Thucydides
(460 B.C.–404 B.C.)

Thucydides' historical masterpiece, the History of the Peloponnesian War, is based not on his direct involvement in the long, bloody battle between Athens and Sparta, but on the observations of the war made while in exile.

Thucydides was an important military magistrate in the war until he was exiled for twenty years for a military failure. He had appointed himself the historian of the war from its beginnings, and his exile did not prevent him from taking notes of events, researching, and recording firsthand events of battles told to him by both Athenians and Spartans.

He wrote his work as a narrative and included speeches that described the motives and ambitions of both armies fairly. He attempted to teach people to avoid making the same mistakes. The objective, scientific approach he used in the creation of the History of the Peloponnesian War laid the foundation for modern historical methods.

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