Thucydides in the 'Age of Extremes' and Beyond. Academia and Politics

The essays collected in this volume explore over a century of readings of Thucydides, from the years immediately preceding the First World War up to the present day. Our purpose is to reflect on some underexplored areas of Thucydidean reception within different academic traditions and political contexts, as well as reconsidering the more recent and controversial developments in the Fortleben of the Athenian historian in the fields of Strategic Studies and International Relations. The interaction between politics and academic practice is the thread that connects our collective efforts. We seek to adopt an approach that is less confined to the reuse of an ancient text in a merely political vein, but opens up to investigate wider issues concerning the history of classical scholarship and the process of consolidation of the social sciences in the academic systems.