Book Review: The Peloponnesian War, by Thucydides (and Rex Warner)

The Peloponnesian War happened the best part of 25 centuries ago between the Ancient Greek city states of Sparta and Athens. Athens was a sea power that, perhaps counter-intuitively for a democratic state, maintained an empire and forced lesser powers to pay tribute. Sparta enjoyed dominion over the Peloponnesus, the peninsula of Greece, through a mighty reputation for prowess in battle.

Thucydides was a brilliant writer, possibly the earliest proper historian. Yes, Herodotus was first, but Herodotus also talked nonsense at times. Thucydides related events which he not merely heard of second hand, but participated in, to a limited extent.

He was a minor and not terribly successful Athenian general, but did spend many years working on his excellent book. Like Polybius, he is more concerned with truth and fact than Livy-like exaggerations, although it is probable that in parts his mind was swayed by personal interest.

One similarity with Livy is that Thucydides does sometimes invent speeches when he cannot know what was said. Whilst not strictly historical, I find that (for both authors) this does actually add to the value of the history, and the sentiments expressed by Thucydides are likely to at least be approximately accurate.

The war lasted for decades and the two principle cities involved were supported by scores of weaker allies who were either strong-armed or persuaded through friendship or reason to side with Sparta or Athens. Unlike the Second Punic War, which was dominated by the excellent Hannibal, there was no one predominant figure, probably due to the lengthy nature of the war.

Thucydides writes in a detailed, dedicated way, and is quite happy to have a sentence that lasts 8 lines and has 12 clauses if it makes his point. He does an excellent job of describing not only what happened, but explaining why it happened. In addition to detail he also paints a good picture of the more general situation and atmosphere in a given time and place. For example, at the height of the conflict numerous cities were torn between siding with Athens or Sparta and the two sides within a city would embark upon bloody rampages, moderation was accorded cowardice and murder was rife.

I would also say that the book is as relevant today as it was the day it was written. I imagine that if Blair and Bush had read it, and viewed with horror the unnecessary expedition the Athenians mounted to try and defeat Syracuse when Sparta was on her knees they may have been dissuaded from invading Iraq when Afghanistan seemed to be going so well.

The book is not especially easy to read, but it is absolutely worth the effort. It chronicles the ebb and flow of an ancient conflict but the principles involved are as true today as they ever were.

I can also recommend Donald Kagan’s excellent book (The Peloponnesian War: Athens and Sparta in Savage Conflict) which is festooned with fantastic maps and puts a lot of what Thucydides writes into a more understandable context.

Thaddeus

Fantastic Davros video

One of the best Who villains (although the New Who version was a bit rubbish). The background music is Diem Ex Dei, by Globus.

Some of the sound is taken from the various radio productions that feature Davros. I can heartily recommend Genesis of the Daleks to those yet to see it, in which the character is brilliantly introduced.

Thaddeus

Doctor Who: The Almost People

The concluding part of the adventure featuring the Flesh (programmable matter) was quite entertaining, until the end, which was staggeringly good.

The gangers and their human counterparts continued to plot one another’s demise, whilst the Doctor and Smith (I think John Smith was a name the Third Doctor sometimes used) tried to confound them and keep everyone alive.

Rory got tricked by Fleshy Jen who, in stark contrast to her sickly sweet human counterpart, was a bloodthirsty lunatic. Rather stupidly, even given his ignorance, he allowed her to trick him into locking the Doctor et al. in a room that would burst with acid. The Doctor and Smith worked together to ensure their freedom, and the gangers and humans ended up both fleeing the twisted monster Jen became.

It’s possible Smith survived his self-sacrifice (he used the sonic screwdriver to dissolve Monster Jen but it destroyed him as well), and that would prove a useful turn of events when it comes to explaining the first episode of the season.

Very much enjoyed the two Doctors collaborating, and the odd reference to the earlier incarnations (especially reverting the polarity of the neutron flow).

However, what made the episode particularly good was the ending. The Doctor had deliberately sought out the Flesh and his knowledge of it was alluded to in the previous episode. I’d thought it might be the forerunner of Time Lord regeneration technology, others have suggested it could be Sontaran cloning technology.

In fact, the truth was that Amy was a ganger. Her real self was pregnant, which explained her strange quantum physics approach to procreation. The creepy eye-patch lady really was a midwife, and a rather horrid one. When the Doctor dissolved the ganger Amy awoke in confinement, about to give birth.

It seems that she’s been a ganger for the entire season, raising the question of when she was taken, how, and by whom.

Very exciting and excellent ending, and we have just one more episode before the mid-season interval of about three months.

Thaddeus

Early preview: Skyrim

There are just under six months to go until Skyrim’s released, but there’s already quite a lot of interesting info to chew over. Unlike Dragon Age, which had a very fast (too fast, in fact) sequel, the follow-up to the epic Oblivion has been a long time coming. Oblivion came out in 2006, and has been one of the defining games of the RPG genre and the latest generation of consoles/PCs. It sold in droves, deservedly so, but was not without flaws. So, how will Skyrim compare and contrast to its illustrious predecessor? 

Size matters: Oblivion was pretty damned big. In terms of area, Skyrim will be very similar, but will seem a bit larger because it’s very mountainous, making certain areas more inaccessible and, effectively, further away. General approach: Pretty similar, if you’ve played Oblivion or Fallout 3 it should be very easy to get up to speed. Single player, first person by default (the third person has been improved if you opt for that), free-roaming, tons of side-quests and a huge number (120 plus) of dungeons.

Ten races: Happily, we get the full 10 races of Oblivion back. These include the human grouping (Nords, Redguards, Bretons and Imperials), the elves (Dark, High, Wood) and the beasts (Argonian, Orc and Khajiit). Early

screenshots of an Orc and Khajiit have emerged, and they look significantly better than their Oblivion counterparts.

Sound: The same composer from Oblivion has returned, and the trailer music sounds pretty damned good. Very little info is out about voice actors right now, although it has been confirmed that Swedish actor Max von Sydow will play an important character.

Two hands, two weapons: Oblivion had a typical weapon set-up, whereby you could have a one-hander and a shield or a two-hander, and always had a spell ‘open’, as it were. Skyrim will allow players to have two one-handed weapons, or two spells (one per hand), or one spell and one one-handed weapon. 

Archery is improved: Early on in Oblivion it was great being a stealth archer. You could kill or seriously injure opponents with one shot but later on in the game it became less enjoyable as opponents survived the initial stealth attack and then hit you in the face with an axe. It sounds like Skyrim will give a bonus to attacks from stealth, with different levels of alertness (from oblivious to the enemy staring right at you) offering higher bonuses. Arrows will be more powerful but fewer in number. 

Levelling: A pet hate of mine was the loathsome Oblivion levelling system. It was overly complicated, and any levelling system that can lead to your character becoming progressively weaker (in relative terms) is clearly flawed. The Skyrim system sounds simpler and more sensible, and will include a number (280, to be precise) of skill-related perks, like in Fallout 3. I believe that perks are attainable based on how proficient you are in a given skill, rather than just what level you are.I’ve not gone off games, but my enthusiasm for them has waned a little over the years. However, Skyrim is one that I am very much looking forward to, and hopefully it’ll be even better than Oblivion.

Thaddeus