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Who was Thucydides?

picture of thucydides — *Austria, Vienna, Statue of Thucydides in front of the Parliament building. Credit: Eye Ubiquitous / Alamy Stock Photo*

Thucydides (c. 460 - 400 BC) was an Athenian historian and general.

He is often referred to as the "father of scientific history" for the metholodogy found in his most famous work, the History of the Peloponnesian War. According to his own account, he was born in Athens to a family with blood and business ties to Thrace. Due to this connection, Thucydides was sent as a general to Macedonia—a region close to Thrace—in 424 BC, where he would defend the city of Amphipolis from the Spartans.

The city eventually fell, and for his failure he was exiled from Athens. He used his exile as an opportunity to travel around the Spartan-aligned states, giving him the chance to record the conflict from both the Athenian and Spartan perspectives.

He pioneered critical elements of historiography, including:

Strict chronological organization
Extensive use of primary sources
Neutrality in accounts
Disregard of the supernatural in accounts
Rationalization and historicization of mythology

This is in stark contrast to his contemporaries who often included the supernatural or popular mythology in their work.

Why it Matters

Thucydides' philosophy remains vital today as the foundation of strategy, geopolitics, and international relations, and is thus critical to understand for anyone going into similar fields.

Such analysis is doubly important during times of increasing geopolitical complexity and conflict, such as the one we find ourselves in today.