Thucydides: 2 ideas worth knowing

2 ideas from Thucydides, each explained in a minute and credited to the original work. Free on Savvy.

A neutral island's plea for mercy got a one-line answer: might makes right
In 416 BCE, Athens demanded that the neutral island of Melos submit and pay tribute during the Peloponnesian War. Thucydides recorded the negotiation as a stark debate over justice…
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War
A 27-year war between two Greek superpowers was recorded as it happened
From 431 to 404 BC, the Athenian empire and the Spartan-led Peloponnesian League fought a grinding, on-and-off war for dominance over the Greek world, a conflict historian Thucydid…
— Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War

Five ideas worth knowing, every week