93482 - Thucydides, Imperialism And Hegemonic War

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. At the end of the course students will be able to identify a set of central notions and ideas and organize them in a comprehensive conceptual system.

Course contents

The course is arranged as a Structured Seminar, made of 12 3-hour meetings to be held once a week, plus a 4-hour meeting, the last week. Students are required to read the assigned material in advance and to participate in class discussion.

Readings/Bibliography

Students should buy their own copy of the Histories (translation by R. Warner, Penguin edition) and bring it always to class. D. Cartwright’s A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press, 1997, is a handy companion to Warner’s translation. D. Kagan, The Peloponnesian War, New York, Viking, 2003, is a basic textbook, the one-volume version of the author's earlier tetralogy recommended below.

1. Setting the Stage

Required:

- 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 Aron, Politics and History, New York, The Free Press, 1978, pp. 20-46;

- M. Finley, «Introduction» to the Penguin edition of the Histories, pp. 9-34.

Recommended:

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

- W. Jaeger, Paideia. The Ideals of Greek Culture 2^nd ed., Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1965:

- 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.

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

 

2. The Origins and the Outbreak of the War

Required:

- Thucydides, Book I

Recommended:

- 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;

- 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.

 

3. Pericles' Policies

Required:

- Thucydides, Book II

Recommended:

- 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;

- 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.

 

4. Lesbos' Defection and Civil War in Corcyra

Required:

- Thucydides, Book III

Recommended:

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

- 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;

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

 

5. Pylos; Brasidas in Thrace

Required:

- Thucydides, Book IV

Recommended:

- 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;

- 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.

 

6. The Peace of Nicias

Required:

- Thucydides, Book V

Recommended:

- D. Kagan, The Peace of Nicias and the Sicilian Expedition, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1981, pp. 19-155;

- W.R. Connor, Thucydides, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1984, pp. 141-184;

- 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.

 

7. The Launching of the Sicilian Expedition

Required:

- Thucydides, Books VI

Recommended:

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

- 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.

 

8. The Athenian Defeat in Sicily

Required:

- Thucydides, Books VII

Recommended:

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

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

- S. Forde, The Ambition to Rule. Alcibiades and the Politics of Imperialism in Thucydides, Ithaca, Cornell University Press, 1989, pp. 116-175.

 

9. War in Ionia and the Oligarchic Coup in Athens

Required:

- Thucydides, Books VIII

Recommended:

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

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

- M. Goldstein, «Athenian-Persian Peace Treaties: Thuc. 8.56.4 and 8.58.2», California Studies in Classical Antiquity, 7, 1974, pp. 155-164.

- A. Andrewes, «Thucydides and the Persians», Historia, 10, 1961, pp. 1-18.

 

10. Justice and Expediency

Required:

- G.A. Woodhead, Thucydides on the Nature of Power, Cambridge, Harvard University Press, 1970, pp. 3-28;

- 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.

Recommended:

- 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.

 

11. The Law of the Stronger

Required:

- 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.

Recommended:

- 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.

 

12. War, Alliances and Domestic Politics

Required:

- R. Aron, Peace and War. A Theory of International Relations (1962), Garden City, Doubleday, 1966, chapt. 5;

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

Recommended

- 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.

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

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

- 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;

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

 

13. Thucydides and International Relations Theory

Required:

- 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.

Recommended:

- 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

The workload consists of 13 lectures, structured reading and writing assignments, and one take-home final exam (two essays, of approximately 3000 words each).

Assessment methods

Students will be evaluated on the grounds of their class participation (50% of the grade) and final exam (50% of the grade).

Office hours

See the website of Marco Cesa