85377 - Thucydides, Imperialism and Hegemonic Warfare

Learning outcomes

The course moves from the assumption that Thucydides' Histories can be seen not only as a masterpiece of ancient historiography and classical political philosophy but also as a grand theory of international politics based upon a number of ideal-type characterizations of states and their interactions. Accordingly, the course will aim at identifying such central notions and ideas and organizing them in a comprehensive conceptual system.

Course contents

The course will be divided into two parts. After reading the text, we will focus on the themes that are directly relevant for our theoretical reconstruction.

Readings/Bibliography

1. Introduzione al corso

- G. Kateb, «Thucydides' History: A Manual of Statecraft», Political Science Quarterly, 79, 1964, pp. 481-503;

- R. Aron, «Thucydides and the Historical Narrative» (1960), in R. Aron, Politics and History, New York, The Free Press, 1978, pp. 20-46.

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- J.H. Finley, Thucydides, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1942, pp. 289-325;

- W. Jaeger, Paideia. La formazione dell’uomo greco (1934), Milano, Bompiani, 2003;

- V.J. Hunter, Thucydides. The Artful Reporter, Toronto, Akkert, 1973, pp. 177-184;

- T. Rood, Thucydides. Narrative and Explanation, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1998, pp. 3-23.

2. Le origini della guerra del Peloponneso

- Tucidide, I, 1-88

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- M.I. Finley, «The Fifth-Century Athenian Empire: A Balance Sheet», in P.D.A. Garnsey and C.R. Whittaker (eds.), Imperialism in Ancient World, Cambridge, 1978, pp. 103-126;

- G.E.M. de Ste. Croix, The Origins of the Peloponnesian War, Ithaca, 1989, pp. 50-63.

3. La Pentacontetia e lo scoppio della guerra

- Tucidide, I, 89-146

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989;

- W.R. Connor, Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 20-51.

4. La politica di Pericle

- Tucidide, II, 1-65

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- B. de Wet, «The So-Called Defensive Policy of Pericles», Acta Classica, 12, 1969, pp. 103-119;

- J. Ober, «Thucydides, Pericles, and the Strategy of Defense», in J. Eadie and J. Ober (eds.), The Craft of the Ancient Historian, Lanham, University Press of America, 1985, pp. 171-188.

5. Le operazioni militari sino al 428

- Tucidide, II, 66-103

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Kagan, The Archidamian War, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1990, pp. 17-146;

- W.R. Connor, Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 52-78.

6. La ribellione di Mitilene e la resa di Platea

- Tucidide, III, 1-68

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Kagan, The Archidamian War, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1974, pp. 147-362;

- W.R. Connor, Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 79-108 78.

7. La guerra civile a Corcira e le operazioni militari sino al 425

- Tucidide, III, 69-116

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- A.W. Gomme, «International Politics and Civil War», in More Essays in Greek History and Literature, Oxford, Blackwell, 1962, pp. 156-176;

- J.J. Price, Thucydides and Internal War, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2001, pp. 6-78.

8. La vicenda di Pilo e ulteriori successi ateniesi

- Tucidide, IV, 1-65

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1981, pp. 17-156;

- W.R. Connor, Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 109-140.

9. La campagna ateniese in Beozia e spartana in Tracia

- Tucidide, IV, 66-135

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- T. Kelly, «Argive Foreign Policy in the Fifth Century B.C.», Classical Philology, 69, 1974, pp. 81-99;

- H. Westlake, «Corynth and the Argive Coalition», American Journal of Philology, 61, 1940, pp. 413-421.

10. La pace di Nicia

- Tucidide, V, 1-83

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- H.R. Rawlings, The Structure of Thucydides' History, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1981, pp. 58-125;

- R. Legon, «The Peace of Nicias», Journal of Peace Research, 4, 1969.

11. Il dialogo dei Meli e degli Ateniesi

- Tucidide, V, 84-116

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- L. Canfora, Tucidide e l’impero, Bari, Laterza, 2000.

12. La spedizione in Sicilia

- Tucidide, VI, 1-61

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- S. Forde, The Ambition to Rule. Alcibiades and the Politics of Imperialism in Thucydides, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989, pp. 12-115;

- J. Riley, «Freedom and Empire: The Politics of Athenian Imperialism», in L.S. Gustafson (ed.), Thucydides' Theory of International Relations, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2000, pp. 117-150.

13. I successi ateniesi in Sicilia

- Tucidide, VI, 62-105

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1981, pp. 157-372.

14. L'intervento spartano e la distruzione delle forze ateniesi

- Tucidide, VII, tutto

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

D. Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1981, pp. 157-372;

- W.R. Connor, Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 185-230.

15. La guerra in Ionia e il colpo di stato ad Atene

- Tucidide, VIII, tutto

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Kagan, The Fall of the Athenian Empire, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1987, pp. 1-210;

- G. de St. Croix, «The Constitution of the Five Thousand», Historia, 5, 1956, pp. 1-23.

16. L'utile e il giusto

- D. Cohen, «Justice, Interest and Political Deliberation in Thucydides», Quaderni urbinati di cultura classica, 16, 1984, pp. 35-60;

- J. de Romilly, Thucydides and Athenian Imperialism, Oxford, Blackwell, 1963, part I, chapt. II («The Athenian Ambition»);

- R. Meiggs, The Athenian Empire, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1972 pp. 375-396.

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- S. Forde, «Power and Morality in Thucydides», in L.S. Gustafson (ed.), Thucydides' Theory of International Relations, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2001, pp. 151-173;

- M. Finley, «Thucydides the Moralist», in Aspects of Antiquity, London, Chatto & Windus, 1968, pp. 44-57;

- M. Cogan, The Human Thing. The Speeches and Principles of Thucydides' History, Chicago, The University of Chicago Press, 1981;

- C. Orwin, The Humanity of Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1994;

- L.M. Johnson, Thucydides, Hobbes and the Interpretations of Realism, De Kalb, Northern Illinois University Press, 1993, pp. 72-147.

17. La legge del più forte

- J. de Romilly, Thucydides and Athenian Imperialism, Oxford, Blackwell, 1963, part III, chapt. III («The System of Athenian Imperialism»);

- M. Ostwald, Anánke in Thucydides, «American Classical Studies» n. 18, Atlanta, American Philological Association, 1988, pp. 1-19;

- D. Kagan, The Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1969, pp. 345-374.

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- W.K.C. Guthrie, The Sophists, (Part 1 of Guthrie’s History of Greek Philosophy, Vol III, “The Fifth-Century Enlightenment”) Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1971, pp. 55-134.

- C. Brown, «Thucydides, Hobbes, and the Derivation of Anarchy», History of Political Thought, 8, 1, 1987, pp. 33-62;

- P.R. Pouncey, The Necessities of War. A Study of Thucydides' Pessimism, New York, Columbia University Press, 1980, pp. 139-186;

- L.M. Johnson, Thucydides, Hobbes and the Interpretations of Realism, De Kalb, Northern Illinois University Press, 1993, pp. 3-71;

- W.O. Chittick and A. Freyberg-Inan, «'Chiefly for Fear, Next for Honour, and Lastly for Profit': An Analysis of Foreign Policy Motivation in the Peloponnesian War», Review of International Studies, 27, 1, 2001, pp.69-90.

18. Guerra, alleanze e relazioni tra stati

- P.J. Fliess, Thucydides and the Politics of Bipolarity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1966, pp. 13-27; 53-120;

- B.S. Strauss, «Of Balances, Bandwagons, and Ancient Greeks», in R.N. Lebow and B.S. Strauss, (eds.), Hegemonic Rivalry. From Thucydides to the Nuclear Age, Boulder, Westview, 1991, pp. 189-210.

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- J. de Romilly, The Rise and Fall of States according to Greek Authors, Ann Arbor, The University of Michigan Press, 1977;

- C. Bruell, «Thucydides’ View of Athenian Imperialism», American Political Science Review, 68, 1, 1974, pp. 11-17;

- F. Adcock, The Greek and Macedonian Art of War, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1957;

- J.A.O. Larsen, Greek Federal States. Their Institutions and History, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1968;

- C. Starr, Political Intelligence in Classical Greece, Leiden, Brill, 1974.

19. Politica estera e politica interna

- P.J. Fliess, Thucydides and the Politics of Bipolarity, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 1966, pp. 138-159;

- L.M. Johnson Bagby, «The Use and Abuse of Thucydides in International Relations», International Organization, 48, 1994, pp. 131-153.

- M. Pope, «Thucydides and Democracy», Historia, 37, 1988, pp. 276-296.

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- A. Gomme, «The Working of the Athenian Democracy», Historia, 36, 1951, pp. 12-28;

- L.A. Losada, «Megara and Athens: Thucydides and the Motivation for Treason», Classica et Mediaevalia, 30, 1969, pp. 145-157;

- W.D. Garst, «Thucydides and the Domestic Sources of International Politics», in L.S. Gustafson (ed.), Thucydides' Theory of International Relations, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2001, pp. 67-97;

- S. Forde, The Ambition to Rule. Alcibiades and the Politics of Imperialism in Thucydides, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989, pp. 176-210;

- R.D. Luginbill, Thucydides on War and National Character, Boulder, Westview, 1999, pp. 82-172.

20. Tucidide e la teoria delle relazioni internazionali

- H.J. Morgenthau, Politics among Nations. The Struggle for Power and Peace, New York, Knopf, 1948 and ff. editions, chapt. 1;

- K. Waltz, Man, the State and War, New York, 2001, pp. 159-223;

- M.W. Doyle, Ways of War and Peace, New York, Norton, 1997, pp. 41-92;

- R. Gilpin, «The Theory of Hegemonic War», Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 18, 1988, pp. 591-613;

- D.A. Welch, «Why International Relations Theorists Should Stop Reading Thucydides», Review of International Studies, 29, 3, 2003, pp. 301-319;

- J. Monten, «Thucydides and Modern Realism», International Studies Quarterly, L, 1, 2006, pp. 3-25.

Ulteriori letture consigliate:

- D. Boucher, Political Theories of International Relations : From Thucydides to the Present, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1998, pp. 67-89;

- S. Forde, «Thucydides on the Causes of Athenian Imperialism», American Political Science Review, 80, 2, 1986, pp. 433-448.

- R.L. Lebow, «Thucydides the Constructivist», American Political Science Review, 95, 3, 2001, pp. 547-560;

- P. Rahe, «Thucydides’ Critique of Reapolitik», in B. Frankel (ed.), Roots of Realism. Historical and Philosophical Dimensions, London, Cass, 1996, pp. 105-141;

- D. Bedford and T. Workman, «The Tragic Reading of the Thucydidean Tragedy», Review of International Studies, 27, 1, 2001, pp. 51-67;

- L. Gustafson, «Thucydides and Pluralism», in L.S. Gustafson (ed.), Thucydides' Theory of International Relations, Baton Rouge, Louisiana State University Press, 2000, pp. 174-194;

- G. Crane, Thucydides and the Ancient Simplicity. The Limits of Political Realism, Berkeley, University of California Press, 1998, pp. 36-71;

- S. Dolgert, «Thucydides, Amended: Religion, Narrative, and IR Theory in the Peloponnesian Crisis», Review of International Studies, 38, 2012, pp. 661-682.

Teaching methods

Seminar. Students are expected to participate on a regular basis.

Assessment methods

Final take-home exam (2 essays, 4,000 words each).

Teaching tools

See the materials listed above.

Office hours

See the website of Marco Cesa