The NEED to Know War...

The History of the Peloponnesian War

Dear Classical Wisdom Reader, 

Reading Victor Hugo’s masterpiece, Les Misérables, without sufficient knowledge of the Napoleonic Wars is an exercise of despair. 

Trust me, I know. I’m in the midst of it as we speak. 

My appalling lack of recognition of the generals, the battlefields, the composition of each ‘side’ has undermined my understanding of the events, the characters... and well, the whole book! 

[I’m very willing to bone up on this segment of modern history, which is well out of my usual purview! Any recommendations for good podcasts on the subject in the comments below will be VERY welcome.]

The fact of the matter is wars (like the Napoleonic expeditions) are not only backdrops for epic novels, they are the fields in which both ideas and great men and women are born and tested. 

In the words of Heraclitus:

“War is the father of all and the king of all; some he has marked out to be gods and some to be men, some he has made slaves and some free.”

Indeed, the Pre-socratic philosopher felt war is a creative tension that brings things into existence... And while I still have to consider if I would go so far as to agree with Heraclitus on that point (war no doubt also destroys and creates unspeakable carnage), it would be impossible to deny its influence in history... especially ancient Greek history.

This is particularly true for the Peloponnesian War. 

After all, how can we come to understand Aristophanes’ plays, such as the Frogs, if we aren’t aware of his anti-war stance? Or Socrates and Plato’s works without knowing Alcibiades and his pivotal role in the war? Can we appreciate Sparta’s mercy at the end, if we don’t familiarize ourselves with all the destruction that came before? 

In the end, the Peloponnesian War was the largest, and costliest, military engagement between Greek states in the classical age... and no other recounts it in such detail as Thucydides, the man regularly dubbed “The Father of Political Realism”.

So today, dear reader, we will delve into this critical war!

In fact, the Member’s Ebook on the History of the Peloponnesian War is below the article, including the most memorable segments such as the The Melian Dialogue, The Funeral Oration of Pericles, The Plague of Athens and Accusations Against Alcibiades (along with commentary and introductions). 

But first, why was this war perhaps even greater than the Persian war? Why was Thucydides the very best man to record it? And what are the very relevant lessons we can glean from this momentous point in history that can help us understand our modern predicaments and conflicts?

Read below to enjoy today’s article, an excellent introduction to the History of the Peloponnesian War…

All the best,

Anya Leonard

Founder and Director

P.S. For those who missed yesterday’s important notification, Classical Wisdom is now also Pragma Publishing.

This pertains to the pragmatic elements of running a newsletter, but won’t affect Members access to all our growing resources. Whether it’s our exclusive podcasts with professors, in-depth articles, Ebooks or Classical Wisdom Litterae magazines, Members can enjoy everything and anything here at Classical Wisdom - including taking part in our comments and threads - a Great Conversation in the modern era!

If you aren’t a member, but would like to join our growing community, there is no time like the present to enjoy the lessons of the past:

Introduction to the History of the Peloponnesian War

By Ben Potter 

“No other war, or for that matter no other historical subject, is so much the product of its reporter”. 

This quote by renowned Cambridge classicist M.I.Finley perfectly surmises the distilled purity of Thucydides’ account of the conflict that threatened to destroy Greek civilization in the latter part of the fifth century BC i.e. the Peloponnesian War. 

The Father of Political Realism is not merely our best, or only credible, but, realistically (Xenophon having picked up the historical thread left dangling by Thucydides’ death), our only true chronicler of the defining conflict of the defining century of the popularization of the Greek cultural tradition. 

The fifth century BC provided two dramatic and defining conflicts, moments at which history rolled over the points; first the Persian, and then the Peloponnesian Wars. Though, much like World War II has now eclipsed the magnitude of World War I, it is the Peloponnesian War that burns brighter across the ages and has come to be the seminal moment in the history of the ancient Greeks. 

Even if we choose to disagree with this assertion, the justifications on each side of the argument being multi-faceted, we can identify two reasons why the romance surrounding the Persian conflict, even with the derring-do of Thermopylae, plays second-fiddle to the Greek ‘civil war’ that followed…