Hello, this is Jana Elizabeth.

Welcome to Jana Studio, where I will bring you updates, music, interviews, audio stories,

and even share with you a little background about StoryNori, which has been

bringing you free stories since 2005.

I'm StoryNorri's editor and you may have noticed me answering comments on the website.

I'm joined now by my special guest Bertie, the founder of Story Nori and the writer of all our stories.

Thanks for inviting me, Jana.

So Bertie, you've started your own series about Herodotus and his histories of ancient

Greece and Persia. Can you tell me why you decided to put in a personal appearance after

all these years?

Well, I think our wonderful narrators have got a skill that I just don't have when it comes to

storytelling and character voices, but Herodotus is different.

His stories are factual and they've been part of my life for many years.

Really a long, long time ago, I read them in the original ancient Greek

when I was studying at Oxford and since then I spent a while working for the BBC doing

factual reporting and so in this particular case I felt I could read them myself and I really

wanted to. Okay, well that makes sense.

Well, I'm going to put you on the spot now.

Could you give us an extract?

Okay, well, I've got something here.

It isn't actually Herodotus's words,

but a direct quote from the Persian Emperor Cyrus the Great,

...