The Shaping of Narrative in Polybius

Description

The narrative artistry of Polybius has received relatively little scholarly attention. Critics have tended to discuss his reflections on the various issues presented in his work or to use him as a source of valuable information about the historical period that he records. This volume, which draws on narratology’s analytical tools, focuses instead on the narrative of the Histories, exploring the sophisticated narrative techniques that have gone into shaping it. In doing so, it pays particular attention to the ways the formal aspects of the text contribute to promoting Polybius’ thematic concerns. Its aim is not only to present the Histories as the work of an author who has taken pains to provide us with a carefully structured story, but also to illustrate how interpretations of this story can be enriched by a sensitivity to factors such as chronological displacements and variations of focalization. Introduction 1 Well begun is half done 1.1 The proem (1.1–5) 1.2 The Romans’ first crossing into Sicily (1.6–12) 1.2.1 Where to begin 1.2.2 Rhegium and Messana: The issue of mercenaries 1.2.3 The intervention of Rome 2 The narrative of the prokataskeue 2.1 The First Punic War (1.13–63) 2.1.1 The theme of naval supremacy 2.1.2 The story of Hannibal the ‘Rhodian’ (1.46–47) as Mise en Abyme 2.1.3 Romans and Carthaginians 2.2 The Roman Wars against the Illyrians (2.2–12) and the Gauls (2.14–35) 3 Temporal strategies 3.1 Synchronicity 3.2 The interlace structure of book 3 3.2.1 Spain and Illyria (3.13–34) 3.2.1.1 The Romans’ strategic error 3.2.1.2 Hannibal 3.2.2 Hannibal’s march on Italy (3.35–3.57.1) 3.3 Order 3.3.1 Analepses 3.3.2 Prolepses 4 Focalization and interpretation 4.1 The theatre of war 4.2 The attribution of motives 4.3 The Carthaginians in Italy (3.69–117) 4.4 The Romans in Africa (14.1–15.9) 5 The Polybian narrator 5.1 The primary narrator 5.1.1 The narrator as writer 5.1.2 The narrator as historian 5.1.3 The narrator as critic 5.2 Polybius as a character 5.3 Narratees Conclusions Bibliography Index Locorum General Index