I just this morning finished reading Thucydides “History of
the Peloponnesian War” and I have to say I was blown away by how good it
was. I know very little about the
Peloponnesian war which probably increased my enjoyment since I didn’t know
what was coming next. All the twists and
turns throughout the course of the war made it seem more like a vast paced
novel than ancient history. I did have
some knowledge of the general outcome of the war but was fascinated by the many
campaigns which occurred thorough out it.
The action at Pylos in particular seems like something Hollywood would
make up. For anyone interested even
slightly interested in history it is a book I would highly recommend.
I read a 1954 translation by Rex Warner, who I felt did a
good job updated the language used although I felt he sometimes went a little
too far using common metaphorical terms that seemed to not fit in with the rest
of the writing. But overall I was
impressed and found it very easy to read for something over 2000 years old. The main complaint modern readers might have
is that Thucydides spends a lot of time recording speeches in detail and not a
lot of time on the actual battles. While
these often give insight into the feelings of the combatants, just as often
they seem to be repetitive speeches about how one side wronged the other and
how their soldiers are inferior to ours.
On the other hand important battles are given a short description of the
forces involved, the outcome, and a list of casualties. He is however writing a history of the entire
war so I understand why he can’t elaborate on every battle.
Compared to the other ancient history I have read Cesar’s “Gallic
Wars”, I much preferred Thucydides. I
feel the writing in more descriptive and more balanced. Once again it is a fantastic book which I
highly recommend. Even better History of
the Peloponnesian War is available for free on eBook so there is no excuse for
not reading it. My biggest critique is
that I wish there had of been more...
No comments:
Post a Comment