Global Thucydides: Aims, Scope, and Methods of a New Project

The Global Thucydides project is undertaking the first systematic survey of the reception of Thucydides on a global scale, bringing together a network of more than thirty scholars from across the world. This introduction provides an overview of the project, outlining its aims and methodology while presenting its first provisional results. On the one hand, the paper shows that local receptions of Thucydides remain largely independent of one another, resisting any overarching narrative. On the other hand, five recurrent modes of engagement with the ancient author can be identified across different contexts. Despite significant local variations, these approaches tend to recur in comparable forms: Thucydides is construed as a school author, an object of academic inquiry, a model of historical writing, a political oracle, and a canonical text to be appropriated through translation.