Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 3.djvu/458

Rh 446 POLYBIUS. by the Carthaginians and the Romans, in Spain, Sicily, and Africa ; and from thence shall again remove the history to Greece, which now became the scene of new disorders. And having first run threugh the naval battles of Attains and the Rhodians against king Philip, we shall next de- scribe' the war that followed between the Romans and this prince ; together with the causes, circum- stances, and conclusion of it. After these events, we shall relate in what manner the Aetolians, urged by their resentment, called Antiochus from Asia, and gave occasion to the war between the Achaeans and the Romans. And having ex- plained the causes of that war, and seen the en- trance of Antiochus into Europe, we shall then show the manner in which he fled back again from Greece ; and afterwards, when he had suflfered an entire defeat, was forced to abandon all the country on this sid^ of mount Taurus. Next will follow the victories by which the Romans gave an effectual check to the insolence of the Gauls ; secured to themselves the sovereignty of nearer Asia ; and delivered the people of that country from the dread of being again exposed to the violence and savage fury of those barbarians. We shall then give some account of the misfortunes in which the Aetolians and Cephallenians were involved, and of the war which Eumenes sustained against Prusias and the Gauls of Greece ; together with that of Ariarathes against Pharnaces. And after some discourse concerning the union and form of govern- ment of the confederate cities of Peloponnesus, which will be attended also with some remarks upon the growth and flourishing conditions of the republic of the Rhodians, we shall, in the last place, take a short review of all that has been before related ; and conclude the whole with the expedition of Antiochus Epiphanes into Egypt, and the war with Perseus, which was followed by the entire subversion of the Macedonian empire." (iiL 2, 3.) He then proceeds to relate the subjects contained in the second part of his history. "The chief of these transactions were, the expeditions of the Romans against the Celtiberians and Vaccaeans ; the war which the Carthaginians made against Massinissa, a sovereign prince of Africa ; and that between Attalus and Prusias in Asia. We shall also see the manner in which Ariarathes, king of Cappadocia, was driven from his dominions by Orofemes, assisted by Demetrius, and again by his own address recovered his paternal rights. We shall see Demetrius, the son of Seleucus, after he had reigned twelve years in Syria, deprived of his kingdom aud his life, by the conspiracy of the other kings. About the same time, the Romans absolved those Greeks that were accused of having secretly excited the wars of Perseus, and permitted them to return to their own country. And not long after- wards the same Romans made war again upon the Carthaginians : at first intending to force them to remove the seat of their republic ; but afterwards with design to exterminate both their name and go- vernment, for reasons which I shall there endeavour to explain. And lastly, when the Macedonians had, about this time, broken their alliance with the Romans, and the Lacedaemonians were also sepa- rated from the Peloponnesian league, the ill fate of Greece received at once both its beginning and full accomplishment, in the loss of the common liberty." (iii. 5.) POLYBIUS. It has been already remarked that the main object of the work of Polybiiis was to show by what means and in what manner the Romans sub- dued the other nations of the world. And although he regards Fortune {Tiixv) as the goddess who re- gulates the affairs of men, whose hand may always be traced in the history of nations, and to whom the Romans, therefore, owe their dominion (comp. e. g. i. 4, 58, 86, ii. 35, 70, iv. 2, viii. 4), still be repeatedly calls the reader's attention to the means by which Fortune enabled this people to rise to their extraordinary position. These he traces first of all in their admirable political constitution (vi, 1 ), and in the steadfastness, perseverance, and unity of purpose which were the natural results of such a constitution. But while the history of Rome thus forms the subject of his work, the history of the various nations with which Rome came into contact, was also given with equal care ; and accord- ingly we find him entitling his work " A General or Universal History" (KaOoAiKrj, Koivri laropia).^ and mentioning the unity of subject as one of the chief motives that had induced him to select that period of history. (Comp. i. 4, ii. 37. § 4, iv. 28. § 3, V. 3L § 6, v. 105. § 4.) The history of Poly- bius might, therefore, be called, as it has been by a German writer, the " History of the Growth of Roman Power, to the Downfal of the Indepen- dence of Greece." The history of Polybius is one of the most valu- able works that has come down to us from antiquity ; and few historical works, either in ancient or in modem times, will bear comparison with it. Polybius had a clear apprehensoin of the knowledge which an historian must possess ; and his preparatory studies were carried on with the greatest energy and perseverance. Thus he not only collected with accuracy and care an account of the events that he intended to narrate, but he also studied the his- tory of the Roman constitution, and made distant journies to become acquainted with the geography of the countries that he had to describe in his work. In addition to this, he had a strong judg- ment and a striking love of truth, and, from having himself taken an active part in political life, he was able to judge of the motives and actions of the great actors in history in a way that no mere scholar or rhetorician could possibly do. But the characteristic feature of his work, and the one which distinguishes it from all other histories which have come down to us from antiquity, is its didactic nature. He did not, like other historians, write to afford amusement to his readers, or to gra- tify an idle curiosity respecting the migration of nations, the foundation of cities, or the settlement of colonies ; his object was to teach by the past a knowledge of the future, and to deduce from pre- vious events lessons of practical wisdom. Hence he calls his work a Pragmaieia {TrpayixaTeia), and not a History (hropia, see e.g. i. 1, 3, iii. 32). The value of history consisted, in his opinion, in the instruction that might be obtained from it ; and a mere narration of events, however vividly pour- trayed, was described by him as aKa^ovfia and (pavraa-ia (xvi. 20. § 4, xxii. 2. § 7). Conse- quently he conceived it to be the duty of the his- torian to impress upon his reader the lessons of political and moral wisdom which his narrative conveyed, and was by no means satisfied to let the reader draw such conclusions for himself. Thus the narrative of events became in his view of secon-