I’m listening to Herodotus Histories and I’ve reached the part where Xerxes march on Greece is covered and the size of the army, navy and the logistical part of the Persian forces is according to what Herodotus has heard over 5 million men (not counting women and eunuchs).
It is usually said that ancient troop figures are exaggerated but what do we actually base statements like these on? The figures sounds a bit ridiculous definitely but Herodotus lived pretty close in time to the events in question. I understand the bias that he has and that he clearly wants to honor the greeks and thus would add a bit to the Persian forces.
So the question is what evidence we have that the troop figures are exaggerated? Are there archeological evidence or other historical sources to back this up?
Hi! You might enjoy the answer I gave to this question here. My view is that we need to be thinking about these numbers less in terms of "true or false" and more in terms of "plausible or implausible in a world without written records". In the context of his own work, Herodotos made a lot of effort to justify his numbers, which he probably couldn't have lowered without losing credibility in the eyes of his audience.