公元前431-前404年，数百个城邦卷入了规模空前的“希腊世界大战”，战火几乎波及当时整个地中海文明世界。以斯巴达为首的伯罗奔尼撒同盟和雅典帝国这两大城邦集团，一个在陆上称雄，一个在海上称霸，双方巧施权谋，展开长期的拉锯战。正当双方两败俱伤、财尽兵竭之时，虎视眈眈的波斯人借机干涉，最终协助斯巴达人击败雅典，摧毁了盛极一时的雅典海上帝国。这场战争对希腊城邦政治造成巨大的冲击和震荡，对于社会经济和民生无异于一场浩劫，对于其后希腊人的思想文化、对于地中海世界的国际局势都产生重大而深远的影响。亲历这场大战的历史学家修昔底德，以其客观冷静的态度，生动豪放的史笔，简洁流畅的文字，不仅全面地记载了战争的主要史实（迄至公元前411年），展示了陆战海战的恢宏场面、党派斗争的严酷惨烈，还恰如其分的描述了其间人们心理心态的微妙变化。此著是希腊古典文明极盛时期的文化精品。作者提出的人性不变论，书中大量精彩的演说词，字字珠玑，饱含哲理，千百年来一直吸引着无数读者去欣赏、玩味、思考……

A masterpiece of historical writing, Thucydides' account Y of the war fought in the fifth century B.C. between the Athenian and Spartan alliances established a paradigm for the war monograph. The complete text appears here in a new and spirited translation by Walter Blanco. Jennifer Boberts's introduction and annotations provide vital background information.

Thucydides' military and diplomatic acumen, his understanding of human psychology, and his narrative skill have shaped the writing of history for over two thousand years. "Backgrounds and Contexts" provides supplementary selections from Xenophon, Herodotus, Plato, Machiavelli, Hobbes, and twentieth-century journalist Walter Karp. "Interpretations" includes richly varied assessments of Thucydides by Theodor Gomperz, Francis M. Cornford, Charles N. Cochrane, B. G. Collingwood, Albert Cook, Cynthia Farrar, Adam Parry, Glen Bowersock, Robert Gilpin, Michael Doyle, and Gregory Crane.

The edition also includes fourteen maps, a chronology, a glossary, a selected bibliography, and an index.

List of Maps

Translator's Note, by Walter Blanco

Introduction, by Jennifer Roberts

The Text of The Peloponnesian War

 Book 1

 Book 2

 Book 3

 Book 4

 Book 5

 Book 6

 Book 7

 Book 8

Backgrounds and Contexts

 Xenophon · Hellenica, Book 1

Book 2, Chapters 1-3

 Herodotus · The Histories

Book 2, Chapters 111-20

Book 3, Chapters 80-88

 Plato · Gorgias, 479d-484c

488b-492c

 Niccolo Machiavelli · The Prince, Chapters 18 and 25

· The Discourses, Book 1, Chapters 39 and 53

Book 3, Chapter 16

 Thomas Hobbes · To the Readers

· Leviathan, Part I, Chapter 13

 Walter Karp · The Two Thousand Years' War

Interpretations

 Theodor Gomperz · [Secular Thucydides]

 Francis M. Comford · [Thucydides and the Irrational]

 Charles N. Cochrane · [Thucydides, Cornford, and History]

 R. C. Collingwood · [Greek Thought and the Writing of History1

 Albert Cook · Particular and General in Thucydides

 Cynthia Farrar · [Historical Understanding and the Polis]

 Adam Parry · Thucydides' Historical Perspective

 Glen Bowersock · The Personality of Thucydides

 Robert Gilpin · The Theory of Hegemonic War

 Michael Doyle · Thucydides: A Realist?

 Gregory Crane · Truest Causes and Thucydidean Realisms

Chronology

The Principal Combatants at the Outbreak of the War

The Kings of Sparta during the Peloponnesian War and the Kings of Persia during the Fifth Century

Glossary

Selected Bibliography

Index of Places and Peoples

Index of Important Figures