History of the Peloponnesian War (Version 2)

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Such may be the reaction of many listeners to Thucydides' compelling and rightly celebrated account of the war fought over more than twenty years between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies that began in 431 BCE.

It is true there are extended passages in Thucydides' account that sound rather like "[Army X] marched to [region with strange name], fought [group with strange name], were victorious, and set up a trophy" — but there is a lot more to Thucydides' account of this geographically dispersed conflict than this. Thucydides was himself an active participant in the war (he served as an Athenian general), and his history includes many detailed descriptions of specific battles both on land and at sea that are clearly derived from eyewitness accounts, as well as detailed accounts of incidents that saw strongholds taken by treachery or trickery, rather than armed conflict.

Throughout, Thucydides gives us many set speeches, often of remarkable logical and rhetorical sophistication, by which the proponents of opposite courses of action seek to win the approbation of decision-making assemblies. He is clear-eyed about both the strengths and weaknesses of democratic forms of government in times of crisis, and describes unflinchingly the almost endless cycles of making and breaking alliances that were such a feature of this conflict — and which perhaps, are just the inevitable by-product of our human nature. It is little wonder that on the strength of this text, Thucydides has come to be recognised as the father of political realism. (Summary by Peter Dann)