How was the phoenix myth reported in classical Greek and Roman sources?

In the 5th century bce, the Greek historian Herodotus recorded a story of the phoenix that he attributed to residents of Heliopolis in Egypt. Later Greek and Roman versions added new details, including asexual reproduction, a worm emerging from the deceased bird’s bones and marrow, and the phoenix dying on a pyre of aromatic substances before rising from the ashes. Various reports provide different details about the bird’s longevity and characteristics, and interpret it variously as a metaphor or as a real bird in the natural world. Romans also used the phoenix in political contexts as a symbol of renewal and the eternal nature of the Roman empire.