HKB
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Often appears with: strategy and the aims of war · poverty and wealth · urban growth and resource limits · unnecessary occupations · taxation, tribute, and revenue · soldier as paid killer · romans and samnites · reliability of sources · protectorship of messina · physicians and social complexity · monarchic ambition · luxury vs moderation
Usually: argument (4) · censure (3) · dialogue (1) · reflection (1) · ambition and its cost (1) · betrayal (1) · confronting death (1) · sudden reversal of fortune (1) · the fall of the great (1) · detachment (1)
“In fine, I have written my work, not as an essay which is to win the applause of the moment, but as a possession for all time.” Thucydides, The History of the Peloponnesian War · observation
“It is a very kingly, honourable, and frequent practice, when one prince desires the assistance of another, to secure him against an invasion, that the assistant, when he has driven out the invader, should seize on the dominions himself, and kill, imprison, or banish, the prince he came to relieve.” Jonathan Swift, Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of th · insight
Thucydides warns against common Greek misconceptions and explains his method for writing speeches and events from testimony and rigorous checking, claiming the Peloponnesian War was larger than earlier conflicts.
to be apprehended and risk their lives for nothing, fell upon Hipparchus near the temple of the daughters of Leos, and slew him as he was arranging the Panathenaic procession. There are many other unfounded ideas current among the rest of the Hellenes, even on matters of contemporary history, which have not been obscured by time. For instance, there is the notion that the Lacedaemonian kings have two votes each, the…
He outlines common causes of war by contrasting the accidental Rome-Samnite trigger via Campanians seeking Roman aid with deliberately provoked conflicts like Hannibal’s attack on Saguntum to draw Rome into war in Spain and Italy.
States_. The occasion which led to war between the Romans and Samnites, who for long had been in league with one another, is of common occurrence in all powerful States, being either brought about by accident, or else purposely contrived by some one who would set war a-foot. As between the Romans and the Samnites, the occasion of war was accidental. For in making war upon the Sidicinians and afterwards on the Campan…
Glaucon pushes for luxury—tables, sofas, sweets, perfumes, and courtesans—so Socrates admits the city must expand, adds many occupations and servants, and concludes luxury growth leads to war and the need for an army.
And with such a diet they may be expected to live in peace and health to a good old age, and bequeath a similar life to their children after them. Yes, Socrates, he said, and if you were providing for a city of pigs, how else would you feed the beasts? But what would you have, Glaucon? I replied. Why, he said, you should give them the ordinary conveniences of life. People who are to be comfortable are accustomed …
Socrates and Glaucon contrast a healthy, minimal city with a luxurious one, showing that luxury expands needs, creates unnecessary occupations, increases reliance on physicians, strains farmland, and leads to war.
And with such a diet they may be expected to live in peace and health to a good old age, and bequeath a similar life to their children after them. Yes, Socrates, he said, and if you were providing for a city of pigs, how else would you feed the beasts? But what would you have, Glaucon? I replied. Why, he said, you should give them the ordinary conveniences of life. People who are to be comfortable are accustomed t…
The narrator lists causes of war across European states—ambition, ministerial corruption, sectarian “difference in opinion,” strategic fears and opportunities, and profitable alliances—then mocks soldiering as hiring Yahoos to kill in cold blood.
many more. Neither are any wars so furious and bloody, or of so long a continuance, as those occasioned by difference in opinion, especially if it be in things indifferent. “Sometimes the quarrel between two princes is to decide which of them shall dispossess a third of his dominions, where neither of them pretend to any right. Sometimes one prince quarrels with another for fear the other should quarrel with him. So…
Two men discuss the causes and harm of wars in France, blaming monarchic ambition and clergy inciting conflict, then shift to the traveler’s unresolved promises and financial lack of cash.
*Ge.* How go Matters in *France?* *Li.* All's in Confusion, there's nothing but War talk'd of. What Mischiefs they may bring upon their Enemies I know not; but this I'm sure of, the *French* themselves are afflicted with unexpressible Calamities. *Ge.* Whence come all these tumultuary Wars? *Li.* Whence should they come but from the Ambition of Monarchs? *Ge.* But it would be more their Prudence to appease these …