6/27/2017 FortheloveofZeus,stopmisusingThucydides|FTAlphaville

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For the love of Zeus, stop misusing Thucydides
JUNE 27, 2017 3:45 AM
By: Matthew C Klein

[Note:ThisisabitoutsideAlphavillesnormalcoverageareas.Butwethoughtyou
mightlikeitanyway.]

Afterreturningfromaninvigoratingholidaythousandsofmilesaway,yourcorrespondent
discoveredthatThucydideshadbeeninthenews.Not,sadly,becausescholarshadfinally
resolvedthemysteryofwhytheAtheniangeneralwaslatetoarriveatAmphipolisto
defendtheThraciancityfromtheSpartansin424BCE.Instead,itsbecausePolitico
reportedthereareinfluentialpeopleinandaroundtheAmericangovernmentwhoclaim
tohaveread(http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/06/21/whythewhitehous
eisreadinggreekhistory215287)ThucydidesshistoryofthePeloponnesianwar.

DefenceSecretaryJamesMattis,NationalSecurityAdvisorHRMcMaster,chiefdweeb
MichaelAnton*,andstrategistSteveBannonareallfans.GrahamAllison,aHarvard
professorwithanewbooktoflog(http://supchina.com/2017/06/12/nothucydidestrap/)
onthedangerofconflictbetweenAmericaandChina,hasbriefedofficialsabouthisbelief
inThucydidessTrap.

Onfirstblush,thisshouldbegoodnews.ThePeloponnesianWarhaseverythingyoucould
wantifyoureinterestedininternationalrelations.Complicateddiplomacy,dramatic
battles,tangledandshiftingalliances,ideologicalstruggles,rapaciousempires,political
intrigue,revolutions,coups,classwarfare,civilstrife,andincrediblycolourfulcharacters
areallinthere.Studythishistorycarefullyandyouwillgainimportantinsightsintothe
natureofwarandpeace.**

ReadingThucydidessaccountseemsliketheobviouswaytodothis.Hewasathoughtful
writerconsidertheelisionbetweentheMeliandialogueattheendofbookfiveandthe
introductionoftheSicilianExpeditionatthestartofbooksixandtheworldsfirst
properhistorian.UnlikeHerodotus,whocollectedmythsandfolkloreuncritically,or

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otherswhoattributedeventstodivineintervention,Thucydidesclaimstohavebeen
concernedwithdescribingeventsastheyactuallyoccurred.

Unfortunately,itsalltooeasytoreadThucydidessuperficiallyandendup
misinformed.

AftertheSpartansconqueredAmphipolisthankstohistardiness,Thucydideswastriedfor
incompetenceandbanished.WhilethatgavehimfreedomtotravelacrossGreeceto
gathermaterialforhisbook,italsomeanthehadanenormousaxetogrind.Absorbinghis
analysisuncriticallywouldbecomparabletolearningaboutthewarsinmid20thcentury
SoutheastAsiasolelybyreadingKissingersmemoirs.Thucydidesisanincrediblyvaluable
source,butheshouldnotbethelastword.

ClassicistsandhistoriansofancientGreecehavelongdistinguishedbetweenthenews
sectionsofThucydides,suchashisdescriptionsofbattlesandspeeches,andtheeditorial
bits,wherehemakesgrandpronouncementsaboutwhythingshappenedacertainwayor
insertshisownjudgments.Assometimeshappensincontemporarypublications,aclose
readingofthefactsreportedinthenewssectionscanleadtointerpretationsdirectly
opposedtothosepresentedintheeditorials.

Forexample,ThucydidesarguesthewarwasinevitablebecauseSpartawasafraidofthe
growthofAthenianpower,eventhoughhisownevidenceshowstheSpartanswere
reluctanttofightwhilePericleswaswillingtoriskviolencetoassertAtheniandominance.

HesaysAthenswasdestinedtoloseafterPericlesdiedbecausePericleswastheoneman
whocombinedthesuperiorjudgmentoftheelitewiththecommontouchneededto
shepherdpublicopinion.ButthenewssectionshowsPericlessdefensivestrategyhad
failedtopersuadetheSpartancoalitiontostopfightingandwastoocostlytosustainmore
thanafewyears.AthensdidntstartwinninguntilthepopulistCleonswitchedtoamore
aggressivepolicy.(OneofthefunthingsaboutvisitingOlympiaisseeingthestatuethe
MessenianscommissionedtohonourtheirjointvictorywithAthensovertheSpartansat
PylosandSphacteria.)

ThucydidesblamestheAtheniandisasterinSicilyontheficklenatureandpoorjudgment
oftheAtheniancitizenry,whichshouldhavedeferredtoitsaristocraticbetters.Yetaclose
readingofThucydidessaccountamplydemonstratesthatthepatricianstrategosNicias
wastheAthenianwhoseawfuljudgmenttransformedwhatatworstwouldhavebeena
misadventureintoacatastrophicdefeattotheSyracusansandtheirSpartanallies.

Niciaspushedtoinflatetheproposedsizeoftheexpeditionaryforcetothepointitlooked
threateningtothenatives,hedelayedattackingSyracusewiththislargeforceafterlanding
ontheisland,andworstofallhefailedtoretreat(morethanonce)whenhehadthe
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chance.NiciasschoicescondemnedtensofthousandsofAtheniansasignificant
fractionofthecitystotalpopulationtodie.IftheAtheniandemoshadbeenasresistant
toeliteadviceasThucydidesclaims,thingswouldhavegonefarbetter.

TheeditorialThucydidesdefendsNiciastotheveryend,claiminghe,morethanany
otherGreek,didntdeservetobeexecutedbytheSyracusansafterhissurrender.
ThucydidesdidnotextendthisgenerousjudgmenttothecapturedAtheniansoldierswho
wereworkedtodeathinaSyracusanquarry,muchlessthefarmorecompetentgeneral
Demosthenes,whowasexecutedatthesametimeasNicias.

Thesebiasedinterpretationsandtherearemanyothersreflectthefactthat
Thucydideswrotehishistorytorefutetheconventionalwisdomaboutthewarinthe
aftermathoftheAtheniandefeat.Hewasthefirstrevisionisthistorian,determinedto
acquitPericlesandhisfellowelitesforstartingandlosingthewar.Todothis,heblamed
impersonalhistoricalforcesandtheignorantrabble.

(Ironically,Thucydidessaccount,whichdoesntexplicitlydescribethismainstream
narrative,istheonethatsurvivedoverthepast2400years,whichmeansthatthe
argumentshewasrebuttinghaveonlybecomeclearrelativelyrecentlythankstothework
ofimaginativemodernscholars.)

SteveBannonbizarrelydescribed(http://www.breitbart.com/bigjournalism/2016/08/0
6/foxfacesuncertainfutureminormurdochstakecommand/)theAtheniansasthe
incumbentpowerchasedbytheSpartans,butevenpeoplewithbetterreading
comprehensionskillstendtomisuseThucydides.GrahamAllisonsentirethesisorat
leasthiscatchphraseisbasedonasuperficialunderstandingofthePeloponnesianWar.
ArthurWaldronsscathingandlearnedreview(http://supchina.com/2017/06/12/nothuc
ydidestrap/)impliesAllisondidntreadanythingaboutthesubjectotherthanafewof
Thucydidessmorefamousquotes.(Thatsfarfromtheonlyproblemwiththebook,see
alsoIanBurumasreview(http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/19/arechina
andtheunitedstatesheadedforwar).)

BeyondAllison,someoftherealisttheoryofinternationalrelationsisatleastpartly
derivedfromThucydidesseditorialsaboutwhystatesfighteachother.Yetaclose
readingofhisownaccountdemonstratestheimportanceofindividualpolicydecisions
thataredeterminedasmuchbydomesticpoliticsincludingclassconflict,asGEMde
SteCroixfirstargued(http://www.britac.ac.uk/pubs/proc/files/111p447.pdf)asby
anythingwewouldrecognisetodayasthenationalinterest.Ratherthanblackboxes
operatinginananarchicworldofviolence,Thucydidesshowshowgovernmentsledby
peoplemakepeaceandwarforallsortsofreasons.

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Studyinghistoryisvaluable.ReadingThucydidesisvaluable.Butpeoplewhothinktheyve
gainedancientwisdomafterreadingonlythemostpopularbitsofThucydidesshistoryof
thePeloponnesianWarshouldbeapproachedwithextremescepticism.

Relatedlinks:
CananAncientGreekWinAmericasWars?(https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/
20170625/cananancientgreekwinamericaswars)BloombergView
1600Pylos&SphacteriaAvenue(https://thesphinxblog.com/2017/06/22/1600pylossp
hacteriaavenue/)NevilleMorley
TalkThucydidestome(https://thesphinxblog.com/2017/06/04/talkthucydidestom
e/)NevilleMorley

*Antonseemstothinkthe1629translationbyThomasHobbesistheonetoread,even
thoughitlacksthemaps,notes,andchronologicalmarkersintheLandmarkedition(htt
p://www.simonandschuster.com/books/TheLandmarkThucydides/VictorDavisHans
on/9781416590873).ThebetterpretentiousalternativetotheLandmarkeditionisto
readThucydidesproperlypronouncedwithahardc,bythewayintheoriginal
Greek.

**IfirstencounteredthesubjectwhenIwasinhighschoolandhadtheprivilegeof
takingmultipleseminarswithDonaldKaganontheperiodwhileincollege.Thispostis
basedonmyrecollectionofthoseclasses,Kagansfourvolumehistoryofthewar(htt
p://www.cornellpress.cornell.edu/collections/?collection_id=264),andhisbiographyof
Thucydides(https://www.amazon.com/ThucydidesReinventionHistoryDonaldKaga
n/dp/0143118293).Incidentally,itsamazingtomethatthisreallifedramahasnotbeen
exploredbyfilmmakers.Freeidea:castZacEfronasAlcibiades.

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