History of the Peloponnesian War
Overview
The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the battles, conflicts, and politics of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens), written by an Athenian general who served in the war, Thucydides. It is widely considered a classic and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history. Thucydides' masterpiece is divided into eight books. These book divisions are the work of editors in later antiquity.
Character of the History
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 wildly between the various theatres of conflict.
Speeches
Another distinctive feature of the work are the 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 amongst Athenian and Spartan leaders and between them. 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 eye witness accounts. Some of the speeches are probably fabricated according to his expectations of what must have been said.
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 that "My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the taste of an immediate public, but was done to last for ever" (Book I, 22). This conclusion is not unchallenged, however. Ernst Badian's 1993 article "Thucydides and the Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. A Historian's Brief" argues vociferously Thucydides' unremitting pro-Athenian bias.
Role of Religion
The gods play no role in Thucydides' work, unlike the many appearances they make in the writings of Herodotus (and their near ubiquity in Homer's work). Instead, Thucydides shows history as caused by the choices and actions of human persons.
Subject Matter of the History
The History concentrates on military and political matters. However, it uses these events as a medium to deal specifically with the socially and culturally degenerative effects of war on men themselves (focusing on the lawlessness and atrocities committed by Greek citizens). It largely leaves matters like art and architecture untouched. The History, for example in the Melian dialogue, describes early instances of realpolitik or power politics, as well as the breakdown of social and cultural norms under the stress of warfare.
Some difficulties of Interpretation
Thucydides' History is extraordinarily dense and complex. This has resulted in much scholarly disagreement on a cluster of issues of interpretation.
Strata of Composition
The History of the Peloponnesian War is unfinished, ending in mid-sentence. It is virtually certain that Thucydides died while still working on the History. However there is greater deal of uncertainty whether Thucydides 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. The debate is called the strata of composition debate.
Sources
The History is notoriously reticent about its sources. Thucydides 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 mentioned multiple versions of his stories and allowed the reader to decide which was true. Thucydides instead 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. The narrative after Thucydides' exile (4.108 and after) seems to focus on Peloponnesian events to a much greater degree 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 campaign 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 was more free than was previously thought in inferring the thoughts, feelings and motives of principal characters in his History from their actions and his own sense of what would be appropriate or likely in such a situation.
Influence
Thucydides' History has been enormously influential in modern historiography. It was embraced by Thucydides contemporaries and immediate successors with similar 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 wonderful satire True Histories.
Outline of the Work
- Book 1
- The state of Greece from the earliest Times to the Commencement of the Peloponnesian War
- Causes of the War - The Affair of Epidamnus - The Affair of Potidaea
- Congress of the Peloponnesian Confederacy at Lacedaemon
- From the End of the Persian to the Beginning of the Peloponnesian War - The Progress from Supremacy to Empire
- Second Congress at Lacedaemon - Preparations for War and Diplomatic Skirmishes - Cylon - Pausanias - Themistocles
- Book 2
- Beginning of the Peloponnesian War - First Invasion of Attica - Funeral Oration of Pericles
- Second Year of the War - The Plague of Athens - Position and Policy of Pericles - Fall of Potidaea
- Third Year of the War - Investment of Plataea - Naval Victories of Phormio - Thracian Irruption into Macedonia under Sitalces
- Book 3
- Fourth and Fifth Years of the War - Revolt of Mytilene
- Fifth Year of the War - Trial and Execution of the Plataeans - Corcyraean Revolution
- Sixth Year of the War - Campaigns of Demosthenes in Western Greece - Ruin of Ambracia
- Book 4
- Seventh Year of the War - Occupation of Pylos - Surrender of the Spartan Army in Sphacteria
- Seventh and Eighth Years of the War - End of Corcyraean Revolution - Peace of Gela - Capture of Nisaea
- Eighth and Ninth Years of the War - Invasion of Boeotia - Fall of Amphipolis - Brilliant Successes of Brasidas
- Book 5
- Tenth Year of the War - Death of Cleon and Brasidas - Peace of Nicias
- Feeling against Sparta in Peloponnese - League of the Mantineans, Eleans, Argives, and Athenians - Battle of Mantinea and breaking up of the League
- Sixteenth Year of the War - The Melian Conference - Fate of Melos
- Book 6
- Seventeenth Year of the War - The Sicilian Campaign - Affair of the Hermae - Departure of the Expedition
- Seventeenth Year of the War - Parties at Syracuse - Story of Harmodius and Aristogiton - Disgrace of Alcibiades
- Seventeenth and Eighteenth Years of the War - Inaction of the Athenian Army - Alcibiades at Sparta - Investment of Syracuse
- Book 7
- Eighteenth and Nineteenth Years of the War - Arrival of Gylippus at Syracuse - Fortification of Decelea - Successes of the Syracusans
- Nineteenth Year of the War - Arrival of Demosthenes - Defeat of the Athenians at Epipolae - Folly and Obstinacy of Nicias
- Nineteenth Year of the War - Battles in the Great Harbour - Retreat and Annihilation of the Athenian Army
- Book 8
- Nineteenth and Twentieth Years of the War - Revolt of Ionia - Intervention of Persia - The War in Ionia
- Twentieth and Twenty-first Years of the War - Intrigues of Alcibiades - Withdrawal of the Persian Subsidies - Oligarchical Coup d'Etat at Athens - Patriotism of the Army at Samos
- Twenty-first Year of the War - Recall of Alcibiades to Samos - Revolt of Euboea and Downfall of the Four Hundred - Battle of Cynossema
References and further reading
- Lewis, John (July 29). "Thucydides and the Discovery of Historical Causation". StrongBrains.
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