The Landmark Thucydides: A Comprehensive Guide to the Peloponnesian WarRobert B. Strassler Thucydides called his account of two decades of war between Athens and Sparta “a possession for all time,” and indeed it is the first and still the most famous work in the Western historical tradition. Considered essential reading for generals, statesmen, and liberally educated citizens for more than 2,000 years, The Peloponnesian War is a mine of military, moral, political, and philosophical wisdom. However, this classic book has long presented obstacles to the uninitiated reader. Written centuries before the rise of modern historiography, Thucydides' narrative is not continuous or linear. His authoritative chronicle of what he considered the greatest war of all time is rigorous and meticulous, yet omits the many aids to comprehension modern readers take for granted—such as brief biographies of the story's main characters, maps and other visual enhancements, and background on the military, cultural, and political traditions of ancient Greece. Robert Strassler's new edition amends these omissions, and not only provides a new coherence to the narrative overall but effectively reconstructs the lost cultural context that Thucydides shared with his original audience. Based on the venerable Richard Crawley translation, updated and revised for modern readers, The Landmark Thucydides includes a vast array of superbly designed and presented maps, brief informative appendices by outstanding classical scholars on subjects of special relevance to the text, explanatory marginal notes on each page, an index of unprecedented subtlety and depth, and numerous other useful features. Readers will find that with this edition they can dip into the text at any point and be immediately oriented with regard to the geography, season, date, and stage of the conflict. In any list of the Great Books of Western Civilization, The Peloponnesian War stands near the top. This handsome, elegant, and authoritative new edition will ensure that its greatness is appreciated by future generations. |
Contents
Epilogue | |
Appendix A The Athenian Government in Thucydides | |
Spartan Institutions in Thucydides | |
Appendix G Trireme Warfare in Thucydides | |
Appendix J Classical Greek Currency in Thucydides | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
427 5th Year/Summer Acarnania Agis Alcibiades alliance allies Ambraciots Amphipolis Appendix Argives Argos army arrived Asia Astyochus Athenian fleet Athenians Athens attack Attica battle Boeotians Brasidas Catana cavalry Cephallenia Chalcidians Chalcidice Chians Chios citizens Cleon command Corcyra Corcyraeans Corinth Corinthians defeated Delium Demosthenes Dorians enemy envoys Epidamnus Epidaurus Epipolae Euboea exiles expedition fear fight force fortified garrison Greek Gylippus harbor Hellas Hellenes Hellespont Helots Hermocrates hoplites hundred inset invade Ionian island join King land Lesbos Leucas Locris Macedonia Mantinea Meanwhile Megara Megarians Melians Melos Miletus Mytilene Mytilenians Naupactus naval Nicias oligarchs peace Peloponnesian fleet Peloponnesus Perdiccas Pericles Persian Piraeus Plataeans Potidaea Pylos reinforcements rest revolt river sailed Samos sent Sicilian Sicily siege Spartans Syracusans territory Thebans Thessaly Thrace Thracian Thucydides Tissaphernes took treaty triremes troops truce vessels victory wall Year/Season Year/Summer ATHENS Year/Summer SYRACUSE Year/Winter Zacynthus