Thucydides

A Very Short Introduction

Author: Jennifer T. Roberts Series: Very Short Introductions

Paperback

An introduction to the thought and background of the Greek historian Thucydides, this book examines his account of the great war between Athens and Sparta in the context both of the international situation in the classical Greek world and of the intellectual traditions of the fifth century BCE.

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Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring In 432 BCE the powerful city-state of Sparta on the peninsula of the Peloponnesus in southwestern Greece declared war on Athens, head of a mighty naval coalition. The war would last until Sparta finally brough Athens to its knees in 404. The Athenian aristocrat Thucydides, suspecting the magnitude of the conflict that wasunfolding before his eyes, at once undertook to record its history, exploring the causes and course of the war in the context of his great interest: human nature. An introduction to Thucydides' thought and background, this book examines Thucydides' accountof the war in the context both of the international situation in the classical Greek world and of the intellectual traditions of the fifth century BCE, exploring the historian's connection to prose writers like Herodotus as well as poets like Homer and the tragedians, and investigating the complex dynamics of the war that changed the Greek world forever. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titlesin almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to makeinteresting and challenging topics highly readable.

About the Author

Jennifer Roberts is Professor of Classics and History at the City College of New York and the City University of New York Graduate Center. A past president of the Association of Ancient Historians, she specializes in the theory and practice of democracy and in the intellectual and political history of Greece during the classical period. Her publications include Accountability in Athenian Government (1982), Athens on Trial: The Antidemocratic Traditionin Western Thought (1994), editions of Thucydides' Peloponnesian War (1998) and Herodotus' Histories (2013), both co-authored with Walter Blanco, and The Plague of War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for AncientGreece (2017).