Xerxes Five Million Men

[hoplite14gr]

I agree with Aryaman2 about the Iranian burial customs.
Very intersting the point about Mardonius. But are we talking of Mardonius son of Govrias or another Persian aristokrat with the same name?
Plutarchos also attacks Herodotus for contradictions from that time. He went as far to suggest that his palm was "greased".
Herodotos did not report everything right but he did not report everything wrong either so thats why a combination of sources and calculations might bring us closer to the truth.
Burial customs were different but both cultures had a respect for the dead and Mardonius corpse handling was possibly written for a Greek audience.
But would an open minded Greek would be understanding of "ceremonial abandonment" of the dead to nature and would an open minded Persian understood the fact that burial to the ground would be the Greek way of showing respect to the dead? There were diblomatic ties between the wars so there must be people from both sides with an understanding of the others habits.