Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War is a classical historical account of the long conflict between Athens and Sparta in the fifth century BC. It examines power, diplomacy, civil strife, and the human cost of war, and includes memorable speeches and reflections on politics. It is worth listening to as a foundational work of history writing.
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Text source: gutenberg.org · The work is in the public domain.
Opening of the book
THE HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR By Thucydides 431 BC Translated by Richard Crawley With Permission to CONNOP THIRLWALL Historian of Greece This Translation of the Work of His Great Predecessor is Respectfully Inscribed by —The Translator— CONTENTS
BOOK I CHAPTER I CHAPTER II CHAPTER III CHAPTER IV CHAPTER V BOOK II CHAPTER VI CHAPTER VII CHAPTER VIII BOOK III CHAPTER IX CHAPTER X CHAPTER XI BOOK IV CHAPTER XII CHAPTER XIII CHAPTER XIV BOOK V CHAPTER XV CHAPTER XVI CHAPTER XVII BOOK VI CHAPTER XVIII CHAPTER XIX CHAPTER XX
BOOK VII CHAPTER XXI CHAPTER XXII CHAPTER XXIII BOOK VIII CHAPTER XXIV CHAPTER XXV CHAPTER XXVI
BOOK I
CHAPTER I
The State of Greece from the earliest Times to the
Commencement of the Peloponnesian War
Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the
Peloponnesians and the Athenians, beginning at the moment that it broke out, and believing that it would be a great war and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it. This belief was not without its grounds. The preparations of both the combatants were in every department in the last state of perfection; and he could see the rest of the Hellenic race taking sides in the quarrel; those who delayed doing so at once having it in contemplation. Indeed this was the greatest movement yet known in history, not only of the Hellenes, but of a large part of the barbarian world—I had almost said of mankind.
For though the events of remote antiquity, and even those that more immediately preceded the war, could not from lapse of time be clearly ascertained, yet the evidences which an inquiry carried as far back as was practicable leads me to trust, all point to the conclusion that there was nothing on a great scale, either in war or in other matters.
For instance, it is evident that the country now called Hellas had in
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