![]() ![]() ![]() The sudden ending of the text reveals that Thucydides was working hard on the work right up until he died, years after the conflict had ended.The military narrative is top notch throughout the book which is not a surprise given Thucydides’ time as an Athenian general before his exile. The war is presented in a chronological manner for nearly the entire work with only two or three diversions in either historical context or to record what happened elsewhere during the Sicilian Expedition that took up Books 6 & 7. ![]() Over the course of Books 2 through 8, Thucydides covered not only the military action of the war but also the numerous political machinations that both sides encouraged in each other’s allied cities or in neutrals to bring them to their side. The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides covers the first twenty years of the war between Athens and Sparta before it’s abrupt ending, but throughout his text the motives of the participants and the analysis of unintended consequences shows give the war it’s full context.The first book-created by later editors not Thucydides-of the work focuses on early Greek history, political commentary, and seeks to explain how the war was caused and why it happened when it did. Two political-economic systems compete for influence and dominance after the greatest war that has ever happened, but peace could not last. ![]()
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