Overview

The book was written by Thucydides, an Athenian historian who also happened to serve as an Athenian general during the war. His account of the conflict is widely considered to be a classic, and is regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history.

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. This belief was not without its grounds. The preparations of both the combatants were in every department in the last state of perfection and he could see the rest of the Hellenic race taking sides in the quarrel those who delayed doing so at once having it in contemplation.