Emily Munro

Abstract

A Man with a Mission: Polybius and Book XII

If a reader had no foreknowledge of Timaeus going into Book XII, their memory of him would be distorted by Polybius’ polemic. Polybius was on a mission to discredit Timaeus by shaping our memory of him, thereby illuminating his own philosophy on the correct method of writing history. There are three aspects of Book XII that need examining.

First, can we remember Timaeus otherwise – or similarly? Later authors like Cicero, Diodorus of Sicily, and Plutarch (among others) make both positive and negative references to Timaeus. From these other sources we learn that not only was Timaeus himself infamous for criticizing other historians, but he was also a reliable and popular Greek source for the history of the West. His reputation is part of the reason why he was specifically targeted by Polybius. By discrediting Timaeus, Polybius hoped to buttress his own reliability with respect to teaching the Greeks about the Romans.

Secondly, Polybius memorializes Timaeus as the antithesis of the ideal historian. By pointing out what is wrong with Timaeus in order to teach the right way of writing history, and by attacking many other historians throughout his work, Polybius seeks to dismantle the characteristics of post-Thucydidean historiography.

Finally, if we understand this as the real mission of Polybius in Book XII, we understand why it was included. He tries to prove the real functions of history: truth and practicality. For Polybius, truth is an essential ingredient of history because it is crucial for using memory as an education. Preservation of memory to Polybius is only important if it can serve as instruction. The truthfulness of memory makes it profitable when it can be used as a lesson, which in fact runs parallel to the way Thucydides envisioned history.