The Histories, Vol 4: Books 9-15

Loeb Polybius histories #4

by Polybius, William Roger Paton (Translator)

Polybius (born ca. 208 BCE) of Megalopolis in the Peloponnese (Morea), served the Achaean League in arms and diplomacy for many years, favouring alliance with Rome. From 168 to 151 he was hostage in Rome where he became a friend of Aemilius Paulus and his two sons, and especially adopted Scipio Aemilianus whose campaigns he attended later. In late life he was trusted mediator between Greece and the Romans whom he admired; helped in the discussions which preceded the final war with Carthage; and, after 146, was entrusted by the Romans with details of administration in Greece. He died at the age of 82 after a fall from his horse.

The main part of Polybius's history covers the years 264-146 BCE. It describes the rise of Rome to the destruction of Carthage and the domination of Greece by Rome. It is a great work, accurate, thoughtful, largely impartial, based on research, full of insight into customs, institutions, geography, causes of events and character of people; it is a vital achievement of first rate importance, despite the incomplete state in which all but the first five of the forty books have reached us. Polybius's overall theme is how and why the Romans spread their power as they did.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Polybius is in six volumes.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

576 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 151

About the author

Polybius (ca. 200–118 BC), Greek Πολύβιος) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his book called The Histories covering in detail the period of 220–146 BC. He is also renowned for his ideas of political balance in government, which were later used in Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws and in the drafting of the United States Constitution.

Reviews

[Lukerik · Rating 5 out of 5]

“I am not unaware that my work owing to the uniformity of its composition has a certain severity, and will suit the taste and gain the approval of only one class of reader.”

Well I like him, but at some point some twit has been in possession of the last complete copy of this work. His house has been on fire and having the choice of the book or his kid he has chosen poorly. I think it says something about the quality of Polybius’s writing that even truncated as it is it’s still brilliant. And some of these fragments are really meaty.

In the first half of the book there are a series of character studies of various generals- Hannibal, Scipio etc- followed by some account of their doings. Scipio’s attack on New Carthage being a particular gem. I read this without access to a plan of the city but had a totally clear idea of the geography. When I got online and checked, my image and the plan were surprisingly close. A testament to the total precision of the writing.

There follows a long fragment where Polybius lays into Timaeus, a fellow historian whose work has not survived. This is far beyond literary criticism or even a hatchet job. He displays the kind of hatred and rage you normally only see in religious writing. It’s sometimes quite funny, but not always for the reason Polybius intends. It’s in total contrast to his historical writing and I did wonder if he were entirely sane.

The second half of the book recounts the final confrontation of Scipio and Hannibal in Africa. I’ve been waiting for this since volume two. There’s the most amazing scene where the two generals meet alone to parley. The young Scipio neatly representing the new barbarians on the block and the older Hannibal representing an ancient sea-faring civilisation and pleading for its existence. Scipio says “ok” and they all go and have tea. No not really.

[Alexander Rolfe · Rating 5 out of 5]

While the revolution was going on in Egypt, I was reading similar events in Polybius-- the Egyptian people filling the city with protests against an out-of-touch and corrupt ruler, while the military stayed on the sidelines unsure how to proceed. Down with Agathocles and Mubarak!