Polybius Polybius was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period born in Megalopolis‚ Arcadia (200-118 B.C). He was the son of Lycortas‚ also a Greek Politician who became the Cavalry commander of the Achaean league (a Hellenistic period of alliance between Greek city states on the northern and central Peloponnese). The Achaean league existed between 280 and 146 B.C‚ and at that time Polybius was also a member of the Achaean league in which he spent trying to maintain the independence of Macedonia
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empire and seek for more power. Many leaders were able to skillfully direct their armies to triumph. But as victorious as they were‚ no one can deny the fact that there were as many battles lost as there were won. According to a Greek Historian names Polybius‚ these losses are attributed to the carelessness of the leaders when it came to planning their strategy of attack. In book IX of his work‚ The Histories‚ he states in “The Art of Commanding Armies” that there is a high chance that these leaders were
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and we can only speculate and use the sources and information that has lived through the decay of time. Our main primary sources that historians use to piece together the crossing of the Alps are by two of Rome’s most famous historians‚ Polybius and Livy. Polybius was a very rounded and mostly non-biased historian who got out of his way to travel to his locations to document facts and information which he used in his text and who lived during the time of the First and Second Punic Wars. On the other
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for several severe offenses as‚ stealing‚ giving false evidence‚ committing the same fault three times‚ and homosexual practice. Leaving your post out of fear and throwing away any of your weapons on the battlefield was also punished with death. Polybius said ““Those who have lost a shield or a sword or any weapon on the battlefield often hurl themselves upon the enemy hoping that they will either recover the weapon they have lost‚ or else escape by death from the inevitable disgrace and the humiliations
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In book VI of Polybius’ Histories (53-54)‚ it covers a funeral procession as a form to educate and teach Roman youths. Various values and qualities range throughout this extract‚ and these values reflect the lives of the ‘Roman Society’‚ such values would include; Passion‚ Nobility‚ Immortality‚ Excellence‚ etc. These values of the funeral procession are produced in the text‚ as a way to ‘inspire’ the youth of Rome. However certain historians are suspicious when it comes to Polybius’ point of view
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The Fall of the Roman Republic Lynn Hunt’s analysis of the Roman Republic is far more compelling than Polybius’s. Although Polybius writes concisely about the individual institutions within the Roman Republic and how they overlap‚ he superimposes his mixed constitution bias as his analysis seems more focused on the theoretical outline available in the constitution. On the other hand‚ Hunt is not so strictly tied to the constitutional ideas of the institutions and explores how in practice
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Brady Roth 1 December 2014 History 1001 Paper 2 Rewrite How Rome Conquered in 53 Years Polybius‚ a Greek historian‚ said that the Roman Empire had many elements that lead them to conquer the entire civilized world in fifty-three years‚ which is why they are revered as one of the strongest empires in ancient world history. They are considered one of the strongest empires of ancient history because of their ability to never surrender and their extreme knowledge for fighting. At Rome’s peak they had
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Polybius’ The Histories describes the merits of the Roman Empire‚ specifically their constitutional government‚ compared to the Ancient Greek governmental systems. These merits include combining the best parts of each form of Greek government‚ maintaining a stalwart government system that follows the rule of law‚ and the positions of government that spread power enough to keep from corrupting it. Despite this‚ there is corruption within the Roman government‚ but not so much that the ideals and laws
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legitimacy of those records are challenged; Livy and Polybius use two different methods to express the past. Although these authors differ in their methods‚ similar explanations of ideal roman virtues can be seen through comparison. These various records of Rome’s history allow readers to better understand the context based on their interpretive preferences. Essentially‚ Livy expresses ideal roman virtues through a narrative context‚ while Polybius uses a more analytical context. Livy could be labeled
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Democracy‚ as defined by Polybius‚ was a “regime based on effective rule by the people.” In Polybius’ Histories‚ democracy was not based on each citizen having the ‘right to do whatever they wish or propose’ but true democracy relied on “reverence to the gods‚ succour of parents‚ respect to elders‚ obedience to laws‚ are traditional and habitual‚ in such communities” as well as decisions being decided by the majority. It has been agreed upon by most ancient historians that Rome was not a democracy
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