Book 7
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The article on the life and style of Thucydides, which goes by the name of Marcellinus, contains the following passage: "[3]Some say that the eighth book is spurious and not the work of Thucydides, while others say that it is his daughter's work, others Xenophon's. To these we say that it is clearly not his daughter's, for it is not in woman's nature to imitate such excellence in art. Besides, if she were so gifted, she would not have taken pains to conceal her identity, nor would she have written the eighth book only, but would have left many other things betraying her own sex. And that it is not Xenophon's work, the style all but cries aloud; for there is a wide interval between the plain and the lofty style. Nor indeed is it the work of Theopompus, as some have maintained; but to some, and especially the more accomplished, it seems to be indeed the work of Thucydides, but unadorned, written in rough outline and full of many matters in summary form, and admitting of embellishment and amplification. Wherefore we say further, that the exposition is rather weak and feeble, inasmuch as he apparently composed it while ailing. And when the body is a little sick, the reasoning power also is wont to be rather languid”λέγουσι δέ τινες τὴν ὀγδόην ἱστορίαν νοθεύεσθαι καὶ μὴ εἶναι θουκιδίδου ἀλλ’ οἱ μέν φασιν εἶναι τῆς θυγατρὸς αὐτοῦ, οἱ δὲ ξενοφῶντος. πρὸς οὓς λέγομεν ὃτι τῆς μὲν θυγατρὸς ὡς οὔκ ἐστι δῆλον οὐ γὰρ γυναικείας ἦν φύσεως τοιαύτην ἀρετὴν τε καὶ τέχνην μιμήσασθαι. ἒπειτα, εἰ τοιαύτη τις ἦν, οὐκ ἂν ἐσπούδασε λαθεῖν, οὐδ’ ἂν τὴν ὀγδόην ἔγραψε μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἂλλα πολλὰ κατέλιπεν ἄν, τὴν οἰκείαν ἐκφαίνουσα φύσιν. ὅτι δὲ οὐδὲ ξενοφῶντός ἐστιν, ὁ χαρακτὴρ μόνον οὐχὶ βοᾷ πολὺ γὰρ τὸ μέσον ἰσχνοῦ χαρακτῆρος καὶ ὑψνηοῦ. οὐ μὴν οὐδὲ θεοπόμπου, καθά τινες ἠξίωσαν τισὶ δὲ καὶ μᾶλλον τοῖς χαριεστέροις θουκυδίδου μὲν εἶναι δοκεῖ, ἄλλως δ’ ἀκαλλώπιστος, δῐ ἐκτύπων γεγραμμένη καὶ πολλῶν πλήρης ἐν κεφαλαίῳ πραγμάτων καλλωπισθῆναι καὶ λαβεῖν ἔκτασιν δυναμένων. ἔνθεν καὶ λέγομεν ὡς ἀσθενέστερον πέφρασται καὶ ὀλίγον καθότι ἀρρωστῶν αὐτὴν φαίνεται συντεθεικώς. ἀσθενοῦντος δὲ σώματος βραχύ τι καὶ ὁ λογισμὸς ἀτονώτερος εἶναι φιλεῖ. The genuineness of Book VIII has been the object of attack in modern as well as in ancient times, but it may now be regarded as an accepted fact. Probably no scholar really doubts it. Ancient writers quote the book just as they do the other seven. The general characteristics are the same as in the other books. “There is,” as Arnold rightly claims, “the same impartiality, the same clear and calm view of political transactions.” And Jowett eloquently says: “The love of truth, the power of thought, the absence of moral approbation or disapprobation, the irony, the perception of character, the moderation of statement, the general excellence ... “cry aloud”” for Thucydides. The vigour and terseness of style are as marked as ever.
