19. The Peloponnesian War, Part I

Between 431 and 404 BC the Greek world was convulsed by the monumental confrontation of Athens and Sparta. Most of the Greek states were involved as allies of one or the other superpower, and the war produced suffering on a scale previously unknown to the Greeks. By the time the war ended, Athens had been defeated, her navy destroyed, and her empire dissolved. In this lecture we shall examine the causes of the war and its first stage, the Archidamian War (431-421 BC). The entire war was witnessed by Thucydides, one of the most important and influential historians ever to analyze human affairs. In examining Thucydides’ history of the Peloponnesian War, we will also look at the growth of history as a literary genre.