Peloponnesian War Summary

The History of Peloponnesian War was written by Thucydides who is reportedly born around 460 BCE and suspected to have died somewhere between 411 and 400 BCE. Thucydides is a known was an Athenian and a General in the Athenian military when the Peloponnesian War began in 431 BCE. Thucydides led men into battle during the Peloponnesian War and in 430 BCE would contract the same plague that would ravaged the Athens during the war. Eventually, Thucydides would recover and was exiled by the Athen democracy for his failure to defend the city of Amphipolis from the Spartans and spent the rest of his life studying and documenting the war as it progressed until 411 BCE. The purpose for this book was to document the the political and tactical movements between the two warring cities within the same state, the Athenians and Spartans. Thucydides wished to present his writings “as a possession for all time” as an historical and unbiased record of history. The book is was originally broken down into thirteen individual books, but over time has been condensed into one book with each section or chapter covering a book from the …show more content…
Thucydides focused on the political discussions and debates that fueled the flames of war, by providing either first hand observations or information provided to him from those who were present at the debates. He also provides details on military actions that coincide with the decisions made at the political level and their outcomes, without diverting into military tactics, and stayed true to the direction of his thesis. Thucydides provides a overall cohecive documentation of the Peloponnesian War as the war actually progressed providing the reader with a first hand view of the war and its driving