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After his death, Thucydides's History was subdivided into eight books: its modern title is the History of the Peloponnesian War. This subdivision was most likely made by librarians and archivists, themselves being historians and scholars, most likely working in the Library of Alexandria .
Historian H. D. Kitto feels that Thucydides wrote about the Peloponnesian War not because it was the most significant war in antiquity but because it caused the most suffering. Indeed, several passages of Thucydides' book are written "with an intensity of feeling hardly exceeded by Sappho herself."
Thucydides' political strength reached its peak in the wake of the First Peloponnesian War and the reorganization of the Athenian empire in the early 440s BC. Thucydides developed a new and effective political tactic by having his supporters sit together in the assembly, increasing their apparent strength and giving them a united voice. [3]
The Second Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC), often called simply the Peloponnesian War (Ancient Greek: Πόλεμος τῶν Πελοποννησίων, romanized: Pólemos tō̃n Peloponnēsíōn), was an ancient Greek war fought between Athens and Sparta and their respective allies for the hegemony of the Greek world.
Like with much of the Peloponnesian War, historians of this period rely on Thucydides's monumental work, History of the Peloponnesian War, whose second chapter is devoted solely to the conflicts concerning Epidamnus and Potidaea. While Thucydides is detailed in his analysis, he is not a perfect narrator.
In History of the Peloponnesian War (Book 5, Chapters 84–116), the contemporary Athenian historian Thucydides included a dramatization of the negotiations between the Athenian emissaries and the rulers of Melos. Thucydides did not witness the negotiations and in fact had been in exile at the time, so this dialogue paraphrases what he believed ...
The debate as recorded by Thucydides provides important insight into Athenian democracy and imperial policy, and reflections upon their development and role in the Peloponnesian War. Cleon's speech reflects the critiques of Athenian democracy which would continue to develop and be employed against Athens by its enemies.
Thucydides, the main contemporary source on the battle, did not know the exact numbers of men on each side but estimated that there were about 9,000 men on the Spartan side with somewhat fewer men on the Argive coalition's side, about 8,000 according to Donald Kagan. [5]
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