One of the two most well-known Greek historians, Thucydides, the son of Oloros (probably of Thracian roots* [Fitzsimons]), was born between 471-450 B.C. The other most well-known historian was Herodotus who came before him and is known as the Father of History. Thucydides is known for his History of the Peloponnesian War (from the Internet Classics Archive).
Thucydides is said to have been a student of the rhetoricians Antiphon and Gorgias, and the philosopher Anaxagoras.
He had first hand information about the Peloponnesian War from his pre-exile days as an Athenian commander. In 421, he headed an Athenian fleet at Thasos. For his delay in helping out the besieged city of Amphipolis, he was banished from Athens for 20 years, probably living in Thrace where his income may have come from a mine. He conceivably had Euripides for company during his exile. During his exile Thucydides interviewed people on both sides of the war, and recorded their speeches in his History of the Peloponnesian War. Unlike Herodotus, he didn't delve into the background, but laid out the facts as he saw them, chronologically or annalistically.
* Herman suggests that instead of Oloros having Thracian ancestry, the presence of the Thracian name Oloros in Thucydides' family, comes from a xenia, a special relationship with a non-Athenian: someone in Thucydides' Athenian family had a Thracian xenos named Oloros, after whom his son was named. This Athenian Oloros had a grandson who was given his grandfather's name.
Sources:
- "Patterns of Name Diffusion within the Greek World and beyond," by Gabriel Herman; The Classical Quarterly; (1990), pp. 349-363.
- John Porter's Class Notes on Thucydides (Accessed 6/15/2006)
- Francis M. Cornford, Thucydides Mythistoricus
- "Thucydides: History, Science and Power," by M. A. Fitzsimons; The Review of Politics, (1975), pp. 377-397.
Thucydides is on the list of Most Important People to Know in Ancient History.