Thucydides (c. 460-c. 399 BCE)

Thucydides was one of the great chroniclers of ancient history. Renowned for recording the history of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides not only provided future generations knowledge of a war for which few other data exist, he also developed an influential methodology for observing and documenting historical events. Ironically, few records of Thucydides' life survive from which we might better know and understand the man himself.

Thucydides' great work was to chronicle the Peloponnesian War, the decades-long conflict between Athens and Sparta (and their respective allies), which began in 431 BCE. Like few previous historians, Thucydides went beyond compiling a cursory accounting of major events in his day. Throughout the conflicts of the time, Thucydides documented naval engagements, cavalry maneuvering, troop type and strength, and speeches of individuals commanding the war's course. Likewise, Thucydides documented the spread of plague throughout Athens and its devastating effect on both populations and society. All the while, Thucydides employed methods of data collection that included the verification of stories he heard secondhand, the investigation of contemporary texts, and the inscribing of speeches he witnessed. Additionally, Thucydides sought to view the onset of war from multiple perspectives, seeking an understanding of the causes of a conflict and people's reaction to it.

Although Thucydides, an Athenian, provided future generations with documentation of the Peloponnesian War, his own life remains a mystery. Thucydides is believed to have lived from approximately 460 to 399 BCE, dates based primarily on positions he held in the military rather than on actual documentation of his birth and death. At one time an Athenian general tasked with saving the colony of Amphipolis, Thucydides was exiled from Athens after failing to arrive in time to prevent the colony's capture. A final distinctive note regarding Thucydides' life is that he experienced firsthand the plague as it swept through Athens toward the beginning of the war, killing a significant number of Athenians in the process. Of the rest of his life, including the circumstances of his birth, his rise to the rank of general, and details of his exile, little more is known.