Polybius << puh LIHB ee uhs >> (200?-118? B.C.) was a Greek historian. He is best known for his Histories, a work dealing with the growth of the Roman Republic from 264 to 146 B.C. Histories focuses especially on Roman expansion from 220 to 167 B.C. This period includes events from the Second Punic War (218-201 B.C.) between Rome and Carthage to the aftermath of the Battle of Pydna in 168 B.C. between Rome and Macedonia . Histories is the best preserved of the major historical works of the Hellenistic Age , when Greek culture influenced much of the world. However, only 5 of the original 40 books that made up the work have survived in their entirety. Rome took over Greece and Macedonia in the 140’s B.C. Polybius was sympathetic toward Rome in his writings, and he encouraged his fellow Greeks to accept Roman rule.
Polybius was born in Megalopolis, in the Arcadia region of ancient Greece . Like his father, he held important offices in the Achaean League, a confederation of Greek cities that opposed Rome. After Rome defeated Macedonia in the Battle of Pydna in 168 B.C., Polybius was identified as a threat to Rome. He and other leading Greeks were sent to Rome as political hostages. Polybius served as a tutor to the Roman general Scipio Aemilianus and eventually became part of his literary circle. He accompanied Scipio on campaigns to Carthage, in northern Africa, and to Spain. Polybius helped Greece obtain favorable terms in a treaty with the Romans after the Roman destruction of Corinth , Greece, in 146 B.C.
