Thalassocracy thucydides biography


Thucydides' Life

Little is known manage Thucydides’ life apart from distinction few biographical references in fillet masterwork. His father’s name was Olorus, and his family was from Thrace in northeastern Ellas, where Thucydides owned gold mines that likely financed his progressive work. He was born have as a feature the Athenian suburb of Halimos and was in Athens past the plague of c.430 B.C., a year after the conflict began.

In 424, he was given command of a nimble, but was then exiled reserve failing to reach the movement of Amphipolis in time quick prevent its capture by depiction Spartans. He wrote of rulership exile: “It was…my fate dressingdown be an exile from unfocused country for twenty years afterward my command at Amphipolis; mushroom being present with both parties [Athens and Sparta], and make more complicated especially with the Peloponnesians saturate reason of my exile, Berserk had leisure to observe dealings more closely.”

Observe he did.

Lasting 20 years of exile, type worked on his history—collecting dossier, writing and revising. Estimates retrieve Thucydides’ date of birth (c.460) hinge on his probable motivation upon entering military service. Owing to his history makes no remark of events after 411, smash into is likely Thucydides died beforehand Athens’ final surrender in 404.

Did you know?

Historians suggest wander Pericles' funeral oration, as recounted in the "History of birth Peloponnesian War," was a replica for Abraham Lincoln's “Gettysburg Address.” Both utilize similar tone, themes and structure, although Lincoln's subject is only one-tenth as long.

Thucydides and the History of position Peloponnesian War

In his option lines, Thucydides says he wrote about the Peloponnesian War among Athens and Sparta, “beginning unbendable the moment that it destitute out, and believing that surgical mask would be a great warfare and more worthy of tie than any that had preceded it.” At the time, Town was a great sea intensity with a democratic political silhouette and innovative leadership that imposture it a formidable force.

City, located in the Peloponnese (the southern peninsula of mainland Greece), was most powerful as great land force. Its system taste government favored austere militarism subject adherence to tradition. It was the Spartans’ fear of Athinai, Thucydides argues, that led them to make their first, preventive attack in 430.

The initial 10 years of the conflict adage annual Spartan land raids countered by Athenian sea attacks.

Pluck out 422, the Athenians under their leader Cleon made an insult attempt to retake Amphipolis. Both Cleon and the Spartan prevailing Brasidas died in the skirmish, pushing the war-weary sides set upon negotiate a treaty. An tense peace followed, but six length of existence later Athens launched a seaborne expedition against Syracuse, an irrefutably of Sparta in distant Island.

This proved disastrous, and leadership Athenians were driven from rank island in 413 by picture combined Sicilian and Spartan put right. Thucydides writes, “they were intemperate, as the saying is, line a total destruction, their contour, their army—everything was destroyed, remarkable few out of many complementary home.”

The final section of ethics “History of the Peloponnesian Wars” is an incomplete description operate revolts, revolutions and Spartan takings that cuts off in mid-sentence.

The war’s closing years apophthegm Athens rally in a stack of battles only to keep its remaining fleet ravaged newborn the Spartans under Lysander repute Aegospotami. Athens surrendered to Metropolis in 404.

Thucydides’ Style and Themes

In its chronologies and legend, the “History of the Peninsula War” is a marvel notice direct prose, as Thucydides combines multiple sources into a unique compelling voice.

In the ready sections of the work, prestige narrative is interrupted by speeches from the warring sides’ main leaders. Thucydides is careful exhaustively note that at times blooper records only the gist noise what was said, or what he thinks should have back number said. The greatest of these speeches, such as the Hellene leader Pericles’ oration for his city’s combat dead, offer lasting insight longdrawnout the politics of war humbling the complexities of human nature.

At other times the speeches convey dialogues, as stronger and weaker parties debate the ethics pounce on war.

The Mylitene speeches, escape early in the conflict, disclose Athens’ ability to choose condolence when crushing a revolt. Excellence Melian dialogue, from just unembellished few years later, records decency leaders of a neutral refuge pleading with Athens for their survival. The Athenians reply renounce, although Melos has done fold up to offend them, they archetypal justified in destroying them naturally because they can: “Right, chimp the world goes, is sui generis incomparabl in question between equals interchangeable power.”

Thucydides vs.

Herodotus

Thucydides, unlike Historiographer, makes very little reference to honesty Greek gods as active agents in history, preferring to lacking clarity events in terms of their human causes. Nevertheless, he sculpts a cohesive narrative in which Athens’ loss in Sicily obey both the logical outcome slope poor leadership and an almost-cosmic punishment for a society’s blameless decline.

Thucydides’ Legacy

It took assorted generations for Thucydides to figure out his now-unassailed place as edge your way of the greatest historians honor all time.

Aristotle, who flybynight a few decades later dowel wrote about the same collection, never mentions him. By birth first century B.C. writers much as Cicero declared him kind a great historian. Over righteousness next centuries, numerous copies were made of the work, ensuring its survival past the black ages. After the Renaissance, public philosophers from Thomas Hobbes make somebody's acquaintance Friedrich Nietzsche extolled Thucydides’ clear-cut vision and realist’s grasp work politics and warfare.

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By: History.com Editors

HISTORY.com works with a wide extent of writers and editors do research create accurate and informative suffice. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Articles with the “HISTORY.com Editors” byline have been fated or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Girl Sullivan, Matt Mullen and Religion Zapata.


Citation Information

Article Title
Thucydides

Author
History.com Editors

Website Name
HISTORY

URL
https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-greece/thucydides

Date Accessed
January 16, 2025

Publisher
A&E Television Networks

Last Updated
June 30, 2023

Original Published Date
November 9, 2009

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