The Rise of the Roman Empire

The Histories of Greek-born, Roman historian Polybius (c.200-118 BCE) are reissued here in two volumes. Comprising fragments of Books 10 to 39 (17, 19, and 37 are missing), a compendium of smaller fragments, and an extensive index, Volume 2 covers, inter alia, the Hannibalian War from 209 BCE, the characters of Scipio Africanus and Philip of Macedonia, the flawed historical method of Timaeus, the Siege of New Carthage, the end of the Second Punic War, and the overthrow of Agathocles. Undertaken by the classicist Evelyn Shuckburgh (1843-1906), this first complete English translation (utilising F. Hultsch's 1867-72 Greek text) was published in 1889. A tutor, and later librarian, at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, Shuckburgh produced school editions of Sophocles and Suetonius as well as short histories on the classical world. This highly readable translation has remained a fascinating historical account of the second and third centuries BCE.… (more)

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LibraryThing member JVioland

An engaging read for the historically minded. He was a Greek prisoner (hostage) who became enamored of the Roman Republic and the merit of its people. This was long before Sulla and Marius started Rome down the road to autocracy. His perspective brings the Republic to life.

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LibraryThing member Lukerik

This book tells the tale of the Romans’ first overseas trip in 264 BC by which they announced their arrival on the world stage. You can jump straight in and enjoy it, but by coincidence Polybius takes up pretty much where Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ history fragments and I did appreciate having

read that first. In my head Rome is always the glorious empire of later years, but as Dionysius makes clear, in the beginning Rome was a barbarian city state many hundreds of miles from the nearest centre of civilisation; not much more than a fort where they kept their slaves. They were addicted to war. Literate, but not producing any literature. At the time Polybius’ history opens the first plays in Latin are just being staged – and the only way they’ve managed that is because one of their slaves is a Greek called Livius Andronicus who is adapting Greek New Comedy.

So all the more amazing that, having conquered the Italian peninsula, but never having gone to sea, they practice rowing movements on shore before taking on the Carthaginians. By turns I’d admire first one side and then the other. The Romans for their guts, but then dismay that such a band of animals could so wound such an ancient and stylish sea-faring civilisation. Yet when the Romans invade Africa and immediately capture twenty thousand slaves the scales do fall from one’s eyes somewhat. The Carthaginians may do things which panache, but isn’t panache the hall-mark of all good pirates?

After the account of this first Punic War, Polybius gives us the Numidian War, which is fantastic because the Berbers are a great bunch of lads but they really don’t get much of a look-in on the world stage. There’s also an account of the Romans’ second holiday when they establish a beach-head in the Balkans.

It’s worth saying something about Polybius’s style. Whereas Dionysius’ history is essentially a novel, using all the rhetorical techniques he can lay his hands on, Polybius’ technique is crystal clear and totally precise. His battle scenes are the best I’ve read. If you want to know how they killed each other back in the day then this is the book for you. I definitely felt as if I were reading a reliable history rather than a story and for the later events I got the impression he had spoken to eye-witnesses – which is certainly possible given the time-frame.

But then at the end of the volume he gives some Greek history. His account can be a little confusing and I was just thinking it all might be a little too close to home for him when he suddenly emits the most astounding stream of bile against a historian called Phylarchus. Is it good history? Perhaps not. But very entertaining.

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LibraryThing member riskedom

Waterfield's translation was just what I needed. Many years ago, I tried reading Polybius and ended up giving it that type of college age reading that means I skipped whole chapters, read through others sections muddle headed and eventually put it down knowing that I had something great in front of

me but was simply not ready for it. I lost the previous translation shortly after my attempt and never tried reading Polybius again. I think Waterfield's translation is both readable and digestible for the serious reader who is not a professional historian. Though it was disappointing to only read up to the Battle of Cannae, if all or much of the fragments of the other parts of the Carthaginian Wars were included, I might have chosen not to read the details of the war in Macedonia and the Peloponnese or the details regarding the events leading to war between Antiochus and Ptolemy in Coele-Syria. Reading about all three theaters of war brings home the universality of Polybius' objective. Polybius was a critical historian of a very high rank. I believe in some ways, he surpassed Thucydides, not necessarily in accuracy but in his abilities to instruct the reader. He surpassed Thucydides because he was able to apply broader experiences, with similar abilities to a more historically daunting subject: the rise of the Roman hegemony in the Mediterranean, which for Polybius and his original audience was, "the entire known world".

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