Thucydides - History of the Peloponnesian War (5 translations)

THUCYDIDES (ca. 460 - 395 BCE) was an historian and Athenian general in ancient Greece. He has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods. Macaulay called him "the greatest historian that ever lived."

His HISTORY OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR recounts the momentous struggle between Athens and Sparta that lasted for twenty-seven years from 431 to 404 BCE, involving virtually the whole of the Greek world and ending in the fall of Athens. A participant in the war himself, Thucydides brings to his history an awesome intellect, brilliant narrative, and penetrating analysis of the nature of power, as it affects both states and individuals. Considered essential reading for generals, statesmen, and liberally-educated citizens for more than 2,000 years, THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR is a mine of military, moral, political, and philosophical wisdom.


The following five translations are in PDF format unless otherwise indicated:

* THE LANDMARK THUCYDIDES: A Comprehensive Guide to The Peloponnesian War (Simon & Schuster, 1996). Edited by Robert B. Strassler; a newly revised edition of the Richard Crawley translation with maps, annotations, appendices, and encyclopedic index. -- ePUB

* THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR (Oxford World's Classics, 2009). Translated by Martin Hammond with an Introduction and Notes by P. J. Rhodes.

* THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR, Books I-IV (University of Michigan Press, 1959). Translated by Thomas Hobbes; edited by David Grene with an Introduction by Bertrand de Jouvenel.

* THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR [Selections], included in THE PORTABLE GREEK HISTORIANS (Viking, 1959). Edited and translated by Moses I. Finley.

* THE WAR OF THE PELOPONNESIANS AND THE ATHENIANS (Cambridge University Press, 2013). Edited and translated by Jeremy Mynott.