if the answers aren’t ideal. He kills his most trustworthy agents son on a whim to prove he can handle his liquor and eventually causes his own downfall by defiling the temples of basically every god he comes across and by murdering his own brother because of a prophetic dream he misinterprets.
Herodotus is one of the original historians and I enjoy his style. This story is equal parts Greek mythology and Old Testament kingdom warfare, but he tells every conflicting version of every story in a style that feels like it’s being shared over the garden fence. If various kingdoms tell a history different ways to reflect honor on their own gods and kings, he telles each of the versions and usually explains why he finds each one to be valid or not. It’s fun to read a history distant enough so that the author doesn’t have much investment in the readers’ interpretations. There are about as many Kings and Kingdoms included here as there are in The Iliad and that makes it hard to follow, but it’s all interesting.
Though the story rambles far afield at times, this short book mainly follows the aggressive, ill-conceived wars initiated by the youth King Cambyses and the horrifying atrocities he commits as he obsessed over his own reputation and his ability to amass and retain power. Cambyses is a Persian King who throws his armies into deserts without provisions and sends half his fleet across the sea to attack another kingdom while he’s in the middle of a siege. He asks his advisors what the Persians think of him and murders them if the answers aren’t ideal. He kills his most trustworthy agents son on a whim to prove he can handle his liquor and eventually causes his own downfall by defiling the temples of basically every god he comes across and by murdering his own brother because of a prophetic dream he misinterprets.
Herodotus is one of the original historians and I enjoy his style. This story is equal parts Greek mythology and Old Testament kingdom warfare, but he tells every conflicting version of every story in a style that feels like it’s being shared over the garden fence. If various kingdoms tell a history different ways to reflect honor on their own gods and kings, he telles each of the versions and usually explains why he finds each one to be valid or not. It’s fun to read a history distant enough so that the author doesn’t have much investment in the readers’ interpretations. There are about as many Kings and Kingdoms included here as there are in The Iliad and that makes it hard to follow, but it’s all interesting.
December 26, 2021
While I did enjoy the translation overall, I would have liked some footnotes for context. As it stands you have to choose between pausing to google every now and then, and glossing over locations and people in the hope that you can still follow.
It's not the easiest read at times but I feel that Holland's translation conveys both the sense of great histories as well as Herodotus' personality as an author.
It may be a bit late to review Herodotus himself but damn the man is chaotic. Although his wealth of personal anectodes and side tangents give an amazing glimpse of the worldviews of his time, I'm not sure if he himself knew what points he was trying to make on occasion.
Overall I would recommend this to everyone with an interest in ancient Greek and Mesopotamian history who is still on the fence about the entire Histories itself.
It's not the easiest read at times but I feel that Holland's translation conveys both the sense of great histories as well as Herodotus' personality as an author.
It may be a bit late to review Herodotus himself but damn the man is chaotic. Although his wealth of personal anectodes and side tangents give an amazing glimpse of the worldviews of his time, I'm not sure if he himself knew what points he was trying to make on occasion.
Overall I would recommend this to everyone with an interest in ancient Greek and Mesopotamian history who is still on the fence about the entire Histories itself.
July 17, 2022
Wasted a lot of time looking up the ancient history, names, figures, maps, locations, and events. But once that was done it was a quick and easy read, at some moments it was also quite funny, I even laughed out loud several times.
It is a short story written by - the father of history - Herodotus, about the King of the Achaemenid Empire called Cambyses the son of Cyrus the Great (who founded this first Persian Empire). Cambyses has a dream in which he sees his brother taking over his throne, after this Cambyses goes completely insane and almost kills every single person in his vicinity to prevent this. The ending is also quite a plottwist lmao
It is a short story written by - the father of history - Herodotus, about the King of the Achaemenid Empire called Cambyses the son of Cyrus the Great (who founded this first Persian Empire). Cambyses has a dream in which he sees his brother taking over his throne, after this Cambyses goes completely insane and almost kills every single person in his vicinity to prevent this. The ending is also quite a plottwist lmao
September 4, 2024
This factual account of Cambyses, a ruler in ancient history of various Greek islands. The whole story is a pastoral on the kind of "madness" that can ensue from trying to cling to power, and a general warning about failing to understand prophecy. It is a useful reminder that we shouldn't attempt to predict the future or act in a way to change it, for fear of doing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons.
March 17, 2023
I’m assuming that this was just a slick way of marketing the third book of the Histories. If accurate to assume so, then 1) overthinking the why of an anger problem has plagued us since the beginning of time and 2) Ethiopia beefing with Persia over Egypt- and what the locals of India were up to at the time- is more interesting.
October 17, 2017
Vol 78 of my Penguin Little Black Classics Box Set that I've read previously. For more Herodotus' Histories, go here.
April 8, 2021
'Do you see your son, standing over there, in the antechamber? Well, I am going to shoot him.'
This is the story of the great and mad Cambyses, King of Persia, told by part-historian, part-mythmaker Herodotus of Halicarnassus. A rather disturbing and brutal account personifying madness, courage and determination. A brave tale.
This is the story of the great and mad Cambyses, King of Persia, told by part-historian, part-mythmaker Herodotus of Halicarnassus. A rather disturbing and brutal account personifying madness, courage and determination. A brave tale.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 70 reviews