Polybius, Rise of the Roman Empire
Bk 3 Summary
Polybius begins by discussing the difference the cause and the beginning of a war, and uses this distinction to discern the true cause of the Second Punic War. He briefly discusses the theory of Fabius, which says that Hannibal was acting on his own in Italy, without Carthaginian support, but he quickly dismisses this as improbable. Then, he discusses Hamilcar, Hannibal's father, and his hatred for the Romans. Hannibal took his father's place at his death, and began a conquest of Spain, culminating in defeating Saguntum, which was a Roman ally. Polybius cuts from the story to discuss a side-war that the Romans began in Illyria because they expected Hannibal to move slower. However, Hannibal outstripped their expectations and arrived in Italy before their army could get back. Before continuing with the story, Polybius begins a discussion on previous treaties between Carthage and Rome, in the hopes of providing background for the reader. The reading ends here.
Bk 4 Summary
Polybius spends the entirety of the chapter discussing various forms of government and their pitfalls. He covers monarchy, which eventually decays and turns into aristocracy, which also decays and finally turns into democracy; and when democracy turns into mob rule, a monarch rises to tame the mob and the cycle begins again. Polybius claims that any government founded on one of these forms will always become corrupted and fall. Rather, he says that the best form of government is the one that contains the best parts of all three. That is, in a government that contains a monarch, aristocrats, and a powerful people, the parts will work together and even out each others' defects. This, he says, is the government that Rome adopted, and this, he argues, is the reason for Rome's longstanding strength. Comparing Rome to the governments of Greece and Carthage, he definitively shows that Rome had the superior government, and that is why they conquered.