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The Complete Histories of Polybius Paperback – January 1, 2009

by Polybius (Author), W. R. Paton (Translator)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 47 ratings
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Written in the 2nd century by the Greek historian Polybius, "The Histories" is a multi-volume work detailing many of the events, people, and ideas of the Hellenistic Period. While his focus is the space of time in which ancient Rome became a world power from 220 to 167 BC, Polybius also discusses his role as a 'pragmatic historian', a discourse on fate (called tyche), and the superiority of the mixed constitution. Though all forty volumes have not survived to the present day, the complete books extant today cover the affairs of all the important nations of the time, including Egypt, Greece, and Spain, as well as the first and second Punic Wars. Polybius speaks at length on the government of the Romans, citing it as the reason for Rome's success as a force of the world. Though it includes a couple of digressions concerning lesser issues of the time, "The Histories" has proven and continues to be a valuable text when studying the Hellenistic time period and manner of writing.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    606 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Digireads.Com
  4. Publication date
    January 1, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.35 x 9 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1420934236
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1420934236
  8. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Digireads.Com (January 1, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 606 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1420934236
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1420934236
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.93 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.35 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 47 ratings

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Polybius

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
47 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Fr. S.
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Ancient Historian
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2023
Verified Purchase
While at times Polybius is tedious. his perspective on Roman history as a Greek hostage is excellent. As a non-Roman, he wanted to understand what made Romans tick, and he is very sober and insightful.
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Bill Cussen
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2021
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A very thorough history of the Punic wars as well as the events through out the known world at the time. I would have expected a bit more about the political events of the Roman republic.
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N. Lazar
5.0 out of 5 stars Polybius is a bit pompous
Reviewed in the United States on March 5, 2013
Verified Purchase
But if you are into Roman history this collection is a good read.
He does a good job of tying in events that took place over a period of time in different places and explaining
how and why the Romans embarked on certain wars and ventures.
I also found that other than the Roman history there was a great deal of history that had to
do with the warring Greek city-states. Way too much detail for me.... since my interest is mainly the Roman part I found this tedious and therefore skipped those many parts.
2 people found this helpful
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Sapere Avde
4.0 out of 5 stars Great for casual reading, but poor for research
Reviewed in the United States on December 27, 2010
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Ian Scott-Kilvert's translation of Polybius is among the best and the availability of the fragmentary works of Polybius are very useful. The only difficulty I found with this volume was not in the translation but in the organization of it. The editor divides Polybius by book and chapter but does not number the paragraphs. Although this does not matter for people who are reading it for pleasure, it does become onerous when this volume is used for research. Although I was able to cite Polybius in the standard style (i.e. Polybius, 11.5), this still included a broad swath of text which would make it difficult for someone reading my paper to find the exact location of the information I was quoting. Although the kindle has enormous potential as a research tool, there is still something left to be desired in editions like this, which seem to be mostly catered towards the casual reader.
26 people found this helpful
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Luna
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2017
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Just as described
One person found this helpful
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Harold Brown
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United States on July 22, 2015
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Definitely worth reading!
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CC
1.0 out of 5 stars This order has not downloaded.
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2018
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Please download this to my device. For some reason or other, it did not download. I have tried other ways to contact you, but none worked. Hopefully, this will.
2 people found this helpful
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Mike
5.0 out of 5 stars Classic
Reviewed in the United States on April 15, 2014
Polybius was a leading politician and military officer in ancient Greece, who believed that historians should only write about events they are personally familiar with. He was close to several people he writes about, and he himself becomes an historical figure towards the end of his work.

His work focuses on the period from 264-145 B.C., or, the period of the Punic Wars. He describes his book as a "universal history", meaning he gives the histories of all major powers at the time: Rome, Carthage, Macedonia, Greece, the Ptolemies, the Seleucids, and other lesser nations. If there is a theme to this work, it's the rise of the Roman Republic. When the book starts, Rome is a provincial power in Italy, a semi-barbaric place; when the book ends, Rome possesses most of the known world and exercises hegemony over the rest. But since the work is universal, it's a history of all the countries at the time, and how they inevitably come into relations with Rome.

Polybius' goal was to instruct his readers, as well as inform and entertain. He gives detailed accounts of events and emphasizes cause-and-effect. He wants the reader to know why and how things happen, so that they have examples of what to emulate and what to avoid. There is a touch of Machiavelli in this book. And as you see the years and generations go by, you see young men become old, nations rise or fall, ambitious men fail or succeed, and all kinds of examples of fate mixed with human decisions.

There are several digressions in the book, on topics of geography, historiography, virtue and vice, political science, military science, and other related fields. The professional word for these chapters is "digression", but I think it's more appropriate to call them "additions". Polybius himself is level-headed, if nothing else. He is always calm, dignified, and seems like a cool guy overall. He was loved by the Greeks as a politician, and you can sometimes sense that this book is written by a classical leader of men.

This is one of the Classics, and there is much to gain from reading it. Some of the modern world's greatest leaders, including America's founding fathers, have looked to this book for guidance. Or if you just want to learn how Rome became so powerful, it's good for that too. :)
7 people found this helpful
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Mr C R Longley
1.0 out of 5 stars It's rubbish
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 29, 2013
Verified Purchase
The absence of paragraph and line numbering renders the text almost useless. It is better to use the fully referenced text by Chicago University available on the internet. and save the money!
6 people found this helpful
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