Histoire grecque de Thucydide

Thucydides (c. 460–400 BC) was an Athenian general who survived the great plague of Athens and was exiled for twenty years after failing to save the city of Amphipolis. He used his exile to write the history of the Peloponnesian War between Athens and Sparta, interviewing participants on both sides.

His History, left unfinished, is famous for its rigour and its speeches, among them Pericles' Funeral Oration and the cold debate between Athens and the island of Melos. It is still read by students of politics and war as a study of power, fear and human nature.