3 pm on a Saturday afternoon. I have completed 144 pages of the "History of the Peloponnesian War. It is time to sit back for a moment and make a few comments and notes.

Notes on the Content:

• The war was caused by a mutual distrust between the two cities of Sparta and Athens.
• It was triggered by two distinct events, one on the coast of modern Albania and the other on the north eastern coast of Greece. In the first the colony of Epidamnus tried to break away from its mother city of Corcyra. The Corinthians tried to support Epidamnus and Corcyra appealed to Athens for help. In the second, the city of Potidaea attempted to free itself from Athenian rule and once again the Corinthians went to their defense.
• Sparta supported Corinth in these debates and soon the battle was joined.
• Sparta began the war by invading Attica with a strong hoplite force.
• Athens had built a strong defensive wall to protect the city and the 4 mile route to the coastal harbor.
• Meanwhile Athens used its superior navy to undertake a series of raids along the Peloponnesian coast.

Notes on the Process:

• I am thoroughly enjoying the book.
• I have made marks in the margins that indicate the beginning and end of each speech
• Pericles'Funeral Oration is #10 (p. 144-151).
• I find these speeches to be even more interesting than the details of the political and military events. As is explained in the Introduction, they are not verbatim but are reconstructed from the general sense of what had been said. Thus there is a strong sense that I am reading Thucydides here, and he is a good orator!
• I plan to come back and pull out some of my favorite quotes after I have finished the book.

The book itself consists of 10 Books. I am almost finished Book Two. This will likely take a few days, but it promises to be an enjoyable few days.