Thucydides

While Herodotus included myths, folklore, and divine intervention, Thucydides applied a strict standard of political realism and empirical evidence. He rejected supernatural explanations for the Peloponnesian War, focusing entirely on human nature, military strategy, and political power dynamics. His highly analytical approach is often considered the foundation of modern objective, scientific history.

Thucydides wrote an exhaustive, contemporary account of the Peloponnesian War, which was fought between Athens and Sparta from 431 to 404 BC. He actually fought in the conflict as an Athenian general before being exiled for a military failure. His exile gave him the unique opportunity to interview figures from both sides of the war.

No, his account abruptly ends in 411 BC, seven years before the war actually concluded in 404 BC. Scholars believe his sudden death is the reason the text remains unfinished. The later parts of the war were subsequently covered by another historian, Xenophon, in his work Hellenica.

The 'Melian Dialogue' is a famous literary device used by Thucydides to represent a diplomatic standoff between Athens and the island of Melos. It captures the brutal realpolitik of the era, famously concluding with the Athenian argument that 'the strong do what they can and the weak suffer what they must.' Athens ultimately massacred the Melians, showcasing the dark reality of imperial power.