he has them at his command, he must carefully
retain this poetical colouring and by all means avoid the courtier
phrase by which the style of Herodotus has too often been made "more
noble." 331

As regards the text from which this translation has been made, it is
based upon that of Stein's critical edition (Berlin, 1869-1871), that
is to say the estimate there made of the comparative value of the
authorities has been on the whole accepted as a just one, rather than
that which depreciates the value of the Medicean MS. and of the class to
which it belongs. On the other hand the conjectural emendations proposed
by Stein have very seldom been adopted, and his text has been departed
from in a large number of other instances also, which will for the most
part be found recorded in the notes.

As it seemed that even after Stein's re-collation of the Medicean MS.
there were doubts felt by some scholars 332 as to the true reading in
some places of this MS., which is very generally acknowledged to be the
most important, I thought it right to examine it myself in all those
passages where questions about text arise which concern a translator,
that is in nearly five hundred places altogether; and the results, when
they are worth observing, are recorded in the notes. At the same time,
by the suggestion of Dr. Stein, I re-collated a large part of the third
book in the MS. which is commonly referred to as F (i.e. Florentinus),
called by Stein C, and I examined this MS. also in a certain number
of other places. It should be understood that wherever in the notes I
mention the reading of any particular MS. by name, I do so on my own
authority.

The notes have been confined to a tolerably small compass. Their purpose
is, first, in cases where the text is doubtful, to indicate the
reading adopted by the translator and any other which may seem to have
reasonable probability, but without discussion of the authorities;
secondly, where the rendering is not quite literal (and in other cases
where it seemed desirable), to quote the words of the original or to
give a more literal version; thirdly, to add an alternative version
in cases where there seems to be a doubt as to the true meaning; and
lastly, to give occasionally a short explanation, or a reference from
one passage of the author to another.

For the orthography of proper names reference may be made to the note
prefixed to the index. No consistent system has been adopted, and the
resu