Editing Polybius (section)

==''The Histories''==
{{Main|The Histories (Polybius)}}

''The Histories'' is a [[Universal history (genre)|universal history]] which describes and explains the rise of the [[Roman Republic]] as a global power in the [[Classical antiquity|ancient Mediterranean world]]. The work documents in detail political and military affairs across the Hellenistic Mediterranean between 264 and 146 BC, and in its later books includes eyewitness accounts of the [[Siege of Carthage (Third Punic War)|sack of Carthage]] and [[Battle of Corinth (146 BC)|Corinth]] in 146 BC, and the Roman annexation of mainland Greece after the [[Achaean War]].<ref>Polybius (~150 B.C.). The Rise of the Roman Republic. Translated by Ian Scott-Kilvert (1979). Penguin Books. London, England.</ref>

While Polybius's ''Histories'' covers the period from 264 BC to 146 BC, it mainly focuses on the years 221 BC to 146 BC, detailing Rome's rise to supremacy in the Mediterranean by overcoming their geopolitical rivals: Carthage, Macedonia, and the Seleucid empire. Books I-II are ''The Histories''{{'}} introduction, describing events in Italy and Greece before 221/0 BC, including the [[First Punic War]], Rome's wars with the Gauls, the rise of the [[Achaean League]] (Polybius's own constitution), and the re-establishment of Macedonian power in Greece under [[Antigonus III Doson]] and [[Philip V of Macedon]].<ref name="Nicholson 2023">{{cite book |title=Philip V of Macedon in Polybius's Histories |last= Nicholson|first= Emma|year= 2023 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 9780192866769}}, pp. 3, 34-58, 107-118</ref> Books III-XXXIX describe in detail political and military affairs in the leading Mediterranean states, including affairs in [[ancient Rome]] and [[ancient Carthage]], [[ancient Greece]] and [[ancient Macedonia]], and the [[Seleucid empire]] and Egypt, explaining their increasing "''συμπλοκή"'' (symplokē) or interconnectedness and how they each contributed to Rome's rise to dominance. Only books I-V survive in full; the rest are in varying states of fragmentation.

Three discursive books on politics, historiography and geography break up the historical narrative:

*In Book VI, Polybius outlines his famous theory of the "cycle of constitutions" (the ''anacyclosis'') and describes the political, military, and moral institutions that allowed the Romans to defeat their rivals in the Mediterranean. Polybius concludes that the Romans are the pre-eminent power because they currently have customs and institutions which balance and check the negative impulses of their people and promote a deep desire for noble acts, a love of virtue, piety towards parents and elders, and a fear of the gods (''deisidaimonia'').
*In Book XII, Polybius discusses how to write history and criticises the historical accounts of numerous previous historians, including [[Timaeus (historian)|Timaeus]] for his account of the same period of history. He asserts Timaeus' point of view is inaccurate, invalid, and biased in favour of Rome. [[Christian Habicht (historian)|Christian Habicht]] considered his criticism of Timaeus to be spiteful and biased,<ref>
Athens from Alexander to Antony by Christian Habicht p119</ref> However, Polybius's ''Histories'' is also useful in analyzing the different Hellenistic versions of history and of use as a more credible illustration of events during the [[Hellenistic period]].

*Book XXXIV discussed geographical matters and the importance of geography in a historical account and in a statesman's education. Unfortunately, this book has been almost entirely lost.

===Sources===
Polybius held that historians should, if possible, only chronicle events whose participants the historian was able to interview,<ref>Farrington, Scott Thomas (February 2015). [https://scholar.dickinson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1130&context=faculty_publications "A Likely Story: Rhetoric and the Determination of Truth in Polybius's Histories."] ''Histos'' 9: 29-66. (p. 40): ''"Polybius begins his history proper with the 140th Olympiad because accounts of the remote past amount to hearsay and do not allow for safe judgements'' (διαλήψεις) ''and assertions'' (ἀποφάσεις) ''regarding the course of events.... he can relate events he saw himself, or he can use the testimony of eyewitnesses. ([footnote 34:]'' Pol. ''4.2.2:'' ἐξ οὗ συμβαίνει τοῖς μὲν αὐτοὺς ἡμᾶς παραγεγονέναι, τὰ δὲ παρὰ τῶν ἑωρακότων ἀκηκοέναι.'')"'' [archive URLs: [https://web.archive.org/web/20201022204148/https://scholar.dickinson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1130&context=faculty_publications 1] (full text), [https://web.archive.org/web/20201212104900/https://scholar.dickinson.edu/faculty_publications/96/ 2] (abstract & journal citation)]</ref> and was among the first to champion the notion of [[Journalism ethics and standards|factual integrity]] in historical writing. In the twelfth volume of his ''Histories'', Polybius defines the historian's job as the analysis of documentation, the review of relevant geographical information, and political experience. In Polybius's time, the profession of a historian required political experience (which aided in differentiating between fact and fiction) and familiarity with the geography surrounding one's subject matter to supply an accurate version of events.

Polybius himself exemplified these principles as he was well travelled and possessed political and military experience. He consulted and used written sources providing essential material for the period between 264 BC to 220 BC, including, for instance, treaty documents between Rome and Carthage in the [[First Punic War]], the history of the Greek historian [[Phylarchus]], and the ''Memoirs'' of the Achaean politician, [[Aratus of Sicyon]]. When addressing events after 220 BC, he continued to examine treaty documents, the writings of Greek and Roman historians and statesmen, eye-witness accounts and Macedonian court informants to acquire credible sources of information, although rarely did he name his sources (see, exceptionally,.