Thucydides (c.460 B.C.–c.400 B.C.) is an ancient historian who chronicled nearly 30 years of war and tension between Athens and Sparta. His “History of the Peloponnesian War” sets a standard for historical texts. Unlike his near-contemporary Herodotus (author of the other ancient Greek history), Thucydides’ topic was his own time. He relied on the testimony of eyewitnesses and his own experiences as a general during the war. He is specific in detail, but he also raises timeless questions: What makes nations go to war? How can politics elevate or destroy a society? What is the measure of a great leader or a great democracy?


The secret of happiness is freedom, and the secret of freedom, courage.

About the plague of Athens in 430 B.C:

"Externally the body was not very hot to the touch, nor pale in its appearance, but reddish, livid, and breaking out into small pustules and ulcers. But internally it burned so that the patient could not bear to have on him clothing or linen even of the very lightest description; or indeed to be otherwise than stark naked. What they would have liked best would have been to throw themselves into cold water; as indeed was done by some of the neglected sick, who plunged into the rain tanks in their agonies of unquenchable thirst; though it made no difference whether they drank little or much.

Though many lay unburied, birds and beasts would not touch them, or died after tasting them1".

Thucydides' Life


Little is known about Thucydides’ life apart from the few biographical references in his writing. His father’s name was Olorus, and his family was from Thrace in northeastern Greece, where Thucydides owned gold mines that likely financed his historical work. He was born in the Athenian suburb of Halimos and was in Athens during the plague of c.430 B.C., a year after the war began. In 424, he was given command of a fleet of seven ships, but was then sentenced to death for failing to reach the city of Amphipolis in time to prevent its capture by the Spartans. He wrote of his exile: “It was…my fate to be an exile from my country for twenty years after my command at Amphipolis; and being present with both parties [Athens and Sparta], and more especially with the Peloponnesians by reason of my exile, I had leisure to observe affairs more closely.”

He managed to flee to his Thracian estate, and did not return to Athens for another 20 years. He wrote the "History of the Peloponnesian Wars" in exile. Thucydides was able to travel among Peloponnesian allies and the adversaries of Athens, which allowed him to give detailed accounts from both sides of the war. He used interviews, researched records, provides eye witness accounts, as well as his own take on events.

His war history ends abruptly in the middle of 411 B.C. He may have died around that time. However, it is also reported that a law was passed which allowed Thucydides to return to Athens in 404 B.C. but he was murdered on the way home.

Quotes from The Peloponnesian War


From: Thucydides, and Victor Davis Hanson. 1998. The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian War. Edited by Robert B. Strassler. Translated by Richard Crawley. Touchstone ed. edition. Free Press.


  • "But, the bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them, glory and danger alike, and yet notwithstanding, go out to meet it."

  • "Right, as the world goes, is only in question between equals in power, while the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must." - This quote is part of the Melian dialogue (Strassler 352/5.89).

  • "It is a general rule of human nature that people despise those who treat them well, and look up to those who make no concessions."

  • "In peace and prosperity states and individuals have better sentiments, because they do not find themselves suddenly confronted with imperious necessities; but war takes away the easy supply of daily wants and so proves a rough master that brings most men's characters to a level with their fortunes" (Strassler 199/3.82.2).

  • "War takes away the easy supply of daily wants, and so proves a rough master, that brings most men's characters to a level with their fortunes."

  • "The cause of all these evils was the lust for power arising from greed and ambition; and from these passions proceeded the violence of parties once engaged in contention."

  • "So that, though overcome by three of the greatest things, honor, fear and profit, we have both accepted the dominion delivered us and refuse again to surrender it, we have therein done nothing to be wondered at nor beside the manner of men."

  • "Indeed men too often take upon themselves in the prosecution of their revenge to set the example of doing away with those general laws to which all can look for salvation in adversity, instead of allowing them to subsist against the day of danger when their aid may be required" (Strassler 201/3.84.3).

  • "It is the habit of mankind to entrust to careless hope what they long for, and to use sovereign reason to thrust aside what they do not desire" (Strassler 282/4.108.4).