Category Archives for Commentary
Intro to Thucydides
Hi Thucydides readers, It was great to get to know some of you on the intro call. For you and especially for those of the group who couldn’t make the call, I have included a quick summary of our thoughts on reading Thucydides below. Also, here’s t… Continue reading
Our own times?
I recently found a quote by American revolutionary John Adams that may ring true for all of us today who are reading Thucydides. “When I read them (Thucydides and Tacitus), I seem to be only reading the history of my own times and my own life.” In… Continue reading
American Revolution – anything like Thucydides?
Pat and I were recently discussing Thucydides and his famous comments on the terrors of revolutions. I asked whether the loyalists suffered during the American Revolution in the ways that Thucydides described happened to many during the civil wars… Continue reading
Thucydidean analysis of America today?
Folks, I had lunch yesterday with Julia Sweig, the Nelson and David Rockefeller Senior Fellow at the Center for Foreign Policy. She’s just written a new book – “Unfriendly Fire: Losing Friends and Making Enemies in the Anti-American Century.” I me… Continue reading
Neocons and Thucydides
As we had discussed in our call last week, the Neocons see Thucydides as a cornerstone for their thoughts on foreign policy. Neoconservatives, or “neocons,” believe in the use of U.S. military might to foster the spread of democracy around the glo… Continue reading
Notes from first half of Book 2
We had a good call last Saturday with: – Jean Bolgatz – Kelly Magill (our newest member) – Rob Schmults – Andre Stipanovic – Pat Wictor Unfortunately, the conference call service erred and never made the recording (frustrating – we even hung up an… Continue reading
Next call – Book 2
Folks, Our next call on Book 2 of Thucydides is planned for: – Saturday, April 1 – 12 noon – 1-800-615-2900/ 11215 Meanwhile, take a look at this recent DNA analysis performed by Dr. Manolis Papagrigorakis, Assistant Prof Univ of Athens School of … Continue reading
Thucydides kickoff call
Thank you for the great call today to kickoff Thucydides. We touched on key themes concerning Herodotus and Thucydides, Thucydides historic method/bias/style, the relevance of Thucydides to America today, Iraq war, WW1, the Cold War, and the power… Continue reading
Peloponnesian War book review
Folks, Here’s an interesting review from the New York Times on a recently published book that retells the history of the Peloponnesian war between Athens and Sparta (the history which we’ll be reading in January when we start Thucydides). http://t… Continue reading
Bob Strassler’s answer to a question –
Folks, Last night one of our reading group members asked me why Robert Strassler created the Landmark Edition of Thucydides before creating a Landmark Edition of Herodotus. I asked him – and here’s his answer: “I did Thucydides first because it wa… Continue reading →
12. June 2007 by Arrian
Categories: Commentary, Thucydides | Tags: Thucydides | Comments Off on Bob Strassler’s answer to a question –