1.
THUCYDIDES, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war in which the Peloponnesians and
the Athenians fought against one another. He began to write when they first took up
arms, believing that it would be great and memorable above any previous war. For he
argued that both states were then at the full1 height of their military power, and he saw the rest of the Hellenes either
siding or intending to side with one or other of them.
[2]
No movement ever stirred Hellas more deeply than this; it was shared by many of the
Barbarians, and might be said even to affect the world at large.
[3]
The character of the events which preceded, whether immediately or in more remote
antiquity, owing to the lapse of time cannot be made out with certainty.2 But,
judging from the evidence which I am able to trust after most careful enquiry3, I should
imagine that former ages were not great either in their wars or in anything else.
1 Greatness of the war.
2 Or, connecting ὧν with μακρότατον: 'But after carrying the enquiry to the furthest point at which any trustworthy evidence can be obtained.'
3 Or, connecting ὧν with μακρότατον: 'But after carrying the enquiry to the furthest point at which any trustworthy evidence can be obtained.'
Thucydides translated into English; with introduction, marginal analysis, notes, and indices. Volume 1. Thucydides. Benjamin Jowett. translator. Oxford. Clarendon Press. 1881.
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