s0209e Thucydides (Greek Θουκυδίδης, Thoukudídēs) born c.460 BC c. 395 BC was a Greek historian and author
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Image is bust of the ancient Greek general and historian Thucydides from the Royal Ontario Museum, Ontario, Canada.
We know little about the life of Thucydides, most reliable information comes from his own History of the Peloponnesian War, he wrote the "History of the Peloponnesian War", which tells of his nationality, paternity and native locality, he informs us that he fought in the war, contracted the plague and was exiled by the democracy, it recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens to the year 411 BC, he has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" due to his strict standards of evidence gathering, and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, also been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the relations between nations as based on might rather than right, his text is still studied at advanced military colleges worldwide, he showed an interest in developing an understanding of human nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plague and civil war, some lay great emphasis on the History’s elaborate literary artistry and the powerful rhetoric of it's speeches, he identifies himself as an Athenian, telling us that his father's name was Olorus and that he was from the Athenian deme of Halimous, he survived the Plague of Athens, that killed Pericles and many other Athenians, of course all is conjecture, it's his writing, writer's don't always tell the truth but, the way they are thinking.