The Histories (Oxford World's Classics)

Polybius was one of the major Greek historians of the classical world and is also one of the least read.His work The Histories, of which only a fraction survives, purported to explain and elucidate Rome's ascendancy and supremacy over the known world towards the end of the second century BC.Ultimately, what survives of The Histories deals in the main with political history and especially warfare between city states.The high point for me was the account given of the Second Punic War between Rome and Carthage with Carthaginian general Hannibal's crossing of the Alps with his troops and elephants making for particularly gripping reading.Less captivating and harder to follow are the long drawn out accounts of internecine warfare in the Greek world before it came under Roman control.I found myself reading without ingesting, so to speak, when it came to this part of the narrative.Aside from tactical warfare, Polybius makes many outspoken remarks, an unusual tendency in those days, on how history should be written, and the proper task of the historian which should be essential reading to modern students of historiography; for instance, armchair historians who rely solely on book learning and who lack direct experience of politics and warfare come in for a serious beating in Book Twelve.Finally, there is most famously the incomplete but nonetheless influential account of Rome's so-called 'mixed constitution' in Book Six which I studied in my Roman history class years ago, and which came to inform writers like Machiavelli and Monstesquieu in their theorising about the State.Reading the book cover to cover, I got a sense of how all pervasive and constant warfare was in the classical world, particularly the Mediterranean area, and also how bloody tough and unforgiving life must have been back then, even though Polybius sadly does not cover the day to day life of the many as opposed to the mighty; and why should he have done, since that was a given at the time he was writing.The greatest value of the book may precisely lie in undoing romantic notions of the Greco-Roman world in its constant conflict and battles for supremacy which, surprisingly, become rather tedious to read about after so many pages but have the merit to put the ills of the modern world—also ridden with conflict—in perspective.As regards the translation, I have not read the Greek nor any other English translation of this work, but suffice it to say that the rendering in English was tolerably clear and even at times quite enjoyable to read, which comes as little surprise the translator, Robin Waterfield, being a writer rather than an academic by trade, at least according to the biographical description of him in the book itself.The introduction is certainly competent and helps make sense and organise the whole text as it now stands.My score for the book is four stars because, while the highs are very high, there is plenty in Polybius that is of little interest to the modern reader, except as a reminder that the struggle for power was as pronounced back then as it is now.

This comes across as a very nice new translation, which tackles what can be a difficult text to work with, given that Polybius wrote in the "koine" or the common dialect of Greek in the 2nd Century BC. Most Greek texts were written in, or in imitation of, 5th Century BC Attic.In addition, Polybius is also a technical writer for his time and speaks with precision. This where translators need a detailed contextual background and it is here that Robin Waterfield, like so many, comes a little unstuck. An example is the term "longchophoroi", which Loeb translates as "pikemen" and Waterfield renders as "spearmen". Neither is correct but the error is understandable as the word "longche" does mean "spear" but cannot mean "pike" as there is a specific word in the period for "pike" - "sarissa". Likewise, "phalangitai" is the word for "pikemen" and the original word is used in the context of skirmishing infantry - try skirmishing with a 21ft spear!The word "longche" is used in the context of a spear which is thrown, so is here being used to tell is that these "spearmen" are in fact skirmishers, so would be better rendered as "light foot", which would work well alongside "euzonoi" (the lightest foot) and distinguish them by their relative willingness to drive off their opposite numbers. Likewise the word "kathoplisma" (if I have spelt that correctly) has a whole story behind it but I'll leave that for another day.This is an excellent and readable translation. It is understandable that the fragmented books were left out as some are mere paragraphs and this absence is more than compensated for by Robin Waterfield's superb notes and textual explainations.

This edition contains books 1-5 complete, along with everything that survives of books 6 and 12. This means that there's a lot missing, but you get all the Punic war stuff down to Cannae, along with accounts of contemporaneous events in Greece, Egypt and Asia. You get no account of events after circa 216 BC, so nothing about the Punic wars after Cannae, nor about the Roman conquests of Greece, Macedon or Asia. It is not a bad selection, since book 6 (on meta-politics and the Roman constitution) is essential, and book 12 contains a lot of fascinating tidbits, e.g. on Spartan polyandry. The selection seems to have been made with students of ancient historiology in mind, since it includes many passages of historiological critique. I guess that might appeal to someone, somewhere. Personally, I wish they'd given us a complete popular edition of Polybius, even if that meant 2 volumes, but this is not a horrible compromise. The rival penguin edition goes for a selection from many of the books, which necessitates excerpting all of them heavily, whereas this edition gives the completest of the surviving books, without any excerptions. In the end it can't fail because it's still Polybius. If you like ancient history, it's bound to enthrall you.

History at it's best! Unfortunately some idiot and scribbled on the first few pages of the book, It left me with a bad impression.

A great read. Book 6 on the Roman constitution has a deep insight into the life cycle of any state, and probably something that holds true even today.

very well

A fine edition.

1) This is very "easy reading" for ancient history. Part of the credit for that belongs to Polybius, who knows how to narrate. And part of the credit goes to Waterfield, who has done a good job of bridging the language gap. I remember reading in the preface something about his decision, for example, to break long sentences into shorter multiple sentences. Modern readers, after all, can't hold their breath at all as they wait for the period.2) Waterfield's efforts to speak in modern idiomatic English also result in some troubling choices for a work of ancient history. For example, in one place Polybius is complaining about the way Fabius (another historian) has been less than completely reliable:"In my opinion, however, readers can safely assume that Fabius is reliable more often than not, but they should not regard what he says as gospel; rather, they should base their conclusions on the facts themselves."(Polybius (2010-11-11). The Histories (Oxford World's Classics) (p. 138). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.)Uhm, did Polybius, writing in 150 B.C. tell his readers not to regard what Fabius writes "as gospel"? Okay, that communicates in modern English, but it is confusing historically.3) On the other hand, Waterfield makes some excellent choices, too, as when Polybius suspends his account of the Hannibalic war to resume his account of the wars in Greece. At the edge of that theatre was a clash between the Rhodians (Rhodies?) and Byzantines. He describes the grudge carried in the heart of Prusias, one of the leaders of Rhodes:"One of Prusias’ old grievances against the Byzantines was that they had failed to erect some statues of him; they had voted to do so, but then they had just let the matter slide and forgotten all about it. He also did not like the fact that they had done all they could to try to end the war between Achaeus and Attalus and reconcile them to each other; in his view, warm relations between Achaeus and Attalus would harm his interests in a number of ways. And he felt insulted by the Byzantines’ failure to send emissaries to him for his Soteria,* when apparently Attalus had received such a delegation from Byzantium for his games in honour of Athena." Polybius (2010-11-11). The Histories (Oxford World's Classics) (p. 263). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.Uh, zowie, what? No emissaries sent for the Soteria? The footnote for "Soteria" tells us"Soteria: a festival instituted in cities all over the Hellenistic world in thanks for deliverance from danger. The occasion and the details of Prusias’ festival are unknown." Polybius (2010-11-11). The Histories (Oxford World's Classics) (p. 466). Oxford University Press. Kindle Edition.THANK YOU Robin Waterfield for leaving us the actual Greek word Soteria there instead of trying to translate it as "Freedom Festival" or "Deliverance Days" or something. Because this gives us a new depth of context for "Soteria" as it is used in the Bible, where it is everywhere and always translated "Salvation." For he says, "In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you." Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. 2 Cor. 6:2 (ESV) We would miss the possibility of making that connection in a poorer translation.

What’s not to like about Herodotus? Also, I am happy with the translation of this edition. Not all translations of primary sources necessarily turn out to be this readable.

Waterfield is truly a master of translation. The notes, as usual for OWC, are in depth and fill in the blanks. As for Polybius himself, it is a wonderful masterpiece. One of the first "universal" historians, Polybius covers the known world during the Punic wars, and the Social wars. It is a very insightful view of the times. Plus, it is where we draw a lot of our Roman military knowledge. Polybius was a hands on historian, having fought in wars, and been in the ranks of politicians. I highly recommend reading this if you are a fan of ancient history. I would also highly recommend all that Robin Waterfield has translated, and noted.

The translation is readable and well done as far as I can determine.

Polybius, the Histories, are first rate. If you love ancient history-- this is the book for you.

Great book.

Polybius gives us the intelligence and analytical skills of an ancient Greek who follows Alexander as well as chunks of Roman history with sense and substance. His analysis of political orders and constitutions should be required reading for every human being.

Excellent translation (RW) and introduction (BM)...but doesn't include the fragments of later books as in the old Penguin edition. I generally love the high quality of these OWC editions, but in this rare instance I find myself supplementing with the Penguin.

Seems like a good translation, lively and easy to follow. Don't forget to read the footnotes in the back of the book.

The Waterfield translation is one of the best in years. Although the print is small, it's worth the effort. Great for anyone interested in Greek history. JR

The Kindle version contains frequent scanning errors. Also, old-fashioned section-headings, set into the body of the text, have been scanned straight across the page so they are now jumbled up with the digitised text. So it's the product I don't like. Polybius's Histories is probably OK. I'll get a hard copy and find out.