修昔底德

修昔底德（古希腊语：Θουκυδίδης，拉丁语：Thucydides，约前460年—约前400年）亦译为修斯底德、修昔提底斯，古希腊历史学家、思想家，以《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》传世，该书记述了公元前5世纪斯巴达和雅典之间的战争。

因为修昔底德对史料搜集和对因果分析方面严谨的态度，故被称为“科学历史”之父。他还被称为政治现实主义学派之父，该学派认为个人的政治行为以及国家之间关系的后续结果最终是由恐惧和自身利益的情绪所介导和构建的。 修昔底德亦是政治学中现实主义派的创始人，认为个体的政治行为与其所引起的国际政治关系均建构于恐惧感情与自我利益之上，并受二者调整。修昔底德希望通过认知人性，从而解释诸如瘟疫、屠杀等灾难中人的行为。

今日，修昔底德的著作仍在被世界各地的大学和军事学院研究。其《米洛斯对话》至今仍是国际关系理论中最为重要的著作之一；《伯里克利葬礼演说》（Pericles' Funeral Oration）亦在政治理论、历史和古典研究领域被广泛参阅。

生平

现代对修昔底德的生平所知不多。最可靠的资料来自他的著作《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》。在书中，他阐述了他的国籍、父亲和出生地方。修昔底德在书中告诉我们，他参加过伯罗奔尼撒战争，曾经得过黑死病和战争失利被流放。

流放时，收集资料记载战争过程，《伯罗奔尼撒战争史》，共八卷一百多万字，尚未完成就被暗杀。

Thucydides ( thew-SID-ih-deez; Ancient Greek: Θουκυδίδης, romanised: Thoukudídēs [tʰuːkydǐdɛːs]; c. 460 – c. 400 BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work.

Thucydides has been called the father of the school of political realism, which views the political behaviour of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest. His text is still studied at universities and military colleges worldwide. The Melian dialogue is regarded as a seminal text of international relations theory, while his version of Pericles's Funeral Oration is widely studied by political theorists, historians, and students of the classics. More generally, Thucydides developed an understanding of human nature to explain behaviour in such crises as plagues, massacres, and wars.

Life

In spite of his stature as a historian, modern historians know relatively little about Thucydides's life. The most reliable information comes from his own History of the Peloponnesian War, in which he mentions his nationality, paternity, and birthplace. Thucydides says that he fought in the war, contracted the plague, and was exiled by the democracy. He may have also been involved in quelling the Samian Revolt.

Evidence from the classical period

Thucydides identifies himself as an Athenian, telling us that his father's name was Olorus and that he was from the Athenian deme of Halimous. According to one disputed anecdote, when Thucydides was 10–12 years old, he and his father were supposed to have gone to the agora of Athens where the young Thucydides heard a lecture by the historian Herodotus. According to some accounts, the young Thucydides wept with joy after hearing the lecture, deciding that writing history would be his life's calling. The same account also claims that after the lecture, Herodotus spoke with the youth and his father, stating: "Oloros your son yearns for knowledge." The episode is most likely from a later Greek or Roman account of his life.

He survived the Plague of Athens, which killed Pericles and many other Athenians. There is a first observation of acquired immunity. He also records that he owned gold mines at Scapte Hyle (literally "Dug Woodland"), a coastal area in Thrace, opposite the island of Thasos.

Because of his influence in the Thracian region, Thucydides was sent as a strategos (general) to Thasos in 424 BC. During the winter of 424–423 BC, the Spartan general Brasidas attacked Amphipolis, a half-day's sail west from Thasos on the Thracian coast, sparking the Battle of Amphipolis. Eucles, the Athenian commander at Amphipolis, sent to Thucydides for help. Brasidas, aware of the presence of Thucydides on Thasos and his influence with the people of Amphipolis, and afraid of help arriving by sea, acted quickly to offer moderate terms to the Amphipolitans for their surrender, which they accepted. Thus, when Thucydides arrived, Amphipolis was already under Spartan control.

Amphipolis was of considerable strategic importance, and news of its fall caused great consternation in Athens. The fall of the city was blamed on Thucydides, although he claimed that it was not his fault and that he had been unable to reach it in time. Because of his failure to save Amphipolis, he was exiled: