Polybian demagogues in political context

Abstract

N many passages Polybius, scion of one of the great Megalopolitan aristocratic houses, expresses his disdain for radical demagogic politics and socio-economic reformers. There is no reason to doubt that castigations of demagogic politicians reflect the historian's genuine political convictions.' But both the frequency and vehemence of Polybius' censure of demagogues suggest that there may be more to the story than the historian's own political orientation. Polybius' essentially conservative political biases are well-known, yet scholars have not fully explored the ways in which the historian's own political career may have informed his historiographical practice. This paper will investigate Polybius' political fortunes in connection with his persistent condemnation of demagogic politics in an effort to demonstrate that the political circumstances which led to Polybius' extradition to Italy as a prisoner of Rome furnish a suitable motivational context for his sustained and