Abstract
Herodotus invites those who read him today to engage in a cultural critique and encourages them to consider whether the US heritage of political liberty and the rule of law is a treasure worth fighting to preserve. When Francis Scott Key, in The Star-Spangled Banner spoke of America as "the land of the free and the home of the brave," he was borrowing language that had been used to describe classical Sparta; and if the comparison is no longer apt, Herodotus would predict that it is unlikely US citizens will remain free in the future.