Romans as ΒΑΡΒΑΡΟΙ: Three Polybian Speeches and the Politics of Cultural Indeterminacy
T HE SPEECHES IN POLYBIUs' HISTORIES provide important insights into what is perhaps the most controversial topic in Polybian studies: the Greek historian's attitudes towards Rome. A great deal of modern scholarly debate has revolved around mutually exclusive interpretations that Polybius was essentially either pro-Roman or anti-Roman.' A close reading of the Histories suggests a more nuanced approach to the question of Polybius' views on Rome. Viewing Polybius' barbarian category in relation to his representations of the Romans provides a key to the historian's stance(s) on Rome, and here his speeches are of the utmost importance. The objectives of the present study are to analyze Polybius' "barbarology" vis-'a-vis Rome, with a special focus on the medium of the reported speech, and to explore its implications regarding the political predicament of Greek statesmen of the second century in the face of Roman power. In only one passage in the Histories (12.4b.2-3, discussed in Section II below), does the Achaean historian say in his own voice that the Romans were a barbarian people. Yet in three reported speeches, Polybius allows his historical agents Agelaus, Lyciscus, and a Greek ambassador, probably the Rhodian statesman Thrasycrates, to call the Romans "barbarians."2 Without discounting the historicity of these ambassadors' charges against the Romans, I shall argue that Polybius employs these speeches as a vehicle for indirect expression of hostility towards Rome, a hostility conforming to widespread Greek public opinion at the time of composition of the Histories.3 I refer to this Greek view of the Romans as fdpfa3pot, according to
Anēr Poluplanēs: Geography and the Odyssean Tradition in Polybius
Polybius’ allusions to Odysseus have often been dismissively attributed to “romantic imagination” in studies of the historian’s purpose and method. This tendency to analyze Polybius’ “Homeric” passages in emotional terms, minimizing their historiographical significance, has obscured a key facet of the historian’s self-characterization. The Odyssean theme in the Histories suggestively connects the worldly statesman to the spirit and accomplishments of the πeρίπλους narratives pioneered by Hecataeus, Scylax, and others. On this foundation, Polybius constructs an ecumenical geography which unites Greek intellectual and cultural prestige with the benefits of Roman hegemony.
Timber, its nature and behaviour
Preface. Acknowledgements. Chapter 1 - Structure of Timber. Chapter 2 - Appearance of Timber in Relation to its Structure. Chapter 3 - Mass Volume Relationships. Chapter 4 - Movement in Timber. Chapter 5 - Flow in Timber. Chapter 6 - Deformation Under Load. Chapter 7 - Strength and Failure in Timber. Chapter 8 - Durability of Timber. Chapter 9 - Processing of Timber. Index.