Page 48 - Encyclopedia Of World History Vol V

thucydides 1825

The secret of Happiness is Freedom, and the
secret of Freedom, Courage. • Thucydides
(d. c. 401 bce)

Further Reading nesian war Thucydides was forty, and this is probably a
Chenu, M. D. (1964). Toward understanding Saint Thomas. Chicago: H. fair guess, based upon his own remarks. Thucydides
Regnery.
Dyson, R.W. (2002). Aquinas: Political writings. Cambridge, UK: Cam- asserts that he was old enough to follow the course of the
bridge University Press. entire war and that he was elected as a general by the
Kretzmann, N., & Stump, E. (1993). The Cambridge companion to Athenians for a campaign in Thrace (in 424 BCE), but was
Aquinas. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
McInerny, R. (1998). Thomas Aquinas: Selected writings. London: Pen- exiled after failing to relieve the city of Amphipolis. He
guin Books. held rights to gold mines in the Thraceward area and was
Persson, P. E. (1970). Sacra doctrina: Reason and revelation in Aquinas. well respected there. He caught but survived the plague
Philadelphia: Fortress Press.
Rosemann, P. (1999). Understanding scholastic thought with Foucault. of 430–426 BCE, which he described in great detail. His
New York: St. Martin’s Press. father’s name was Olorus and he came from the deme
Tugwell, S. (1988). Albert and Thomas: Selected writings. New York:
Paulist Press. (smallest political unit in Athens, used to identify citizens)
Halimous. Marcellinus (who wrote a biography of Thucy-
dides) says that Thucydides’ mother’s name was Hege-
sipyle; the name of his father is identical with that of a
Thracian prince whose daughter, also named Hegesipyle,
Thucydides married an important Athenian aristocrat named Milti-
(d. c. 401 bce) ades.Thucydides was thus related to important members
Greek historian of the Thracian and Athenian aristocracies, including his
Athenian namesake Thucydides, the son of Melesias.
hucydides can be considered the “father of history.” Plutarch tells us that Thucydides’ tomb was in the Athen-
TThucydides wrote only one work, a history of the ian suburb of Koile Meletides, next to those of Miltiades
war fought in the fifth century BCE between the Atheni- and Cimon’s sister Elpinice.Thucydides had one son that
ans and the Spartans and their allies (432–404 BCE), gen- we know of, named Timotheus.
erally known by its modern title, The Peloponnesian War. The Peloponnesian War is structured chronologically,
In this work Thucydides developed a rigorous historical with each year of the war described by summer and win-
method and set high standards for accuracy in historical ter. Since Hellenistic times, the work has been divided
research. He influenced not just the historians from the into eight books (though in antiquity other divisions were
Greco-Roman world who were to follow him, but also made, including division into thirteen books). Book 1
the scholars of the nineteenth century, like Leopold von includes the Archaeology, a brief survey of Greek history
Ranke (1795–1886), laying the foundations for the down to the Persian wars, the Pentecontaetia, a brief out-
modern professional study of history based on the prin- line of events from the end of the Persian wars (described
ciples of empiricism. by Herodotus) to the start of the Peloponnesian War, and
We know very little about Thucydides that he does not a lengthy introduction on the causes of the war. Books
tell us himself. He states that he began work on his his- 2–4 describe the first ten years of the war (known as the
tory when the war started. Although he refers to the end Archidamian War). In Book 5 are the Peace of Nicias, the
of the war, Thucydides did not live to complete his his- Mantinean War, and the subjugation of Melos (which
tory.The narrative of The Peloponnesian War breaks off in includes the Melian Dialogue). Books 6–7 describe the
the middle of 411 BCE, which led ancient biographers to Sicilian campaign and the renewal of hostilities in Attica,
speculate that Thucydides died a sudden death. Most and in Book 8 the Ionian War and the revolt of many of
scholars conclude that he died around 400 BCE, though Athens’s allies are described. The narrative of the Pelo-
there is disputed evidence that he was still working on his ponnesian War was completed by Xenophon, who, in the
history as late as 397 BCE. His date of birth is conjectural Hellenica, takes up his account at the exact point where
too. Pamphila tells us that at the start of the Pelopon- that of Thucydides finishes.