SOURCE: In A Historical Commentary on Polybius, Vol. 1, Oxford at the Clarendon Press, 1957, pp. 1-37.

A British Professor of ancient history and classical archeology, Walbank is the twentieth century's most noted authority on Polybius. In the following excerpt, Walbank provides an introduction to the life and works of Polybius, focusing in particular on his view of history and his use of the concept of Tyche (Fortune).

1. Gi; 1. polybius' Life and Journeys =~ Spolybius' Life and Journeys

Born about the end of the third century at Megalopolis, Polybius spent his first thirty years acquiring the military and political experience of an Achaean statesman. His father Lycortas was an eminent politician, a follower, though hardly (as has been suggested) a relative, of Philopoemen. In 182 the young Polybius was selected to carry the ashes of Philopoemen to burial, and some time later he wrote his life. The boy's upbringing was shaped by...