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Thucydides

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An ancient Roman mosaic from Jerash, Jordan, dating back to the 3rd century CE, now displayed at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. The artwork features busts of muses, poets, and scenes from mythology.

Who Was Thucydides?

Thucydides was a writer and leader from long ago, around 460 to 400 BC. He lived in Athens, a busy city by the sea. Thucydides wrote a book called History of the Peloponnesian War. This book tells about a big time when Athens and Sparta did not get along.

Why Do We Remember Him?

People think Thucydides was very smart because he tried to write things just as they happened. He did not say the gods were involved. He looked at facts and talked to people who saw the events. His book helps us learn about how people and countries act during hard times.

Thucydides liked to think deeply about why things happen. He believed where we are and what we want can change what we do. Many people still read his book to understand the past better.

A Leader and a Writer

Thucydides was once a leader, or general, in Athens. He was sent to a place called Thasos to help. But when a city called Amphipolis was lost, he had to leave Athens for many years. During this time, he watched the big war and began writing his book. He admired a leader named Pericles and wrote about how hard wars can be for everyone.

Images

An old drawing showing the ruins of the ancient city of Amphipolis near the Strymon river, including a bridge, city wall, and acropolis.
A marble bust of Pericles, an important ancient Athenian leader, from a Roman copy of a Greek original.
An ancient 10th-century manuscript page showing Greek writing from Thucydides's History.
Historical painting of Pericles delivering his famous Funeral Oration, celebrating democratic values in Ancient Greece.
Ancient Roman bust of Thucydides displayed at the Royal Ontario Museum.
Ancient Roman busts of the historians Herodotus and Thucydides, showcasing their portraits from the Farnese Collection in Naples.

Related articles

Athens
History of the Peloponnesian War
Sparta
Thasos
Pericles

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Thucydides, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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