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| - Despite Thucydides being an historian, nothing is known about his life. Some have speculated that he might have been born in Greece. What an astoundingly stupid idea! Everybody knows that Greeks never spoke Greek and that they didn't write about themselves.
- Thucydides (; , Thoukudídēs; c. 460 – c. 395 BC) was a Greek historian and Athenian general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work.
- Thucydides was himself a participant in the Peloponnesian War, commanding an Athenian fleet in the northern Aegean in 424-423. He was exiled from Athens at the end of his term in office as punishment for failing to arrive in enough time to successfully prevent the Spartan capture of the major Athenian settlement at Amphipolis. During his time in exile, he was able to travel extensively and observe the military and political developments in many of the theaters of war. His history is thus particularly notable for its vivid descriptions of ancient battle and detailed accounts of the political debates in his own democratic Athens.
- Thucydides was the military leader of the Greeks at The Battle of Athens. He was a conservative Greek military man who held the traditions of the hoplite and phalanx alive. During the battle he lead the army from the center, surrounded by the Pericles squadron of handpicked veterans. Thucydides ordered a massive charge against the Macedonian lines and his squadron was among those who fared best in the battle, fighting their way through the pikes of the Macedonian center and almost breaking through.
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| abstract
| - Thucydides was the military leader of the Greeks at The Battle of Athens. He was a conservative Greek military man who held the traditions of the hoplite and phalanx alive. During the battle he lead the army from the center, surrounded by the Pericles squadron of handpicked veterans. Thucydides ordered a massive charge against the Macedonian lines and his squadron was among those who fared best in the battle, fighting their way through the pikes of the Macedonian center and almost breaking through. When the Greek flanks routed, Pericles squadron retreated in good order until they reached the gates of Athens. There, Thucydides was struck by an arrow to the throat and finished off by a Hypaspist.
- Despite Thucydides being an historian, nothing is known about his life. Some have speculated that he might have been born in Greece. What an astoundingly stupid idea! Everybody knows that Greeks never spoke Greek and that they didn't write about themselves.
- Thucydides was himself a participant in the Peloponnesian War, commanding an Athenian fleet in the northern Aegean in 424-423. He was exiled from Athens at the end of his term in office as punishment for failing to arrive in enough time to successfully prevent the Spartan capture of the major Athenian settlement at Amphipolis. During his time in exile, he was able to travel extensively and observe the military and political developments in many of the theaters of war. His history is thus particularly notable for its vivid descriptions of ancient battle and detailed accounts of the political debates in his own democratic Athens. Thucydides is perhaps most well known to modern scholars for his view of politics and the nature of interstate relations. He repeatedly argued, during the course of his narrative, that states should act primarily in their own self interest. More importantly, while not ignoring more immediate provocations, he contended that the long term origins of the Peloponnesian War lay in the growing discrepancy in power between Athens and its main rival, Sparta. These views have led many historians and political scientists to regard him as the father of realist political theory. Thucydides' view of internal politics was ambiguous. While he frequently praised the merits of democracy, and the endurance of democratic societies during times of great difficulty, he also regarded it as a potentially dangerous system, in which uninformed masses could be manipulated by self serving demagogues into pursuing foolish courses of action, such as the poorly planned and executed Athenian invasion of Sicily in 415. A strong, statesman-like leader like his hero, Pericles, would thus be needed to restrain the urges of the people.
- Thucydides (; , Thoukudídēs; c. 460 – c. 395 BC) was a Greek historian and Athenian general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work. He has also been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the relations between nations as based on might rather than right. His text is still studied at advanced military colleges worldwide, and the Melian dialogue remains a seminal work of international relations theory. More generally, Thucydides showed an interest in developing an understanding of human nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plague, massacres, as in that of the Melians, and civil war.
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