(no subject)

So, having finished with Herodotus, we move on to Thucydides. (I’m skipping putting up a translation of an inscribed decree attributed to Themistocles, because 1) its provenance is dubious (as it was inscribed centuries after his death), 2) it’s sort of fragmentary (as it was hacked apart and used for a church altar for centuries), and 3) it’s pretty boring.) We are now some time after the war against Xerxes--I am a little fuzzy on how long--and without a common enemy to unite them in endless squabbling councils and occasional actual battles, the Greeks are, of course, starting to go to war with each other again.

We start with tensions rising between Sparta and Athens; meanwhile, Athens needs to rebuild its city, because according to Thucydides all that’s left standing is bits of the outside walls and a few houses that the Persian officials had chosen to live in during the occupation. (I guess the soldiers camped on rubble.) If you recall from the end of the Herodotus section, Themistocles told everyone to go home and rebuild and replant, while secretly sending a message to Xerxes saying “It’s okay! You can retreat at your leisure now!”

I should also note that Thucydides is AMAZINGLY DIFFICULT, so any wild awkwardness or nonsensical clauses in my translation are a direct result of this.

( The Spartans, as usual, are jerks )