A Possession For All Time: Thucydides’ Peloponnesian War (full credit)

SUMMER 2026

Instructor: Aidan Dixon

Dates: June 8 - Aug. 27 (8 weeks)

Mtg. Days: Monday - Thurs. (4 days/week)

Mtg. Time (Pacific Time):  1:00-3:00 PM

Credits: 1 (elective)

Class Description: This class will be an in-depth look at Thucydides’ account of the Peloponnesian War. The students will observe the social and political upheaval of Athens and Sparta during this period, as well as look at some of the major battles of the war and the military innovations they inspired. It will consist of five two-hour classes a week, involving mostly discussion of the material. There will be two projects and a final exam. The first project will be halfway through the summer and will be a paper of 1000 words looking at one of the major speeches recorded by Thucydides and explaining how it reflects some fundamental part of the identity of the speaker and their city. The final project will be a paper of 1500 words explaining some change in the behavior of the city-states as a result of their experiences in the war. This could be a change in weapons or tactics or a shift in political behavior, whether internally or externally.

Required Text:  The Landmark Thucydides, translated by Richard Crawley and edited by Robert B. Strassler.  ISBN-13: 978-1-4165-9087-3

If you are already enrolled in LOS, simply log in to your ClassReach account--you'll see a summer registration notification on your homepage beginning March 2.