History of the Peloponnesian War, Volume IV: Books 7-8 [Greek, Ancient (To 1453)]

By Thucydides

Classic political realism.

Thucydides of Athens was born about 471 BC. He saw the rise of Athens to greatness under the inspired leadership of Pericles. In 430, the second year of the Peloponnesian War, he caught and survived the horrible plague that he described so graphically. Later, as general in 423 he failed to save Amphipolis from the enemy and was disgraced. He tells us about this, not in volumes of self-justification, but in one sentence of his history of the war--that it befell him to be an exile for twenty years. He then lived probably on his property in Thrace, but was able to observe both sides in certain campaigns of the war, and returned to Athens after her defeat in 404. He had been composing his famous history, with its hopes and horrors, triumphs and disasters, in full detail from first-hand knowledge, along with the accounts of others.

The war was really three conflicts with one uncertain peace after the first; and Thucydides had not unified them into one account when death came sometime before 396. His history of the first conflict, 431-421, was nearly complete; Thucydides was still at work on this when the war spread to Sicily and into a conflict (415-413) likewise complete in his awful and brilliant record, though not fitted into the whole. His story of the final conflict of 413-404 breaks off (in the middle of a sentence) when dealing with the year 411. So his work was left unfinished and as a whole unrevised. Yet in brilliance of description and depth of insight this history has no superior.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Thucydides is in four volumes.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: Greek, Ancient (To 1453)
• ISBN: 0674991877
• ISBN13: 9780674991873
• Release Date: January 1965
• Publisher: Harvard University Press
• Length: 480 Pages
• Weight: 0.76 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 4.6" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

Quite fascinating, but it needed time to trudge through.

When you buy by the volume, be sure they are the same set. I once was in the U.S. Army. As part of our job, we were always encouraged to study history to see how people thought and how wars were executed. No war is ever the same, so what we are reading to learn is the why. There are also how people responded to different tactics and strategies. I found this easy to read as the translation made it appear like we were reading today’s news. Not just the actions but the politics of the time. There are great descriptions of the time and place. The only thing that is missing is visual maps to put the places in perspective. Luckily, you can get maps of the time off the net as a supplement. There is enough detail that it may require a second reading after you have digested the first. I am also looking for some good books to tell me what I would have noticed in this book. Be aware that translation is also very important, and you may want to read some different translations to get a better picture of the war.