01/16/2026
/ Thucydides /
"So little trouble do men take in the search after truth; so readily do they accept whatever comes first to hand."
"Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the deities, as outlined in his introduction to his work. He also has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest. His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide."
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Native name: Θουκυδίδης
Born: c. 460 BC No later than 455 BC, Halimous, Athens (modern Alimos)
Died: c. 400 BC, place of death unknown
Occupation: Historian, general
Notable work: History of the Peloponnesian War
Thucydides Translated Into English (ed. 1881)
