Polybius

Polybius

Polybius (; Ancient Greek: Πολύβιος, Polýbios; c. 200 – c. 118 BC) was an ancient Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his Histories, a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covers the period 264–146, recording in detail events in Italy, Iberia, Greece, Macedonia, Syria, Egypt and Africa, and documents the Punic Wars and Macedonian Wars among many others. Polybius's Histories is important not only for being the only Hellenistic historical work to survive in any substantial form, but also for its analysis of constitutional change and the mixed constitution. Polybius's discussion of the separation of powers in government, of checks and balances to limit power, and his introduction of "the people", all influenced Montesquieu's The Spirit of the Laws, John Locke's Two Treatises of Government, and the framers of the United States Constitution. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Polybius is the 11th most popular historian (down from 8th in 2019), the 58th most popular biography from Greece (down from 44th in 2019) and the 3rd most popular Greek Historian.

Polybius is most famous for his book The Histories, which is a description of the rise of Rome from the end of the Second Punic War to the defeat of Carthage in the Third Punic War.