A few times when discussing the historical evidence of Jesus, its been mentioned that the Peloponnesian Wars come only from one source, presumably(on my part) Herodotus. Is this true? What about archaeological evidence?
Well - I know it was Thucydides that wrote “The History of the Peloponnesian War” and he was a General who actually served in the War between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens).
Xenophon’s “Hellenica” continued the history of the Wars where Thuscydides broke off (presumably due to it being unfinished at his death) to their end - his life overlapped Thucydides’ and he knew personally some of the participants so that suggests there are at least two primary sources.
Afraid I am not up to speed with any archaeological evidence but would be surprised if any such was conclusive as to the specifics of any War.
I have just read the history by the Thucydides is there any difference in both of the histories ?
Not sure I get you. They covered mutually exclusive periods, one being the continuation of the time line of the other.
There was of course the First Peloeponnesian War which was fought about 30 years before the start of Thucydides’s History, maybe there is only one source for this per the OP? Actually come to think of it I am not aware of any primary source for that War, only writings much later, later indeed than Xenophon.
There’s more primary evidence for the Peloponnesian War than simply the direct historical accounts. A number of Plato’s works have references to the war and to characters who fought in it (Alcibiades was a prominent general in the war who appears in a bunch of the dialogues as Socrates’ love interest). Aristophanes wrote plays that take place during the war and reference it directly. Herodotus wrote in some detail about the opening years of the war. I think there’s other mentions of it as well in authors like Plutarch. It was a huge, long-running conflict affecting everyone in the region, so it’s fairly well sourced. The problem with finding sources for Jesus by comparison is that he wasn’t a particularly big deal at the time - he was one of many preachers in Judea, with only a small band of followers.
Good stuff here isaishrobinson as those you mention actually lived and worked through at least part of the Wars.
The only exception in Plutarch who wasn’t born until around 50 A.D if I recall correctly and so cannot be viewed as a primary historical source.
You’re not trying to fan the flames of the Peloponnisian War Deniers, are you?
(sorry, coudn’t resist)
Maybe I’m one of them;)
The remains of Athens’ Long Walls show three distinct phases of tear down and reconstruction during the 5th and 4th century; epigraphic evidence dates the second construction to the time of the “alleged” Peloponnesian War described by Thucydides, and their subsequent destruction when Athens lost. Hard to explain that if Athens wasn’t fighting a war at the time.
Is it possible that the OP is thinking of the Persian Wars (Thermopylae et al)?
IIRC, Herodotus (who was born around the time of Xerxes’s invasion of Greece) is the only near-contemporary source who gives a narrative of the most famous part of the wars, although Thucydides & Xenophon refer to the later stages of the conflict.