Spotlight customer reviews:
|
Customer Rating:  
Summary: Lamenting What Could Have Been
Comment: I am not going to review Polybius, the historian, because this is not the appropriate place to do so. But, suffice it to say that Polybius is one of the more reliable ancient historians extant. For the period Polybius covers in his history, particularly for the period for which he was a contemporary, he is considered the most authoritative source, other than inscriptions or archeological evidence.
Thus, the importance of Polybius cannot be overstated.
That is why this English Language edition is both so promising, and at the same time dissipointing.
F.W. Walbank is the pre-eminent English-speaking Historian of the past 60 years on Polybius and the Hellenistic era. His scholarly work "Historical Commentaries on Polybius" are a standard reference for any historian writing about this period.
As such, an accessible English translation of Polybius edited by Professor Walbank should be (and I emphasize the word "should") the standard text in every English speaking classroom teaching this material.
And, in fact it mostly is.
But, like many others reviewing this edition, I can only lament that material that has been left out of the volume. And, I also agree that for whatever reason, Professor Walbank did not do a particularly good job of explaning what was excised and why he made the editorial decisions he did.
The translation by Ian Scott-Kilvert is frist rate. And you have the added comfort of knowing that the great F.W. Walbank gave it his stamp of approval.
But, I wish there were a complete, modern Polybius English translation that included all of the fragmentary materials and the portions of Polybius' work that were left out of this edition. [The Loeb translation by Paton is over 80 years old]. Specifically, it would have been nice to have a full English Translation that tracked Walbank's 3 Volume "Historical Commentary on Polybius," as almost a companion to that seminal work. Those who wished to pursue an issue in more depth could consult the Commentaries if they so desired.
There are rumors that a new English language edition of Polybius is being produced, and one can only hope that it is more comprehensive and comes close to the authoritativeness of Walbank's.
But, given the quality of what is provided in the Penguin Classics edition, and the assuredness of the scholarship that produced it, this is the starting point volume for any study of Polybius.
Customer Rating:
Summary: HANGING
Comment: Great Book....slow starter...leaves you hanging at the end. To bad we have so litle from appian...
Customer Rating:
Summary: Rome Rising
Comment: Our times can be best understood from those that have come prior. Reading Polybius's The Rise of the Roman Empire is one of the good historical sources to assist in this process. A Greek statesman, who saw the rise of Roman first hand and wrote about it.
Greece was waning in 200 BC and Roman was rising and the Mediterranean gained a new empires. His book is more a personal overview and historical discussion of the events in tune to Tocqueville's Democracy in America, but less a study like the brilliant Capitalism and Civilization in the 15th to 18th Century by Braudel. If you like reading the Roman histories from Livy, this will give you an understanding of the early part of the history, while still a republic. Learn about the effect of Hannibal and the destruction of Carthage in 146 BC.
It is just sad that a lot of his other writings have been lost to us.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Good read
Comment: As stated by previous reviewer Polybius treatment of the encounter between the Roman Commander Regulus and the Spartan General Xanthippus (leading the Carthaginians), and the "lessons learned" from their encounter justifies buying this book.You can still learn from others mistakes.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Worth the price for a single lesson of history
Comment: Polybius treatment of the encounter between the Roman Commander Regulus and the Spartan General Xanthippus (leading the Carthaginians), and the "lessons learned" from their encounter justifies buying this book. The rest is gravy.
|
|
