Polybius - an American hero

Polybius was a Greek statesman and historian who lived between 200 and 118 BC. After the defeat of Macedon by the Roman Republic in 168 BC, Polybius was removed to Rome for an indefinite detention. In Rome, he befriended the young Scipio Aemilianus, a member of an influential Roman Patrician family, and the son of the conqueror of Macedon.

This was the zenith of the Roman Republic. The city of Rome had become the nexus of Mediterranean culture. The Patrician families, awed by the wonders of the freshly conquered Hellenistic world, absorbed and incorporated its literature, art and philosophy. The influential Scipio family became Polybius' patron, and gave him unprecedented access to the inner circles of power.

Polybius began to muse on the nature of Roman power and success. Following in the footsteps of Greek historians such as Herodotus and Thucydides, he crafted a history of Rome and created a historical political theory to explain the success of the Roman Republic. In part, his political theory is reflected in a story told by Herodotus of a debate between Darius, Megabyzus, and Otanes regarding the best form of government. Otanes argues for Democracy, Megabyzus for Aristocracy and Darius (the absolute ruler of Persia) for Kingship.

Polybius postulated that the three forms of government, Kingship, Aristocracy, and Democracy, formed a continuous cycle, each with a high form and each with a degenerate form. His theory can be summarized in the following chart:

General Form:	Rule by one.	Rule by a few	Rule by many
Noble Form:	Kingship	Aristocracy	Democracy
Degenerate Form:	Tyranny	Oligarchy	Mob Rule

The three forms of government form a continuous cycle. Kingship degenerates into Tyranny. When the Tyranny becomes intolerable to the rich and landed people, they overpower the Tyranny and establish an Aristocratic form of government. The Aristocracy degenerates as the rich and powerful factions become a repressive oligarchy. The people (some being exiled Aristocrats) become upset by their exclusion from power and thus engage in a Democratic Revolution. Democracy eventually degenerates into Mob Rules, as politicians take advantage of the public's fickleness and engage in Demagoguery. From the ruins of the democracy rises a single leader, a dictator who offers to restore order, in effect a new king, and thus the cycle comes full circle.

Polybius attributed the success of the Roman Republic to the nature of the Roman constitution. He described the Roman constitution as three centers of power, each exerting checks and balanced against each other. These three centers of power or branches align themselves with the three forms of government.

General Form:	Rule by one.	Rule by a few	Rule by many
Roman Form:	Consuls	Senate	Assemblies
American Form:	President	Senate	House of Representatives

Polybius fell out of fashion after the Roman Republic was replaced by the Roman Principate. The political concepts developed by Polybius lay dormant for centuries until the Enlightenment. Fortunately for the American Republic, Polybius was read by an influential French nobleman, Charles-Louis de Secondat, baron de La Brède et de Montesquieu. Montesquieu's close reading of Polybius is clear in his work, Considerations on the Causes of the Greatness of the Romans and their Decline. Montesquieu became the Enlightenment's conduit between Polybius and the founding fathers, thus influencing the nature of the American experiment.

In future posts, we will explore comparing the Polybian theory of history with other historical-political theories.