ABSTRACT
Thucydides is too devoid of atmosphere for either the patriot or the artist or the moralist to feel at home—to satisfy the conditions which their souls crave, he must be recreated in conformity with their own mental cast. There is beauty in romance; but a grander beauty in stark, ruthless, uncompromising verity. This is the kind of beauty that the singularly proud and reserved author of the History discloses: a rare character, assuredly, but by no means an isolated phenomenon. Thucydides had anticipated this reception when he wrote in his preface that the unromantic character of his narrative might not be very pleasing to the ear. But he had also anticipated the ultimate verdict when he described it as “a possession for ever.” Thucydides has, indeed, introduced habits of thought, modes of reasoning, methods of inquiry, even forms of expression, which have been communicated to the more popular writers until they have become commonplace.
