Polybius The Rise Of The Roman Empire Pdf

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Some historians are destined to be read while others are destined to become omnipresent through throughout the literature of others as footnotes and references. Thucydides’ History of the Peloponnesian War considered the ultimate source for that period of ancient history and has been read throughout history almost as often as it has been consulted for the purpose of research. Polybius stands in stark contrast to Thucydides. Although often regarded as third only to Herodotus and Thucydides as an ancient chronicler of the Classical Era, his Histories is far more often consulted as a source than it is read.

Polybius The Rise Of The Roman Empire Pdf
Polybius Book Vi
Polybius The Rise Of The Roman Empire Pdf

When they were sent to Rome 12 the Consuls had them all conducted to the forum and there, according to the Roman custom, scourged and beheaded; their object being to recover as far as possible by this punishment their reputation for good faith with the allies. 13 The city and p19. Polybius • Histories — Book 1 p21. Contents: Greek historian Polybius records the rise of the Roman superpower from one hill besieged by Gauls in 390 BC to an empire spanning the known world, concentrating on the First and Second Punic Wars between Carthage and Rome, but also describing contemporaneous events in Macedonia, Egypt, and Syria, providing a ‘world history’, notably for the years from 264 to 201 BC.

Polybius is thought to have lived sometime between 203 B.C.E and 120 B.C.E. Today, his work is often published under the title the Rise of the Roman Empire as a way of distinguishing his work from so many other ancient volumes titled simple Histories. For most of history, however, the 40 volumes (of which only five survive intact, though some fragments exist of the other entries) were known simply as the Histories of Polybius.

Among the historical highlights covered in the Rise of the Roman Empire are the Third Macedonian War (171-168 B.C.E.), the Third Punic War (149-146 B.C.E.), the conquest of Greece in 146 B.C.E. following victory against Carthage. What is perhaps most distressing about the fact that the five intact volumes represent the first five books of the Histories of Polybius are that the first two volumes present something akin to a TV recap which brings the viewer up to date on what has already happened in episodes previously aired before actually starting a brand new episode. As such, the actual history covering the Rise of the Roman Empire to which Polybius has devoted his life’s work does not actually commence until well into Book III.

Although well informed and qualified to write on his chosen subject, Polybius falls far behind Herodotus and Thucydides as an actual writer, which may account for why his name is not as well-known as the other two great Greek historians who managed to eclipsed him only on the level of readability.

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Preview — The Rise of the Roman Empire by Polybius

Polybius, himself a Greek and an active contemporary participant in political relations with Rome, wrote the forty books of his Universal History primarily to chronicle and account for the Roman conquest of Greece between 200 and 167 B.C. He saw that Mediterranean history, under Rome's influence, was becoming an organic whole, so he starts his work in 264 B.C. with the beg...more

Published October 25th 1979 by Penguin Classics (first published -170)

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Polybius The Rise Of The Roman Empire Pdf

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Oct 19, 2016Jan-Maat added it · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-history, roman-republic, non-fiction, read-in-translation

Polybius' account of the rise of Rome, from city on seven hills to world power, has great vigour, reading book one which deals with the first punic war when Rome leapt out of Italy into conflict with Carthage for control over Scilly I had the sensation that the narrative was pursuing me like an elephant, bearing down on me as I fled before it. Although I remembered the injunction to either come home with my shield or on my shield, I cast it away the better to escape unencumbered, some Carthagini...more

Sep 09, 2011Smiley rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I think reading this book by Polybius (c. 200-118 B.C.) is simply fascinating, informative and rewarding since, I think, we can learn and better understand the Roman Empire from the Greek statesman and historian's views as supported by written and oral sources.
I think, posting a review for this book needs time and ideas for my Goodreads friends, therefore, its scope will include a few topics worth mentioning and elucidating (probably more details for future inclusion):
1) How Hannibal crossed th...more

Mar 28, 2019LydiaMae rated it liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: Roman history buffs or students

Shelves: 3-stars, historical, non-fiction, i-read-for-school, read-in-2019, reviewed

The book in this collection of books on Roman constitution and government was super interesting, and the way it was written was super easy to read. The battles in the other books were fascinating, but they sometimes just bled together and there were those books that just dragged on... I may have skim read those ones...
Obviously I'm not rating this on the content, just on how it was set out and my enjoyment (which wasn't much because I had to rush read for school)

Mar 19, 2017Shya̋m rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: primary-greek-literature, folio-scoiety, primary-roman-literature

To herald the opening of the sixteenth century, from the little Venetian printing press came forth all the great authors of antiquity, each bearing on the title-page the words Ἅλδος ὁ Μανούτιος Ῥωμαῖος καὶ Φιλέλλην [Aldus Manutius, a Roman and a lover of Greece]; words which may serve to remind us with what wondrous prescience Polybius saw the world’s fate when he foretold the material sovereignty of Roman institutions and exemplified in himself the intellectual empire of Greece.
Polybius is the

...more

Sep 07, 2017Caroline rated it really liked it

Thanks to Jan-Maat for bringing this to my attention. I have read quite a bit set during the Roman Empire, or shortly before it, and wondered about all the references to the glories of the republic. And I knew Hannibal had taken his army and his elephants over the Alps, but had no context for the feat. Polybius filled in lots of holes in my knowledge of the history of Rome.

*DISCLAIMER* I have not read this entire text; I didn’t think it prudent to, and have skimmed over about 30 percent of it. My review is based off what I read thoroughly (with notes), which I can say firmly is at least 60 percent.

This book is a sweeping account of the time period of about 260 - 150 BC or so, by the Greek/Roman historian Polybius - who lived during this time period and accompanied the great Roman general Scipio on many of his campaigns.
It had really interesting parts that were very enlightening and intriguing to read. It goes into a lot of detail but in my opinion the beauty of history frequently lies in those details that would be lost if we read a summary or commentary of the work.
He starts of with the...more

Having a guilty pleasure that includes reading roman adventure novels of carnage and conquest, not to mention modern historians takes on the conflicts and events of the ancient world, I feel compelled to occassionally take on the guys that tend to be the source materials. These can seem pretty forbidding at the outset, but contemporary translations of Herodotus and Polybius made them both pretty easily digested. I really enjoyed David Anthony Durham's take on the Second Punic War (Prince of Cart...more

Sep 24, 2009Jeremy rated it really liked it

Polybius blends the retelling of the events with his own philosophy about the nature and goals of historical study in addition to his ruminations about the future of Empire (which are pretty much spot on), which can make the text feel a bit uneven at times. That being said, the chapters concerning Hannibal and his campaign against Rome are probably some of the most epically rendered set pieces in written antiquity. And they really help to show how Rome, after vanquishing an enemy this determined...more

Jan 21, 2015Peter added it

I have put this aside for now. Polybius's history is said to be important to our understanding of the formation of the Roman Empire. This I cannot dispute. But there is no art to description of events, and little analysis. It is basically one damn thing after another, which is principally, one damn battle after another, with no reflection on whether any of this is good. Turncoats and killing without sympathy or apparent need are denounced, but the general continuous war and carnage are treated a...more

Jun 08, 2019Matt McCormick rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this contemporary account of the Punic Wars. True to his word Polybius describes “world” history of the time touching on events in Byzantium, Spain, Greece, Egypt and Syria. Especially enjoyable was his discussion of various constitutional structures. His argument for a mixed design with coequal constituencies checking each other’s authority seems obviously superior but only because of modern day use. After the fall of Republican Rome and for the next 1,500 years, such a government has...more

Mar 09, 2011Nish rated it liked it

Polybius Book Vi

Shelves: roman-history, empires, classics, history

Polybius was a Greek born into an aristocratic family of the Achaean League and was selected as one of the 1000 aristocratic hostages transported to Rome. He fell into the good graces of the house of the Scipios. He read the family archives and grew fond of Publius Cornelius Scipio and his son. Out of the forty or so Histories that he wrote only about five remained extant. The Roman Empire as an event fascinated Polybius and he sought to document its rise.
This work is written in a dry, factual...more

Apr 19, 2015Chris rated it liked it · review of another edition

3.5 stars.
I am not a historian, and have encountered almost all the content of this book in later works that probably just cribbed from Polybius. My rating reflects my enjoyment of the history, not it's importance.
The content itself is a roller coaster ride. It begins with books covering two wars between Rome and Carthage. The history is exciting and the writing captures it. Next are two books on The Social War occurring in Greece. Compared to the previous conflict, this is children squabbling o...more

May 26, 2012Steve Gordon rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

It is an absolute shame that most of this work did not make it down to the present day. And on that note I make my only criticism of this edition: the jacket and web material on this book state that it covers the Second Punic War and the later destruction of Carthage. The original work may have, but what is left to us is the history of the Second Punic War up to the battle of Cannae and nothing further. My favorite quote is on the use of religion as a means of control: 'In Rome, nothing plays a...more

The cool thing about Polybius, is that he was a Greek. This book spans his interest in Rome's rise and homogenization of the Mediterranean world. Ranges from 264 thru 146 BCE.

polybius can suck my dick but sometimes he pulls out these really nice and informative and cool digression on fortune and man's purpose and i'm like...fine...3...stars..for u

Sep 24, 2013Robert Sheppard rated it it was amazing

Shelves: african-literature, asian-literature, genres-in-world-literature, robert-sheppard, world-literature-forum, british-literature, book-reviews-by-robert-sheppard, spiritus-mundi, world-literature, world-literature-classics

WHAT EVERY EDUCATED CITIZEN OF THE WORLD NEEDS TO KNOW IN THE 21ST CENTURY: THE GREAT HISTORIANS OF WORLD HISTORY--HERODOTUS, THUCYDIDES, SIMA QIAN, IBN KHALDUN, THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS, JULIUS CAESAR, PLUTARCH, LIVY, POLYBIUS, TACITUS, GIBBON, MARX, SPENGLER & TOYNBEE----FROM THE WORLD LITERATURE FORUM RECOMMENDED CLASSICS AND MASTERPIECES SERIES VIA GOODREADS—-ROBERT SHEPPARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' is an apt admonition to...more

Aug 15, 2018Timons Esaias rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

So here's the weird thing about the historian Polybius. He's perhaps the most important historian of the early Roman Republic, certainly the most insightful, and he's the detail guy that underlies many of the technical details that we know about from the Roman military and society up to 167 B.C.. And you can't read him in English translation.
Okay, okay, you can read abridged versions. Or you can spend $156.00 on the six volumes of the Loeb Classical Library edition, or find a library that has th...more

Jun 24, 2017B.J. Richardson rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Polybius was born a Greek but spent eighteen years as a hostage in Rome. During that time he became friends with the house of Scipio and also was fascinated in the rapid rise of Rome from obscurity to the greatest power of its day in half a century. The first books in this 'Complete Histories' focuses on the Punic Wars and the reasons why they thrust Rome into global dominance. Although they might be considered dry by modern standards they are fascinating reading for anyone who knows or wants to...more

Aug 07, 2018Andrew Fairweather rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, western-classicism, historical

My interest in this history peaked and troughed heavily, so in the spirit of honesty, I admit that I skimmed through some of Polybius' history, namely the stuff about his rivalry with Timaeus. Even if this history is a bit dry, it was nevertheless interesting to hear the details of events such as Hannibal's crossing of the Alps and the Punic Wars in general, which take up probably the majority of this volume. Polybius has a clear admiration for Hannibal, while at the same time maintaining a cert...more

Jan 05, 2019Thomas W rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The thing about Polybius is that he personally knew many of the power players in the Roman Empire, so his accounts are authentic and stunningly detailed. Robin Waterfield's translation is fluid and appears to contain much of the irony and humor from the original Greek. Polybius even includes a bit of a primer on how to write history. If you were living happily as [to put things in contemporary terms] the mayor of Casablanca in 150 BC and a Roman legion came calling, you'd need to gift them with...more

Apr 16, 2019Eric rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Rather sassier than I expected from an ancient history tome, this edition is further enlivened by Waterfield's own end-notes. Polybius: '...taking these factors into consideration the calculation is impossibly easy to make...' Waterfield: 'Polybius' calculations are all wrong by a factor of 4.'
Once the book leaves Rome for the conflicts of Asia Minor in Book Five, it's a bit rough going, but the diatribe that is Book Twelve, fragments of Polybius criticizing the other historians of the period,...more

This book was absolutely wonderful. Polybius gives one a visualization and feel of the ancient past. It's interesting to compare the ancients with our people of modern times, and Polybius gives an excellent look into it. As I read, I could see General Hannibal riding upon his elephant going into war. I could hear the sly, sarcastic tongue of Philip of Macedon utter his words.
Every part of this book is enjoyable and I encourage all lovers of ancient Rome, Greece, and alike, to read this book.

I quite enjoyed this, my only regret was that it seemed to abridged finally.... this edition focused on the second Punic war mostly, and the later developments were glossed over at high level or sometimes in a series of anecdotes, not always clear to me what was lost to posterity vs. what was edited out.
Having said that, great translation and very readable. Has shone on a light on my love of the Hellenistic period and my ignorance of the Roman, so I'm going to continue to dig.

Dec 07, 2017Zachary Rudolph rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

“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 than fifty-three years in bringing under their rule almost the whole of the inhabited world.”

Really wonderful read on many levels. Very readable, quite liked Polybius' analysis of tactics and arms and his opinions on battles. So, how Rome got involved in sorting out the Carthaginians in Spain, who started it it, sorting out the Macedonians, how it came about, how it was resolved.

Apr 14, 2018Jackson Cyril rated it really liked it

Polybius tells us a great deal, and I'm sure he's a mine of info for historians of antiquity-- but he's a terribly dull writer. Reading Polybius is like reading the encyclopedia.

A more contemporary view of the 2nd Punic War as Polybius met many of the veterans of this conflict. Additionally, there is more here concerning the fallout of Philip's allegiance with the Carthaginians under Hannibal. The fall of the Hellenes to Rome is a topic of personal interest to Polybius. Here, more than in Livy's account, we see that the campaign against Hannibal is the beginning of Roman dominance as a world empire. Polybius indicates this as an explicit thesis of his work - although he...more

Nov 18, 2017Frederick Dotolo rated it it was amazing

He's an excellent historian, and would be a great choice for undergraduates interested in learning about historical methodology (while reading a fascinating Roman military and political history.)

Aug 12, 2018Paul Gosselin rated it liked it

A rather interesting account of the events that gave rise to the Roman empire and written by an individual who was an eye-witness to many of these events.

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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.

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“If history is deprived of the Truth, we are left with nothing but an idle, unprofitable tale.” — 23 likes

“From this I conclude that the best education for the situations of actual life consists of the experience we acquire from the study of serious history. For it is history alone which without causing us harm enables us to judge what is the best course in any situation or circumstance.” — 6 likes

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