Analysis: Excerpt from the History of the Peloponnesian War

Date: c. 431 BCE

Geographic Region: Greece

Author: Thucydides

Translator: Richard Crawley

Summary Overview

In the opening chapter of his History of the Peloponnesian War, Athenian-born historian Thucydides introduces the reader to the background of the warring groups—the Athenians and the Spartans—to provide context for his discussion of the complex causes of this devastating and lengthy series of conflicts. Beginning with what he considered the earliest point in the history of Hellas—the name the ancient Greeks used for their divided peninsula of competing city-states—Thucydides briefly traces the development of the diverse polities through the Trojan War and the Greco-Persian Wars, both of which united Greeks against external opponents. Thucydides also uses this introductory section to explain his approach to the collection and documentation of these historical events. Building on the tradition of the earlier Hellenic historian Herodotus, he announces his intent to produce a more objective and factual history devoid of embellishment but that reflects the gravity of what he correctly deems a pivotal conflict between Greece's two leading city-states, Athens and Sparta.

Defining Moment

Thucydides wrote the account that became the History of the Peloponnesian War as the events he described still raged on around him. This war, between Greece's leading cultural and naval power, Athens, and its main military center, Sparta, had roots stretching back decades before the outbreak of hostilities. The ancient Greeks—or Hellenes, as they called themselves—had united to successfully resist the attacks of the powerful Persian Empire against the Greek peninsula earlier in the century. After the Persians were expelled, the Hellenic city-states began to reposition themselves in relation to one another. Athens had been a driving force in the Hellenic victory, and had become the leader of the Delian League, an alliance of dozens of Greek city-states, during the conflict. This leadership positioned Athens as the effective head of a regional empire. Similarly, Sparta enjoyed status as the most powerful player in the long-standing Peloponnesian League, named for the southern Greek peninsula where its member city-states were located.

As the Greco-Persian Wars wound down, Athens had begun experiencing rising tensions with Sparta, due largely to the Athenians' obvious interest in expanding their political control far outside of their traditional borders—a policy strongly opposed by the Spartan leadership. By about 460 BCE, Athens had engaged in open conflict with some traditional Spartan allies, such as the city-state of Corinth. Sparta and other allies on both sides were drawn into the conflict, sometimes called the First Peloponnesian War. In 445 BCE, Athens and Sparta agreed to what was known as the Thirty Years' Peace. The fighting ended, but relations between the two powers remained strained. In the History, Thucydides points to Spartan concern over Athens' continuing expansionist efforts as the source of this unease. Relations between the two city-states' respective allies were also troubled. During this time, Athens entered into a defensive alliance with the city of Corcyra, which was itself engaged in conflict with Corinth. After Athens technically violated the Thirty Years' Peace by sending warships to fight alongside the Corcyran fleet, the situation rapidly deteriorated. The Peloponnesian War officially began between Athens and Sparta in 431 BCE (making the name “Thirty Years' Peace” a misnomer).

The war went on with only occasional interruption for nearly thirty years; the only significant break in hostilities came between 421 and 415 BCE. Each side seemed to hold the advantage at various points in the conflict, but during the war's second period Athens increasingly lost ground. A failed attack on the distant island of Sicily devastated its military resources and contributed to growing internal political turmoil. The Spartans wore away at Athens' ever-declining resources, eradicating its already weakened navy and establishing a powerful ground blockade. Shorn of its former glory, Athens surrendered in 404 BCE, ending the war as well as its period of Hellenic dominance.

Author Biography

Believed to have been born sometime around 460 BCE, Thucydides remains one of modern historians' leading sources on the dramatic events that shaped Greece during the late fifth century BCE. Details of the author's life are sparse and come overwhelmingly from his own writing. A native of Athens, Thucydides traced his roots to the northeastern region of Thrace. He was elected one of the city-state's military officers in 424 BCE and was tasked with overseeing the naval fleet at Amphipolis. Spartan forces captured the fleet, however, and Athenians blamed Thucydides for this failure. He was exiled from the city and spent the next twenty years traveling and observing the unfolding course of the Peloponnesian War. Because the account ends before the war concluded in 404 BCE, historians disagree about whether Thucydides survived to this time.

Document Analysis

The first chapter of Thucydides' History provides a broad sweep of centuries of Hellenic history leading up to the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War—the core content of the work—and introduces the historian and his rationale for writing. The study of the Peloponnesian War, he claims, can serve as a method to better understand the perpetual characteristics of human nature that lie at the heart of such devastating affairs. By sketching an overview of past conflicts in the Hellenic world, the historian also suggests that the war of his own era was itself a manifestation of that same human nature that had shaped Hellas since the beginning of its history, albeit one of greater import.

Thucydides devotes much of this chapter to the provision of historical perspective on the conflict. He points to the Trojan War, a well-known conflict (chronicled in Homer's Iliad) between the Greeks and the city of Troy (in what is now western Turkey) as the spark that unified a group of previously distinct and migratory peoples into the culturally related Hellenes. He notes that these peoples generally shared warlike tendencies, citing their preference for arming themselves and their development of land and sea forces. Ambition for wealth and power fueled tensions among the city-states, despite their periods of cooperation for their own benefit. Thus, he argues, the Peloponnesian War was the culmination of these tensions; this culmination, involving powerful city-states and their allies, overshadowed the effects of earlier conflicts that engaged these same participants.

Thucydides also uses this section to announce himself and his methods for relating this history. Although this disclaimer consists of a relatively small portion of the chapter, his inclusion of this information is representative of his role in the formation of the modern principles of historiography, the recording of history. Explaining that he had undertaken this task “believing that it would be a great war and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it,” he finds his belief warranted as compared to the scope of Hellenic history he described; the war between Athens and Sparta was more destructive to the Greek people and their lands than any engagement with a foreign enemy. The historian also explains his ideal of an honest and reputable telling of an exact history, except for speeches, which he admits cannot be reproduced precisely, but are instead recreated in a way that captures both what the speakers actually said and what the historian believes they should have said. In this way, Thucydides' interpretation of events is clearly designed for the readers of the future, whom he wishes to reach.

Bibliography and Additional Reading

Connor, W. Robert. Thucydides. Princeton: Princeton UP, 1984. Print.

Kagan, Donald. The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1969. Print.

Lendon, J. E. Song of Wrath: The Peloponnesian War Begins. New York: Basic, 2010. Print.

Rusten, Jeffrey S., ed. Thucydides. New York: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. Oxford Readings in Classical Studies.