THough this Translation haue already past the Censure of some , whose Iudgements I very much esteeme ; yet , because there is something , I know not what , in the censure of a Multitude , more terrible then any single Iudgement , how seuere or exact soeuer , I haue thought it discretion in all men , that haue to doe with so many , and to me , in my want of perfection , necessary , to bespeake your Candor . Which that I may vpon the better reason hope for , I am willing to acquaint you briefly , vpon what grounds I vndertooke this Worke at first ; and haue since , by publishing it , put my selfe vpon the hazard of your censure , with so small hope of glory , as from a thing of this nature can be expected . For I know , that meere Translations , haue in them this property , that they may much disgrace , if not well done ; but if well , not much commend the doer .

It hath beene noted by diuers , that Homer in Poesie , Aristotle in Philosophy , Demosthenes in Eloquence , and others of the Ancients , in other knowledge , doe still maintaine their Primacy , none of them exceeded , some not approached , by any , in these later Ages . And in the number of these , is iustly ranked also our Thucydides ; a Workeman no lesse perfect in his worke , then any of the former ; and in whom ( I beleeue with many others ) the Faculty of writing History is at the highest . For the principall and proper worke of History , being to instruct , and enable men , by the knowledge of Actions past , to beare themselues prudently in the present , and prouidently towards the Future , there is not extant any other ( meerely humane ) that doth more fully , and naturally performe it , then this of my Author . It is true , that there be many excellent and profitable Histories written since ; and in some of them , there be inserted very wise discourses , both of Manners and Policie . But being discourses inserted , and not of the contexture of the Narration , they indeed commend the knowledge of the Writer , but not the History it selfe , the nature whereof , is meerely narratiue . In others , there bee subtile coniectures , at the secret aymes , and inward cogitations of such as fall vnder their Penne ; which is also none of the least vertues in a History , where the coniecture is throughly grounded , not forced to serue the purpose of the Writer , in adorning his stile , or manifesting his subtilty in coniecturing . But these coniectures cannot often be certaine , vnlesse withall so euident , that the narration it selfe may be sufficient to suggest the same also to the Reader . But Thucydides is one , who , though he neuer digresse to reade a Lecture , Morall or Politicall , vpon his owne Text , nor enter into mens hearts , further then the actions themselues euidently guide him , is yet accounted the most Politique Historiographer that euer writ . The reason whereof I take to bee this : He filleth his Narrations with that choice of matter , and ordereth them with that Iudgement , and with such perspicuity and efficacy expresseth himselfe , that , as Plutarch saith , he maketh his Auditor a Spectator . For he settteh his Reader in the Assemblies of the People , and in the Senates , at their debating ; in the Streets , at their Seditions ; and in the Field at their Battels . So that looke how much a man of vnderstanding , might haue added to his experience , if he had then liued , a beholder of their proceedings , and familiar with the men , and businesse of the time ; so much almost may he profit now , by attentiue reading of the same here written . He may from the narrations draw out lessons to himselfe , and of himselfe be able , to trace the drifts and counsailes of the Actors to their seate .

These Vertues of my Author did so take my affection , that they begat in me a desire to communicate him further ; which was the first occasion that moued mee to translate him . For it is an errour we easily fall into , to beleeue , that whatsoeuer pleaseth vs , will be , in like manner and degree , acceptable to all ; and to esteeme of one anothers Iudgement , as we agree in the liking , or dislike of the same things . And in this errour peraduenture was I , when I thought , that as many of the more iudicious , as I should communicate him to , would affect him as much as I my selfe did . I considered also , that he was exceedingly esteemed of the Italians and French in their owne Tongues ; notwithstanding that he bee not very much beholding for it to his Interpreters . Of whom ( to speake no more then becomes a Candidate of your good opinion in the same kinde ) I may say this , That whereas the Author himselfe , so carrieth with him his owne light throughout , that the Reader may continually see his way before him , and by that which goeth before , expect what is to follow , I found it not so in them . The cause whereof , and their excuse may bee this : They followed the Latine of Laurentius Valla , which was not without some errours , and he a Greeke Copie , not so correct as now is extant . Out of French hee was done into English , ( for I neede not dissemble to haue seene him in English ) in the time of King Edward the sixth ; but so , as by multiplication of errour , hee became at length traduced , rather then translated into our Language . Hereupon I resolued to take him immediately from the Greeke , according to the Edition of Aemilius Porta ; not refusing , or neglecting any version , Comment , or other helpe I could come by . Knowing that when with Diligence and Leasure I should haue done it , though some error might remaine , yet they would be errors but of one descent ; of which neuerthelesse I can discouer none , and hope they bee not many . After I had finished it , it lay long by mee , and other reasons taking place , my desire to communicate it ceased .

For I saw , that , for the greatest part , men came to the reading of History , with an affection much like that of the People , in Rome , who came to the spectacle of the Gladiators , with more delight to behold their bloud , then their Skill in Fencing . For they be farre more in number , that loue to read of great Armies , bloudy Battels , and many thousands slaine at once , then that minde the Art , by which , the Affaires , both of Armies , and Cities , be conducted to their ends . I obserued likewise , that there were not many , whose eares were well accustomed to the names of the places they shall meet with in this Histroy ; without the knowledge whereof , it can neither patiently be read ouer , perfectly vnderstood , nor easily remembred ; Especially being many , as heere it falleth out ; because in that Age , almost euery City , both in Greece and Sicily , the two maine scenes of this Warre , was a distinct Common wealth by it selfe , and a party in the Quarrell .

Neuerthelesse I haue thought since , that the former of these considerations ought not to be of any weight at all , to him that can content himselfe with the Few and better sort of Readers ; who , as they onley iudge , so is their approbation onely considerable . And for the difficulty arising from the ignorance of places , I thought it not so insuperable , but that with conuenient pictures of the Countries it might be remoaed . To which purpose , I saw there would be necessary , especially two ; a Gene●rall Mappe of Greece , and a Generall Mappe of Sicily . The latter of these , I found already extant , exactly done , by Philip Cluuerius ; which I haue caused to be cut , and you haue it at the beginning of the Sixth Booke . But for Mappes of Greece , sufficient for this purpose , I could light on none . For neither are the Tables of Ptolomie ▪ and descriptions of those that follow him , accommodate to the time of Thucydides ; and therefore few of the Places by him mentioned , therein described : nor are those that bee , agreeing alwayes with the truth of History . Wherefore I was constrained to draw one ( as well as I could ) my selfe . Which to doe , I was to rely , for the maine Figure of the Countrey , on the moderne description now in reputation ; and in that to set downe those Places especially ( as many as the Volume was capable of ) which occurre in the reading of this Author , and to assigne them that situation , which , by trauell in Strabo , Pausanias , Herodotus , and some other good Authors , I saw belonged vnto them . And to shew you that I haue not played the Mountibanke in it , putting downe exactly some few of the Principall , and the rest at aduenture , without care , and without reason , I haue ioyned with the Mappe an Index , that pointeth to the Authors which will iustifie me , where I differ from others . With these Mappes , and those few briefe notes in the Margine , vpon such passages , as I thought most required them , I supposed the History might be read with very much benefit , by all men of good Iudgement and Education , ( for whom also it was intended from the beginning by Thucydides ) and haue therefore at length made my Labour publike , not without hope to haue it accepted . Which if I obtaine , though no otherwise then in vertue of the Authors excellent matter , it is sufficient .

WEe reade of diuers men that beare the name of Thucydides . There is Thucydides a Pharsalian , mentioned in the eighth Booke of this History ; who was publike Hoste of the Athenians , in Pharsalus , and chancing to be at Athens , at the time that the gouernment of the 400 began to goe downe , by his interposition , and perswasion , kept asunder the Factions then arming themselues , that they fought not in the City to the ruine of the Common-wealth . There is Thucydides the son of Milesias , an Athenian , of the towne of Alope , of whom Plutarch speaketh in the Life of Pericles ; and the same in all probabilitie , that in the first Book of this History , is said to haue had the charge of 40 Gallies , sent against Samos , about 24 yeeres before the beginning of this Warre . Another Thucydides the sonne of Ariston , an Athenian also , of the Towne of Acherdus , was a Poet , though of his verses there be nothing extant . But Thucydides the writer of this History , an Athenian , of the Towne of Halimus , was the sonne of Olorus , ( or Orolus ) and Hegesipyle . His Fathers name is commonly written Olorus though in the Inscription on his Tombe , it was Orolus . Howsoeuer it be written , it is the same that was borne by diuers of the Kings of Thrace , and imposed on him , with respect vnto his descent from them . So that though our Author ( as Cicero saith of him Lib. 2. De Oratore ) had neuer written an History , yet had not his name not bin extant , in regard of his Honour and Nobility . And not onely Plutarch , in the Life of Cimon , but also almost all others that haue touched this point , affirme directly that he was descended from the Thracian Kings . Adducing this for proofe , that he was of the house of Miltiades , that famous Generall of the Athenians , against the Persians at Marathon ; which they also proue by this , that his Tombe was a long time extant amongst the Monuments of that Family . For neere vnto the Gates of Athens , called Melirides , there was a place named Coela , and in it the Monuments called Cintoniana , belonging to the Family of Miltiades , in which , none but such as were of that Family , might be buried . And amongst those was the Monument of Thucydides , with this inscription , Thucydides Oroli Halimusius . Now Miltiades is confessed by all , to haue descended from Olorus , King of Thrace , whose daughter another Miltiades , Grandfather to this , married , and had children by . And Miltiades , that wonne the memorable victory at Marathon , was heire to goodly possessions , and Cities in the Chersonnesus of Thrace , ouer which also hee raigne● . In Thrace lay also the possessions of Thucydides and his wealthy Mines of Gold , as he himselfe professeth in his fourth Booke . And although those riches might come to him by a Wife ( as is also by some affirmed ) which he married in Scapte-Hyle , a City of Thrace , yet euen by that marriage , it appeareth , that his affaires had a relation to that Countrey , and that his Nobility was not there vnknowne . But in what degree of kindred Miltiades , and he , approached each other , is not any where made manifest . Some also haue coniectured that hee was of the house of the Pisistratides ; the ground of whose coniecture hath beene onely this , that he maketh honourable mention of the gouernment of Pisistratus , and his sonnes , and extenuateth the glory of Harmodius and Aristogiton ; prouing that the free●ng of the State of Athens from the tyranny of the Pisistratides , was falsly ascribed to their fact ( which proceeded from priuate reuenge , in a quarrel of Loue ) by which the tyranny ceased not , but grew heauier to the State , till it was at last put downe by the Lacedaemoniaus . But this opinion , as it is not so well grounded , so neither is it so well receiued as the former .

Agreeable to his Nobility , was his institution in the study of Eloquence , and Philosophy· For in Philosophy , he was the Scholler ( as also was Pericles and Socrates ) of A●a●●goras , whose opinions , being of a straine aboue the apprehension of the vulgar procured him the estimation of an Atheist , which name they bestowed vpon all men that thought not as they did , of their ridiculous Religion , and in the end , cost him his life . And Socrates after him for the like causes , vnder ▪ went the like fortune . It is not therefore much to be regarded , if this other disciple of his , were 〈◊〉 some reputed an Athiest to . For though he were none , yet it is not improbable , but by the light of naturall reason , he might see enough in the Religion of these 〈◊〉 , to make him thinke it vaine , and superstitious ; which was enough to make him an Atheist , in the opinion of the People . In some places of his History , hee noteth the aequiuocation of the Oracles ; and yet hee confirmeth an assertion of his owne ▪ touching the time this Warre lasted , by the Oracles prediction . He tax●th Nicias for being to punctuall in the obseruation of the Ceremonies of their Religion ▪ when he ouerthrew himselfe and his Army , and indeed the whole Dominion and liberty of his Countrey by it . Yet he commendeth him in another place for his worshipping of the Gods , and saith in that respect , hee least of all men deserued to come to so great a degree of Calamity as he did . So that in his writings our Authour appeareth to be , on the one side not superstitious , on the other side not an Ath●i●t .

In Rhetorique , he was the Disciple of Antiphon ▪ one ( by his discription in the eighth Booke of this History ) for power of speech almost a miracle , and feared by the People , for his eloquence . Insomuch as in his latter dayes he liued retyred , but so as he gaue counsell to , and writ Orations for other men that resorted vnto him , to that purpose . It was he that contriued the deposing of the People , and the setting vp of the gouernment of the 400. For which also he was put to death , when the P●●pl● againe recouered their authority ; notwithstanding that he pleaded his owne cause , the best of any man to that day .

It need not be doubted , but from such a Master , Thucydides was sufficiently 〈◊〉 , to haue become a great Demagogue , and of great authority with the People . But it seemeth he had no desire at all to meddle in the gouernment , because in those ti●●s it was impossible for any man to giue good and profitable counsell for the Common-wealth and not incurre the displeasure of the People For their opinion was such of their owne power , and of the facility of atchieuing whatsoeuer action they vndertooke , that such men onely swayed the Assemblies , and were esteemed w●se and good Common-wealths men , as did put them vpon the most dangerous and desperate enterprizes . Whereas he that gaue them temperate , and discreet aduice , was thought a Coward , or not to vnderstand , or else to maligne their power . And no maruell ; for much prosperity ( to which they had now for many yeeres been accustomed ) maketh men in loue with themselues ; and it is hard for any man to loue that counsell which maketh him loue himselfe the lesse . And it holdeth much more in a Multitude , then in one Man ; For a man that reasoneth with himselfe , will not be ashamed to admit of timerous suggestions in his businesse , that he may the stronglyer prouide ; but in publique deliberations before a Multitude , Feare , ( which for the most part aduiseth well , though it execute not so ) seldome or neuer sheweth it selfe , or is admitted . By this meanes it came to passe amongst the Athenians , who thought they were able to doe any thing , that wicked men and flatterers draue them headlong into those actions that were to ruine them ; and the good men either durst not oppose , or if they did , vndid themselues . Thucydides therefore , that he might not be either of them that committed , or of them that suffered euill , forbore to come into the Assemblies , and propounded to himselfe , a priuate life as farre as the eminency of so wealthy a person , and the writing of the History he had vndertaken , would permit .

For his opinion touching the gouernment of the State , it is manifest that he least of all liked the Democracy . And vpon diuers occasions , hee noteth the emulation and contention of the Demagogues , for reputation , and glory of wit ; with their crossing of each others counsels to the dammage of the Publique ; the inconstancy of Resolutions , caused by the diuersity of ends , and power of Rhetorique in the Orators ; and the desperate actions vndertaken vpon the flattering aduice of such as desired to attaine , or to hold what they had attained of authority and sway amongst the common people . Nor doth it appeare , that he magnifieth any where the authority of the Few ▪ amongst whom he saith euery one desireth to be chiefe , and they that are vnderualued , beare it with lesse patience then in a Democracy ; whereupon sedition followeth , and dissolution of the gouernment . Hee prayseth the gouernment of Athens , when it was mixt of the Few and the Many ; but more he commendeth it , both when Pisistratus raigned ( sauing that it was an vsurped power ) and when in the beginning of this Warre , it was Democraticall in name , but in effect Monarchicall vnder Pericles . So that it seemeth that as he was of Regall descent , so he best approued of the Regall Gouernment . It is therefore no maruell , if he meddled as little as he could in the businesse of the Common-wealth , but gaue himselfe rather to the obseruation and recording of what was done by those that had the mannaging thereof . Which also he was no lesse prompt diligent and faithfull by the disposition of his mind , then by his fortune , dignity , and wisedome , able to accomplish . How he was disposed to a worke of this nature , may be vnderstood by this , that when being a young man he heard Herodotus the Historiographer reciting his History in Publique , ( for such was the fashion both of that , and many Ages after ) he felt so great a sting of aemulation , that it drew teares from him , insomuch as Herodotus himselfe tooke notice how violently his mind was set on letters , and told his Father Olorus . When the Peloponnesian Warre began to breake out , he coniectured truely , that it would prooue an Argument worthy his labour ; and no sooner it began , then he began his History ; pursuing the same , not in that perfect manner , in which we see it now , but by way of Commentary , or plaine Register of the Actions and passages thereof , as from time to time they fell out , and came to his knowledge . But such a Commentary it was , as might perhaps deserue to be preferr'd before a History written by another . For it is very probable that the eighth Booke is left the same it was when he first writ it , neither beautified with Orations , nor so well Cemented at the Transitions , as the former seuen Bookes are . And though he began to write as soone as euer the Warre was on foot , yet began he not to perfect and polish his History , till after he was banished .

For notwithstanding his retyred life vpon the Coast of Thrace , where his owne possessions lay , he could not auoyd a seruice of the State , which proued to him afterwards very vnfortunate . For whilest he resided in the I le Thasus , it fell out that Brasidas the Lacedaemonian , besieged Amphipolis , a Citie belonging to the Athenians , on the Confines of Thrace , and Macedony , distant from Thasus , about halfe a dayes sayle . To relieue which , the Captaine thereof for the Athenians , sent to Tbucydides , to leuy a power and make haste vnto him , ( for Thucydides was one of the Strategi , that is , had authority to raise forces in those parts , for the seruice of the Common-wealth . ) And he did accordingly . But he came thither one night too late , and found the City already yeelded vp . And for this he was afterwards banished , as if he had let slip his time through negligence , or purposely put it off , vpon feare of the Enemy . Neuerthelesse he put himselfe into the Citie of Eion , and preserued it to the Athenians , with the repulse of Brasidas , which came downe from Amphipolis , the next morning , and assaulted it . The author of his banishment is supposed to haue been Gleon , a most violent Sycophant in those times , and thereby also a most acceptable Speaker amongst the people . For where affaires succeed amisse , though there want neither prouidence , nor courage in the Conduction , yet with those that iudge onely vpon euents , the way to calumny is alwayes open , and Enuy , in the likenesse of Zeale to the Publique good , easily findeth credit for an accusation .

After his Banishment he liued in Scapt●-Hyle , a Citie of Thrace , before mentioned , as Plutarch writeth ; but yet so as he went abroad ; and was present at the Actions of the rest of the Warre as appeareth by his owne words in his fift Booke . Where he saith , that he was present at the Actions of both parts , and no lesse at those of the Peloponnesians , by reason of his exile , then those of the Athenians . During this time also , he perfected his History , so far as is now to be seene ; nor doth it appeare that after his exile , he euer againe enioyed his Countrey . It is not cleere in any Author , where , or when , or in what yeere of his owne Age , he dyed . Most agree that he dyed in Banishment ; yet there be that haue written , that after the defeat in Sicily , the Athenians decreed a generall reuocation of all banished persons , except those of the Family of Pisistratus ; and that he then returned , and was afterwards put to death at Athens . But this is very vnlikely to be true , vnlesse by after the defeat in Sicily , he meant so long after , that it was also after the end of the Peloponnesian Warre , because Thucydides himselfe maketh no mention of such returne , though he out-liued the whole War , as is manifest by his words in the fift Booke . For he saith he liued in banishment twenty yeeres after his charge at Amphipolis ; which happened in the eighth yeere of this Warre , which in the whole , lasted but 27 yeeres compleat . And in another place he maketh mention of the razing of the Long-walles betweene Peiraeus , and the Citie ; which was the last stroke of this Warre . They that say he dyed at Athens , take their coniecture from his Monument which was there . But this is not a sufficient Argument ; for he might bee buried there secretly , ( as some haue written he was ) though he dyed abroad ; or his Monument might be there , and ( as others haue affirmed ) he not buried in it . In this variety of coniecture there is nothing more probable then that which is written by Pausanias , where he describeth the Monuments of the Athenian Citie , and saith thus . The worthy Act of Oenobius , in the behalfe of Thucydides , is not without honour ( meaning that he had a Statue . ) For Oenobius obtained to haue a Decree passed for his returne ; who returning was slaine by treachery , and his Sepulchre is neere the Gates called Melirides . He dyed , as saith Marcellinus , after the seuen and fiftieth yeere of his Age. And if it be true that is written by A. Gellius , of the Ages of Hellanicus , Herodotus , and Thucydides , then died he not before the sixty eighth yeere . For if he were forty when the Warre began , and liued ( as he did , certainly ) to see it ended he might be more when he dyed , but not lesse then sixty eight yeeres of Age. What children be left , is not manifest . Plato in Menone , maketh mention of Milesias and Stephanus , sonnes of a Thucydides , of a very Noble Family ; but it is cleere that they were of Thucydides , the Riuall of Pericles , both by the name Milesias , and because this Thucydides also , was of the Family of Miltiades , as Plutarch●fieth ●fieth in the Life of Cimon . That he had a sonne , is affirmed by Marcellinus , out of the authority of Polemon , but of his name there is no mention , saue that a learned man readeth there , in the place of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 ... ( which is in the imperfect Copie ) Timotheus . Thus much of the person of Thucydides .

Now for his writings , two things are to bee considered in them , Truth , and Eloquution . For in Truth consisteth the Soule , and in Eloquution the Body of History . The latter without the former , is but a picture of History ; and the former without the latter , vnapt to instruct . But let vs see how our Author hath acquitted himselfe in both . For the Faith of this History , I shall haue the lesse to say , in respect that no man hath euer yet called it into question . Nor indeed could any man iustly doubt of the truth of that Writer , in whom they had nothing at all to suspect of those things that could haue caused him either voluntarily to lie , or ignorantly to deliuer an vntruth . He ouertasked not himselfe by vndertaking an History of things done long before his time , and of which he was not able to informe himselfe . He was a man that had as much meanes , in regard both of his dignity and wealth , to find the truth of what he relateth , as was needfull for a man to haue . He vsed as much diligence in search of the truth , ( noting euery thing whilest it was fresh in memory , and laying out his wealth vpon intelligence , ) as was possible for a man to vse . He affected least of any man the acclamations of Popular Auditories , and wrote not his History to win present applause , as was the vse of that Age , but for a Monument to instruct the Ages to come . Which he professeth himselfe , and Entitleth his Booke 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , A Posses●ion for euerlasting . He was farre from the necessity of seruile Writers , either to feare or flatter . And whereas he may peraduenture be thought to haue beene maleuolent towards his Countrey , because they deserued to haue him so , yet hath he not written any thing that discouereth any such passion . Nor is there any thing written of them that tendeth to their dishonour , as Athenians , but onely as People ; and that by the necessity of the narration , not by any sought digression . So that no word of his , but their own actions do sometimes reproach them . In summe , if the truth of a History did euer appeare by the manner of relating , it doth so in this History ; So cohaerent , perspicuous and perswasiue is the whole Narration , and euery part therof .

In the Eloquution also ; Two things are considerable , Disposition or Method , and Stile . Of the Disposition here vsed by Thucydides , it will be sufficient in this place , briefly to obserue onely this . That in his first Booke , first he hath by way of Exordium , deriued the State of Greece from the Cradle , to the vigorous stature it then was at , when he began to write ; and next , declared the causes , both reall and pretended of the Warre hee was to write of , In the rest , in which hee handleth the Warre it selfe , he followeth distinctly and purely the order of time throughout ; relating what came to passe from yeere to yeere , and subdiuiding each yeere into a Summer and Winter . The grounds and motiues of euery action , he setteth down before the action it selfe , either Narratiuely , or else contriueth them into the forme of Deliberatiue Orations , in the persons of such as from time to time bare sway in the Common-wealth . After the actions , when there is iust occasion , he giueth his iudgement of them , shewing by what meanes the successe came either to be furthered or hindered . Digressions for instructions cause , and other such open conueyances of Precepts ( which is the Philosophers part ) he neuer vseth , as hauing so cleerely set before mens eyes , the wayes and euents , of good and euill counsels , that the Narration it selfe doth secretly instruct the Reader , and more effectually then possibly can be done by Precept .

For his Stile , I referre it to the iudgement of diuers antient and competent Iudges . Plutarch in his Booke ▪ De gloria Atheniensium , saith of him thus . Thucydides aymeth alwayes at this , to make his Auditor a Spectator , and to cast his Reader into the same passions that they were in , that were beholders . The manner how Demosthenes aranged the Athenians on the rugged shore before Pylus . How Brasidas vrged the Steeresman to runne his Gally a ground ; how he went to the Ladder , or place in the Gally for descent , how he was hurt , and swowned , and fell downe on the ledges of the Gally ; how the Spartans fought after the manner of a Land-fight vpon the Sea , and the Athenians of a Sea-fight vpon Land . Againe , in the Sicilian Warre , how a battell was fought by Sea and Land , with equall fortune . These things , I say , are so described , and so euidently set before our eyes , that the mind of the Reader is no lesse affected therewith , then if hee had beene present in the Actions . There is for his perspecuity . Cicero in his Booke entituled Orator , speaking of the affection of diuers Greeke Rhetoricians , saith thus . And therefore Herodotus and Thucydides are the more admirable . For though they liued in the same Age with those J haue before named , ( meaning Thrasymachus , Gorgius , and Theodorus ) yet were they farre from this kind of delicacy , or rather indeed f●olery . For the one without rubbe , gently glideth like a still River , and the other ( meaning Thucydides ) runnes stronglier , and in matter of Warre , as it were , bloweth a trumpet of Warre . And in these two ( as saith Theophrastus ) History hath rowsed her selfe , and aduentured to speake , both more copiously , and with more ornament then in those that were before them . This commends the grauity , and the dignity of his language . Againe in his second Booke , De Oratore , thus . Thucydides in the Art of speaking , hath in my opinion far exceeded them all . For he is so full of matter , that the number of his sentences , doth almost reach to the number of his words ; and in his words he is so apt , and so close , that it is hard to say , whether his words do more illustrate his sentences , or his sentences his words . There is for the pithinesse and strength of his Stile . Lastly , for the purity , and propriety , I cite , Dionysius Halicarnassius , whose testimony is the stronger in this point , because he was a Greeke Rhetorician for his faculty , and for his affection , one that would no further commend him , then of necessity he must . His words are these . There is one vertue in Eloquence , the chiefest of all the rest , and without which there is no other goodnesse in speech . What is that ? That the language be pure and retaine the propriety of the Greeke tongue . This they both obserue diligently . For Herodotus is the best rule of the Ionique , and Thucydides of the Attique Dialect . These testimonies are not needfull to him that hath read the History it selfe , nor at all , but that this same Dionysius hath taken so much paines , and applyed so much of his faculty in Rhetorique to the extenuating of the worth thereof ; Moreouer , I haue thought it necessary to take out the principall obiections he maketh against him , and without many words of mine owne , to leaue them to the consideration of the Reader . And first Dionysius saith thus . The principall , and most necessary office of any man that intendeth to write a History , is to chuse a Noble Argument , and gratefull to such as shall reade it . And this , Herodotus , in my opinion , hath done better then Thucydides . For Herodotus hath written the ioynt History , both of the Greekes and Barbarians , to saue from obliuion , &c. But Thucydides writeth one onely Warre , and that neither honourable , nor fortunate ; which principally were to bee wished neuer to haue beene ; and next , neuer to haue been remembred , nor knowne to posterity . And that he tooke an euill Argument in hand , he maketh it manifest in his proeme , saying , That many Cities were in that Warre made desolate , and vtterly destroyed , partly by Barbarians , partly by the Greekes themselues : so many banishments , and so much slaughter of men as neuer was the like before , &c. So that the hearers will abhorre it , at the first propounding . Now by how much it is better to write of the wonderfull acts both of the Barbarians , and Grecians , then of the pittifull and horrible calamities of the Grecians , so much wiser is Herodotus in the choyce of his Argument , then Thucydides .