Editing Polybius (section)

==As historian==
Polybius wrote several works, most of which are lost. His earliest work was a biography of the Greek statesman [[Philopoemen]]; this work was later used as a source by [[Plutarch]] when composing his ''[[Parallel Lives]]''; however, the original Polybian text is lost. In addition, Polybius wrote an extensive treatise entitled ''Tactics'', which may have detailed Roman and Greek [[military tactics]]. Small parts of this work may survive in his major ''Histories'', but the work itself is lost as well. Another missing work was a historical monograph on the events of the [[Numantine War]]. The largest Polybian work was, of course, his ''Histories'', of which only the first five books survive entirely intact, along with a large portion of the sixth book and fragments of the rest. Along with [[Cato the Elder]] (234–149 BC), he can be considered one of the founding fathers of [[Roman historiography]].

[[Livy]] made reference to and uses Polybius's ''Histories'' as source material in his own narrative. Polybius was among the first historians to attempt to present history as a sequence of causes and effects, based upon a careful examination and criticism of tradition. He narrated his history based upon first-hand knowledge. ''The Histories'' capture the varied elements of the story of human behavior: [[nationalism]], [[xenophobia]], duplicitous politics, war, brutality, loyalty, valour, intelligence, reason and resourcefulness.

Aside from the narrative of the historical events, Polybius also included three books of digressions. Book 34 was entirely devoted to questions of geography and included some trenchant criticisms of [[Eratosthenes]], whom he accused of passing on popular preconceptions or ''laodogmatika''. Book 12 was a disquisition on the writing of history, citing extensive passages of lost historians, such as [[Callisthenes]] and [[Theopompus]]. Most influential was Book 6, which describes Roman political, military, and moral institutions, which he considered key to Rome's success; it presented Rome as having a mixed constitution in which [[monarchical]], [[aristocratic]] and popular elements existed in stable equilibrium. This enabled Rome to escape, for the time being, the cycle of eternal revolutions (''[[anacyclosis]]'') faced by those with singular constitutions (i.e. many of the Greeks and the Macedonians). While Polybius was not the first to advance this view, his account provides the most cogent illustration of the ideal for later political theorists.

A key theme of ''The Histories'' is good leadership, and Polybius dedicates considerable time to outlining how the good statesman should be rational, knowledgeable, virtuous and composed. The character of the Polybian statesman is exemplified in that of [[Philip II of Macedon|Philip II]], who Polybius believed exhibited both excellent military prowess and skill, as well as proficient ability in diplomacy and moral leadership.<ref>Plb.5.9-12 and {{cite book |title=Philip V of Macedon in Polybius's Histories |last= Nicholson|first= Emma|year= 2023 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 9780192866769}}, pp. 291-295</ref> His beliefs about Philip's character led Polybius to reject the historian [[Theopompus]]' description of Philip's private, drunken debauchery. For Polybius, it was inconceivable that such an able and effective statesman could have had an immoral and unrestrained private life as described by Theopompus.<ref>Plb. 8.9.3-4</ref> The consequences of bad leadership are also highlighted throughout the ''Histories''. Polybius saw, for instance, the character and leadership of the later [[Philip V of Macedon]], one of Rome's leading adversaries in the Greek East, as the opposite of his earlier exemplary namesake. Philip V became increasingly tyrannical, irrational and impious following brilliant military and political success in his youth; this resulted, Polybius believed, in his abandonment by his Greek allies and his eventual defeat by Rome in 197 BC.<ref name="Nicholson 2023a">{{cite book |title=Philip V of Macedon in Polybius's Histories |last= Nicholson|first= Emma|year= 2023 |publisher= Oxford University Press |isbn= 9780192866769}}, pp. 59-100, 184-227</ref>

Other important themes running throughout ''The Histories'' include the role of Fortune in the affairs of nations, how a leader might weather bravely these changes of fortune with dignity,<ref>Plb. 1.1.1-2</ref> the educational value of history and how it should demonstrate cause and effect (or [[Apodicticity|''apodeiktike'']]) to provide lessons for statesmen, and that historians should be "men of action" to gain appropriate experience so as to understand how political and military affairs are likely to pan out ([[Pragmatics|''pragmatikoi'']]).

Polybius is considered by some to be the successor of [[Thucydides]] in terms of [[objectivity (science)|objectivity]] and critical [[reasoning]], and the forefather of scholarly, painstaking historical research in the modern scientific sense. According to this view, his work sets forth the course of history's occurrences with clearness, penetration, sound judgment, and, among the circumstances affecting the outcomes, he lays special emphasis on geographical conditions. Modern historians are especially impressed with the manner in which Polybius used his sources, particularly documentary evidence as well as his citation and quotation of sources. Furthermore, there is some admiration of Polybius's meditation on the nature of historiography in Book 12. His work belongs, therefore, amongst the greatest productions of ancient historical writing. The writer of the ''Oxford Companion to Classical Literature'' (1937) praises him for his "earnest devotion to truth" and his systematic pursuit of causation.

It has long been acknowledged that Polybius's writings are prone to a certain [[hagiographic]] tone when writing of his friends, such as Scipio, and subject to a vindictive tone when detailing the exploits of his enemies, such as Callicrates, the Achaean statesman responsible for his Roman exile.<ref>[[Peter Green (historian)|Peter Green]], ''Alexander to Actium''</ref>

As a hostage in Rome, then as client to the Scipios, and after 146 BC, a collaborator with Roman rule, Polybius was probably in no position to freely express any negative opinions of Rome. [[Peter Green (historian)|Peter Green]] advises that Polybius was chronicling Roman history for a Greek audience, to justify what he believed to be the inevitability of Roman rule. Nonetheless, Green considers Polybius's ''Histories'' the best source for the era they cover. For [[Ronald J. Mellor|Ronald Mellor]], Polybius was a loyal partisan of [[Scipio Aemilianus|Scipio]], intent on vilifying his patron's opponents.<ref>[[Ronald J. Mellor]], ''The Historians of Ancient Rome''</ref> [[Adrian Goldsworthy]], while using Polybius as a source for Scipio's generalship, notes Polybius's underlying and overt bias in Scipio's favour. H. Ormerod considers that Polybius cannot be regarded as an 'altogether unprejudiced witness' in relation to his ''bêtes noires''; the Aetolians, the Carthaginians and the Cretans.<ref>H. Ormerod, ''Piracy in the Ancient World'', p.141</ref> Other historians perceive considerable negative bias in Polybius's account of [[History of Crete|Crete]];<ref>Mogens Herman Hansen 1995, ''Sources for the Ancient Greek City-State: Symposium'', August 24–27, 1994, Kgl. Danske, Videnskabernes Selskab, 376 pages {{ISBN|87-7304-267-6}}</ref> on the other hand, Hansen notes that the same work, along with passages from [[Strabo]] and [[Scylax]],<ref>[[Robert Pashley]], ''Travels in Crete'', 1837, J. Murray</ref> proved a reliable guide in the eventual rediscovery of the lost city of [[Kydonia]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/10881/cydonia.html#fieldnotes |title=C. Michael Hogan, ''Cydonia'', Modern Antiquarian, January 23, 2008 |publisher=Themodernantiquarian.com |access-date=2010-02-28}}</ref>