Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War trans. Walter Blanco and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts (W. W. Norton, 1998).
Why I Assigned This
I assigned this in Fall 2020, and it was my first attempt at using a book-length primary source. I was hired in late July of that year, and I had to prepare to teach this course in the VMI format within a month. I had read Thucydides in one of my undergraduate courses, and I thought that it would appeal to students at a military college. I chose this version of the text because the price was reasonable, and the Norton Critical Editions series is always reliable.
How Students Responded
They enjoyed the reading content, especially after I explained it, but they struggled with the writing style. I had to really guide them through the readings and challenge them to read Thucydides critically. We talked a lot about motive and what history meant to the Greeks.
The Assignment
I asked them to write a 1,000- to 1,500-word essay based on the following questions:
- According to Thucydides, what caused the Peloponnesian War?
- How does he explain military success or failure? How important are the generals? What role do gods/nature play?
- Is this a reliable history? What challenges does this pose for historians?
The Verdict
Thucydides is an incredibly valuable source for the Peloponnesian War, but this book did not work when I was teaching online. I also realized after this semester that students needed more background before I launched them into reading a book. I have thought about trying to assign this again, but I have found better success with other books.
The essays were okay. I made sure I centered each of our discussions on one of the questions in their essays. This type of essay format is no longer viable in the age of AI, but it was a generally good experiment. I have refined my process significantly since this first semester.