Modern Literature
- There are many books on this war. As a first introduction, read Thucydides' History and continue with Xenophon's Hellenica.
- Donald Kagan, The Peloponnesian War. Athens and Sparta in Savage Conflict, 431-404 BC (2003) is an excellent and accessible narrative. If you want to read only one book, this is your best choice. From the same author:
- The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War (1969),
- The Archidamian War (1974),
- The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition (1981),
- The Fall of the Athenian Empire (1987).
- Simon Hornblower, The Greek World, 479-323 BC (2002³) contains three chapters with highly condensed information: "The run-up to the war" (103-110), "The Peloponnesian War" (150-183), and "The effects of the Peloponnesian War" (184-209). The second of these offers a religious interpretation of the war that would have horrified Thucydides but is probably correct.
- More specialized literature can be found in the bibliography of Hornblower's book. Five titles are especially important:
- G.L. Cawkwell, Thucydides and the Peloponnesian War (1997)
- H. Heftner, Der oligarchische Umsturz des Jahres 411 v.Chr. und die Herrschaft der Vierhundert in Athen (2001)
- Simon Hornblower, Thucydides (1994²)
- L. Kallet, Money and the Corrosion of Power in Thucydides. The Sicilian Expedition and its Aftermath (2001)
- P. Krentz, The Thirty at Athens, (1982)
Translated Ancient Sources