This synopsis is complementary to the synopsis of contents (above) and is set in the same structure, which includes both the conventional divisions by books and chapters and Thucydides’ own chronological division into years.

The speeches in Thucydides are a central feature of the work and have always been among the parts most quoted and studied (see introduction pp. xxviii–xxix and I 22n). I have listed here all the speeches that appear in the text in the form of direct speech, including some that are really only short quotations or conversational remarks, and also some ‘letters’ that were intended to be read aloud (for example that of Nicias at VII 11–15). I have indicated the kind and context of each item very briefly in the introductory description and have grouped related items together under these headings. I have dealt slightly more selectively with speeches that appear only in the form of indirect or reported speech in the text (‘he said that …’), but I have included all the most important ones (and some are very significant, for example that of Pericles at II 13) and those that purport to summarise the whole speech delivered; most examples of such reported speech are in fact quite short, though it should be noted that all the speeches in book VIII (with one tiny exception) are in this form (see further IV 97.2n and VIII 27.1n).