The History of the Peloponnesian War

thucydides richard crawley

Written four hundred years before the birth of Christ, this detailed contemporary account of the long life-and-death struggle between Athens and Sparta stands an excellent chance of fulfilling its author's ambitious claim. Thucydides himself (c.460-400 BC) was an Athenian and achieved the rank of general in the earlier stages of the war. He applied thereafter a passion for accuracy and a contempt for myth and romance in compiling this factual record of a disastrous conflict.

Genres historyclassicsnonfictionwarancient historypoliticsgreecemilitary fictionancientphilosophy

null pages, Hardcover

First published January 1,-0411

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greece, syracuse sicily,

This edition

Format: null pages, Hardcover
Published: January 1, 2005 by Indypublish.Com
ISBN: 9781414239309
ASIN: 1414239300
Language: English

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Thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460 – c. 400 BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC....
Alcibiades

Alcibiades, son of Cleinias, from the deme of Scambonidae (c. 450 - 404 BC), was a prominent Athenian statesman, orator, and general. He was the last famous member of his mothers aristocratic family, the Alcmaeonidae, which fell from prominence afte...
Pericles

Pericles (/ˈpɛrɪkliːz/; Greek: Περικλῆς Periklēs, pronounced [pe.ri.klɛ̂ːs] in Classical Attic; c. 495 – 429 BC) was a prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age—specifically the time between the Persian ...
Nicias (athens)

Nicias (c. 470–413 BC), was an Athenian politician and general during the period of the Peloponnesian War. Nicias was a member of the Athenian aristocracy and had inherited a large fortune from his father, which was invested in the silver mines around Att...

About the author

thucydides

Thucydides (c. 460 B.C. – c. 400 B.C.) (Greek Θουκυδίδης) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work.
He also has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest. His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue is regarded as a seminal text of international relations theory, while his version of Pericles' Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics.
More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behavior in such crises as plagues, massacres, and wars.