Prof Allison's argument draws on one sentence of Thucydides' text: "What made war inevitable was the growth of Athenian Power and the fear which this caused in Sparta." This lapidary summing up of an entire argument is justly celebrated. It introduced to historiography the idea that wars might have "deep causes", that resident powers are tragically fated to attack rising powers. It is brilliant and important, no question about that, but is it correct?
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