THUCYDIDES, a celebrated Greek historian, was born at Athens, 471 b. c. He was the son of Olorus, and grandson of Miltiades, who is thought to have been descended from Miltiades the famous Athenian general, and to have married the king of Thrace’s daughter. He was educated in a manner suitable to his quality, that is, in the study of philosophy and eloquence. His master in the former was Anaxagoras, in the latter Antiphon; one, by his description in the eighth book of his history, for power of speech almost a miracle, and feared by the people on that account. Suidas and Photius relate, that when Herodotus recited his history in public, a fashion in use then and many ages after, Thucydides felt so great a sting of emulation, that it drew tears from him; insomuch that Herodotus himself took notice of it, and congratulated his father on having a son who showed so wonderful an affection to the Muses. Herodotus was then about twenty-nine years of age, Thucydides about sixteen.

When the Peloponnesian war was impending, he conjectured truly that it would prove a subject worthy of his labour; and it no sooner commenced than he began to keep a journal. This explains the reason why he has attended more to chronological order than to unity of design. During the same war he was commissioned by his countrymen to relieve Amphipolis; but the quick march of Brasidas the Lacedaemonian general defeated his operations, and Thucydides, unsuccessful in his expedition, was banished from Athens. He withdrew to Scaptesula, a town of Thrace, from whence he had obtained a rich wife. His exile commenced in the eighth year of this celebrated war; and in the place of his banishment the general began to write an impartial history of the important events which had happened during his administration, and which still continued to agitate the several states of Greece. This famous history is continued only to the twenty-first year of the war; and the remaining part of the time till the demolition of the walls of Athens was described by the pen of Theopompus and Xenophon. He spared neither time nor money to procure authentic materials; and the Athenians, as well as their enemies, furnished him with many valuable communications, which contributed to throw great light on the different transactions of the war. His history has been divided into eight books, the last of which is imperfect, and is supposed to have been written by his daughter.

The historian of Halicarnassus has often been compared with the son of Olorus, but each has his peculiar excellence. Sweetness of style, grace and elegance of expression, may be called the characteristics of the former; while Thucydides stands unequalled for the fire of his descriptions, the conciseness, and at the same time the strong and energetic manner, of his narratives. His relations are authentic, as he himself was interested in the events he mentions; his impartiality is indubitable, as he nowhere betrays the least resentment against his countrymen, and the factious partisans of Cleon, who had banished him from Athens. The history of Thucydides was so admired by Demosthenes, that he transcribed it eight different times, and read it with such attention, that he could almost repeat it by heart. He had returned from exile in the year 403 b. c.; but it is considered as doubtful whether he died at Athens, or in Thrace, the country of his wife. The time of his death has not been ascertained.

The work of Thucydides was first printed by Aldus, Venet. 1502, fol. And the Greek scholia issued from the same press in 1503. The next edition of the history was printed by Junta, Florent. 1526, fol. An edition by Junta in 1506 is commonly mentioned by bibliographers, but this date is supposed to be erroneous. Other editions were published, by Camerarius at Basel in 1540, by Stephanus at Paris in 1564 and 1588. The latter added the Latin version of Laurentius Valla, which had been twice printed before the year 1500. His editions were followed by that of Aemilius Portus, Francof. 1594, fol. After an interval of a century, a valuable edition was published by Dr Hudson, Oxon. 1696, fol. Another edition was undertaken by Joseph Wasse; but the task, which his death left imperfect, was completed by Duker, Amst. 1731, 2 tom. fol. Some useful editions succeeded, before the appearance of that revised by Bekker, and containing the scholia, together with the annotations of Wasse and Duker, Oxon. 1821, 4 tom. 8vo. Nor must we omit the edition of Goeller, Lipsiae, 1826, [7:21:254]2 tom. 8vo. A valuable edition, with English notes, chiefly historical and geographical, has more recently been published by Dr Arnold, Oxford, 1830-5, 3 vols. 8vo. Pop-po’s very elaborate edition of Thucydides is now in the progress of publication. The first volume was printed at Leipzig in 1821, and nine or ten have successively appeared. Here we must not neglect to recommend another work to the reader’s attention, Dodwell’s “Annales Thucydidei et Xenophontei, praemisso adparatu, cum Vitae Thucydidis Synopsi chronologica.” Oxon. 1702, 4to.

Thucydides has been translated into many of the modern languages. In 1550 an English translation, not however from the Greek text, but from the French version of Claude Seyssel, was published by Thomas Nicols, “citczeine and goldsmyth of London.” A translation of the original was published by Hobbes in 1628, and another by Dr William Smith in 1753-4. A new version, illustrated with copious annotations, has very recently been published by Dr Bloomfield, Lond. 1829, 3 vols. 8vo.