Historiae, Vol. 2

4.4/5 ( ratings)

If ever a tragedy of Olympian proportions could be ascribed to an historic event, it would surely be appropriate to use that term in relation to the great city state of Athens. John Ruskin referred to the Peloponnesian War as "the suicide of Greece". It is an apt phrase. For never in history has a community reached such sublime heights of civilized life only to plummet to ignominious defeat within a single lifetime. In one of the great coincidences of history, Thucydides was enabled to observe this event, and commit to paper the most accurate, dramatic, and beautifully expressive history that has yet been written...of his era, or any other.
Volume 2 opens with the Spartans and Athenians pursuing their grim struggle. As the war continues to drain both sides materially and emotionally, a truce is finally arranged after the deaths of thousands, including the great Brasidas and Pericles. But the Athenians are persuaded by a young Alcibiades to launch an expedition against Syracuse in Sicily. In what has been hailed as the finest description of an historical event ever recorded, Thucydides provides posterity with a lucid and horrifying chronicle of the incredible folly and incompetence of the ill-fated Sicilian Expedition. When the magnificent Spartan general, Gylippus, slips into the besieged city of Syracuse, his mere presence tips the scales. Listen as the tragedy unfolds and Athens, reeling from the catastrophe, valiantly rebuilds her forces and continues the relentless struggle. In the face of odds that appear increasingly hopeless, Athens somehow finds the resolve to maintain the conflict.
This audiobook uses Benjamin Jowett's translation.