Greek statesman and historian to whom we owe one of the earliest reliable histories of early Rome though he was not without his moralizing. Greeks remember him not only with numerous statues in his honour but also the saying that "Greece would never have come to grief, had she obeyed Polybius in all things, and having come to grief, she found succour through him alone."
Born into a family of rich Archaean landowners, little is know of his early life except for his admiration of great Greek military leaders. By about 170, about the time when the Romans were getting to bring Macedonia under its orbit,he was serving as a cavalry commander in the Archaean Confederation. Sent as an emissary to the Romans his offer of help was rejected. After the defeat of the Macedonians, however, Polybius was taken hostage—perhaps as a precautionary measure— and taken to Rome. There he met and made friend with the great Roman general Scipio Aemilianus, of whom he became a mentor and the general his patron. Even when his political detention had ended Polybius decided to stay on in Rome, with the support of Scipio, travelled widely in the conquered territories, including Africa, and witnessing the catastrophic sack of Corinth in 146.
During all this time Polybius was, of course, writing his famous Universal History (or, simply, The History) that eventually came to forty volumes, of which only the first five have survived. Historians see in Polybius among the first historians to base his work, as far as possible, on witnesses' accounts, written documents, and personal experience. His historiographic principle may be summarized in his famous passage from Book II:
A historian should not try to astonish his readers by sensationalism, nor, like the tragic poets, seek after men's probable utterances and enumerate all the possible consequences of the events under consideration, but simply record what really happened and was said, however commonplace. For the object of history is the very opposite of that of tragedy. The tragic writer seeks by the most plausible language to thrill and charm the audience temporarily; the historian by real facts and real speeches seeks to instruct and convince serious students for all time. There it is the probable that counts, even though it be false, the object being to beguile the spectator; here it is the truth, the object being to benefit the student.
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