Classifieds

Commentary
Previous installments in this series have covered four Greek scholars whose thought helped shape the American Constitution. (For links to previous installments, see the following: first, second, third, fourth, fifth.) This installment covers a later Greek scholar: Polybius.
After the death of Alexander the Great in 323 B.C.E., the conqueror's generals carved out large kingdoms for themselves in Asia, Egypt, and southeast Europe. Greece remained fragmented, and therefore subject to encroachment. For self-protection and other common functions, Greek city-states formed confederations among themselves.

Into this world—the Hellenistic world—Polybius was born about 200 B.C.E. His father served as the chief magistrate of the town of Megalopolis, located in the central Peloponnese. Megalopolis was, along with other Peloponnesian towns, a member of the confederacy known as the Achaean League....