33 



THUCYDIDES. 



THULDEN, THEODOR VAN. 



M 



the Athenians in the year following, B.C. 423 ; and in consequence of 

 the sentence passed upon him lie spent twenty years in exilo, namely, 

 till B.C. 403. (Thucyd., v. 20.) This year coincides exactly with the 

 restoration of the democracy by Thraaybulus, when a general amnesty 

 was granted, of which Thucydides seems to have availed himself. 

 Where ho passed tho tinio of his exile is not mentioned by himself. 

 Marcellinus says that he first went to ^Egiun, and afterwards to Scapto- 

 Hyle in Thrace, opposite the island of Thasos, where he had some 

 valuable gold-mines. (Compare Plutarch, 'De Exilio,' p. 605.) It 

 appears however not improbable that he visited several places during 

 his exile : the intimate knowledge which he shows respecting the 

 history of the Italiobes and Siceliotes almost inclines one to suppose 

 that he may have visited Italy and Sicily after the failure of the 

 Athenian expedition in the latter island. His property in Thrace 

 would however naturally lead him to pass the greater part of his time 

 in that country. This property, which was very considerable (Thucyd., 

 iv. 105), was probably derived from his family, which came from 

 Thrace, though Marcellinus says that he obtained it by marrying a 

 Thracian heiress. 



How long he lived after his return from exile, and whether he 

 continued at Athens till the time of his death, is quite uncertain. 

 According to some accounts he was assassinated at Athens, according 

 to others ha died at Thasos, and his bones were carried to Athens. 

 He is said to have been buried in the sepulchre of the family of 

 Miltiades. 



The Peloponnesian war forms the subject of the History of Thucy- 

 dides. He tells us that he foresaw it would be the most important 

 war that Greece had ever known, and that he therefore began collect- 

 ing materials for its history from its very commencement; that, 

 where he had to rely upon the testimony of others, he carefully 

 weighed and examined the statements that were made to him ; and that 

 he spared neither time nor trouble to arrive at the truth, and that in 

 consequence of his exile he was enabled to obtain information from 

 the Peloponnesians as well as his own countrymen (i. 22 ; v. 26). 

 Though he was engaged in collecting materials during the whole of 

 the war, he does not appear to have reduced them into the form of a 

 regular history till after his return from exile, since he alludes in 

 many parts of it to the conclusion of the war (i. 13 ; v. 26, &c.). He 

 did not however live to complete it : the eighth book ends abruptly 

 in the middle of the year B.C. 411, seven years before the termination 

 of the war. Even the eighth book itself does not seem to have 

 received the last revision of the author, although there is no reason at 

 all for doubting its genuineness, as it bears on every page indubitable 

 traces of his style and mode of thought. Some ancient writers how- 

 ever attributed it to his daughter, others to Theopompus or Xenophon. 

 As the work of Thucydides is evidently incomplete, it would appear 

 that it was not published in his lifetime; and there is therefore great 

 probability that the statement is correct which attributes the publica- 

 tion of it to Xenophon. Niebuhr -has brought forward reasons which 

 Beem to render it almost certain that Xenophon's ' Hellenics ' consist 

 of two distinct works, and that the last five books were not published 

 till long after the first two. The first two, which seem to have borne 

 the title of the ' Paralipomena ' of Thucydides, complete the history 

 of the Peloponnesian war, and were not improbably published by 

 Xenophon, together with the eight books of Thucydides. (Niebuhr, 

 in ' Philological Museum,' i. 485, &c.) 



The first book of Thucydides is a kind of introduction to the 

 history. He commences by observing that the Peloponnesian war 

 was more important than any that had been known before ; and to 

 prove this, he reviews the state of Greece from the earliest times 

 down to the commencement of the war (c. 1-21). He then proceeds 

 to investigate the causes which led to it, of which the real one was 

 the jealousy which the Peloponnesians entertained of the power of 

 Athens ; and interrupts his narrative to give an account of the rise 

 and progress of the Athenian empire down to the commencement of 

 the war (c. 89-118). He had an additional reason for making this 

 digression, since this history had either been passed over by previous 

 writers altogether, or had been treated briefly, without attention to 

 chronology (c. 97). He resumes the thread of his narrative ate. 119, 

 with the negotiations of the Peloponnesian confederacy previous to 

 the declaration of the war ; but the demand of the Lacedaemonians, 

 that the Athenians should drive out the accused, which was answered 

 by the Athenians requiring the Lacedaemonians to do the same, leads 

 to another digression respecting the treason and death of Pausanias 

 (c. 128-134); and as proofs were found implicating Themistocles 

 in the designs of the Spartan king, he continues the digression 

 in order to give an account of the exile and death of Themistocles (c. 

 135-138). He then resumes the narrative, and concludes the book 

 with the speech of Pericles which induced the Athenians to refuse 

 compliance with the demands of the Peloponnesians. The history of 

 the war does not therefore begin till the second book ; but it would 

 be out of place to give here an abstract of the remainder of the 

 work. 



Thucydides had formed a high opinion of the value and importance 

 of the work he had undertaken. It was not his object to afford 

 amusement, like former writers, but to give such a faithful representa- 

 tion of the past as would serve as a guide for the future (i. 22). His 

 observation of human character was profound ; he penetrates with 



' BIOQ. DIV. VOL. VI. 



extraordinary clearsightedness into the motive* and policy of the 

 leading actors of the war ; and he draws from the events ho relates 

 those lessons of political wisdom which have always made bis work a 

 favourite study with thoughtful men of all countries. 



He claims for himself the merit of the strictest accuracy, and it i< 

 impossible to read bis History without being convinced of the trust- 

 worthiness of his (statements. His impartiality also is conspicuous : 

 although he had been banished from his native city, he does not, like 

 Xenophon, turn renegade, and try to misrepresent the conduct and 

 motives of his own countrymen. Although a contemporary, and one 

 who had taken an active part in public affairs, he writes as free from 

 prejudice and party-feeling aa if he hud lived at a time long sub- 

 sequent to the events he narrates. 



Hia History is constructed on entirely different principles from 

 those of his predecessor*. He confines himself strictly to his subject, 

 and seldom makes any digressions. He feels deeply the importance of 

 his work, and constantly strives to impress the same feeling upon his 

 readers. He had proposed to himself a noble subject, and writes with 

 the consciousness of the value of hia labours, and the presentiment 

 that his work will be read in all future ages. There is consequently a 

 moral elevation in his style and mode of treating a subject, which u 

 scarcely to be found in any other writer except Tacituc. 



In narrating the events of the war, Thucydides pays particular 

 attention to chronology. He divides each year into two portions, the 

 summer and the winter, and is careful to relate under each the events 

 that took place respectively during that time. The speeches which he 

 introduces are not mei 3 inventions of his own, but contain the general 

 sense of what the speakers actually delivered, although the style and 

 the arrangement are his (i. 22). 



The style of Thucydides is marked by great strength and energy. 

 Not only his expressions, but even single words seem to have been 

 well weighed before they were used ; each has its proper force and 

 significance, and none are used merely for the sake of ornament and 

 effect. The style is not easy, and it is probable that Thucydides never 

 intended it should be so, even to his own countrymen : his work was 

 not to be read without thought. Still his style is open to serious 

 objections. He does not sufficiently consult perspicuity, which is tho 

 first virtue in all writing. His sentences too are frequently unneces- 

 sarily long, and the constructions harsh and involved. These remarks 

 are more especially applicable to the speeches inserted in the History, 

 which Cicero found as difficult aa we do. (' Orator.,' 9.) 



The Greek text was first published by Aldus, Venice, 1502, and the 

 scholia in the following year. The first Latin translation, which was 

 made by Laurentius Valla, appeared at Paris in fol., 1513. The first 

 Greek and Latin edition was that of Henry Stephens, the Latin being 

 the translation of Valla, with corrections by Stephens, fol. 1564. 

 Among the modern editions, those most worthy of notice are Bekker's, 

 3 vols., 8vo, Berlin, 1821 ; Poppo's, which contains two volumes of pro- 

 legomena, with the scholia and numerous notes, 11 vols. Svo., Leipzig, 

 1821-1840; Haack's, with selections from the Greek scholia and 

 short notes, which tha student will find very useful, 2 vols. Svo, 

 Leipzig, 1820, reprinted in London, in 3 vols. Svo, 1823; Goller's, 



2 vols. 8vo, Leipzig, 1836, 2nd edition, reprinted in London ; Arnold's, 



3 vols. Svo, Oxford, 1st edition, 1830-1835; and Haase's, Paris, 1845. 

 There are translations of Thucydides into most of the modern 



European languages. In English the first translation was made by 

 Thomas Nicolls, from the French version of Seysel, and was 

 published in London, fol., 1550. This was succeeded by the transla- 

 tions of Hobbes and AVilliam Smith, which have been frequently 

 reprinted. The most recent are by S. T. Bloomfield, 3 vols. Svo, 

 London, 1829, and by Dale, published in Bonn's ' Classical Library.' 

 A recent translation in German is by Klein, 8vo, Muuchen, 1826 : 

 and in French one of the best is said to be by Gail. 



Respecting the life of Thucydides, the reader may consult pod- 

 well, ' Annales Thucydidei et Xenophonteii,' &c., 4to, Oxford, 1702 ; 

 and Kriiger, ' Untersuchungen iiber das Leben des Thucydidos,' 

 Berlin, 1832. 



THULDEN, THEODOR VAN, born at Bois-le-Duc in 1607, was 

 one of the most distinguished scholars and assistants of Rubens, with 

 whom he was also a favourite. He was with Rubens in Paris, and is 

 raid to have executed the greater part of the celebrated series of the 

 so-called Gallery of the Luxembourg, painted in honour of Mary de' 

 Medici. Van Thulden is distinguished both as a painter and as an 

 etcher. As a painter he excelled in various styles. _ There are several 

 large pictures, both historical and allegorical, by him, dispersed over 

 Germany and the Netherlands; he painted also small pictures from 

 common life in the manner of Teniers, such as markets, fairs, and the 

 like ; and he was frequently employed by architectural and landscape 

 painters to embellish their pictures with small appropriate figures, in 

 which he was excellent ; he painted many such in the pictures of 

 Neefs and Steenwyck. . 



Van Thulden's style in his greater works is altogether t 

 Rubens, and, although inferior in boldness of design and colouring, his 

 works may easily be mistaken for those of Rubens; the ' Martyrdom 

 of St. Andrew,' in St.^Michael's church at Ghent, was long thought t 

 be a work of Rubens. In chiar'oscuro, Van Thulden was nearly if 

 quite equal to his master. A ' St. Sebastian,' in the church pi 

 Bernardines at Mechlin, and an ' Assumption of the Virgin, IE 



