Category Archives: Thucydides

It has been an eerie experience rereading Thucydides while watching governments totter across the Arab world. In some ways, nothing has changed in 2500 years; revolution was an important part of Thucydides’ world and changes in government in Greek city … Continue reading →

Professor Mead began the session by reminding the class of the great advantage that hindsight affords, that outcomes and strategic errors that we as students of history may see as obvious were considerably less clear to those who acted without … Continue reading →

Professor Mead: The distinction between myth and history is inevitably blurred by old historians, such as Herodotus, who wrote about the Persian War. Professor Mead: When Pericles talks to the Athenians what emotions does he appeal to? He appeals to … Continue reading →

If a specter haunts the chancellories of America, it isn’t communism and it isn’t Karl Marx. It’s Thucydides, the chronicler of the 30 year Peloponnesian War between ancient Sparta and Athens that led to the comprehensive defeat of the world’s … Continue reading →