Admittedly, I had only read a little of history and war before Michael and I began reading together. My first attempt at reading history “seriously” was Oswald Spengler’s two-volume set, Decline of the West. I mistakenly thought that history could be comprehended like a novel or short story. I was like a young boy who, having conquered his backyard pond, decided to set sail across the Atlantic. The merciless shipwreck that took place could have been easily predicted.
Discouraged and disoriented, I returned to shore humbled and knew I needed to learn the basics before I was to sail again with the likes of Spengler. I wanted to read historians as best as possible, so I asked around where and how I should start. One name that kept appearing in biographies and conversations was Thucydides. I was enjoying the Republic by Plato when I came across a Nietzsche quote that sealed the deal in my undertaking of Thucydides. Nietzsche says, “Plato is a coward before reality, consequently he flees into the ideal; Thucydides has control of himself, consequently he also maintains control of things.” Now I had my sight set on Thucydides and set sail.
Now, why should warfare between ancient Greeks concern us today? Scholars correctly state that Greeks lie at the crux of modern civilization. Like us in many ways, they offer a viewpoint removed from the prejudice of time and place that warps our understanding of ourselves. Thucydides’ ancient work is relevant and illuminating to modern times for the following reason – human nature remains constant throughout the ages; therefore, practical parallels and useful wisdom can be found throughout this exceptional work. Also, Thucydides’ influence has been manifested in modern American strategic thought. The great George C. Marshall turned to Thucydides to fathom the emerging Cold War: “I doubt seriously,” he proposed, “whether a man can think with full wisdom and with deep conviction regarding certain of the basic issues today who has not at least reviewed in his mind the period of the Peloponnesian War and the fall of Athens.”
I am currently on my second reading of the History of the Peloponnesian War. I will not discuss the war in totality in this post, for it would only be superficial coverage. The reader can learn much about international relations, human nature, and war in this enduring work, and I earnestly encourage all to read it for that very reason. What follows is a brief characterization of the historian and the generalship of Pericles.
Thucydides was an Athenian aristocrat who was born at the peak of Periclean Athens. He was born around 460 B.C. and was a general in the war, for which he is the renowned historian. As a historian, he selected topics of significance and then organized and placed events in such a way as to reveal their importance to his reader. He endeavored to explain why things occurred as they did and what may be understood of human affairs and behavior from the events he has studied and participated in. In this regard, his creation is philosophical as well.
Thucydides’ intent in writing the History of the Peloponnesian War was as follows, “it may well be that my history will seem less easy to read because of the absence in it of a romantic element. It will be enough for me, however, if these words of mine are judged useful by those who want to understand dearly the events which happened in the past and which (human nature being what it is) will, at some time or other and in much the same ways, be repeated in the future. My work is not a piece of writing designed to meet the taste of an immediate public, but was done to last forever.”
From the quote, one understands that Thucydides’ believed in the practical importance of history. He did not argue with his contemporaries or refute their opinions in his work. His method is different. He gives the reader only the critical facts and findings he has filtered from them after careful investigation and thought. Using logic, speeches, and summaries of battles, he gives the reader a profound insight into the machinations of war, international politics, and ancient Greek society. Lastly, as reasonable a society as Ancient Greece was, human emotion bested our striking capacity for reason. Nowhere can this be highlighted more than in the history of Pericles and his generalship.
In the first decade of the fifth century (around 494 B.C.), Agariste, daughter of Hippocrates, dreamed she gave birth to a lion. This lion was named Pericles. Pericles is one of those unique people who placed his own stamp on his period while also shaping the course of history. Optimists may think that democracy is the conclusive and inevitable form of human society, but the record shows it has been a rare abnormality. As Donald Kagan asserts, “democracy is, in fact, one of the rarest and most fragile flowers in the jungle of human experience.”
Pericles was not the architect or originator of democracy, but he came to its leadership only a half-century after its creation. He helped strengthen it and allowed it to blossom as it was still fragile. He believed that in order for a democracy to flourish it must have a set of good institutions, a body of citizens who have developed a character consistent with the democratic way of life, and high-quality leadership, at least at critical moments. He believed the last was most important and can compensate for weaknesses in the first two. He showcased his belief in the supremacy of the third point by his exceptional leadership and remarkable actions in battle and in times of crisis.
Of Pericles’ speeches in the History of the Peloponnesian War, one can see he tried to teach the Athenians that their interests were inextricably bound together with those of the community, that they could not be safe and prosper unless their state was secure and profitable, that the common man could achieve excellence only through the excellency of his society. Modern democratic politicians are tempted to seek popularity by telling the people only good news, or by appealing to their desires and prejudices. Yet Pericles refused to flatter the people and appeal to their prejudices. Instead, when the occasion demanded, he informed them of the realities and advised them how to cope. He called upon them to rise above their fears and short-range self-interest, and inspired them to do so. When necessary, he was willing to chastise them and risk their anger.
Thucydides reports Pericles’ own summary of the qualities necessary for a statesman: “to know what must be done and to be able to explain it; to love one’s country and to be incorruptible.” Pericles, as all leaders of democracies, had the arduous duty of infusing in their people the love for their country and the enthusiasm for their constitution that would lead them to bear risks and threats, endure unavoidable hardships, and make necessary sacrifices. At the same time, he aspired to curb the people’s passion, moderate their ambition and anger, and influence them to be rational and reasonable in their actions.
It was Pericles’ genius to recognize the democratic leader’s obligation to educate his people in civic virtue and to have the skills needed to do so. With such a devoted rationalist as a general and leader, how did the Athenians lose the war? The answer to that question is what makes Thucydides’ work engaging and fascinating in perpetuity. Pericles’ indefatigable and impregnable reason ultimately contributed to his downfall because human beings rarely respond rationally to circumstances and events. Despite our best efforts to react rationally, we habitually act on emotion and self-interest alone. In summation, we are mostly irrational people.
Athens was disadvantaged by being simultaneously attached to the mainland and a maritime city. Pericles attempted to overcome this disadvantage by constructing long walls merging the city with its fortified harbor, which stored the best naval fleet in ancient Greece. This extraordinary strategy effectively turned the city into an island of its own. Pericles relied on reason and technology and contradicted the traditional fighting methods that the Lacedemonians (Spartans) made at this time. At the same time, he abandoned all sentiments of further expansion and designed a policy to preserve peace and the status quo. Such an approach hinged for success on a remarkable amount of rationality on everyone’s part. The Athenians must be satisfied with what they had and forsake hopes for the extension of their empire. As history suggests, this rationality does not consider our general makeup as human beings.
Human relations are guided only intermittently and partially by logical calculations. Thucydides shows that always at work alongside our romantic ideals are ambition, anger, greed, hatred, jealousy, resentment, and his famous trio of fear, honor, and self-interest. Therefore, Pericles, pleased with Athens’ position and wishing to preserve peace, cannot depend on a reasoned reaction for his reasonable policies but must expect unreasonable challenges. The Spartans’ irritation and bitterness at Athenian power and fear that they may eventually sabotage their security led them to war. Pericles’ reason could not relieve the Spartans irascible anger and jealousy, nor could it appease the reactionary and warring tendencies of his people.
To deter a war requires some offensive threat, a threat so menacing and significant that the dread of immediate consequences of war is greater than all the sentiments leading to war. Unfortunately, Pericles had come to think of Athens as an indestructible island. Again and again, Thucydides shows the enemy’s passionate rejection of reason, making the Periclean way of warfare ineffective and a condition of failed wishful thinking. Pericles’ high degree of rationality in his strategy ultimately lost to baser qualities of human nature. The Athenians could not remain reasonable and sought to inflict the pain the Peloponnese inflicted upon them. Eventually, a plague, misplaced ambition, and overwhelming greed of new Athenian leaders led to the fall of what could be the world’s greatest empire.
In conclusion, I hope this brief summary of Pericles leads you to read this excellent book and many other Greek and Roman historians. The History of the Peloponnesian war has left an indelible mark upon me and my conscious. Simply put, what I hoped to learn from Sun Tzu, Thucydides coherently and interestingly revealed to me. Little by little I have understood that even the best-laid plans are ultimately subject to chance, fate, and fortune. As coherent as logic and reason can be in thoughtful plans, I still act them out in an incomprehensive and inscrutable universe and series of events alongside rational and irrational people such as myself. From this book, I have gleaned what may be the best course of human action: take heart, boldly apply your best effort and reasoning, cast your dice, and come what may. Whether fortune blesses you with prosperity, poverty, or death, at least it will have to deliver its bounty to a man.
Written by David Coody
Link to purchase History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides: https://amzn.to/3mDjAWO
Brains and Brawn 