Thucydides: A Very Short Introduction

by Jennifer T. Roberts

Very Short Introductions : Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring

In 432 BCE the powerful city-state of Sparta on the peninsula of the Peloponnesus in southwestern Greece declared war on Athens, head of a mighty naval coalition. The war would last until Sparta finally brough Athens to its knees in 404. The Athenian aristocrat Thucydides, suspecting the magnitude of the conflict that was unfolding before his eyes, at once undertook to record its history, exploring the causes and course of the war in the context of his great human nature. An introduction to Thucydides' thought and background, this book examines Thucydides' account of the war in the context both of the international situation in the classical Greek world and of the intellectual traditions of the fifth century BCE, exploring the historian's connection to prose writers like Herodotus as well as poets like Homer and the tragedians, and investigating the complex dynamics of the war that changed the Greek world forever.

ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography

160 pages, Paperback

Published February 27, 2025

About the author

Jennifer Tolbert Roberts is Professor of Classics and History at the City College of New York and the City University of New York Graduate Center. She is the author of Athens on Trial: The Anti-Democratic Tradition in Western Thought and Herodotus: A Very Short Introduction, and editor (with Walter Blanco) of the Norton Critical Editions of Herodotus' The Histories and Thucydides' The Peloponnesian War.

Reviews

[Dovide · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little disappointing. I have never delved into ancient Greek history, nor investigated Thucydides much other than his legacy as a precursor for classical realism. I was excited to learn more about both fronts—especially the Peloponnesian War and the power politics between Athens and Sparta, a dynamic to which the rise of China countering the American Empire has recently often been compared (most notably by Graham Allison in his "Thucydides Trap"). Yet, there really isn't much new material, even for a novice to the subject such as myself. Certainly, I learned a bit more context about the situation between the conflicting empires in the Hellenic world. I also picked up more about Thucydides and the way his analysis might have erred or differed from real-life events. But "new" material was few and far between.

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

sighhh, now for the paper worth most of my grade

[Taylor Swift Scholar · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I didn’t learn a ton that wasn’t covered by the Landmark Thucydides.

[avé maria · Rating 2 out of 5]

analysis/insight barely above wikipedia level, helpful for western civ, for some reason impossible to pirate?