In 2022, the Herodotus Helpline launched the Doris Post Essay Prize, an annual competition in memory of Doris Post, co-founder of the journal Syllogos, teacher and scholar of the ancient world.
The essay prize awards £300 to the best original essay on any topic related to Herodotus and his world, including the reception of the Histories in other ancient and modern literatures.
Winning authors will have the opportunity to present their essay online at one of the Herodotus Helpline seminars, and to publish their essay in Syllogos.
The timetable for the 2026 competition has now been announced; for further details, including rules for eligibility and the submission deadline, please consult the following guidelines document.
Past winners
2022: The winner of the Doris Post Essay Prize 2022 was Louise Brouard (Sorbonne Université) for her essay, ‘Le conquérant démasqué. Etude de la double description de la route royale dans l’ambassade d’Aristagoras (Hdt 5.49-54)’ (‘The conqueror unmasked. A study of the double description of the royal road in the embassy of Aristagoras (Hdt 5.49-54)’). Louise writes:
‘I studied classical philology at École Normale Supérieure in Paris and at Sorbonne University. During my MA, I worked on Herodotus’ geography under the supervision of Paul Demont. Then I passed the aggregation exam (a French competitive examination required for teaching positions) and pursued a bachelor’s degree in Indian studies at Sorbonne Nouvelle University. Since 2020, I have been working on a Ph.D. thesis in Greek literature at Sorbonne University under the supervision of Didier Marcotte: I am researching the use of technical lexicons in Herodotus and their adaptation to different adressees of the Histories. The article I wrote for the 2022 Doris Post Essay Prize is titled “The Conqueror Unmasked: A Study of the Double Description of the Royal Road in the Embassy of Aristagoras (Hdt 5.49-54)”. I attempt to reconsider the relationship between the description of the Royal Road made by Aristagoras and the second one by the narrator of the Histories. I suggest that the episode is built on a role exchange between these two voices describing space, intended not so much to expose Herodotus’ geographical methods but rather to denounce the imperialistic ambitions of Aristagoras.’
Louise’s essay is published in English in volume 2 of Syllogos.
2023: The 2023 Doris Post Essay Prize winner was Vittorio Cisnetti (Alma Mater University of Bologna) for his essay, ‘Cambyses’ fleet: Herodotus on the first naval endeavour of the Persians and its features’. Vittorio writes:
‘My name is Vittorio Cisnetti, and I am an Italian PhD student in Historical and Archaeological Sciences at the Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna, Italy. My main research topic is the study of the contacts and the conflict(s) between the Greeks and the Achaemenid Empire in the Eastern Mediterranean, between the mid-6th century and the end of the 4th century B.C. Since the days of my graduation at the University of Turin, my research focuses primarily on the stages of development, on the structures, and on the composition of the naval forces of the Great Kings in the Mediterranean and the Aegean, as the principal instrument of the Persian sea-power within the context of Classical-age naval warfare. My current project’s purpose is to inquire into the ways in which Achaemenid maritime and naval policies shaped the communities of the easternmost parts of the Mediterranean (starting with Cyprus, but extending to Cilicia and Phoenicia, too) in the time of the regional conflicts with the Greeks; but also, vice-versa, how the local peoples from these countries contributed to define the means and the purposes of Persian power on the western sea. In my essay for the Doris Post Essay Prize, Cambyses’ Fleet. Herodotus on the First Naval Endeavour of the Persians and Its Features, I collected the references to a naval asset gathered by Cambyses for his campaign against Egypt of 525 B.C., which are available in the first section of book 3 in Herodotus’ Histories – undoubtedly, one of the main sources for my whole research. With this, I proposed a reconstruction of the logistical structure, the composition of the crews, and the typologies of ships which could have been employed in what seems to have been the first naval endeavour of the Persians in the Mediterranean.’
Vittorio’s essay will be published in Syllogos.
2024: The 2024 Doris Post Essay Prize winner is Nazım Can Serbest (Yale University) for his essay, ‘Nature and God in Herodotus’. Nazım writes:
I am a PhD candidate in the Combined Program in Classics and History at Yale University. I have BA and MA degrees from Boğaziçi University. Currently, as the 2024-25 Eugene Vanderpool Fellow at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, I am finalizing my doctoral thesis entitled ‘Historical Nature: Representation of the Physical Environment in Classical Greek Historiography’. My thesis examines how Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon negotiate the causal ambiguities of weather behaviour, animal activity, and landscape transformation to bolster their moral and political assumptions. My entry for the 2024 Doris Post Essay Prize, entitled ‘Nature and God in Herodotus’, analyses the divergent forms of agency and causation through which nature and god act on the observable world in the Histories. Specifically, it discusses the roles Herodotus attributes to nature and the divine in his portrayal of snake invasions and Persian expansionism.
Nazım’s essay will be published in Syllogos.
2025: The 2025 Doris Post Essay Prize winner is Wojciech Mazur (University of Liverpool) for his essay, ‘Herodotus’ engagement with the Egyptian debate on the legitimacy of Amasis’ kingship’. Wojciech writes:
‘I am a PhD candidate in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Liverpool. My thesis, titled ‘Experiences of Worshipping in the Greek Temples of the Egyptian Gods’ studies the adoption of Egyptian deities into local pantheons at a number of sites across the Greek islands, mainland and Alexandria in Egypt, exploring the sensory and cognitive-emotional experiences of worshippers elicited by the orchestration of rituals and sacred space and the mechanisms behind the local interpretatio Graeca of those Egyptian deities. I have an MA in Classics and Ancient History from the University of Exeter. My article for the Doris Post Essay Prize 2025 titled ‘Herodotus’ Engagement with the Egyptian Debate on the Legitimacy of Amasis’ Kingship’ argues that Herodotus dilligently represents the contrasting voices of his Egyptian sources (both royal propaganda and its subversion by non-royals) along with his own interpretation, informed by an understanding of Egyptian ideas of legitimate pharaonic succession, in a highly significant part of his account of Egypt in Book II – the logos on the pharaoh Amasis. I argue that Herodotus’ account represents a significant contribution towards the cultural memory of Amasis, as this pharaoh was important to Herodotus’ conceptions of Greco-Egyptian relations and common opposition towards Persia. As such, I argue that Herodotus’ account can be read alongside Egyptian material evidence to elucidate the debates around the controversial legitimacy of Amasis as pharaoh.
Wojciech’s essay will be published in Syllogos.
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