Thucydides and the Modern World Reception, Reinterpretation and Influence from the Renaissance to the Present

The ancient Greek historian Thucydides has had an enormous impact on modern historiography, political theory, international relations and strategic studies, but this influence has never been properly studied. This book brings together leading scholars from a range of disciplines to explore the different facets of Thucydides' modern reception and influence, from the birth of political theory in Renaissance Europe to the rise of scientific history in nineteenth-century Germany and the triumph of 'realism' in twentieth-century international relations theory. Its chapters consider the different national and disciplinary traditions of reading and citing Thucydides, but also highlight common themes and questions; in particular, the variety of images of the historian produced by his modern readers: the scientific historian or the artful rhetorician, the brilliant analyst of society and politics or the great narrator of political and military events, the man of experience and affairs or the man of contemplation and reflection.

1. Introduction: the modern reception of Thucydides Katherine Harloe and Neville Morley; 2. Thucydides and the bellicose beginnings of early modern political theory Kinch Hoekstra; 3. Thucydides the Thermidorian: democracy on trial in the making of modern liberalism Nadia Urbinati; 4. Historicizing the classics: how nineteenth-century German historiography changed the perspective on historical tradition Johannes Süßmann; 5. The education offered by Athens: Thucydides and the stirrings of democracy in Britain Elizabeth Potter; 6. Thucydides, history and historicism in Wilhelm Roscher Neville Morley; 7. Mourning and democracy: the Periclean epitaphios and its afterlife Jennifer Roberts; 8. The Greek Thucydides: Venizelos' translation of Thucydides Emily Greenwood; 9. Thucydides and 'realism' among the classics of international relations Steven Forde; 10. International relations and Thucydides Richard Ned Lebow; 11. Receiving Thucydides politically Geoffrey Hawthorn.

Thucydides has been an important influence on modern historiography, political theory, international relations and strategic studies, but this has never been properly studied. This book will be of interest to anyone, from undergraduates to scholars, interested in the development of their discipline and in the modern impact of classical literature.

Katherine Harloe is a lecturer in the Department of Classics at the University of Reading.
Neville Morley is Professor of Ancient History in the Department of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Bristol.