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| {{Short description|Account of the rise of Rome by Polybius}}
| | #REDIRECT [[Histories (Polybius)]] |
| {{italic title}}
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| [[File:Polybius 1548.jpg|thumb|An early printed edition of ''The Histories'']] | |
| [[Polybius]]' '''''Histories''''' ({{lang-grc-gre|Ἱστορίαι}} ''Historíai'') were originally written in 40 volumes, only the first five of which are extant in their entirety. The bulk of the work was passed down through collections of excerpts kept in libraries in the [[Byzantine Empire]]. Polybius, a historian from the [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] city of [[Megalopolis, Greece|Megalopolis]] in [[Arcadia (ancient region)|Arcadia]], was taken as a hostage to [[Rome]] after the Roman victory in the [[Third Macedonian War]] (171–168 BC), and there he began to write an account of the rise of [[Ancient Rome|Rome]] to a [[great power]].
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| ==Content==
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| Polybius' ''Histories'' begin in the year 264 BC and end in 146 BC (Polybius was born around 200 BC and died around 117 BC). He is primarily concerned with the 53 years in which [[Ancient Rome]] became a dominant world power. This period, from 220–167 BC, saw Rome subjugate [[Carthage]] and gain control over [[Hellenistic Greece]]. Books I through V cover the affairs of important states at the time ([[Ptolemaic Egypt]], [[Hellenistic Greece]], [[Macedon]]) and deal extensively with the First and Second [[Punic War]]s. In Book VI he describes the [[Roman Constitution]] and outlines the powers of the [[Roman consul|consul]]s, [[Roman Senate|Senate]] and [[SPQR|People]]. The differences between the first set of states, namely, [[Athens]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]], and the second set which consists of those of [[Sparta]], [[Crete]], [[Mantinea]] and [[Carthage]] he asserted, on the ground that the states of [[Athens]] and [[Thebes, Greece|Thebes]] followed an "abnormal" growth. By "abnormal" Polybius means that these states due both the rise to the pinnacle of their power and the downfall to the caprice of fortune. It is chiefly because the Athenians had such leaders as [[Themistocles]], and the Thebans Pelopidas and Epaminondas, that the two states have on their side the favors of fortune for a time. The view of Polybius on the age of [[Pericles]] might, to some extent, be considered as contrary to what most modern historians thought was the Golden Age of Greece. He then compares the political system of the Roman state to that of the Cretans, the Spartans, and shows in what aspect the laws of Rome are superior to those of the Carthaginians. He concludes that the success of the Roman state was based on their mixed constitution, which combined elements of a [[democracy]], [[aristocracy]], and [[monarchy]]. The remainder of the ''Histories'' discusses the period in which Rome came to dominate the Mediterranean, from the defeat of [[Hannibal]] in 201 BC to the destruction of [[Third Punic War|Carthage]] and the Greek city-state of [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)|Corinth]] in 146 BC.
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| ==Polybius on tyche==
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| [[Tyche]], which means fate or fortune, plays an integral role in Polybius’ understanding of history. Tyche takes on a double meaning in his work. It can mean fortune or happenstance, but tyche was also personified as a goddess according to [[Hellenistic Period|Hellenistic]] convention. The exploration of Tyche is also the impetus for Polybius beginning his work, in that he discusses the fortunate events that led to [[Rome]]’s domination of the Mediterranean.
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| ==Polybius on government==
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| [[File:Curia Iulia.JPG|thumb|The [[Curia Julia]] in the [[Roman Forum]], the seat of the Roman Senate.]]
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| In Book VI Polybius digresses into an explanation of the Roman [[constitution]] and he shows it to be mixed. The purpose for this is involved in the Hellenistic nature of the work, particularly his Greek audience. Greeks at this time believed that the strength of a [[Sovereign state|state]] is manifested in the strength of its constitution. The mixed constitution was touted as the strongest constitution as it combined [[Aristotle|Aristotle's]] three integral types of [[government]]: [[monarchy]], [[aristocracy]] and [[democracy]]. Polybius, again in imitation of Aristotle, makes further distinction in the forms of government by including the nefarious counterparts to the ones mentioned above; [[tyranny]], [[oligarchy]], and [[ochlocracy]]. These governments, according to Polybius, cycle in a process called [[anacyclosis]] or [[kyklos]], which begins with monarchy and ends with ochlocracy.
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| ==Polybius in English==
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| The first [[English language|English]] translation, made by [[Christopher Watson (translator)|Christopher Watson]], was published in London in 1568<ref>{{cite book |author=Polybius|title=The Rise of the Roman Empire|editor1=Walbank, Frank W. |editor2=Scott-Kilvert, Ian |page=36|publisher=Penguin Classics|year=1979|isbn=0-14-044362-2}}</ref> as ''The hystories of the most famous and worthy cronographer Polybius''. [[F. W. Walbank]] wrote a comprehensive commentary on the ''Histories'' in three volumes, which was published between 1957 and 1979.
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| ==See also==
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| *[[Herodotus]]
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| *[[Thucydides]]
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| *[[Xenophon]]
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| ==References==
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| {{reflist}}
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| ==Bibliography==
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| ===Editions of ''The Histories''===
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| *Polybius; Frank W. Walbank, Ian Scott-Kilvert (1979). ''The Rise of the Roman Empire''. Penguin Classics. {{ISBN|0-14-044362-2}}.
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| ===Modern works===
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| * {{cite book |last1=El Hage |first1=Fadi |title=Une occasion manquée: la réédition de l'Histoire de Polybe commentée par Folard (1753) |date=2023 |publisher=Classiques Garnier |location=Paris |isbn=9782406147817}}
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| *[[Mogens Herman Hansen]] 1995, ''Sources for the Ancient Greek City-State: Symposium'', August, 24-27 1994, Kgl. Danske, Videnskabernes Selskab, 376 pages {{ISBN|87-7304-267-6}}
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| *[[Brian McGing]], Polybius' Histories. Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2010.
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| *[[F. W. Walbank|Frank William Walbank]], ''A Historical Commentary on Polybius'', Oxford University Press, 1957–1979.
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| *——, ''Polybius'', Berkeley and Los Angeles, University of California Press, 1972.
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| *——, ''Polybius, Rome and the Hellenistic World, Essays and Reflections'', Cambridge University Press, 2002.
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| ==External links==
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| {{wikisource|The Histories}} | |
| {{Wikisourcelang|el|Ιστορίαι|Ἱστορίαι}} | |
| * [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plb.+toc English and Greek version The Histories]
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| *[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/home.html Translation by W. R. Paton (Loeb edition)]
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| *[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Polybius/Introduction*.html Short introduction to the life and work of Polybius]
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| *[http://mlloyd.org/mdl-indx/polybius/intro.htm ''Polybius and the Founding Fathers: the separation of powers'']
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| {{Authority control}}
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| {{DEFAULTSORT:Histories}}
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| [[Category:Ancient Greek works]]
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| [[Category:2nd-century BC history books]]
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| [[Category:Roman-era Greek historiography]]
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| [[Category:Political philosophy in ancient Greece]]
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