Polybius

Question 1

Early Life

Personal Context

Answer 1

A Greek military leader who lived while the Roman Empire was expanding.

Born 200BCE to a wealthy family, where his father was a politician.

• Well-educated
• Minor political duties growing up

Question 2

Later Life

Personal Context

Answer 2

Cavalry commander in 70BCE

Exiled for a bit (spent 17 years in Italy)

Accompanied Scipio on several military expeditions

Retraced Hannibal’s steps in 151BCE

According to Pseudo Lucian, he died at 82 after falling from his horse.

Question 3

Political Context

Answer 3

The Roman world around 200BCE included Rome becoming a dominant power, spurring many wars including:

• Punic Wars
  
  • Increase in Roman power and decrease in Carthaginian
• Macedonian Wars (205-147BCE)
  
  • Fought with the Greek state, Macedonia
• Eastern Wars (192-133BCE)
  
  • Control over the province of Asia
• Western Wars (190-146BCE)
  
  • Control over the western Mediterranean

Politics and government were also greatly developing as the Senate gained authority, the urban population grew and military influence became a threat to political structures.

Question 4

Polybius’ Purpose

Answer 4

1. History should have no interest in the sensational or the fantastic
   * “There can surely be nobody so petty or so apathetic in his outlook that he has no desire to discover by what means and under what system of government the Romans succeeded in less that fifty-three years in bringing under their rule almost the whole of the inhabited world, an achievement that is without parallel in human history.” (Histories 1.1)
2. Practical and instructive purpose of history
3. Helping people cope with moral problems
4. Linking deep causes to specific events

Question 5

Works of Polybius

Answer 5

Polybius’ works were The Histories, featuring 40 books but only 1-5 are intact and the rest are fragmentary.

• Books 1-2: background to the conflict and the First Punic War
• Books 3-29: deal with the period 241-168BCE, including the second Punic War

These also worked to document:

• The rise of Rome as a world power (Rome vs Carthage)
• The early history of Rome (Books 6-12 describe the constitution, army procedures and early history)
• The developments in places like Macedonia, Syria, Gaul and Asia Minor

Polybius’ target audience was political men, and he was often described as dull for his lack of artistic language. His work was also written over a long period of time.

Question 6

Methodology

Answer 6

• Speeches/Interviews for a level of credibility
• Written sources of they could be compared to actual fact
• Personal experiences from military exhibitions and travels
• Criticising other historians (Timaeus)
• Chain of Causation