7 pm. One of the consequences of trying to maintain a daily web site is that it adds an incentive to make sure that at least an hour is devoted to this activity each day.

Today, as with yesterday, was basically devoted to reading Thucydides. I am now at the mid point of the book, and the war.

Two striking features of the war thus far:

• it is fairly ruthless. The land is continually "laid waste", and prisoners are often put to death.
• Many of the key decisions are arrived at democratically: arguments are made for two opposing courses of action and then a vote is taken.

Although much of the land is over run by the two forces (primarily Peloponnesian) there has been no mention of women and children. I assume they all leave their farms before the buildings and crops are destroyed. Still there is no mention of them being taken prisoner or any indication that they even exist.

I continue to be enamored by the speeches. So far I have marked off 19 such speeches. I was not expecting this as I began the reading.

I recently bought another book called Non Zero: "a marvelous summary and interpretation of what is now known and surmised about biological and human history on our planet." I would like to start it soon, on the other hand I would like to achieve some genuine closure on ancient Greece.