History of the Peloponnesian War

The "History of the Peloponnesian War" is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian general who served in the war. It is widely considered a classic and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history. The "History" was divided into eight books by editors of later antiquity.

Analyses of the "History" generally fall into one of two camps. [- K.J. Dover, "Thucydides 'as History' and 'as Literature,' "History and Theory" (1983) 22:54-63.] On the one hand are those who view the work as an objective and scientific piece of history. The judgement of J. B. Bury reflects this traditional interpretation of the work: " [The History is] severe in its detachment, written from a purely intellectual point of view, unencumbered with platitudes and moral judgements, cold and critical." [- J.B. Bury, "History of Greece", 4th ed., (New York 1975), p. 252.] A more recent interpretation, associated with reader-response criticism, argues that the "History" is better understood as a piece of literature than an objective record of the past. This view is embodied in the words of W. R. Connor, who describes Thucydides as "an artist who responds to, selects and skillfully arranges his material, and develops its symbolic and emotional potential." [- W.R. Connor, "Thucydides", (Princeton 1984), pp. 231-2.] The former outlook views Thucydides as pathbreaking, modern, and philosophical, ahead of his time; the latter views the historian as closely connected with his historical and cultural context. Both interpretations are accepted by scholars, sometimes by the same scholar, and seem to capture the contradictory impulses and tensions within the "History".

Historical method

Thucydides' "History" made a number of contributions to early historiography. Many of his principles have become standard methods of history writing today, though others have not.

Chronology

One of Thucydides' major innovations was to employ a strict standard of chronology, recording events by year, each year consisting of the summer campaigning season and a less active winter season. As a result, events that span several years are divided up and described in parts of the book that are sometimes quite distant from one another, causing the impression that he is oscillating between the various theatres of conflict. This method contrasts sharply with Herodotus' earlier work "The Histories", which jumps around chronologically and makes frequent and roundabout excursuses into seemingly unrelated areas and time periods.

peeches

Another distinctive feature of the work is Thucydides' inclusion of dozens of speeches assigned to the principal figures engaged in the war. These include addresses given to troops by their generals before battles and numerous political speeches, both by Athenian and Spartan leaders, as well as debates between various parties. Of the speeches, the most famous is the funeral oration of Pericles, which is found in Book Two. Thucydides undoubtedly heard some of these speeches himself while for others he relied on eyewitness accounts. Some of the speeches are probably fabricated according to his expectations of, as he puts it, "what was called for in each situation" (1.22.2). [- Donald Kagan, "The Speeches in Thucydides and the Mytilene Debate," "Yale Classical Studies" (1975) 24:71-94.]

While the inclusion of long first-person speeches is somewhat alien to modern historical method, in the context of ancient Greek oral culture speeches are expected. A brief glance at Homer's poems, the works of the tragedians, and Herodotus's Histories show that all of the most influential literary forms in Thucydides' time included substantial first-person speeches. Oratory also played a large part in the political life of the democracy in Thucydides' home city, Athens.

Neutral point of view

Despite being an Athenian and a participant in the conflict, Thucydides is often regarded as having written a generally unbiased account of the conflict and all the sides involved in it. In the introduction to the piece he states, "My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the taste of an immediate public, but was done to last for ever" (1.22.4). However, this conclusion is not unchallenged; some scholars such as Ernst Badian argue vociferously for Thucydides' unremitting pro-Athenian bias. [- Ernst Badian, "Thucydides and the Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. A Historian's Brief" in "Conflict, Antithesis and the Ancient Historian", ed. June Allison, (Columbus 1990), pp. 46-91.] Others claim he had an ulterior motive, specifically to create an epic comparable to those of the past, and that this led him to create a nonobjective dualism favoring the Athenians [Graziosi, Barbara. Inventing Homer: The Early Reception of Epic, 2002, p. 118, ISBN 0521809665. ] .

Role of religion

The gods play no active role in Thucydides' work. This is very different from Herodotus, who frequently mentions the role of the gods, as well as a nearly ubiquitous divine presence in the centuries-earlier poems of Homer. Instead, Thucydides regards history as being caused by the choices and actions of human beings.

ubject matter of the "History"

The first book of the History, after a brief review of early Greek history and some programmatic historiographical commentary, seeks to explain why the Peloponnesian War broke out when it did and what its causes were. Except for a few short excursuses (notably 6.54-58 on the Tyrant Slayers), the remainder of the History (books 2 through 8) rigidly maintains its focus on the Peloponnesian War to the exclusion of other topics.

While the "History" concentrates on the military aspects of the Peloponnesian War, it uses these events as a medium to suggest several other themes closely related to the war. It specifically discusses in several passages the socially and culturally degenerative effects of war on humanity itself. The "History" is especially concerned with the lawlessness and atrocities committed by Greek citizens to each other in the name of one side or another in the war. Some events depicted in the "History", such as the Melian dialogue, describe early instances of realpolitik or power politics. The "History" is preoccupied with the interplay of justice and power in political and military decision-making. Thucydides' presentation is decidedly ambivalent on this theme. While the "History" seems to suggest that considerations of justice are artificial and necessarily capitulate to power, it sometimes also shows a significant degree of empathy with those who suffer from the exigencies of the war.

For the most part, the "History" does not discuss topics such as the art and architecture of Greece.

Military Technology

The "History" emphasizes the development of military technologies. In several passages (1.14.3, 2.75-76, 7.36.2-3), Thucydides describes in detail various innovations in the conduct of siegeworks or naval warfare. The "History" places great importance upon naval supremacy, arguing that a modern empire is impossible without a strong navy. Important in this regard was the development, at the beginning of the classical period (ca. 500 B.C.), of the trireme, the supreme naval ship for the next several hundred years. In his emphasis on sea power, Thucydides resembles the modern naval theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan, whose influential work "The Influence of Sea Power upon History" helped set in motion the naval arms race prior to World War I.

Empire

The "History" explains that the primary cause of the Peloponnesian War was the "growth in power of Athens, and the alarm which this inspired in Sparta" (1.23.6). Thucydides traces the development of Athenian power through the growth of the Athenian empire in the years 479 BC to 432 BC in book one of the "History" (1.89-118). The legitimacy of the empire is explored in several passages, notably in the speech at 1.73-78, where an anonymous Athenian legation defends the empire on the grounds that it was freely given to the Athenians and not taken by force. The subsequent expansion of the empire is defended by these Athenians, "...the nature of the case first compelled us to advance our empire to its present height; fear being our principal motive, though honor and interest came afterward." (1.75.3) The Spartans represent a more traditional, circumspect, and less expansive power. Indeed, the Athenians are nearly destroyed by their greatest act of imperial overreach, the Sicilian expedition, described in books six and seven of the "History".

ome difficulties of interpretation

Thucydides' "History" is extraordinarily dense and complex. This has resulted in much scholarly disagreement on a cluster of issues of interpretation.

trata of composition

It is commonly thought that Thucydides died while still working on the "History", since it ends in mid-sentence and only goes up to 410 BC, leaving six years of war uncovered. Furthermore, there is greater deal of uncertainty whether he intended to revise the sections he had already written. Since there appear to be some contradictions between certain passages in the "History", it has been proposed that the conflicting passages were written at different times and that Thucydides' opinion on the conflicting matter had changed. Those who argue that the "History" can be divided into various levels of composition are usually called "analysts" and those who argue that the passages must be made to reconcile with one another are called "unitarians". This conflict is called the "strata of composition" debate.

ources

The "History" is notoriously reticent about its sources. Thucydides almost never names his informants and alludes to competing versions of events only a handful of times. This is in marked contrast to Herodotus, who frequently mentions multiple versions of his stories and allows the reader to decide which is true. Instead, Thucydides strives to create the impression of a seamless and irrefutable narrative. Nevertheless, scholars have sought to detect the sources behind the various sections of the "History". For example, the narrative after Thucydides' exile (4.108"ff.") seems to focus on Peloponnesian events more than the first four books, leading to the conclusion that he had greater access to Peloponnesian sources at that time.

Frequently, Thucydides appears to assert knowledge of the thoughts of individuals at key moments in the narrative. Scholars have asserted that these moments are evidence that he interviewed these individuals after the fact. However, the evidence of the Sicilian Expedition argues against this, since Thucydides discusses the thoughts of the generals who died there and whom he would have had no chance to interview. Instead it seems likely that, as with the speeches, Thucydides is looser than previously thought in inferring the thoughts, feelings, and motives of principal characters in his "History" from their actions, as well as his own sense of what would be appropriate or likely in such a situation.

Influence

Thucydides' "History" has been enormously influential in both ancient and modern historiography. It was embraced by the author's contemporaries and immediate successors with enthusiasm; indeed, many authors sought to complete the unfinished history. For example, Xenophon wrote his "Hellenica" as a continuation of Thucydides' work, beginning at the exact moment that Thucydides' "History" leaves off. His work, however, is generally considered far inferior in style and accuracy compared with Thucydides'. In later antiquity, Thucydides' reputation suffered somewhat, with critics such as Dionysius of Halicarnassus rejecting the "History" as turgid and excessively austere. Lucian also parodies it (among others) in his satire "The True Histories".

Miscellaneous

Thucydides correlates in his description of the 426 BC Maliakos Gulf tsunami for the first time in the history of natural science quakes and waves in terms of cause and effect. [Thucydides: [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Thuc.+3.89.1 “A History of the Peloponnesian War”, 3.89.2-5] ] [Smid, T. C.: "'Tsunamis' in Greek Literature", "Greece & Rome", 2nd Ser., Vol. 17, No. 1 (Apr., 1970), pp. 100-104 (103f.)]

Method of citation

Most critics writing about the "History", including this article, use a standard format to direct readers to passages in the text: "book"."chapter"."section". For example, the notation that Pericles' last speech runs from 2.60.1 to 2.64.6, this means that it can be found in the second book, from the sixtieth chapter through the sixty-fourth. Most modern editions and translations of the "History" include the chapter numbers in the margins, though some omit the section numbers, notably Rex Warner's translation published by Penguin Classics.

Outline of the work

*Book 1
**The state of Greece from the earliest times to the commencement of the Peloponnesian War, also known as the Archaeology. 1.1-1.19.
**Methodological excursus. 1.20-1.23.
**Causes of the war (433-432 BC) 1.24-1.66.
***The Affair of Epidamnus. 1.24-1.55.
***The Affair of Potidaea. 1.56-1.66.
**Congress of the Peloponnesian League at Lacedaemon. 1.67-1.88
***The Speech of the Corinthians. 1.68-1.71.
***The Speech of the Athenian envoys. 1.73-1.78.
***The Speech of Archidamus. 1.80-1.85.
***The Speech of Sthenelaidas. 1.86.
**From the end of the Persian War to the beginning of the Peloponnesian War, also known as the Pentacontaetia. 1.89-1.117.
***The progress from supremacy to empire.
**Second congress at Lacedaemon and the Corinthian Speech. 1.119-1.125.
**Diplomatic maneuvering. 1.126-1.139.
***Excursus on Cylon. 1.126-1.127.
***Excursus on Pausanias and Themistocles. 1.128-1.138
**Pericles' first speech. 1.140-1.145.

*Book 2 (431-428 BC)
**War begins with Thebes' attempt to subvert Plataea. 2.1-2.6.
**Account of the mobilization of and list of the allies of the two combatants. 2.7-2.9.
**First invasion of Attica. 2.10-2.23.
***Archidamus leads the Peloponnesian army into Attica. 2.10-2.12.
***Athenian preparations and abandonment of the countryside. 2.13-2.14.
***Excursus on Athenian synoikism. 2.15-2.16.
***Difficult conditions in Athens for refugees from countryside. 2.17.
***Archidamus ravages Oenoe and Acharnai. 2.18-2.20.
***Athenian fury and anger at Pericles. 2.21-2.22.
**Athenian naval counter-attacks along coast of Peloponese and islands. 2.23-2.32.
**Pericles' Funeral Oration. 2.34-2.46.
**The plague of Athens. 2.47-2.54.
**Second invasion of Attica and Athenian naval counter-attacks. 2.55-2.58.
**Pericles' third speech, defending his position and policy. 2.59-2.64.
**Thucydides' estimate of Pericles' qualities and the causes for Athens' eventual defeat. 2.65.
**Diplomacy and skirmishes in Thrace, the islands, and the Northeast. 2.66-2.69.
**Fall of Potidaea. 2.70.
**Investment of Plataea. 2.71-2.78.
**Naval victories of Phormio in the Northeast. 2.80-2.92.
**Threat of raid on the Piraeus. 2.93-2.94.
**Thracian campaign in Macedonia under Sitalces. 2.95-2.101.

*Book 3 (428-425 BC)
**Annual invasion of Attica. 3.1.
**Revolt of Mytilene. 3.2-3.50.
***Speech of Mytilenian envoys to Sparta at Olympia, asking for help. 3.9-3.14.
***Sparta accepts Lesbos as an ally and prepares to counter the Athenians. 3.15.
***Mytilene surrenders to Athens despite Spartan support. 3.28.
***Mytilenian Debate. 3.37-3.50.
**Fall of Plataea. 3.20-3.24, 3.52-68.
***Some Plataeans escape. 3.20-3.24.
***Plataea surrenders. 3.52.
***Trial and execution of the Plataeans. 3.53-3.68.
****Speech of Plataeans, 3.53-3.59.
****Speech of the Thebans. 3.61-3.67.
**Revolution at Corcyra. 3.70-3.85.
***Thucydides' account of the evils of civil strife. 3.82-3.84.
**Athenian campaigns in Sicily. 3.86, 3.90, 3.99, 3.103, 3.115-3.116.
**Tsunami and inquiry into its causes 3.89.2-5
**Campaigns of Demosthenes in western Greece. 3.94-3.98, 3.100-3.102, 3.105-3.114.
**Spartans establish Heracleia in Trachis. 3.92-3.93.
**Athenians purify Delos. 3.104.

*Book 4 (425-423 BC)
**Annual invasion of Attica. 4.2.
**Athenians en route to Sicily occupy Pylos in the Peloponnese. 4.2-4.6.
***King Agis of Sparta cuts short the invasion of Attica to return to the Peloponnese. 4.6.
**Concerted Spartan attack on the Athenian fort at Pylos. 4.8-4.15.
***The Athenian general Demosthenes coordinates the defense of Pylos and rouses the troops with a speech. 4.9-4.10.
***The Spartan commander Brasidas distinguishes himself for bravery. 4.11-4.12.
**The Athenians defeat the Spartan assault on Pylos and cut off a garrison of Spartiates on the adjacent island of Sphacteria. 4.13-4.14.
**The Spartans, concerned for the men on the island, conclude an immediate armistice and send an embassy to Athens to negotiate peace. 4.13-4.22.
***The speech of the Spartan ambassadors offers to peace and alliance to Athens in exchange for the return of the men on Sphacteria. 4.17-4.20.
***The Athenian Cleon, speaking in the Assembly, encourages the Athenians to demand the return of the territories surrendered by Athens at the conclusion of the First Peloponnesian War. 4.21-4.22.
**Events in Sicily. 4.24-4.25.
**Siege of the Spartiates on Sphacteria continues without result. 4.26-4.27.
**Cleon takes command at Pylos. 4.27-4.29.
***With the siege of Sphacteria yielding no results, the Athenians grow angry at Cleon for encouraging them to reject the Spartan offer of peace. 4.27.1-.4.27.3.
***Cleon blames Nicias and the generals for ineptitude. 4.27.5.
***Nicias yields command to Cleon. 4.28.
**Battle of Sphacteria results in the capture of all the Spartiates trapped there. 4.29-4.41.
**Nicias leads an Athenian attack on Corinth. 4.42-4.45.
**End of Corcyraean revolution. 4.46-4.48.
**Athenians capture Cythera, an island off the Peloponnese, and Thyrea, a town in the Peloponnese. Sparta is hemmed in on all sides and desperate. 4.53-4.57.
**Sicilian cities make peace in conference at Gela, frustrating Athenian designs on the island. 4.58-65.
***Speech of Hermocrates at Gela. 4.59-4.64.
**Athenian attack on Megara. 4.66-4.74.
***Capture of Nisaea. 4.69.
***Inconclusive engagements at Megara. 4.73.
***Megara eludes Athenian capture. 4.74.
**Invasion of Boeotia. 4.76, 4.89-4.101.2.
***Athenians occupy temple at Delium. 4.90.
***Battle of Delium results in Athenian retreat. 4.91-4.96.
***Boeotians refuse to return Athenian dead until Athenians relinquish the shrine of Delium. 4.97-4.99.
***Boeotians assault the Athenian in the temple and burn it down. 4.100.
**Brasidas marches through Thessaly to Thrace and begins to cause Athenian subject cities to revolt. 4.78-4.88.
***Speech of Brasidas to the Acanthians. 4.85-4.87.
**Fall of Amphipolis to Brasidas. 4.102-4.108.
**Continued successes of Brasidas in Thrace. 4.111-4.135.
***Brasidas secures the revolt of the garrison of Torone. 4.110-4.116.
***One-year armistice between Athenians and Spartans. 4.117-4.118.
***Scione revolts from Athens to Brasidas. 4.120-4.123.
***Truce breaks down. 4.122-4.123.
***Athenians retake Mende and besiege Scione. 4.129-4.131.

*Book 5 (422-415 BC)
**Death of Cleon and Brasidas
**Peace of Nicias
**Feeling against Sparta in the Peloponnese
**League of the Mantineans, Eleans, Argives, and Athenians
**Battle of Mantinea and breaking up of the League
**The Melian Dialogue
**Fate of Melos

*Book 6 (415-414 BC)
**The Sicilian Expedition
**Affair of the Hermae
**Departure of the expedition to Sicily
**Parties at Syracuse
**Story of Harmodius and Aristogiton
**Disgrace of Alcibiades
**Inaction of the Athenian army
**Alcibiades at Sparta
**Investment of Syracuse

*Book 7 (414-413 BC)
**Arrival of Gylippus at Syracuse
**Fortification of Decelea
**Successes of the Syracusans
**Arrival of Demosthenes (general)
**Defeat of the Athenians at Epipolae
**Folly and obstinacy of Nicias
**Battles in the Great Harbour
**Retreat and annihilation of the Athenian army

*Book 8 (413-411 BC)
**Revolt of Ionia
**Intervention of Persia
**The war in Ionia
**Intrigues of Alcibiades
**Withdrawal of the Persian subsidies
**Oligarchical Coup d'Etat at Athens
**Patriotism of the Athenian army at Samos
**Recall of Alcibiades to Samos
**Revolt of Euboea and downfall of the Council of the Four Hundred
**Battle of Cynossema

Notes

econdary sources

* Connor, W. Robert, "Thucydides". Princeton: Princeton University Press (1984). ISBN 0-691-03569-5.
* Crane, Gregory, [http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft767nb497/ "Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity: the Limits of Political Realism"] . Berkeley: University of California Press (1998).
* Hornblower, Simon, "A Commentary on Thucydides". 2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon (1991-1996). ISBN 0-19-815099-7 (vol. 1), ISBN 0-19-927625-0 (vol. 2).
* Hornblower, Simon, "Thucydides". London: Duckworth (1987). ISBN 0-7156-2156-4.
* Orwin, Clifford, "The Humanity of Thucydides". Princeton: Princeton University Press (1994).
* Romilly, Jacqueline de, "Thucydides and Athenian Imperialism". Oxford: Basil Blackwell (1963). ISBN 0-88143-072-2.
* Rood, Tim, "Thucydides: Narrative and Explanation". Oxford: Oxford University Press (1998). ISBN 0-19-927585-8.
* Strassler, Robert B, ed. "The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War". New York: Free Press (1996). ISBN 0-684-82815-4.

Translations

* Thomas Hobbes, 1628: [http://oll.libertyfund.org/Intros/Thucydides.php full text]
* William Smith, 1753
*Johann David Heilmann, 1760
* Richard Crawley, 1874: [http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/7142 full text]
* Benjamin Jowett, 1881: [http://classicpersuasion.org/pw/thucydides/thucydides-jowetttoc-b.htm full text]
* Edgar C. Marchant, 1900
* Charles Forster Smith, 1919
* Rex Warner, 1954
* John H. Finley, Jr., 1963
* Walter Blanco, 1998