straight into action. And those who contemptuously supposed that they would know all in advance, and that there was no need to seize by force what wo… - Thucydides

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straight into action. And those who contemptuously supposed that they would know all in advance, and that there was no need to seize by force what would come to them through intellect, were instead caught off guard and destroyed. [84] In Corcyra, then, most of these atrocities were first committed: all that men do in resisting those who, after ruling them abusively rather than moderately, provide opportunity for revenge; all that men resolve unjustly when, wishing to escape their usual poverty — especially if pressed by disaster — they desire their neighbors’ possessions; all that others, attacking not for gain but on clearly equal terms, impelled most by

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About Thucydides

Thucydides (or Thoukydides)(c. 472 BC – c. 400 BC) was an ancient Greek historian, author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. This work is widely regarded a classic and represents the first work of its kind.

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Native Name: Θουκυδίδης
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It is useless to attack men who could not be controlled even if conquered, while failure would leave us in an even worse position.

[5]I lived through the whole of it when I was of an age to appreciate what was going on and could apply my mind to an exact understanding of things. It so turned out that I was banished from my own country for twenty years after the Amphipolis campaign and thus had the time to study matters more closely; and as consequence of my exile I had access to activities on both sides, not least to those of the Peloponnesians. [6]I will therefore now relate the differences that arose after the ten-year war and the collapse of the treaty, and then the subsequent course of the war.

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