Born about 200 B.C. in Greece to a politically prominent family,
Polybius had his own political career cut short when he was deported to
Rome as a hostage. During his exile, he commenced the composition of his
Histories, with the original goal of examining Rome's rise to supremacy
during the years from 220 to 168 B.C.; later he would extend his
investigation down to the aftermath of the Third Punic and Achaean wars,
which ended in 146 B.C. Of the original forty books of the Histories,
today only the first five survive essentially intact, with most of the
remaining books represented by fragments of various lengths. In this
volume, David D. Phillips presents a commentary on Polybius' first book.
The volume includes the definitive text by Theodor Buttner-Wobst,
together with detailed commentary on points of linguistic and historical
interest, and an introduction to Polybius' life, the Histories (with
special attention to book 1), and Polybian language, style, and tone. An
index of Greek words is also provided.