In this essay I will analyze the Peloponnesian War. I will examine what appears to have caused the war, how it developed, and what the outcome was. Since Thucydides is virtually the only surviving primary source for this event, I will also discuss the man and his method. From what we can deduce, Thucydides was an Athenian Greek born in Halimos in c. 460 BC–395 BC Although Thucydides is considered one of the most important figures of the ancient known world, we know relatively little about the man and his life. Most of what we know is revealed in his writings, particularly through his account of the Peloponnesian War. He tells us about his father, Olorus, and the gold mines he owned at Scapte Hyle in Thrace. Herodotus suggests that this source of wealth was inherited by the Thracian aristocracy. We know that Thucydides was an Athenian general for some time and that his apparent failure to aid his ally Eucles at the Battle of Amphipolis in 422 BC led to his exile. (Herodotus, B.VI, P.39.). This is seen as a crucial moment in the recording of the war through the eyes of Thucydides. His exile allowed him to travel freely to the lands of the Peloponnesian allies. It also meant that Thucydides was able to construct a unique vision of the war, having seen it from the perspective of both sides and in the presence of both the Athenian command and that of Sparta and its allies. (Sowerby, P.56.). Thucydides appears to have been aware of the scale of the war while it was underway, and therefore of the importance of the history he was recording. He took the "opportunity" of exile, no doubt supported by his wealth and status, to travel and interview various people involved in significant events of the war. It's almost at the heart of the war itself, there are a number of crucial points that determine the course of the tide, and I've tried to illustrate the ones that I think are important. be very important and influential. In any case, it seems that if Athens had continued with Periclean policy, it would not have been so weakened by the destruction of its superior naval forces, which, it seems, can largely be attributed to Alcibiades and his supporters. Bibliography; Thucydides, The Peloponnesian War. Translated by Rex Warner. Published in 1954 by Penguin Classics. Robin Sowerby, The Greeks: An Introduction To Their Culture. Published in 1995 by Routledge Publishers. Robin Lane Fox, The Classical World: An Epic History of Greece and Rome. Published in 2005 by Penguin Books.Herodotus, The Histories. Translated by AD Godley. Published by Harvard University Press in 1920.