Polybius

• Polybius (c.200-c.118 BCE) was a Greek Historian from the Peloponnese, Greece.
• He is noted for his ‘Histories’ where he describes the Fall and Sack of Carthage in 146 BCE which he witnessed.

Biography

• He was deported to Rome, after his Father opposed Roman domination of Macedonia.
• In Rome he became Tutor to the sons of Lucius Aemilius Paulus.
• He later accompanied the Roman General Scipio Aemilianus on campaigns in Spain and Africa describing the end of Carthage in 146 BCE.

Polybius Square

• Polybius helped advance Cryptography by the invention of the Polybius Square.

Works

• ‘The Histories’
  • They cover the period 220-146 BCE and include an eye witness account of the final Fall and Sack of Carthage in 146 BCE.