Showing results for "polybius"

The Histories of Polybius (Vol. 1 & 2) opens one of antiquity's most ambitious historical enterprises: an explanation of how Rome, within scarcely fifty-three years, came to dominate the Mediterranean world. Combining military narrative, constitutional analysis, geography, and political reflection, Polybius writes in a sober, investigative style that rejects mere entertainment in favor of pragmatic history. Set within the Hellenistic tradition yet directed toward Rome's rise, these volumes...

'no one else in our times has attempted to write a universal history' Polybius' ambitious goal was to describe how Rome conquered the Mediterranean world in less than fifty-three years. This great study of imperialism takes the reader back to Rome's first encounter with Carthage in 264 and forward to her destruction of that renowned city in 146. Polybius, himself a leading Greek politician of the time, emphasizes the importance of practical experience for the writing of po...

In "The Histories of Polybius," the ancient historian offers a meticulous account of the rise of the Roman Republic and its dominion over the Mediterranean world from 264 to 146 BCE. Written with striking clarity and employing a rigorous analytical style, Polybius' work is characterized by a systematic approach that emphasizes causation and the importance of firsthand evidence. He delves deeply into the interplay of military and political events, framing them within the context of broader ...

This is the first English translation of the complete works of Polybius as far as they are now known. In attempting such a task I feel that I ought to state distinctly the limits which I have proposed to myself in carrying it out. I have desired to present to English readers a faithful copy of what Polybius wrote, which should at the same time be a readable English book. I have not been careful to follow the Greek idiom; and have not hesitated to break up and curtail or enlarge his sentenc...

The Histories of Polybius is one of antiquity's most ambitious works of historical explanation, tracing Rome's rise to Mediterranean supremacy between 264 and 146 BCE. Written in a lucid, analytical prose, it rejects mythic ornament in favor of political causation, military detail, eyewitness inquiry, and comparative constitutional analysis. Its famous account of the Roman mixed constitution situates the work within Greek historiography while transforming history into a discipline of pract...

Written in the 2nd century by the Greek historian Polybius, "The Histories" is a multi-volume work detailing many of the events, people, and ideas of the Hellenistic Period. While his focus is the space of time in which ancient Rome became a world power from 220 to 167 BC, Polybius also discusses his role as a 'pragmatic historian', a discourse on fate (called tyche), and the superiority of the mixed constitution. Though all forty volumes have not survived to the present day, the complete ...

The Histories of Polybius presents a systematic analysis of the rise of the Roman Republic and the disintegration of the Hellenistic world. Through a meticulous blend of narrative and critical analysis, Polybius employs a straightforward, yet eloquent style, infused with a profound understanding of causality and the cyclical nature of history. His examination of Rome's military, political, and social systems is set against the backdrop of the Punic Wars, providing valuable context for unde...

The Greek statesman Polybius (c.200–118 BC) wrote his account of the relentless growth of the Roman Empire in order to help his fellow countrymen understand how their world came to be dominated by Rome. Opening with the Punic War in 264 BC, he vividly records the critical stages of Roman expansion: its campaigns throughout the Mediterranean, the temporary setbacks inflicted by Hannibal and the final destruction of Carthage. An active participant of the politics of his time as well...

Written in the 2nd century by the Greek historian Polybius, “The Histories” is a multi-volume work detailing many of the events, people, and ideas of the Hellenistic Period. While his focus is the space of time in which ancient Rome became a world power from 220 to 167 BC, Polybius also discusses his role as a ‘pragmatic historian’, a discourse on fate (called tyche), and the superiority of the mixed constitution. Though all forty volumes have not survived to the present day, the complete ...

10 Must-Read Roman Classics gathers foundational voices of Roman and Greco-Roman antiquity into a capacious portrait of power, citizenship, war, ethics, and historical memory. Its range is striking: military narrative and imperial chronicle stand beside biography, political oratory, philosophical reflection, and constitutional analysis. Accounts of conquest, portraits of emperors, meditations on moral self-command, and investigations of Rome's republic and empire reveal both the grandeur a...

In "The Histories of Polybius (Vol.1&2)", the ancient historian intricately weaves a narrative that examines the rise of Rome and its unprecedented dominance in the Mediterranean world. Characterized by meticulous detail and a rigorous empirical approach, Polybius employs a blend of narrative storytelling and analytical discourse, emphasizing the cause-and-effect relationships that define historical events. His work, situated within the larger context of Hellenistic historiography, breaks ...

The Rise and Fall of Roman Empire: 15 Primary Sources assembles a capacious archive of Roman power, tracing its formation, expansion, crises, and remembered afterlives through historiography, biography, military narrative, geography, and political analysis. Republican conflict, imperial spectacle, frontier warfare, civic corruption, and the uneasy encounter between Rome and its provinces emerge in contrasting registers: terse campaigns, moralized portraits, ethnographic observation, and ex...