PART II

The Athenian leader Perikles was a shrewd tactician, a charismatic politician, and an arbiter of taste. But when he gave the funeral speech on the Akropolis, declaring that “War is a necessity,” the nature of his soul was made public; for wise men realized that he was a disciple of that most despised of all the Greek pantheon: Ares—the god of war.

—PAPYRUS FRAGMENT FROM THE “LOST HISTORY” OF THE PELOPONNESIAN WAR BY THE “EXILED SCRIBE”