The ancient Greek historian Thucydides wrote The History of the Peloponnesian War in the fifth century BCE, yet it remains one of the greatest works of history in our modern world. In this discussion, Gary Scudder will look at his accounts of Pericles’s Funeral Oration and the Melian Dialogue to better understand Athens during a time of tension and decline. We will also assess what these stories might reveal about the United States during this turbulent age.