On the 3d of January 1454 the Pope writes again to Perotti thanking him
for the third book; and in a letter to Torelli, dated 13th November
1453, Perotti says that he had finished his translation of Polybius in
the preceding September. This translation was first printed in 1473.
The Greek text was not printed till 1530, when an edition of the first
five books in Greek, along with Perotti’s translation, was published at
the Hague, _opera Vincentii Obsopaei_, dedicated to George, Marquess of
Brandenburg. Perotti’s translation was again printed at Basle in 1549,
accompanied by a Latin translation of the fragments of books 6 to 17 by
Wolfgan Musculus, and reprinted at the Hague in 1598.
The chief fragments of Polybius fall into two classes; (1) those
made by some unknown epitomator, who Casaubon even supposed might be
Marcus Brutus, who, according to Plutarch, was engaged in this work
in his tent the night before the battle of Pharsalus. The printing of
these began with two insignificant fragments on the battle between
the Rhodians and Attalus against Philip, Paris, 1536; and another _de
re navali_, Basle, 1537. These fragments have continually accumulated
by fresh discoveries. (2) The other class of fragments are those
made by the order of Constantinus Porphyrogenitus (911-959), among
similar ones from other historians, which were to be digested under
fifty-three heads or tituli; one of which (the 27th) has come down
to us, discovered in the sixteenth century, containing the _selecta
de legationibus_; and another (the 50th) _de virtute et vitio_. The
printing of the first of these begins with the edition of Fulvius
Ursinus, published at Antwerp in 1582. This was supplemented in
1634 (Paris) by an edition by Valesius of _excerpta ex collectaneis
Constantini Augusti Porphyrogeneti_. The first edition of something
like a complete text of Polybius, containing the five entire books,
the _excerptae legationes_, and fragments of the other books, was
that of Isaac Casaubon, Paris, 1609, fo. It was accompanied by a new
and very brilliant Latin translation, and a preface which has been
famous among such works. It contains also a Latin translation of
Aeneas Tacticus. Altogether it is a splendid book. Some additional
_annotationes_ of Casaubon’s were published after his death in 1617,
Paris.[2] Other editions followed; that of Gronovius, Amsterdam, 1670:
of Ernesti, Leipsic, 1764, containing Casaubon’s translation more or
less emended, and additional fragments. But the next important step
in the bibliography of Polybius was the publication of the great
edition of Schweighaeuser, Leipsic, 1789-1795, in nine volumes, with
a new Latin translation,—founded, however, to a great extent on
Casaubon,—a new recension of the text, and still farther additions
to the fragments; accompanied also by an excellent Lexicon and
Onomasticon. This great work has been the foundation from which all
modern commentaries on Polybius must spring. Considerable additions
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account