Thucydides [Hardcover]

Undoubtedly Thucydides ranks among the greatest of historians. Indeed, he probably deserves to be recognized as the founder of modern history ("modern" in this case meaning a wide-ranging, fundamentally objective analysis of events). His great work on the Peloponnesian War is unmatched in its long-reaching influence. Thucydides' depiction of the great 5th century BC war between Athens and Sparta has for more than two millenia formed the basis for viewing and understanding those events. Very likely no single other work of history has ever had such an impact in forming future perception of events. In "Thucydides: The Reinvention of History", Donald Kagan -- the pre-emininent modern historian of the Peloponnesian War -- examines Thucydides' work in light of Thucydides' own claims of cool objectivity; Kagan ably demonstrates, I believe, that inevitably the ancient Greek historian did not in fact, could not indeed, wholly maintain his objectivity, certainly understandable in the Thucydides himself was a direct participant in some of the events he described. In several cases, notably Pericles' involvement in the origin of the Peloponnesian War and the doomed Athenia expedition to Sicily, Kagan presents a strong case that Thucydides has deliberately crafted an interpretation of events that ran counter to popular perceptions and, in fact, runs counter even to the evidence that Thucydides presented in his own book.

Kagan's "Thucydides" might be viewed as a companion, with differences of emphasis, to his earlier single-volume history of the Peloponnesian War. Although much of the same ground is covered in both books, the focus is different, with the ancient historian much more in the forefront of this new volume.

The book is barely over 200 pages and contains huge chunks (word for word) from Kagan's one volume history of the Great War. Since the War took place over 2000 years ago it is disturbing, in discussing what various partcipants thought or said, to find the author using such phrases as "It is inconceivable that" or "There can be no doubt that". This book will be mostly incomprehensible to the reader unfamiliar with the Great War and annoying to those who have read Kagan's previous work.

Is history just one damn thing after another? Or can we discover the underlying logic of events that will allow us to shape a better future? Herodotus' history of the Persian war is a rollicking tale with fascinating background and colorful folklore. Thucydides aimed higher. He was scrupulous about accuracy and he sought the general patterns governing political action that determined the direction events would take.

More than fifty years ago I studied Thucydides in a humanities course. I remember gripping accounts of internecine strife and praise for the leadership of Pericles - and how things ran downhill after Pericles died and rabble-rousers such as Cleon took power. Thucydides' lessons were clear: Democracy could cope with the challenges of war only when guided by a superior leader such as Pericles.

Donald Kagan shows that these conclusions were not shared by contemporaries of Thucydides - nor are they supported by the facts as recorded by Thucydides and others. Thucydides did not engage in outright deception or falsification; rather, he selected what he reported so that what he believed to be the underlying truths would stand out more clearly. He was a spinmeister.

He held that Sparta would never be content to play second fiddle to the sea empire of Athens, and he was probably right. But Sparta's discontent need not have led ruinous war.

He distrusted democracy. The evidence here shows that the fickle favor of democratic politics in Athens passed harsh judgement on those who fell out of favor or proved unlucky as events unfolded. This drove Alcibiades from leadership in Sicily to seek shelter in Sparta, a great loss for Athens. Likewise it resulted in the exile of Thucydides, another loss. Demosthenes sheltered in Naupactus rather than face judgement in Athens. Nicias' various moves regarding the Sicilian expedition whose disaster ended the Athenian Empire were largely aimed at avoiding censure in Athens. So Kagan argues.

But Athenian leadership following the death of Pericles was moderate and sensible. The debacle in Sicily appears to be the result of poor leadership and bad choices by Nicias, whom Thucydides holds up as an exemplary leader. That suited Thucidides' story, but Kagan lays out overwhelming evidence that Thucydides is wrong about Nicias and about the causes of the debacle.

This book is a celebration of the sort of critical history Thucydites launched. Thucydites would have applauded its methods, though disliked its conclusions.

The scale of this conflict and the diversity of the city states and peoples involved are amazing. The difficulties in coordinating action and in holding allies together were then and are now major factors in success (or failure). The role of chance and of personal actions was huge then as it is now.

This book sheds new light on the book that thucydides wrote as a "possesion forever." Read it.

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