The Histories, Volume III

Books 5–8

Polybius, W. R. Paton, F. W. Walbank , Christian Habicht

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English

Harvard Uni.Press Academi
10 May 2011

Literary studies: classical, early & medieval; History; Classical history & classical civilisation

Series: Loeb Classical Library

The historian Polybius (c. 200–118 BCE) was born into a leading family of Megalopolis in the Peloponnese and served the Achaean League in arms and diplomacy for many years, favoring alliance with Rome. From 168 to 151 he was held hostage in Rome, where he became a friend of Lucius Aemilius Paulus and his two sons, especially Scipio Aemilianus, whose campaigns, including the destruction of Carthage, he later attended. Late in his life, as a trusted mediator between Greece and the Romans, he helped in the discussions that preceded the final war with Carthage; and after 146 was entrusted by the Romans with the details of administration in Greece.

Polybius' overall theme is how and why the Romans spread their power as they did. The main part of his history covers the years 264–146 BCE, describing the rise of Rome, her destruction of Carthage, and her eventual domination of the Greek world. It is a vital achievement of the first importance despite the incomplete state in which all but the first five of its original forty books have reached us.

For this edition, W. R. Paton's excellent translation, first published in 1922, has been thoroughly revised, the Büttner-Wobst Greek text corrected, and explanatory notes and a new introduction added, all reflecting the latest scholarship.

By: Polybius
Revised by: F. W. Walbank, Christian Habicht
Translated by: W. R. Paton
Imprint: Harvard Uni.Press Academi
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 162mm, Width: 108mm, Spine: 32mm
Weight: 438g
ISBN: 9780674996588
ISBN 10: 0674996585
Series: Loeb Classical Library
Publication Date: 10 May 2011
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Reviews for The Histories, Volume III: Books 5–8

Polybius found a brilliant subject for his history in the Roman drive to supremacy in the Mediterranean. As an experienced Greek politician who lived as a hostage among the elite in Rome from 167 to 159 BC, he was ideally positioned to write it. He had formidable organizational powers, and he really did know what he was talking about. Without him, our understanding of the whole period and of the dynamics of Roman imperialism would be inconceivably impoverished. -- Denis Feeney * Times Literary Supplement *