Polybius combined political and military experience with historical writing. After Rome's victory over Macedon in 168 BC, he was among the Achaean leaders taken to Italy and spent seventeen years in exile at Rome. His Histories examined Rome's rise and methods of rule between 220 and 146 BC; only the first five of its forty books survive complete, with substantial excerpts from others. He treats knowledge of earlier successes and catastrophes as preparation for political life. His central question is how Rome's political system helped it bring much of the known world under one empire.
Chapter · 3:22-10:54
Polybius's experience and history of Rome's rise
Polybius brought political and military experience to a history of Rome's expansion and treated the past as preparation for public life.