The History of the Peloponnesian War is an account of the Peloponnesian War in Ancient Greece, fought between the Peloponnesian League (led by Sparta) and the Delian League (led by Athens). It was written by Thucydides, an Athenian general who served in the war. It is widely considered a classic and regarded as one of the earliest scholarly works of history. Thucydides (circa 460 - 395 BC) was a Greek historian and author from Alimos. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history," because of his strict standards of evidence-gathering and analysis in terms of cause and effect without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work. His text is still studied at advanced military colleges worldwide, and the Melian dialogue remains a seminal work of international relations theory.