Page:Next-of-kin Marriages in Old Iran.djvu/35
of Dr. Smith, expressed in his 'Classical Dictionary,' that "The genuineness of the Four Books of Lydian History, which the ancients possessed under the name of Xanthus, and of which some considerable fragments have come down to us, was questioned by some of the ancient grammarians themselves. There has been considerable controversy respecting the genuineness of this work among modern scholars. It is certain that much of the matter in the extant fragments is spurious."
"The Persian informants of Herodotus," says Mr. G. Rawlinson in his Introduction to the 'History of Herodotus' (pp. 67, 69), "seem to have consisted of the soldiers and officials of various ranks,[1] with whom he necessarily came in contact at Sardis and other places, where strong bodies of the dominant people were maintained constantly. He was born and bred up a Persian subject; and though in his own city Persians might be rare
- ↑ These and several other words in the following quotations are put in italics by me.