HISTORIAN

Thucydides

460 BC - 397 BC

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Thucydides ( thew-SID-ih-deez; Ancient Greek: Θουκυδίδης, romanized: Thoukudídēs [tʰuːkydǐdɛːs]; c. 460 – c. 400 BC) was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-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 behavior of individuals and the subsequent outcomes of relations between states as ultimately mediated by, and constructed upon, fear and self-interest. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Thucydides has received more than 3,415,480 page views. His biography is available in 93 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 88 in 2019). Thucydides is the 4th most popular historian (down from 3rd in 2019), the 24th most popular biography from Greece and the most popular Greek Historian.

Thucydides is most famous for writing a history of the Peloponnesian War.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.4M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 79.59

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 93

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 12.74

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.94

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, Thucydides ranks 4 out of 561. Before him are Herodotus, Josephus, and Ibn Khaldun. After him are Xenophon, Sima Qian, Livy, Polybius, Tacitus, Suetonius, Alexis de Tocqueville, and Diodorus Siculus.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 460 BC, Thucydides ranks 3. Before him are Hippocrates, and Democritus. After him are Diogenes of Apollonia, Critias, Prodicus, and Verginia. Among people deceased in 397 BC, Thucydides ranks 1. 

Others Born in 460 BC

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Others Deceased in 397 BC

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  • Photo of Thucydides

    Thucydides

    HISTORIAN

    460 BC - 397 BC

    HPI: 79.59

    Rank: 1

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In Greece

Among people born in Greece, Thucydides ranks 24 out of 1,024. Before him are Plutarch (46), Aeschylus (-525), Sappho (-630), Philip II of Macedon (-382), Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921), and Protagoras (-486). After him are Bayezid II (1447), Spartacus (-109), Phidias (-490), Hayreddin Barbarossa (1478), Xenophon (-430), and Demosthenes (-384).

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Among HISTORIANS In Greece

Among historians born in Greece, Thucydides ranks 1. After him are Xenophon (-430), Polybius (-208), Quintus Curtius Rufus (41), Callisthenes (-360), Theopompus (-400), Afet İnan (1908), Michael Glykas (1125), Philochorus (-340), Krste Misirkov (1874), Marsyas of Pella (-400), and Helene Ahrweiler (1926).

Greek born Historians

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