Project | Global Thucydides
Catalogue | Digital catalogue
Entry | The Plague of Athens which happened in the year of the Peloponesian warre. Firs…

The Plague of Athens which happened in the year of the Peloponesian warre. First described in Greek by Thucidides, then in Latin by Lucretius. Now attempted in English by Tho. Sprat

Typology: Translation | Language: English | Place of publication: London | Publisher: Printed by E.C. for Henry Brome | Year: 1665

Greek Text: no

Content: Athens’ Plague

Reprint of Hobbes' 1629 translation of Thucydides 2.47-54 (Athens' Plague), followed by a poem by Thomas Sprat on the Athenian plague.

The volume was edited by Thomas Sprat (1635-1713), bishop and historian. Sprat studied at Wadham College, Oxford, and became associated with John Wilkins and the scientific group that would form the Royal Society. He was ordained in 1660 and held various clerical positions, including canon of Westminster Abbey, Dean of Westminster (1683), and Bishop of Rochester (1684). He became chaplain to Charles II in 1676. Elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1663, Sprat published The History of the Royal Society of London (1667), a work that promoted the society's scientific ideals and style. He also wrote poetry and prose. ODNB

Text

Related editions:

• Eight bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre written by Thucydides the sonne of Olorus. Interpreted with faith and diligence immediately out of the Greeke by Thomas Hobbes secretary to ye late Earle of Deuonshire