India (Herodotus) India (Herodotus) In ancient Greek geography, the basin of the Indus River (essentially corresponding to the territory of modern Pakistan) was on the extreme eastern fringe of the known world. The Greek geographer Herodotus (5th century BC) describes India, calling it (Roman transliteration: "hē Hindikē chōrē", meaning "the Indian land"), after "Hinduš", the Old Persian name of the Indus river and the associated satrapy of Sindh in the Achaemenid Empire. Darius the Great had conquered this territory in 516 BC. The Greek colonies in Asia Minor (western Turkey) were already part of the Achaemenid Empre since 546 BC and, thus,
Ancient Greek art of ancient Greece was painted colourfully. This aspect of Greek stonework is described as polychrome (from Greek "πολυχρωμία", "πολύ" = many and "χρώμα" = colour). Due to intensive weathering, polychromy on sculpture and architecture has substantially or totally faded in most cases. Although the word "polychrome" is created from the combining of two Greek words, it was not used in ancient Greece. The term was coined in the early nineteenth century by Antoine Chrysostôme Quatremère de Quincy. Painting was also used to enhance the visual aspects of architecture. Certain parts of the superstructure of Greek temples were habitually painted since