The Peloponnesian War (431–404 BC).
He started count when the war started and counted forward.
At the time Thucydides was writing, each city-state had their own method of placing events in a timeline, involving references to religious or political leaders. He marks the beginning of the war in reference to events in Argos, Sparta, and Athens, so that it would be understood by as wide an audience as possible.
https://erenow.net/ancient/the-landmark-thucydides-a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-peloponnesian-war/24.php
Message from a Time Traveler
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1610142/posts
Afraid I can’t answer your question.
But I have read at least 3 translations of Thucydides’ The Peloponnesian War and the Benjamin Jowett translation you reference is BY FAR the best.
The answer to your question is complicated. Ancient Greeks used lunar months, and solar years, but Athenians had several “calendars” that started at different times of the year (a Festival calendar; a Political calendar (starting approx. midsummer when the new archon was installed), and Military, which started in Spring. The ancient Greeks in general reckoned dates in relation to 4 year Olympiads and who was in power or other “fixed” events. Exactly which of these Thucydides used in The Peloponnesian War or whether he was “consistent” is way beyond me. Hats off to the scholars who have related it all to modern systems, even if the result is imperfect.
Maybe this will help.
I remember a Mad Magazine gag from a few decades ago that had cheerleader-type cheers for an Ivy League school. Here it goes :
Themistocles
Thucydedes
Peloponesian War
X-squared
Y-squared
H 2 S O 4
Well, I suppose this probably won’t help.
This is a pretty common question, and the answer is perhaps a bit complicated. Around about 431 BC, the Athenians invented central heating, where buildings were warmed by heated air that was circulated through flues laid in the floor (see for example, the Great Temple of Ephesus). Certain Greek philosophers including Aristotle speculated that the warm air emerging from these buildings would eventually cause the world to reach a “vrasmós” or boiling point which would extinguish all life in approximately 12 years. So each time Thucydides wrote of another event in the war, he referenced the number of years left.
Greeks dated everything from the first Olympiad (776 B.C).
Thanks to all who contributed to this thread. I thought it was fun and informative.