Thucydides / Smith, William (Translator). The History of the Peloponnesian War. Translated from the Greek of Thucydides by William Smith A.M. Rector of the Parish of the Holy Trinity in Chester, and Caplain to the Right Honourable the Earl of Derby. In two Volumes. London, Printed by John Watts, 1753. 26 x 20 cm. Vol.1: Title page, (4) [Dedication], (8) [Subscribers], (12) [Preface], lxxxiii [Three Preliminary Discourses], Large folding Map of Greece, 308 pages. / Vol.2: Title Page, 484 pages, (12) [Index & Errata]. With a large folding Map of Sicily. Contemporary speckled calf. Raised bands. Each volume with two spine labels in red and green. Red speckled edges. Very good condition. Binding rubbed and bumped. Gilt titles and decorations faded. Joints started to crack, but binding is sound for both volumes. Internally mildly age darkened, but overall very clean. A very nice copy.

Thucydides (c. 460 – c. 400 BC) 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, the emotions of fear and self-interest. His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue is regarded as a seminal work of international relations theory, while his version of Pericles’ Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics.
More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behavior in such crises as plagues, massacres, and civil war.
Thucydides believed that the Peloponnesian War represented an event of unmatched importance. As such, he began to write the History at the onset of the war in 431 BC. He declared his intention was to write an account which would serve as “a possession for all time”. The History breaks off near the end of the twenty-first year of the war (411 BC), in the wake of the Athenian defeat at Syracuse, and so does not elaborate on the final seven years of the conflict.
The History of the Peloponnesian War continued to be modified well beyond the end of the war in 404 BC, as exemplified by a reference at Book I.1.13 to the conclusion of the war. After his death, Thucydides’s History was subdivided into eight books: its modern title is the History of the Peloponnesian War. This subdivision was most likely made by librarians and archivists, themselves being historians and scholars, most likely working in the Library of Alexandria. (Wikipedia).

• Language: English
• Inventory Number: 103070AB

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