ABSTRACT
Thucydides knew better; and it argues considerable naivete in those who, taking his modest advertisement literally, have imagined that he began with the intention of producing a bare text-book, as he went on, new views opened, philosophic ideas sprang up, and artistic tendencies asserted themselves—till at length a journal grew into a masterpiece. The subdued ending—”and they came to anchor“—illustrates the tendency of Greek art to relax the strain at the finish. Thucydides, having from the first seen in the Peloponnesian War a congenial subject, undertook to write its history. Xenophon has also been credited with the authorship of the Eighth Book. But it has long been agreed that the spirit of Thucydides is all over and through it. Parallel to the economy is Thucydides’ handling of treaties. Of all the portions of Thucydides’ History, that which best illustrates his art is the Seventh Book.
