Editing Thucydides (section)

== Life ==
In spite of his stature as a historian, modern historians know relatively little about Thucydides's life. The most reliable information comes from his own ''[[History of the Peloponnesian War]]'', in which he mentions his nationality, paternity, and birthplace. Thucydides says that he fought in the war, contracted the plague, and was exiled by the [[Athenian democracy|democracy]]. He may have also been involved in quelling the [[Samian War|Samian Revolt]].<ref>{{Thucydides|en|1|117|ref}}</ref>

=== Evidence from the classical period ===
Thucydides identifies himself as an [[Athenian]], telling us that his father's name was Olorus and that he was from the Athenian [[deme]] of [[Halimus|Halimous]].<ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|104|shortref}}</ref> A disputed anecdote from his early life says that when Thucydides was 10–12 years old, he and his father were supposed to have gone to the [[Ancient Agora of Athens|agora of Athens]] where the young Thucydides heard a lecture by the historian [[Herodotus]]. According to some accounts, the young Thucydides wept with joy after hearing the lecture, deciding that writing history would be his life's calling. The same account also claims that after the lecture, Herodotus spoke with the youth and his father, stating: "Oloros your son yearns for knowledge." In all essence, the episode is most likely from a later Greek or Roman account of his life.<ref>Herodot iz Halikarnasa. ''Zgodbe''. Ljubljana: Slovenska Matica v Ljubljani (2003), p. 22. The original quote (in Slovene): ''Oloros, tvoj sin koprni po izobrazbi''.</ref> He survived the [[Plague of Athens]],<ref>{{Thucydides|en|2|48|1|3|shortref}}</ref> which killed [[Pericles]] and many other Athenians. There is a first observation of acquired immunity.<ref>{{Thucydides|en|2|51|6|shortref}}</ref> He also records that he owned [[gold mine]]s at [[Pangaion Hills|Scapte Hyle]] (literally "Dug Woodland"), a coastal area in [[Thrace]], opposite the island of [[Thasos]].<ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|105|1|shortref}}</ref>

[[File:Amphipolis Cousinery.jpg|left|thumb|The ruins of [[Amphipolis]] as envisaged by E. Cousinéry in 1831: the bridge over the [[Strymon (river)|Strymon]], the city fortifications, and the acropolis]]
Because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides wrote, he was sent as a [[strategos]] (general) to [[Thasos]] in 424 BC. During the winter of 424–423 BC, the Spartan general [[Brasidas]] attacked [[Amphipolis]], a half-day's sail west from Thasos on the Thracian coast, sparking the [[Battle of Amphipolis]]. [[Eucles]], the Athenian commander at Amphipolis, sent to Thucydides for help.<ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|104|1|shortref}}</ref> Brasidas, aware of the presence of Thucydides on Thasos and his influence with the people of Amphipolis, and afraid of help arriving by sea, acted quickly to offer moderate terms to the Amphipolitans for their surrender, which they accepted. Thus, when Thucydides arrived, Amphipolis was already under Spartan control.<ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|105|shortref}}–106.3</ref>

Amphipolis was of considerable strategic importance, and news of its fall caused great consternation in Athens.<ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|108|1|7|shortref}}</ref> It was blamed on Thucydides, although he claimed that it was not his fault and that he had simply been unable to reach it in time. Because of his failure to save [[Amphipolis]], he was [[exile]]d:<ref>{{Thucydides|en|5|26|5|shortref}}</ref>

{{quote|I lived through the whole of it, being of an age to comprehend events, and giving my attention to them in order to know the exact truth about them. It was also my fate to be an exile from my country for twenty years after my command at [[Amphipolis]]; and being present with both parties, and more especially with the Peloponnesians by reason of my exile, I had leisure to observe affairs somewhat particularly.}}

Using his status as an exile from Athens to travel freely among the Peloponnesian allies, he was able to view the war from the perspective of both sides. Thucydides claimed that he began writing his history as soon as the war broke out, because he thought it would be one of the greatest wars waged among the Greeks in terms of scale:

{{quote|Thucydides, an Athenian, wrote the history of the war between the Peloponnesians and the Athenians, beginning at the moment that it broke out, and believing that it would be a great war, and more worthy of relation than any that had preceded it.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0003.tlg001.perseus-grc1:1.1.1|title=Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War, book 1, chapter 1, section 1|website=data.perseus.org|access-date=2018-03-07}}</ref>}}

This is all that Thucydides wrote about his own life, but a few other facts are available from reliable contemporary sources. [[Herodotus]] wrote that the name [[Olorus]], Thucydides's father's name, was connected with [[Thrace]] and Thracian royalty.<ref>{{Herodotus|en|6|39|1}}</ref> Thucydides was probably connected through family to the Athenian statesman and general [[Miltiades the Younger|Miltiades]] and his son [[Cimon]], leaders of the old [[aristocracy]] supplanted by the Radical [[democracy|Democrats]]. Cimon's maternal grandfather's name also was Olorus, making the connection quite likely. Another [[Thucydides (politician)|Thucydides]] lived before the historian and was also linked with Thrace, making a family connection between them very likely as well.

[[File:Thucydides Mosaic from Jerash, Jordan, Roman, 3rd century CE at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.jpg|thumb|Thucydides Mosaic from Jerash, Jordan, Roman, 3rd century AD at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin]]
Combining all the fragmentary evidence available, it seems that his family had owned a large estate in [[Thrace]], one that even contained gold mines, and which allowed the family considerable and lasting affluence. The security and continued prosperity of the wealthy estate must have necessitated formal ties with local kings or chieftains, which explains the adoption of the distinctly Thracian royal name ''Óloros'' into the family. Once exiled, Thucydides is commonly said to have taken up permanent residence in the estate and, given his ample income from the gold mines, he was able to dedicate himself to full-time history writing and research. In essence, he was a well-connected gentleman of considerable resources who, after involuntarily retiring from the political and military spheres, decided to fund his own historical investigations.

=== Later sources ===

The remaining evidence for Thucydides's life comes from later and rather less reliable ancient sources; [[Marcellinus (writer)|Marcellinus]] wrote Thucydides's biography about a thousand years after his death. According to [[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], someone named Oenobius had a law passed allowing Thucydides to return to [[Athens]], presumably shortly after [[Peloponnesian War#Lysander triumphs, Athens surrenders|the city's surrender and the end of the war in 404 BC]]. Pausanias goes on to say that Thucydides was murdered on his way back to [[Athens]], placing his tomb near the [[Melite (Attica)|Melite gate]].<ref>[[Pausanias (geographer)|Pausanias]], ''Description of Greece'', 1.23.9</ref> Many doubt this account, seeing evidence to suggest he lived as late as 397 BC, or perhaps slightly later. [[Plutarch]] preserves a tradition that he was murdered in ''Skaptē Hulē'' and that his remains were returned to Athens, where a monument to him was erected in [[Cimon]]'s family plot.<ref>Plutarch, ''Cimon'' 4.1.2</ref> There are problems with this, since this was outside Thucydides's [[deme]] and the tradition goes back to [[Polemon of Athens|Polemon]], who asserted he had discovered just such a memorial.<ref>[[Luciano Canfora]]( 2006). [https://books.google.com/books?id=LOx5DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 “Biographical Obscurities and Problems of Composition”] Antonis Tsakmakis, Antonios Rengakos  (eds.). ''Brill's Companion to Thucydides''  [[Brill Publishers|Brill]],  {{ISBN|978-90-474-0484-2}} pp. 6–7, 63–33</ref> [[Didymus Chalcenterus|Didymus]] mentions another tomb in Thrace.<ref>Canfora (2006). p. 8</ref>

Thucydides's narrative breaks off in the middle of the year 411 BC, and this abrupt end has traditionally been explained as due to his death while writing the book, although other explanations have been put forward.

[[File:Pericles Pio-Clementino Inv269 n3.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Bust of [[Pericles]]]]
During his description of the [[Athenian plague]], he remarks that old Athenians seemed to remember a verse predicting a Dorian War that would bring about a "plague"  (''loimos'')  {{lang|grc|λοιμός}}.<ref>“ἥξει Δωριακὸς πόλεμος καὶ λοιμὸς ἅμ᾽ αὐτῷ.’ 2:54.2</ref> A dispute later arose, when some claimed that the saying referred to the advent in such a war of "famine" or "starvation" (''limos'') {{lang|grc|λιμός}}. Thucydides draws the conclusion that people adapt their recollections to their present state of suffering. Were the same situation to recur, but with people experiencing famine  rather than a pestilence, the verse would be remembered differently, in terms of starvation (''limos''), thereby cancelling the received adage about a plague (''loimos'').<ref>Thucydides, ''Peloponessian War,'' 2:54:2-3</ref><ref>Lowell Edmunds, 'Thucydides in the Act of Writing,' in Jeffrey S. Rusten  (ed.),  ''Thucydides,'' [[Oxford University Press]] 2009 {{isbn|978-0-199-20619-3}} pp.91–113, p.111</ref>

Thucydides admired [[Pericles]], approving of his power over the people and showing a marked distaste for the [[demagogue]]s who followed him. He did not approve of the democratic commoners nor of the radical democracy that Pericles ushered in, but considered democracy acceptable when guided by a good leader.<ref>{{Thucydides|en|2|65|1|shortref}}</ref> Thucydides's presentation of events is generally even-handed; for example, he does not minimize the negative effect of his own failure at [[Battle of Amphipolis|Amphipolis]]. Occasionally, however, strong passions break through, as in his scathing appraisals of the democratic leaders [[Cleon]]<ref>{{Thucydides|en|3|36|6|shortref}}</ref><ref>{{Thucydides|en|4|27|shortref}}, {{Thucydides|en|5|16|1}}</ref> and [[Hyperbolus]].<ref>{{Thucydides|en|8|73|3|shortref}}</ref> Sometimes, Cleon has been connected with Thucydides's exile.<ref>[[Marcellinus (writer)|Marcellinus]], ''Life of Thucydides'' 46</ref>

It has been argued that Thucydides was moved by the suffering inherent in war and concerned about the excesses to which human nature is prone in such circumstances, as in his analysis of the atrocities committed during the civil conflict on [[Corcyra]],<ref>{{Thucydides|en|3|82|shortref}}–83</ref> which includes the phrase "war is a violent teacher" ({{lang|grc|πόλεμος βίαιος διδάσκαλος}}).