a celebrated Greek historian, was born at Athens 471 B. C. He was the son of Olorus, and grandson of Miltiades, who is thought to have been descended from Miltiades the famous Athenian general, and to have married the king of Thrace's daughter. He was educated in a manner suitable to his quality, that is, in the study of philosophy and eloquence. His matter in the former was Anaxagoras, in the latter Antiphon; one, by his description in the eighth book of his History, for power of speech almost a miracle, and feared by the people on that account. Suidas and Photius relate, that when Herodotus recited his history in public, a fashion in use then and many ages after, Thucydides felt so great a sting of emulation, that it drew tears from him; insomuch that Herodotus himself took notice of it, and congratulated his father on having a son who showed so wonderful an affection to the Muses. Herodotus was then 29 years of age, Thucydides about 16. When the Peloponnesian war began to break out, Thucydides conjectured truly, that it would prove a subject worthy of his labour; and it no sooner commenced than he began to keep a journal. This explains the reason why he has attended more to chronological order than to unity of design. During the same war he was commissioned by his countrymen to relieve Amphipolis; but the quick march of Brasidas the Lacedaemonian general defeated his operations; and Thucydides, unsuccessful in his expedition, was banished from Athens. This happened in the eighth year of this celebrated war; and in the place of his banishment the general began to write an impartial history of the important events which had happened during his administration, and which still continued to agitate the several states of Greece. This famous history is continued only to the 21st year of the war, and the remaining part of the time till the demolition of the walls of Athens was described by the pen of Theopompus and Xenophon. Thucydides wrote in the Attic dialect, as being possessed of most vigour, purity, elegance, and energy. He spared neither time nor money to procure authentic materials; and the Athenians, as well as their enemies, furnished him with many valuable communications, which contributed to throw great light on the different transactions of the war. His history has been divided into eight books; the last of which is imperfect, and supposed to have been written by his daughter. The historian of Halicarnassus has often been compared with the son of Olorus, but each has his peculiar excellence. Sweetness of style, grace and elegance of expression, may be called the characteristics of the former; while Thucydides stands unequalled for the fire of his descriptions, the conciseness, and at the same time the strong and energetic manner of his narratives. His relations are authentic, as he himself was interested in the events he mentions; his impartiality is indubitable, as he nowhere betrays the least resentment against his countrymen, and the factious partizans of Cleon, who had banished him from Athens. The history of Thucydides was so admired by Demosthenes, that he transcribed it eight different times, and read it with such attention, that he could almost repeat it by heart. Thucydides died at Athens, where he had been recalled from his exile about 411 years B. C. The best edition of Thucydides is that of Oxford, published in 1666, folio, and that of Duker, published at Amsterdam in 1731, folio.