Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/455

Rh POLYBIUS. demanded by the Roman legate Popillius, the king, in order to evade compliance, sent him away secretly to Rhodes, Polyaratus, however, made liis escape on the voyage, and took refuge, first at Phaselis, and afterwards at Cibyra, but the inhabit- ants of both these cities were unwilling to incur the enmity of the Roman senate, by affording him protection, and he was ultimately conveyed to Rhodes, from whence he was sent a prisoner to Rome. (Polyb. xxix. 11, xxx. 9.) [E. H.B.J POLYARCHUS. [Polemarchus.] POLY ARCH US (UoKvapxos), a Greek phy- sician, who is mentioned by Celsus (De Med. v. 18. § 8, viii. 9. § 1, pp. 86, 177), and must, there- fore, have lived in or before the first century after Christ. He appears to have written a pharma- ceutical work, as some of his prescriptions are several times quoted by Galen {De Compos. Medi- cam. sec. Log. viii. 5, vol. xiii. pp. 184, 185, 186, De Compos. Medicam. sec. Gen. vii. 7, vol. xiii. p. 981), Aetius (ii. 4'. B7, iii. 1. 34, iii. 2. 14, pp.413, 481, 530), Marcellus {De Medicam. c. 20, p. 339), and Paulus Aegineta {De Re Med. iii. 68, 70, 74, vii. 18, pp. 486, 487, 489, 684) ; but of his writings only these extracts remain. [W. A. G.] POLYBI'ADES {UoXvSia^-ns), a Lacedaemo- nian general, succeeded Agesipolis in the command of the army against Olynthus, and compelled the city to surrender in B. c. 379. (Xen. Hell. v. 3. §§ 20, 26 ; Diod. XV. 23.) POLY'BIUS (HoAiJgios), historical. 1. Of Me- galopolis, fought under Philopoemen at the battle of Mantineia against Machanidas, tyrant of Lacedae- mon, B.C. 207. (Polyb. xi. 15. §5.) It has been usually supposed that this Polybius was a relation of the historian, probably either his uncle or grand- father ; but this is opposed to the statement of the historian himself in one of the Vatican fragments (p. 448, ed. Mai), " that no one, as far as he knew, had borne the same name as his, up to his time." Now though Polybius, when he wrote the* passage quoted above, might possibly have forgotten his namesake who fought at the battle of Mantineia, still he certainly would not have escaped his memory if any one of his family had borne this name. It is, liowever, even improbable that he should have for- gotten this namesake, especially since he was a native of Megalopolis, and we therefore think that the conjecture of Lucht in his edition of the Vati- can Fragments is correct, that the true reading in xi. 15, is UoXvScf} and not UoKv^ic^. (Comp. Thirl wall. Hist, of Greece, vol. viii. p. 273, note 2.) 2. A freedman of the emperor Augustus, read in the senate the will of the emperor after his de- cease. (Dion Cass. Ivi. 32 ; Suet. Aug. 101.) 3. A freedman of the emperor Claudius, was so highly favoured by this emperor that he was allowed to walk between the two consuls. He was the companion of the studies of Claudius ; and on the death of his brother Seneca addressed to hira a Consolatio, in which he bestows the highest praises upon his literary attainments. Polybius was put to death through the intrigues of Messalina, although he had been one of her paramours. (Dion Cass. Ix. 29, 31 ; Suet. Claud. 28.) POLY'BIUS {nokv§ios literary. 1. The his- torian, was the son of Lycortas, and a native of Me- galopolis, a city in Arcadia. The year in which he was born is uncertain. Suidas (s. v.) places his birth in the reign of Ptolemy Euergetes, who died in B. c. 222. It is certain, however, that Polybius could not POLYBIUS. 443 have been born so early as that year ; for he tells us himself (xxv. 7) that he was appointed am- bassador to Egypt along with his father and the younger Aratus in B.C. 181, at which time he had not yet attained the legal age, which he himself tells us (xxix. 9), was thirty among the Achaeans. But if he was bora, according to Suidas, before the death of Ptolemy Euergetes, he must then have been forty years of age. In addition to which, if any other proof were needed, it is impossible to believe that he could have taken the active part in public affairs which he did after the fall of Corinth in B. c. 146, if he was born so early as Suidas alleges. We may therefore, without much impro- bability, suppose with Casaubon that he was born about B. c. 204, since he would in that case have been about twenty-five at the time of his appoint- ment to the Egyptian embassy. Lycortas, the father of Polybius, was one of the most distinguished men of the Achaean league ; and his son therefore received the advantages of his training in political knowledge and the military art. He must also have reaped great benefit from his intercourse with Philopoemen, who was a friend of his fiither's, and on whose death, in b. c. 182, Lycortas was appointed general of the league. At the funeral of Philopoemen in this year Polybius carried the urn in which his ashes v/ere deposited. (Plut. Philpoem. 21, An seni gerunda sit respubl, p. 790, &c.) In the following year, as we have already seen, Polybius was appointed one of the ambassadors to Egypt, but he did not leave Greece, as the intention of sending an embassy was aban- doned. From this time he probably began to take part in public affairs, and he appears to have soon obtained great influence among his countr^'men. When the war broke out between the Romans and Perseus king of Macedonia, it became a grave question with the Achaeans what line of policy they should adopt. The Roman party in the league was headed by Callicrates, an unprincipled time- serving sycophant, who recognised no law but the will of Rome. He was opposed by Lycortas and his friends : and the Roman ambassadors, Popil- lius and Octavius, who came into Peloponnesus at the beginning of b. c. 169, had complained that some of the most influential men in the league were unfavourable to the Roman cause and had de- nounced by name Lycortas, Archon, and Polybius. The more moderate party, who did not wish to sacrifice their national independence, and who yet dreaded a contest with the Romans from the con- sciousness of their inability to resist the power of the latter, were divided in opinion as to the course of action. Lycortas strongly recommended them to preserve a strict neutrality, since they could hope to gain nothing from either party ; but Archon and Polybius thought it more advisable not to adopt such a resolution, but to be guided by circum- stances, and if necessary to offer assistance to the Romans. These views met with the approval of the majority of the party ; and accordingly, in b. c. 169, Archon was appointed strategus of the league, and Polybius commander of the cavalry, to carry these views into execution. The Achaeans shortly after passed a decree, placing all their forces at the disposal of the Roman consul,Q.Marcius Philippus ; and Polybius was sent into Macedonia to learn the pleasure of the consul. Marcius, however, de- clined their assistajice for the present. (Polyb. xxviii. 3, 6.) la the following year, u. c. 168, the