Θουκυδίδης Ἀθηναῖος ξυνέγραψε τὸν πόλεμον τῶν Πελοποννησίων καὶ Ἀθηναίων , ὡς ἐπολέμησαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους , ἀρξάμενος εὐθὺς καθισταμένου καὶ ἐλπίσας μέγαν τε ἔσεσθαι καὶ ἀξιολογώτατον τῶν προγεγενημένων , τεκμαιρόμενος ὅτι ἀκμάζοντές τε ᾖσαν ἐς αὐτὸν ἀμφότεροι παρασκευῇ τῇ πάσῃ καὶ τὸ ἄλλο Ἑλληνικὸν ὁρῶν ξυνιστάμενον πρὸς ἑκατέρους , τὸ μὲν εὐθύς , τὸ δὲ καὶ διανοούμενον . [ 2 ] κίνησις γὰρ αὕτη μεγίστη δὴ τοῖς Ἕλλησιν ἐγένετο καὶ μέρει τινὶ τῶν βαρβάρων , ὡς δὲ εἰπεῖν καὶ ἐπὶ πλεῖστον ἀνθρώπων . [ 3 ] τὰ γὰρ πρὸ αὐτῶν καὶ τὰ ἔτι παλαίτερα σαφῶς μὲν εὑρεῖν διὰ χρόνου πλῆθος ἀδύνατα ἦν , ἐκ δὲ τεκμηρίων ὧν ἐπὶ μακρότατον σκοποῦντί μοι πιστεῦσαι ξυμβαίνει οὐ μεγάλα νομίζω γενέσθαι οὔτε κατὰ τοὺς πολέμους οὔτε ἐς τὰ ἄλλα .

Thucydides , an Athenian , wrote the war of the Peloponnesians and the Athenians as they warred against each other , beginning to write as soon as the war was on foot , with expectation it should prove a great one and most worthy the relation of all that had been before it ; conjecturing so much both from this , that they flourished on both sides in all manner of provision , and also because he saw the rest of Greece siding with the one or the other faction , some then presently and some intending so to do . [ 2 ] For this was certainly the greatest commotion that ever happened among the Grecians , reaching also to part of the barbarians and , as a man may say , to most nations . [ 3 ] For the actions that preceded this and those again that are yet more ancient , though the truth of them through length of time cannot by any means clearly be discovered , yet for any argument that , looking into times far past , I have yet light on to persuade me , I do not think they have been very great , either for matter of war or otherwise .

THUCYDIDES , an Athenian , wrote the history of the war in which the Peloponnesians and the Athenians fought against one another . He began to write when they first took up arms , believing that it would be great and memorable above any previous war . For he argued that both states were then at the full1 height of their military power , and he saw the rest of the Hellenes either siding or intending to side with one or other of them . [ 2 ] No movement ever stirred Hellas more deeply than this ; it was shared by many of the Barbarians , and might be said even to affect the world at large . [ 3 ] The character of the events which preceded , whether immediately or in more remote antiquity , owing to the lapse of time cannot be made out with certainty . 2 But , judging from the evidence which I am able to trust after most careful enquiry3 , I should imagine that former ages were not great either in their wars or in anything else .