His father, Olorus, related to a king of Thrace whose daughter, Hegesipyle, married Miltiades, who led Athens to victory against Persian in the battle of Marathon (490 BC).
Early in the Peloponnesian War, in 430 Thucydides caught the deadly plague that was sweeping through Athens. Unlike many Athens, he survived.
By 424 BC he had been elected as one of the Athen’s 10 annual generals. While serving in the north Aegean, he had the misfortune to find himself pitted against Spartan commander Brasidas, from capturing the Athenian colony of Amphipolis.
For this failure Thucydides was banished by the Athenians assembly and lived away for 20 years returning only when the exiles were recalled in 404 BC after Athen’s final defeat.
During his stay in Thrace, he spent much of his time travelling in the Peloponnesian regions. Due to his aristocratic roots and his status as an Athenian exile Thucydides was able to speak to many of the war’s major participants.
His History of the Peloponnesian War is a literary and scientific classic. His description of the annual solar eclipse of Athens on August 3, 431 BC, is the first detailed description of an eclipse.
According to later writer Thucydides was married and had children. Apparently he died only a few years after his return to Athens.
Thucydides of Athens
