Polybius (; grc-gre|Πολύβιος, ''Polýbios''; – BC) was a
Greek historian of the
Hellenistic period noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC in detail. The work describes the rise of the
Roman Republic to the status of dominance in the
ancient Mediterranean world. It includes his eyewitness account of the
Sack of Carthage and
Corinth in 146 BC, and the Roman annexation of mainland Greece after the
Achaean War.
Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed constitution or the
separation of powers in government, which was influential on
Montesquieu's ''
The Spirit of the Laws'' and the framers of the
United States Constitution. He was also noted for witnessing the events that he recorded.
The leading expert on Polybius was
F. W. Walbank (1909–2008), published studies related to him for 50 years, including a long commentary of his ''Histories'' and a biography.
Early life
Polybius was born around 200 BC in
Megalopolis,
Arcadia,
when it was an active member of the
Achaean League. The town was revived, along with other Achaean states, a century before he was born.
Polybius' father,
Lycortas, was a prominent, land-owning politician and member of the governing class who became ''
strategos'' (commanding general) of the
Achaean League. Consequently, Polybius was able to observe first hand during his first 40 years the political and military affairs of
Megalopolis, gaining experience as a statesman.
In his early years, he accompanied his father while travelling as
ambassador. He developed an interest in horse riding and hunting, diversions that later commended him to his Roman captors.
In 182 BC, he was given quite an honor when he was chosen to carry the funeral urn of
Philopoemen, one of the most eminent Achaean politicians of his generation. In either 169 BC or 170 BC, Polybius was elected
hipparchus (cavalry officer) with the intention of fighting for Rome during the
Third Macedonian War.
This event often presaged election to the annual ''
strategia'' (chief generalship). His early political career was devoted largely towards maintaining the independence of Megalopolis.
Personal experiences
Polybius’ father, Lycortas, was a prominent advocate of neutrality during the Roman war against
Perseus of
Macedon. Lycortas attracted the suspicion of the Romans, and Polybius subsequently was one of the 1,000
Achaean nobles who were transported to Rome as hostages in 167 BC, and was detained there for 17 years. In Rome, by virtue of his high culture, Polybius was admitted to the most distinguished houses, in particular to that of
Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, the conqueror in the
Third Macedonian War, who entrusted Polybius with the education of his sons, Fabius and
Scipio Aemilianus (who had been adopted by the eldest son of
Scipio Africanus). Polybius remained on cordial terms with his former pupil Scipio Aemilianus and was among the members of the
Scipionic Circle.
When Scipio defeated the
Carthaginians in the
Third Punic War, Polybius remained his counsellor. The Achaean hostages were released in 150 BC, and Polybius was granted leave to return home, but the next year he went on campaign with Scipio Aemilianus to
Africa, and was present at the
Sack of Carthage in 146, which he later described. Following the destruction of Carthage, Polybius likely journeyed along the
Atlantic coast of Africa, as well as Spain.
After the destruction of
Corinth in the same year, Polybius returned to Greece, making use of his Roman connections to lighten the conditions there. Polybius was charged with the difficult task of organizing the new form of government in the Greek cities, and in this office he gained great recognition.
At Rome
In the succeeding years, Polybius resided in
Rome, completing his historical work while occasionally undertaking long journeys through the
Mediterranean countries in the furtherance of his history, in particular with the aim of obtaining firsthand knowledge of historical sites. He apparently interviewed veterans to clarify details of the events he was recording and was similarly given access to archival material. Little is known of Polybius' later life; he most likely accompanied Scipio to Spain, acting as his military advisor during the
Numantine War.
He later wrote about this war in a lost
monograph. Polybius probably returned to Greece later in his life, as evidenced by the many existent inscriptions and statues of him there. The last event mentioned in his ''Histories'' seems to be the construction of the
Via Domitia in
southern France in 118 BC, which suggests the writings of
Pseudo-Lucian may have some grounding in fact when they state, "
olybiusfell from his horse while riding up from the country, fell ill as a result and died at the age of eighty-two".
''The Histories''
Polybius’ ''Histories'' cover the period from 264 BC to 146 BC. Its main focus is the period from 220 BC to 167 BC, describing Rome's efforts in subduing its arch-enemy, Carthage, and thereby becoming the dominant Mediterranean force. Books I through V of ''The Histories'' are the introduction for the years during his lifetime, describing the politics in leading Mediterranean states, including ancient Greece and Egypt, and culminating in their ultimate ''συμπλοκή'' or interconnectedness. In Book VI, Polybius describes the political, military, and moral institutions that allowed the Romans to succeed. He describes the
First and
Second Punic Wars. Polybius concludes the Romans are the pre-eminent power because they have customs and institutions which promote a deep desire for noble acts, a love of virtue, piety towards parents and elders, and a fear of the gods (''deisidaimonia'').
He also chronicled the conflicts between Hannibal and Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus such as the
Battle of Ticinus, the
Battle of the Trebia, the
Siege of Saguntum, the
Battle of Lilybaeum, the
Battle of Rhone Crossing and the
Battle of Zama, among others. In Book XII, Polybius discusses the worth of
Timaeus’ account of the same period of history. He asserts Timaeus' point of view is inaccurate, invalid, and biased in favor of Rome. Therefore, Polybius's ''Histories'' is also useful in analyzing the different Hellenistic versions of history and of use as a credible illustration of actual events during the
Hellenistic period.
Sources
In the twelfth volume of his ''Histories'', Polybius defines the historian's job as the analysis of documentation, the review of relevant geographical information, and political experience. Polybius held that historians should only chronicle events whose participants the historian was able to interview, and was among the first to champion the notion of
factual integrity in historical writing. In Polybius' time, the profession of a historian required political experience (which aided in differentiating between fact and fiction) and familiarity with the geography surrounding one's subject matter to supply an accurate version of events.
Polybius himself exemplified these principles as he was well travelled and possessed political and military experience. He did not neglect written sources that provided essential material for his histories of the period from 264 BC to 220 BC. When addressing events after 220 BC, he examined the writings of Greek and Roman historians to acquire credible sources of information, but rarely did he name those sources.
As historian
Polybius wrote several works, the majority of which are lost. His earliest work was a biography of the Greek statesman
Philopoemen; this work was later used as a source by
Plutarch when composing his ''
Parallel Lives'', however the original Polybian text is lost. In addition, Polybius wrote an extensive treatise entitled ''Tactics'', which may have detailed Roman and Greek
military tactics. Small parts of this work may survive in his major ''Histories'', but the work itself is lost, as well. Another missing work was a historical monograph on the events of the
Numantine War. The largest Polybian work was, of course, his ''Histories'', of which only the first five books survive entirely intact, along with a large portion of the sixth book and fragments of the rest. Along with
Cato the Elder (234–149 BC), he can be considered one of the founding fathers of
Roman historiography.
Livy made reference to and uses Polybius' ''Histories'' as source material in his own narrative. Polybius was among the first historians to attempt to present history as a sequence of causes and effects, based upon a careful examination and criticism of tradition. He narrated his history based upon first-hand knowledge. ''The Histories'' capture the varied elements of the story of human behavior:
nationalism,
xenophobia, duplicitous politics, war, brutality, loyalty, valour, intelligence, reason, and resourcefulness.
Aside from the narrative of the historical events, Polybius also included three books of digressions. Book 34 was entirely devoted to questions of geography and included some trenchant criticisms of
Eratosthenes, whom he accused of passing on popular preconceptions or ''laodogmatika''. Book 12 was a disquisition on the writing of history, citing extensive passages of lost historians, such as
Callisthenes and
Theopompus. Most influential was Book 6, which describes Roman political, military, and moral institutions, which he considered key to Rome's success; it presented Rome as having a mixed constitution in which
monarchical,
aristocratic, and popular elements existed in stable equilibrium. This enabled Rome to escape, for the time being, the cycle of eternal revolutions (''
anacyclosis''). While Polybius was not the first to advance this view, his account provides the most cogent illustration of the ideal for later political theorists.
A key theme of ''The Histories'' is the good statesman as virtuous and composed. The character of the Polybian statesman is exemplified in that of
Philip II. His beliefs about Philip's character led Polybius to reject historian
Theopompus' description of Philip's private, drunken debauchery. For Polybius, it was inconceivable that such an able and effective statesman could have had an immoral and unrestrained private life as described by Theopompus.
In recounting the
Roman Republic, Polybius stated that "the
Senate stands in awe of the multitude, and cannot neglect the feelings of the people".
Other important themes running through ''The Histories'' are the role of Fortune in the affairs of nations, his insistence that history should be demonstratory, or
''apodeiktike'', providing lessons for statesmen, and that historians should be "men of action" (
''pragmatikoi'').
Polybius is considered by some to be the successor of
Thucydides in terms of
objectivity and critical
reasoning, and the forefather of scholarly, painstaking historical research in the modern scientific sense. According to this view, his work sets forth the course of history's occurrences with clearness, penetration, sound judgment, and, among the circumstances affecting the outcomes, he lays special emphasis on geographical conditions. Modern historians are especially impressed with the manner in which Polybius used his sources, particularly documentary evidence as well as his citation and quotation of sources. Furthermore, there is some admiration of Polybius's meditation on the nature of historiography in Book 12. His work belongs, therefore, amongst the greatest productions of ancient historical writing. The writer of the ''Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1937) praises him for his "earnest devotion to truth" and his systematic pursuit of causation.
It has long been acknowledged that Polybius's writings are prone to a certain
hagiographic tone when writing of his friends, such as Scipio, and subject to a vindictive tone when detailing the exploits of his enemies, such as Callicrates, the Achaean statesman responsible for his Roman exile.
As a hostage in Rome, then as client to the Scipios, and after 146 BC, a collaborator with Roman rule, Polybius was probably in no position to freely express any negative opinions of Rome.
Peter Green advises that Polybius was chronicling Roman history for a Greek audience, to justify what he believed to be the inevitability of Roman rule. Nonetheless, Green considers Polybius's ''Histories'' the best source for the era they cover. For
Ronald Mellor, Polybius was a loyal partisan of
Scipio, intent on vilifying his patron's opponents.
Adrian Goldsworthy, while using Polybius as a source for Scipio's generalship, notes Polybius' underlying and overt bias in Scipio's favour. H. Ormerod considers that Polybius cannot be regarded as an 'altogether unprejudiced witness' in relation to his ''betes noires''; the Aetolians, the Carthaginians, and the Cretans. Other historians perceive considerable negative bias in Polybius' account of
Crete; on the other hand, Hansen notes that the same work, along with passages from
Strabo and
Scylax, proved a reliable guide in the eventual rediscovery of the lost city of
Kydonia.
Cryptography
Polybius was responsible for a useful tool in
telegraphy that allowed letters to be easily signaled using a
numerical system, called "the
Polybius square," mentioned i
Hist. X.45.6 ff. This idea also lends itself to
cryptographic manipulation and
steganography. Modern implementations of the Polybius square, at least in Western European languages such as English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian, generally use the Roman Alphabet in which those languages are written. However, Polybius himself was writing in Greek, and would have implemented his cipher square in the Greek Alphabet. Both versions are shown here.
This was known as the "
Polybius square", where the letters of the alphabet were arranged left to right, top to bottom in a 5 x 5 square. When used with the
26-letter Roman Alphabet, two letters, usually I and J, are combined. When used with the Greek Alphabet, which has exactly one less letter than there are spaces (or code points) in the square, the final "5,5" code point encodes the spaces in between words. Alternatively, it can denote the end of a sentence or paragraph when writing in continuous script.
Five numbers were then aligned on the outside top of the square, and five numbers on the left side of the square vertically. Usually these numbers were arranged 1 through 5. By cross-referencing the two numbers along the grid of the square, a letter could be deduced.
In ''The Histories'', he specifies how this cypher could be used in fire signals, where long-range messages could be sent by means of torches raised and lowered to signify the column and row of each letter. This was a great leap forward from previous fire signaling, which could send prearranged codes only (such as, 'if we light the fire, it means that the enemy has arrived').
Other writings of
scientific interest include detailed discussions of the machines
Archimedes created for the defense of Syracuse against the Romans, where he praises the 'old man' and his engineering in the highest terms, and an analysis of the usefulness of astronomy to generals (both in the ''Histories'').
Influence

Polybius was considered a poor stylist by
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, writing of Polybius' history that "no one has the endurance to reach
tsend". Nevertheless, clearly he was widely read by Romans and Greeks alike. He is quoted extensively by
Strabo writing in the 1st century BC and
Athenaeus in the 3rd century AD.
His emphasis on explaining causes of events, rather than just recounting events, influenced the historian
Sempronius Asellio. Polybius is mentioned by
Cicero and mined for information by
Diodorus,
Livy,
Plutarch and
Arrian. Much of the text that survives today from the later books of ''The Histories'' was preserved in Byzantine anthologies.
thumb|upright|Montesquieu
His works reappeared in the West first in Renaissance
Florence. Polybius gained a following in Italy, and although poor Latin translations hampered proper scholarship on his works, they contributed to the city's historical and political discourse.
Niccolò Machiavelli in his ''
Discourses on Livy'' evinces familiarity with Polybius. Vernacular translations in French, German, Italian and English first appeared during the 16th century. Consequently, in the late 16th century, Polybius's works found a greater reading audience among the learned public. Study of the correspondence of such men as
Isaac Casaubon,
Jacques Auguste de Thou,
William Camden, and
Paolo Sarpi reveals a growing interest in Polybius' works and thought during the period. Despite the existence of both printed editions in the vernacular and increased scholarly interest, however, Polybius remained an "historian's historian", not much read by the public at large.
Printings of his work in the
vernacular remained few in number — seven in
French, five in
English,(John Dryden provided an enthusiastic preface to Sir Henry Sheers' edition of 1693) and five in
Italian.
Polybius' political analysis has influenced republican thinkers from
Cicero to
Charles de Montesquieu to the
Founding Fathers of the United States.
John Adams, for example, considered him one of the most important teachers of constitutional theory. Since the
Age of Enlightenment, Polybius has in general held appeal to those interested in
Hellenistic Greece and early Republican Rome, while his political and military writings have lost influence in academia. More recently, thorough work on the Greek text of Polybius, and his historical technique, has increased the academic understanding and appreciation of him as a historian.
According to
Edward Tufte, he was also a major source for
Charles Joseph Minard's figurative map of
Hannibal's overland journey into
Italy during the
Second Punic War.
In his ''Meditations On Hunting'', Spanish philosopher
José Ortega y Gasset calls Polybius "one of the few great minds that the turbid human species has managed to produce", and says the damage to the ''Histories'' is "without question one of the gravest losses that we have suffered in our Greco-Roman heritage".
The Italian version of his name, Polibio, was used as a male first name - for example, the composer
Polibio Fumagalli - though it never became very common.
The
University of Pennsylvania has an intellectual society, the Polybian Society, which is named in his honor and serves as a non-partisan forum for discussing societal issues and policy.
Editions and translations
* Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Usher, S. (ed. and trans.) ''Critical Essays, Volume II.'' Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1985.
* ''Polybii Historiae'', editionem a
Ludovico Dindorfi curatam, retractavit
Theodorus Büttner-Wobst, Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri
vol. 1vol. 2vol. 3vol. 4vol. 5 1882-1904.
*
** Loeb Number L128; Books I-II.
** Loeb Number L137; Books III-IV.
** Loeb Number L138; Books V-VIII.
** Loeb Number L159; Books IX-XV.
** Loeb Number L160; Books XVI-XXVII.
** Loeb Number L161; Books XXVIII-XXXIX.
*
* ''The Histories'' or ''The Rise of the Roman Empire'' by Polybius:
** At
Perseus ProjectEnglish & Greek version* At "
LacusCurtius"
Short introduction to the life and work of Polybius1670 edition of Polybius' works vol.1 at the Internet archive1670 edition of Polybius' works vol.2 at the Internet archive* Polybius: "The Rise Of The Roman Empire", Penguin, 1979.
"Books 1–5 of History. Ethiopian Story. Book 8: From the Departure of the Divine Marcus"featuring Book I-V of ''The Histories'', digitized, from the
World Digital Library
See also
*
Anacyclosis
*
Kyklos
* ''
The Histories''
*
Polybius square
*
Polybius (urban legend)
*
Mixed government
Notes and references
Sources
Ancient sources
* Titus Livius of Patavium (Livy), libri XXI — XLV
* Pseudo-Lucian ''Makrobioi''
* Paulus Orosius libri VII of ''Histories against Pagans''
Modern sources
* Davidson, James: 'Polybius' in Feldherr, Andrew ed. ''The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Historians'' (Cambridge University Press, 2009)
*
*Gibson, Bruce & Harrison, Thomas (editors): ''Polybius and his World: Essays in Memory of F.W. Walbank'', (Oxford, 2013).
*
Momigliano, Arnaldo M.: ''Sesto Contributo alla Storia degli Studi Classici e del Mondo Antico'' (Rome, 1980)
** —— Vol. V (1974) "The Historian's Skin”, 77–88 (Momigliano Bibliography no. 531)
** —— Vol. VI (1973) “Polibio, Posidonio e l'imperialismo Romano”, 89 (Momigliano Bibliography no. 525) (original publication: ''Atti della Accademia delle Scienze di Torino'', 107, 1972–73, 693–707)
* Moore, John M: ''The Manuscript Tradition of Polybius'' (Cambridge University Press, 1965)
*
Walbank, Frank W:
** —— ''Philip V of Macedon'', the Hare Prize Essay 1939 (Cambridge University Press, 1940)
** —— ''A Historical Commentary on Polybius'' (Oxford University Press)
*** Vol. I (1957) Commentary on Books I–VI
*** Vol. II (1967) Commentary on Books VII–XVIII
*** Vol. III (1979) Commentary on Books XIX–XL
** —— ''Polybius'' (University of California Press, 1972)
Further reading
* Champion, Craige B. 2004. ''Cultural Politics in Polybius’s Histories.'' Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
* Derow, Peter S. 1979. "Polybius, Rome, and the East." ''Journal of Roman Studies'' 69:1–15.
* Eckstein, Arthur M. 1995. ''Moral Vision in the Histories of Polybius.'' Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
* Farrington, Scott Thomas. 2015. "A Likely Story: Rhetoric and the Determination of Truth in Polybius’ Histories. ''Histos: The On-Line Journal of Ancient Historiography'' 9: 29-66.
* McGing, Brian C. 2010. ''Polybius: The Histories.'' Oxford Approaches to Classical Literature. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.
* Moore, Daniel Walker. 2017. "Learning from Experience: Polybius and the Progress of Rome." ''Classical Quarterly'' 67.1: 132-148.
* Pausch, Dennis. 2014. "Livy Reading Polybius: Adapting Greek Narrative to Roman History." In ''Defining Greek Narrative.'' Edited by Douglas L. Cairns and Ruth Scodel, 279-297. Edinburgh : Edinburgh University Press.
* Sacks, Kenneth S. 1981. ''Polybius on the Writing of History.'' Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.
* Schepens, Guido, and Jan Bollansée, eds. 2005. ''The Shadow of Polybius: Intertextuality as a Research Tool in Greek Historiography.'' Leuven, Belgium: Peeters.
* Walbank, Frank W. 2002. ''Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World: Essays and Reflections.'' Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.
External links
*
*
*
Works by Polybius at Perseus Digital Library*
{{Authority control
Category:2nd-century BC Greek people
Category:2nd-century BC historians
Category:Ancient Arcadians
Category:Ancient Greek statesmen
Category:Ancient Megalopolitans
Category:Hellenistic-era historians
Category:Historians of Roman Achaea
Category:Roman-era Greek historians
Category:200s BC births
Category:110s BC deaths