The Thucydides Trap…

The “Thucydides trap – the disaster that befell ancient Greece when the incumbent power, Sparta, failed to accommodate the rising one, Athens.” (The Economist, 2017, p.26). Thucydides (c. 460 BC–400 BC) was a general who was exiled for his failure to defend the Greek city of Amphipolis in Thrace. During his exile, he began compiling histories and… Read More

Ancient Soldiers & Early Statistics

“In ancient times, the Athenian general and historian Thucydides described an attempt by soldiers to estimate the height of a wall before a siege. The calculation was made by  counting rows of bricks. Though “some [soldiers] might miss the right calculation,” he wrote, “most would hit upon it”. Making siege ladders based on the most… Read More