Thucydides

Introduction & Top Questions
Life
Scope and plan of the History
Character studies
Study of the war’s technical aspects
Style and historical aims
Authority of his work
Subsequent fame

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

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At a Glance

Thucydides summary

Quizzes

Temple ruins of columns and statures at Karnak, Egypt (Egyptian architecture; Egyptian archaelogy; Egyptian history)

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Marble bust of Alexander the Great, in the British Museum, London, England. Hellenistic Greek, 2nd-1st century BC. Said to be from Alexandria, Egypt. Height: 37 cm.

Ancient Greece

Related Questions

How did Thucydides experience the Athenian plague personally?
How did Thucydides hope future generations would use his history?
How did Thucydides influence later historians such as Polybius?
How did Thucydides portray the fate of Plataea during the Peloponnesian War?
How did Thucydides reconstruct the speeches in History of the Peloponnesian War?
How did Thucydides’ style differ from history meant to be spoken aloud?
How did Thucydides test the accuracy of reports from eyewitnesses?
How did disputes involving Corcyra and Potidaea help cause the Peloponnesian War?
How did the Thirty Years’ Treaty fail to prevent the Peloponnesian War?
How did the military strengths of Athens and Sparta shape the Peloponnesian War?
How did the term Thucydides trap become associated with rivalry between powerful states?
How long was Thucydides exiled from Athens?
What argument did the Athenians make in the Melian Dialogue?
What connections did Thucydides have to Thrace?
What happened in the Mytilene debate described by Thucydides?
When did Thucydides return from exile?
When was Thucydides born?
Where does History of the Peloponnesian War end?
Where was Thucydides during the plague that struck Athens in 430–429 BCE?
Which historians continued Greek history from the point where Thucydides stopped?
Which valuable mining rights did Thucydides hold in Thrace?
Which war did Thucydides describe in his History of the Peloponnesian War?
Why are some of Thucydides’ speeches difficult for readers to understand?
Why did Thucydides identify Spartan fear of Athenian power as a major cause of the war?
Why did Thucydides include speeches by political and military leaders in his history?
Why did Thucydides’ reputation grow after his death?
Why do scholars think Thucydides died shortly after 404 BCE?
Why is Thucydides considered a founder of critical historical writing?
Why was Thucydides sent to command an Athenian fleet near Thasos?
What was Grotius’s role in Dutch politics?
What was Flavius Josephus’s childhood like?
What did Flavius Josephus write?
What was Flavius Josephus’s role in the Jewish revolt of 66–70 CE?
Who was Bartolomé de Las Casas?
What is Bartolomé de Las Casas known for?
Did Bartolomé de Las Casas ever own serfs?
What did Bartolomé de Las Casas write?
What impact did Bartolomé de Las Casas’s writings have in Spain?
Why is Herodotus important?

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External Websites

World History Encyclopedia - Biography of Thucydides
CBC Radio - Thucydides, Part 1: The First Journalist
Great Thinkers - Thucydides
Social Studies for Kids - Biography of Thucydides
Perseus Digital Library - A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology - Thucy'dides

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Thucydides - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Thucydides

Greek historian

Written by

Arnold Wycombe Gomme

Professor of Greek, University of Glasgow, 1946–57. Author of A Historical Commentary on Thucydides (vols. I–III); Greece; and others.

Arnold Wycombe Gomme

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Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 28, 2026 •History

Thucydides (born 460 bc or earlier?—died after 404 bc?) was the greatest of ancient Greek historians and author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the struggle between Athens and Sparta in the 5th century bc. His work was the first recorded political and moral analysis of a nation’s war policies. All that is certainly known (perhaps all that ancient scholars knew) of Thucydides’ life is what he reveals about himself in the...

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