Suchergebnisse

Thinking about the role of great men in virtual history of contemporary age, in this paper we intend to conduct an analysis of this theme starting from some significant texts of Herodotus and Thucydides, to evaluate the existence of a recourse to counterfactual reasoning in connection with the role of the individual also in Greek historiography. It emerges that counterfactuals, used perhaps not always intentionally, but, in any case, as a powerful narrative tool, help to define causal relationships and to highlight the important factors, moral and political responsibilities, including above all the ability of the leader to take reasonable decisions. The story of the past as it could have been, or, in other words, counterfactual history and not just real history, could thus encourage readers to reflect in a more engaging way than through the historical account alone, judging more actively the behaviour of great men of the past and learning from their decisions, both correct and incorrect.

La seconda fase della guerra del Peloponneso e in particolare il periodo tra il 408 e il 405 a.C. è di difficile ricostruzione a causa delle contrastanti e spesso lacunose notizie storiografiche: eppure si tratta di una fase particolarmente significativa per lo sviluppo della guerra, perché è quella in cui lo scontro si trasforma in una vera lotta per la talassocrazia. Nell'analisi qui condotta e centrata soprattutto sulla cronologia delle navarchie spartane che si avvicendano in questi anni, si intende evidenziare il ruolo cruciale non solo di Lisandro, ma anche di Callicratida, che viene invece di solito ricordato solo come il responsabile della sconfitta spartana alle Arginuse. Lo spazio a lui attribuito da Senofonte e dalle altre fonti su queste vicende lo rende in realtà un personaggio molto più interessante di quanto si possa pensare, dotato di personalità e di iniziativa militare e politica, molto attivo nello scontro per la talassocrazia.

The article illustrates the career of the Spartan Antalcidas, who between 392 and 367 BC ca. carried out an intense military activity and led several diplomatic missions at the court of the King of Persia. Special attention is given to the analysis of Antalcidas' diplomatic masterpiece, the common peace of 387/6, which took its name from him. His friendship with the satrap Ariobarzanes, as well as the favor shown to him by king Artaxerxes II (with whom, however, never existed a real bond of xenia), place him among the most prominent Spartan characters in international relations of the first half of the 4th century BC.

Thinking about the role of great men in virtual history of contemporary age, in this paper we intend to conduct an analysis of this theme starting from some significant texts of Herodotus and Thucydides, to evaluate the existence of a recourse to counterfactual reasoning in connection with the role of the individual also in Greek historiography. It emerges that counterfactuals, used perhaps not always intentionally, but, in any case, as a powerful narrative tool, help to define causal relationships and to highlight the important factors, moral and political responsibilities, including above all the ability of the leader to take reasonable decisions. The story of the past as it could have been, or, in other words, counterfactual history and not just real history, could thus encourage readers to reflect in a more engaging way than through the historical account alone, judging more actively the behaviour of great men of the past and learning from their decisions, both correct and incorrect.