Polybius
Ancient Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period, author of The Histories
In 170 or 169 Polybius was elected hipparchus, the second-highest position of the Achaean League.[1] The Histories* documents political and military affairs across the Hellenistic Mediterranean between 264 and 146 BC.[2] Polybius was considered a poor stylist by Dionysius of Halicarnassus.[3] During his youth, Polybius traveled with his father on ambassadorial missions.[4]
His pastimes of horseback riding and hunting later made him favorably regarded by his Roman captors.[4] He devised a telegraphy tool, the "Polybius square," which uses a numerical system to signal letters, as described in his Histories.[5]
Quick Facts
- Born
- c. 200 BC
- Birthplace
- Megalopolis, Arcadia
- Died
- c. 118 BC (aged approx. 82)
- Place of death
- Roman Greece
- Occupation
- Historian
- Notable works
- The Histories (events of the Roman Republic, 220–146 BC)
- Main interests
- History, philosophy of history
- Notable ideas
- Anacyclosis
Facts from the source article.
What the cited sources add
The paper "Polybius and the Founding Fathers" proposes that Montesquieu borrows too heavily from Polybius to be credited accurately as the originator of the separation of powers.[6] Polybius believes that Republican Rome avoided constitutional decay by establishing a mixed constitution with elements of monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.[6] The text of Polybius's Histories was available to the Founding Fathers in four recent printings and in excerpts from Spelman's translation.[6] Thomas Jefferson had numerous editions of Polybius's Histories in his personal library.[6]
T. L. Simmons concludes that many who gathered at Philadelphia to draft a constitution had apprenticed themselves to Polybius and other classical thinkers.[6] In his work A Defense of the Constitutions, Adams dedicates a full chapter to Polybius's ideas on the mixed constitution, the cycle of constitutions (anacyclosis), and the Roman system of checks and balances.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Polybius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Sorek, "Ancient Historians: A Student Handbook", Continuum, 2012, p. 76 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Polybius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Polybius (~150 B.C.). The Rise of the Roman Republic. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (1979). Penguin Books. London, England. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Polybius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Comp. 4 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Polybius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Marincola, "On Writing History from Herodotus to Herodian", Penguin UK, 2017; "Titus Livius (Livy), The History of Rome, Book 39, chapter 35", www.perseus.tufts.edu; Walbank, "Philip V of Macedon", Cambridge University Press, 2014, p. 278; Sorek, "Ancient Historians: A Student Handbook", Continuum, 2012, p. 76 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Polybius" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Nicholson, "Polybius (1), Greek historian, Oxford Classical Dictionary", 7 March 2016 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Polybius and the Founding Fathers: The separation of powers". facts only, no text reused. mlloyd.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Polybius (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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