Thucydides

Athenian historian and general who chronicled the Peloponnesian War.

His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC.^[1] He has been called the father of the school of political realism.^[2] The Athenian general and historian Thucydides is estimated to have been born around 460 BC.^[1]

Last updated 2026-09-30 from the source article.

Quick Facts

Born: c. 460 BC
Birthplace: Halimous, Athens (modern Alimos)
Relatives: Oloros (father)
Notable works: History of the Peloponnesian War
Occupation: Historian, general

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

He mentions his nationality, paternity, and birthplace in his own History.^[3] He records that he owned gold mines at Scapte Hyle, a coastal area in Thrace.^[4] Because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides was sent as a strategos to Thasos in 424 BC.^[3] The fall of Amphipolis was blamed on Thucydides, and he was exiled.^[3]

Thucydides's narrative breaks off in the middle of the year 411 BC.^[5] He believed the Peloponnesian War represented an event of unmatched importance.^[6] Scant details exist about Thucydides's biography according to contemporary historians.^[3] According to his own account, Thucydides participated in military campaigns, caught the plague, and was subsequently banished by the democratic government.^[3]

Thucydides reveals his Athenian identity and states his father Olorus's name in his writings.^[3] Pericles and numerous other Athenians perished in the Plague of Athens, an epidemic that Thucydides himself lived through.^[3]

What the cited sources add

Korab-Karpowicz states that Thucydides saw politics as involving moral questions.^[7] A realist perspective is implied in how Thucydides explains the cause of the Peloponnesian War.^[7] The set of premises defining the realist tradition are all present in Thucydides.^[7] The War on the Rocks account notes that Thucydides is on a roll these days.^[8]

The same source states that the Trump White House is reportedly obsessed with Thucydides.^[8] Unrestrained power, lacking moderation and justice, generates an insatiable desire for further power, as demonstrated in Thucydides's work.^[7] Thucydides is characterized not as a prophet or political scientist, but as an acute observer and explainer of humanity's behavior during group conflict.^[8]

References

Wikipedia, "Thucydides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cochrane, "Thucydides and the Science of History", Oxford University Press, 1929, p. 179; Meyer, p. 67; de Sainte Croix.; Korab-Karpowicz, "Political Realism in International Relations", 26 July 2010 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Thucydides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Strauss, p. 139.; Harloe, Katherine, Morley, Neville, eds., Thucydides and the Modern World: Reception, Reinterpretation, and Influence from the Renaissance to the Present. Cambr (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Thucydides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Thucydides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: .; . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Thucydides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: “ἥξει Δωριακὸς πόλεμος καὶ λοιμὸς ἅμ᾽ αὐτῷ.’ 2:54.2. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Wikipedia, "Thucydides" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: .; .; Zagorin, Perez. Thucydides. (Princeton University Press, 2015), p. 9.; . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
Korab-Karpowicz, "Political Realism in International Relations", 26 July 2010. facts only, no text reused. plato.stanford.edu
"What Thucydides Teaches Us About War, Politics, and the Human Condition", War on the Rocks, 9 August 2017. facts only, no text reused. warontherocks.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Thucydides (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.