The Peloponnesian War (the Landmark Version)

The account of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides is the most comprehensive version of the war, and hence the most prolific. It is a detailed account of the war between Athens and their Allies, and Sparta and theirs. There are many lessons, from statecraft and domestic politics in war through to the criticality of logistics and centrality of sea power in the ancient Greek World. This included not only naval combat, but the projection of land power ashore. It is important to remember that Thucydides is a source for the history and should not be taken as the definitive source for the war. Such a reading of the text leads to a historical fallacies such as the so-called ‘Thucydides Trap’. Thucydides’ version charts the war from events before the outbreak in 432/1 BCE down to the year 411, four years before the end of the war, where the narrative of Xenophon (and others) picks up to conclude the war. The Landmark version edited by Robert Strassler is the most detailed, with a litany of maps and explanatory notes, and appendices, though it is an old (19th century) translation of the text. Thucydides work is particularly useful for understanding the relationship between war and society, and war’s corrupting effect on society, is of particular note.