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How did Thucydides hope future generations would use his history?
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Thucydides
Thucydides manuscript, 3rd century bc (Hamburg, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, P. Hamburg 163).
Thucydides did not write his History of the Peloponnesian War to seek immediate public applause or to provide a romanticized narrative. Instead, he intended his work to be a lasting resource for posterity.12
He hoped that future students of history would find his account useful for clearly understanding past events. Because he believed that human nature remains constant, he argued that similar situations are likely to recur in the future. By providing a scientific and impartial analysis of the motives, ambitions, and behaviors of men and states during wartime, he aimed to offer a diagnostic tool that would prove valuable to future statesmen and those seeking to comprehend the patterns of human conflict.21