A Short History and Lessons from : The Peloponnesian War and Thucydides
" I am more afraid of my own blunders than of the enemy's devices." "War is a violent teacher." - Thucydides Thucydides was an Athenian general who witnessed the 'Peloponnesian War' and took part in it to fight against the mighty Spartans, the same Spartans who under King Leonidas and his 300 men put up a valiant last stand against the Persian king Xerxes-I in year 480 BCE . Fifty years later, 'The Peloponnesian war' was fought around 431-404 BCE, between the two city-states - Sparta and Athens. The Athenians lost the war despite being wealthy and capable enough to win it. In words of Thucydides, the Athenians lost because they were too smart for their own good . The loss was so great and humiliating for the proud Greeks that it led Thucydides to write, "A History of Peloponnesian War", a book intended to educate the future generations on ' what not to do in a war '. The book is considered to be the first work of political scie