THE worthy Author of this Translation , who is very much my Friend , was pleas'd to intrust it in my Hands , for many Months together , before he publish'd it ; desiring me to review the English , and to Correct what I found amiss ; which he needed not have done , if his Modesty wou'd have given him leave , to have relied on his own Abilities ; who is so great a Master of our Stile and Language , as the World will acknowledge him to be , after the Reading of this Excellent Version . 'T is true , that Polybius has formerly appear'd in an English Dress ; but under such a Cloud of Errours , in his first Translation , that his native Beauty , was not only hidden , but his Sence perverted , in many places ; so that he appear'd unlike himself , and unworthy of that Esteem , which has always been paid him by Antiquity , as the most Sincere , the Clearest , and most Instructive of all Historians . He is now not only redeem'd from those Mistakes , but also restor'd to the first purity of his Conceptions : And the Stile in which he now speaks is as plain and unaffected , as that he wrote . I had only the pleasure of Reading him , in a fair Manuscript , without the toil of Alteration : At least it was so very inconsiderable , that it only cost me the dash of a Pen in some few places , and those of very small importance ; so much had the Care , the Diligence , and Exactness of my Friend prevented my Trouble , that he left me not the occasion of serving him in a Work which was already finish'd to my Hands : I doubt not but the Reader will approve my Judgment . So happy it is for a good Author , to fall into the hands of a Translator , who is of a Genius like his own ; who has added Experience to his natural Abilities ; who has been Educated in Business , of several kinds ; has Travell'd , like his Author , into many Parts of the World , and some of them the same with the present Scene of History ; has been employed in Business of the like nature , with Polybius ; and like him is perfectly acquainted , not only with the Terms of the Mathematicks , but has search'd into the bottom of that admirable Science , and reduc'd into Practice the most useful Rules of it , to his own Honour , and the Benefit of his Native Country ; who , besides these Advantages , possesses the knowledge of Shipping and Navigation ; and , in few Words , is not ignorant of any thing that concerns the Tacticks : So that here , from the beginning , we are sure of finding nothing that is not throughly Understood . The Expression is clear , and the Words adequate to the Subject . Nothing in the Matter will be mistaken ; nothing of the Terms will be misapplied : All is natural , and proper ; and he who understands good Sence and English , will be profited by the first , and delighted with the latter . This is what may be justly said in Commendation of the Translator , and without the note of Flattery to a Friend .

As for his Author , I shall not be asham'd to Copy from the Learned Casaubon , ( who has Translated him into Latine , ) many things which I had not from my own small Reading , and which I cou'd not , without great difficulty , have drawn but from his Fountain , not omitting some , which came casually in my way , by reading the Preface of the Abbot Pichon , to the Dauphin's Tacitus , an admirable and most useful Work ; which Helps , I ingeniously profess , to have receiv'd from them , both to clear my self from being a Plagiary of their Writings , and to give Authority by their Names , to the weakness of my own Performance .

The taking of Constantinople by Mahomet the Great , fell into the latter times of Pope Nicholas the Fifth ; a Pope not only studious of good Letters , and particularly of History , but also a great Encourager of it in others . From the dreadful Overthrow of that City , and final Subversion of the Greek Empire , many Learned Men escap'd , and brought over with them into Italy , that Treasure of ancient Authors , which by their unhappiness we now possess . And amongst the rest , some of these remaining Fragments of Polybius . The Body of this History , as he left it finish'd , was consisting of Forty Books , of which the eighth Part is only remaining to us , entire . As for his Negotiations , when he was sent Ambassador , either from his own Counttry-men , the Common-wealth of the Achaians , or afterwards was employed by the Romans , on their Business with other Nations , we are obliged to Constantine the Great , for their Preservation ; for that Emperour was so much in Love with the dexterous Management , and Wisdom of our Author , that he caus'd them all to be faithfully Transcrib'd , and made frequent Use of them in his own Dispatches and Affairs with Foreign Princes , as his best Guides in his Concernments with them . Polybius , as you will find in reading of him , though he principally intended the History of the Romans , and the Establishment of their Empire , over the greatest part of the World , which was then known ; yet had in his Eye the general History of the Times in which he liv'd , not forgetting either the Wars of his own Country , with their Neighbours of Etolia , or the concurrent Affairs of Macedonia , and the Provinces of Greece , ( which is properly so call'd ; ) nor the Monarchies of Asia and Egypt , nor the Republick of the Carthaginians , with the several Traverses of their Fortunes , either in relation to the Romans , or independent to the Wars , which they wag'd with them , besides what happen'd in Spain and Sicily , and other European Countries . The Time which is taken up in this History consists of Three and Fifty Years , and the greast part of it is employ'd in the description of those Events , of which the Author was an Eye-witness , or bore a considerable part in the Conduct of them . But in what particular Time or Age it was , when Mankind receiv'd that irrecoverable Loss of this Noble History , is not certainly deliver'd to us . It appears to have been perfect in the Reign of Constantine , by what I have already noted ; and neither Casaubon , nor any other , can give us any further Account concerning it . The first Attempt towards a Translation of him , was by Command of the same Pope Nicholas the Fifth , already mention'd , who esteem'd him the Prince of Greek Historians : Wou'd have him continually in his Hands ; and us'd to make this Judgment of him ; That , if he yielded to one or two , in the Praise of Eloquence , yet in Wisdom , and all other Accomplishments belonging to a perfect Historian , he was at least equal to any other Writer , Greek or Roman , and perhaps excell'd them all . This is the Author , who is now offer'd to us in our Mother Tongue , recommended by the Nobility of his Birth , by his Institution in Arts and Sciences , by his Knowledge in Natural and Moral Philosophy , and particularly the Politicks ; by his being conversant both in the Arts of Peace and War ; by his Education under his Father Lycortas , who voluntarily depos'd himself from his Soveraignty of Megalopolis , to become a principal Member of the Achaian Commonwealth , which then flourish'd under the management of Aratus , by his friendship with Scipio Affricanus , who subdued Carthage , to whom he was both a Companion and a Consellour ; and by the Good-will , Esteem , and Intimacy which he had with several Princes of Asia , Greece and Egypt , during his Life ; and after his Decease , by deserving the Applause and Approbation of all succeeding Ages . This Author so long neglected in the barbarous times of Christianity , and so little known in Europe , ( according to the Fate which commonly follows the best of Writers ) was pull'd from under the Rubbish which cover'd him , by the Learned Bishop , Nicholas the Fifth . And some parts of his History , ( for , with all his Diligence , he was not able to recover the whole ) were by him recommended to a Person ( knowing both in the Greek and Roman Tongues , and learn'd for the Times in which he liv'd ) to be Translated into Latin : And , to the Honour of our Polybius , he was amongst the first of the Greek Writers , who deserv'd to have this Care bestow'd on him . Which notwithstanding , so many Hindrances occur'd in this Attempt , that the Work was not perfected in his Popedome , neither was any more than a third Part of what is now recover'd in his Hands ; neither did that learn'd Italian , who had undertaken him , succeed very happily in that Endeavour ; for the perfect Knowledge of the Greek Language was not yet restor'd ; and that Translator was but as a one-ey'd Man , amongst the Nation of the Blind , only suffer'd , till a better could be found , to do right to an Author , whose Excellence requir'd a more just Interpreter , than the Ignorance of that Age afforded . And this gives me occasion to admire , ( says Casaubon , ) that in following Times , when Eloquence was redeem'd , and the Knowledge of the Greek Language flourish'd , yet no Man thought of pursuing that Design , which was so worthily begun , in those first Rudiments of Learning . Some indeed , of almost every Nation in Europe , have been instrumental in the recovery of several lost Parts of our Polybius , and commented on them with good Success ; but no Man before Casaubon , had review'd the first Translation , corrected its Errours , and put the last Hand to its Accomplishment . The World is therefore beholding to him for this great Work ; for he has collected into one their seattered Fragments , has piec'd them together , according to the natural Order in which they were Written ; made them intelligible to Scholars , and render'd the French Translator's Task more easie to his Hands . Our Author is particularly mention'd , with great Honour , by Cicero , Strabo , Josephus , and Plutarch ; and in what rank of Writers they are plac'd , none of the Learned need to be inform'd : He is copied in whole Books together by Livy , commonly esteem'd the Prince of the Roman History , and Translated word for word : Tho' the Latin Historian is not to be excus'd , for not mentioning the Man to whom he had been so much oblig'd , nor for taking as his own the worthy Labours of another . Marcus Brutus , who preferr'd the Freedom of his Country to the Obligations which he had to Julius Caesar , so priz'd Polybius , that he made a Compendium of his Works , and Read him not only for his Instruction , but for the Diversion of his Grief , when his noble Enterprise for the Restoration of the Commonwealth had not found the Success which it deserv'd . And this is not the least Commendation of our Author , that he , who was not wholly satisfied with the Eloquence of Tully , shou'd Epitomize Polybius , with his own Hand . It was on the Consideration of Brutus , and the Veneration which he paid him , that Constantine the Great took so great a pleasure in Reading our Author , and collecting the several Treaties of his Embassies ; of which , tho' many are now lost , yet those which remain are a sufficient Testimony of his Abilities ; and I congratulate my Country , that a Prince of our Extraction , ( as was Constantine ) has the honour of obliging the Christian World , by these Remainders of our great Historian . 'T is now time to enter into the particular Praises of Polybius , which I have given you before , in gross ; and the first of them , ( following the Method of Casaubon , ) is his wonderful Skill in Political Affairs . I had Read him in English , with the pleasure of a Boy , before I was ten Years of Age ; and yet , even then , had some dark Notions of the Prudence with which he conducted his Design ; particularly in making me known , and almost see the Places where such and such Actions were perform'd . This was the first distinction which I was then capable of making , betwixt him and other Historians , which I Read early . But when being of a riper Age , I took him again into my Hands ; I must needs say , that I have profited more by reading him , than by Thucydides , Appian , Dion Cassius , and all the rest of the Greek Historians together : And amongst all the Romans , none have reach'd him in this particular , but Tacitus , who is equal with him .

'T is wonderful to consider , with how much care and application he Instructs , Counsels , Warns , Admonishes and Advises , whensoever he can find a fit occasion : He performs all these sometimes in the nature of a common Parent of Mankind ; and sometimes also limits his Instructions to particular Nations , by a friendly Reproach of those Failings and Errours , to which they were most obnoxious . In this last manner , he gives Instructions to the Mantinaeans , the Elaeans , and several other Provinces of Greece ; by informing them of such things as were conducing to their Welfare . Thus he likewise warns the Romans of their Obstinacy and Wilfulness ; Vices , which have often brought them to the brink of Ruine . And thus he frequently exhorts the Greeks in general , not to depart from their Dependence on the Romans ; nor to take false Measures by embroiling themselves in Wars with that Victorious People , in whose Fate it was to be Masters of the Universe . But as his peculiar Concernment was for the Safety of his own Country-men , the Achaians , he more than once insinuates to them , the care of their Preservation , which consisted in submitting to the Yoke of the Roman People , which they could not possibly avoid ; and to make it Easie to them , by a chearful compliance with their Commands , rather than unprofitably to Oppose them , with the hazard of those remaining Priviledges , which the Clemency of the Conquerours had left them . For this reason , in the whole Course of his History , he makes it his chiefest business to perswade the Grecians in general , that the growing Greatness and Fortune of the Roman Empire was not owing to meer Chance , but to the Conduct and invincible Courage of that People ; to whom their own Virtue gave the Dominion of the World . And yet this Councellor of Patience and Submission , as long as there was any probability of hope remaining , to withstand the progress of the Roman Fortune ; was not wanting to the utmost of his power to resist them , at least to deferr the Bondage of his Country , which he had long foreseen : But the Fates inevitably drawing all things into subjection to Rome , this well-deserving Citizen was commanded to appear in that City , where he suffer'd the Imprisonment of many Years : Yet even then his Virtue was beneficial to him ; the knowledge of his Learning and his Wisdom , procuring him the friendship of the most Potent in the Senate ; so that it may be said , with Casaubon , that the same Virtue which had brought him into distress , was the very means of his relief , and of his exaltation to greater Dignities than those which he lost : For by the intercession of Cato the Censor , Scipio Emilianus , who afterwards destroy'd Carthage , and some other principal Noblemen , our Polybius was restor'd to Liberty . After which , having set it down as a Maxim , that the Welfare of the Achaians consisted , as I have said , in breaking their own stubborn Inclinations , and yielding up that Freedom which they no longer could maintain , he made it the utmost aim of his Endeavours , to bring over his Countrymen to that Perswasion : in which , though to their Misfortunes , his Counsels were not prevalent , yet thereby he not only prov'd himself a good Patriot , but also made his Fortunes with the Romans . For his Countrymen , by their own unpardonable Fault , not long afterwards , drew on themselves their own Destruction : For when Mummius , in the Achaian War , made a final Conquest of that Country ; he dissolv'd the great Council of their Commonwealth . But in the mean time , Polybius enjoy'd that tranquility of Fortune , which he had purchas'd by his Wisdom . In that private State , being particularly dear to Scipio and Lelius , and some of the rest who were then in the Administration of the Roman Government : And that Favour which he had gain'd amongst them , he employed not in heaping Riches to himself ; but as a means of performing many considerable Actions ; as particularly , when Scipio was sent to demolish Carthage , he went along with him , in the nature of a Counsellor , and Companion of his Enterprise . At which time , receiving the Command of a Fleet from him , he made Discoveries in many parts of the Atlantick Ocean ; and especially on the Shores of Africa : And doing many good Offices to all sorts of People , whom he had power to Oblige , especially to the Grecians , who in Honour of their Benefactor , caus'd many Statues of him to be erected ; as Pausanias has Written . The particular Gratitude of the Locrians in Italy , is also an undeniable Witness of this Truth ; who , by his Mediation being discharg'd from the burden of Taxes , which oppress'd them , through the hardship of those Conditions which the Romans had impos'd on them in the Treaty of Peace ; profess'd themselves to be owing for their Lives and Fortunes , to the only Interest and good Nature of Polybius ; which they took care to Express , by all manner of Acknowledgment . Yet as beneficent as he was , the greatest obligement which he could lay on Humane-kind , was the Writing of this present History : Wherein he has left a perpetual Monument of his publick Love to all the World , in every succeeding Age of it , by giving us such Precepts as are most conducing to our common Safety , and our Benefit . This Philanthropy ( which we have not a proper Word in English to express ) is every where manifest in our Author . And from hence proceeded that divine Rule which he gave to Scipio , that whensoever he went abroad , he should take care not to return to his own House , before he had acquir'd a Friend , by some new Obligement . To this Excellency of Nature we owe the Treasure which is contain'd in this most useful Work : This is the Standard by which all good and prudent Princes ought to regulate their Actions : None have more need of Friends than Monarchs . And though Ingratitude is too frequent , in the most of those who are Oblig'd ; yet Incouragement will work on generous Minds ; and if the Experiment be lost on Thousands , yet it never fails on All. And one vertuous Man in a whole Nation is worth the buying ; as one Diamond is worth the search in a heap of Rubbish . But a narrow-licarted Prince , who thinks that Mankind is made for him alone , puts his Subjects in a way of deserting him on the first Occasion ; and teaches them to be as sparing of their Duty , as he is of his Bounty . He is sure of making Enemies , who will not be at the cost of rewarding his Friends and Servants . And by letting his People see he loves them not , instructs them to live upon the square with him , and to make him sensible in his turn , that Prerogatives are given , but Priviledges are inherent . As for Tricking , Cunning , and that which in Soveraigns they call King-craft , and Reason of State in Commonwealths : To them and their Proceedings Polybius is an open Enemy . He severely repoves all faithless Practices , and that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , or vicious Policy , which is too frequent in the management of the Publick . He commends nothing but Plainness , Sincerity , and the Common-good , undisguis'd , and set in a true Light , before the People : Not but that there may be a Necessity of saving a Nation , by going beyond the Letter of the Law , or even sometimes by superseding it ; but then that Necessity must not be Artificial , it must be Visible , it must be strong enough to make the Remedy not only pardon'd , but desir'd , to the major part of the People : Not for the Interest only of some few Men , but for the Publick-safety , for otherwise , one Infringement of a Law , draws after it the practice of subverting all the Liberties of a Nation , which are only intrusted with any Government ; but can never be given up to it . The best way to distinguish betwixt a pretended Necessity and a true , is to observe if the Remedy be rarely apply'd , or frequently . In times of Peace , or times of War and publick Distractions , which are the most usual Causes of suddain Necessities . From hence Casaubon infers , That this our Author , who preaches Vertue , and Probity , and Plain-dealing , ought to be studied principally by Kings and Ministers of State : And that Youth , which are bred up to succeed in the management of Business , should read him carefully , and imbibe him throughly , detesting the Maxims that are given by Machiavel and others , which are only the Instruments of Tyranny , Further-more , ( continues he ) the study of Truth is perpetually joyn'd with the love of Virtue : For there is no Virtue which derives not its original from Truth : As on the contrary , there is no Vice which has not its beginning from a Lye . Truth is the foundation of all Knowledge , and the cement of all Societies . And this is one of the most shining Qualities in our Author . I was so strongly perswaded of this myself , in the perusual of the present History , that I confess , amongst all the Ancients , I never found any who had the Air of it so much ; and amongst the Moderns , none but Philip de Commines . They had this common to them , that they both chang'd their Masters : But Polybius chang'd not his side , as Philip did : He was not bought off to another Party ; but pursu'd the true Interest of his Country , even when he serv'd the Romans . Yet since Truth , ( as one of the Philosophers has told me ) lies in the bottom of a Well ; so 't is hard to draw it up : much Pains , much Diligence , much Judgment is necessary to hand it to us , even Cost is oftentimes requir'd ; and Polybius was wanting in none of these . We find but few Historians of all Ages , who have been diligent enough in their search for Truth : 't is their common method to take on trust what they distribute to the Publick ; by which means a Falshood once receiv'd from a fam'd Writer , becomes traditional to Posterity . But Polybius weigh'd the Authors from whom he was forc'd to borrow the History of the Times immediately preceding his ; and oftentimes corrected them , either by comparing them each with other , or by the Lights which he had receiv'd from ancient Men of known Integrity amongst the Romans , who had been conversant in those Affairs , which were then manag'd , and were yet living to Instruct him . He also learn'd the Roman Tongue , and attain'd to that knowledge of their Laws , their Rights , their Customs and Antiquities , that few of their own Citizens understood them better ; having gain'd permission from the Senate , to search the Capitol , he made himself familiar with their Records , and afterwards translated them into his Mother-tongue . So that he taught the Noblemen of Rome their own Municipal Laws , and was accounted more skilful in them than Fabius Pictor , a Man of the Senatorian Order , who wrote the Transactions of the Punick Wars . He who neglected none of the Laws of History , was so careful of Truth , ( which is the principal , ) that he made it his whole Business to deliver nothing to Posterity , which might deceive them ; and by that Diligence and Exactness may easily be known to be studious of Truth , and a lover of it . What therefore Brutus thought worthy to Transcribe with his own Hand out of him , I need not be asham'd to Copy after him . I believe , says Polybius , That Nature herself has constituted Truth as the supream Deity , which is to be ador'd by Mankind ; and that she has given it greater Force than any of the rest : For being oppos'd , as she is on all sides , and appearances of Truth so often passing for the thing itself , in behalf of plausible Falshoods ; yet , by her wonderful Operation , she insinuates herself into the Minds of Men ; sometimes exerting her Strength immediately , and sometimes lying hid in Darkness for length of time ; but at last she struggles through it , and appears Triumphant over Falshood . This sincerity Polybius preferr'd to all his Friends , and even to his Father ; In all other Offices of Life , says he , I praise a lover of his Friends , and of his Native Country ; but in writing History , I am oblig'd to divest myself of all other Obligations , and sacrifice them all to Truth . Aratus , the Sicyonian , in the Childhood of our Author , was chief of the Achaian Common-wealth ; a Man in principal Esteem , both in his own Country , and all the Provinces of Greece ; admir'd universally for his Probity , his Wisdom , his just Administration , and his Conduct : In remembrance of all which his grateful Country-men , after his Decease , ordain'd him those Honours which are only due to Heroes . Him our Polybius had in Veneration , and form'd himself by imitation of his Vertues ; and is never wanting in his Commendations through the course of his History . Yet , even this Man , when the cause of Truth requir'd it , is many times reprov'd by him , for his slowness in Counsel , his tardiness in the beginning of his Enterprises , his tedious , and more than Spanish Deliberations ; and his heavy and cowardly Proceedings are as freely blam'd by our Polybius , as they were afterwards by Plutarch , who questionless drew his Character from this History . In plain Terms , that wise General scarce ever perform'd any great Action but by Night . The glittering of a Sword before his Face was offensive to his Eyes : Our Author therefore boldly accuses him of his Faint-heartedness ; attributes the Defeat at Caphiae wholly to him , and is not sparing to affirm , That all Peloponnesus was fill'd with Trophies , which were set up , as the Monuments of his Losses . He sometimes Praises , and at other times Condemns the Proceedings of Philip King of Macedon , the Son of Demetrius , according to the Occasions which he gave him , by the variety and inequality of his Conduct ; and this most exquisite on either side .

He more than once Arraigns him for the inconstancy of his Judgment : And chapters even his own Aratus , on the same Head ; shewing by many Examples , produc'd from their Actions , how many Miseries they had both occasion'd to the Grecians . And attributing it to the weakness of humane Nature , which can make nothing perfect . But some Men are brave in Battel , who are weak in Counsel , which daily Experience sets before our Eyes , others deliberate wisely , but are weak in the performing part ; and even no Man is the same to Day which he was Yesterday , or may be to Morrow . On this account . says our Author , a good Man is sometimes liable to Blame , and a bad Man , though not often , may possibly deserve to be Commended . And for this very reason he severely taxes Timaeus , a malicious Historian , who will allow no kind of Vertue to Agathocles the Tyrant of Sicily ; but detracts from all his Actions , even the most Glorious , because in general he was a vicious Man . Is it to be thought , says Casaubon , that Polybius loved the Memory of Agathocles the Tyrant , or hated that of the Vertuous Aratus ? But 't is one thing to commend a Tyrant , and another thing to overpass in silence , those laudable Actions which are perform'd by him : Because it argues an Author of the same Falshood , to pretermit , what has actually been done , as to feign those Actions which have never been . It will not be unprofitable in this place , to give another famous Instance of the Candour and Integrity of our Historian . There had been an ancient League betwixt the Republick of Achaia and the Kings of Egypt , which was entertain'd by both Parties , sometimes on the same Conditions , and sometimes also the Confederacy was renew'd on other Terms . It happen'd in the 148th Olympiad , that Ptolomy Epiphanes , on this Occasion , sent one Demetrius his Ambassadour to the Common-wealth of Achaia . That Republick was then ruinously divided into two Factions : whereof the Heads on one side , were Philopoemen , and Lycortas the Father of our Author ; of the adverse Party , the Chief was Aristaenus , with some other principal Achaians . The Faction of Philopoemen was prevalent in the Council , for renewing the Confederacy with the King of Egypt : In order to which , Lycortas receiv'd a Commission to go to that Court , and treat the Articles of Alliance . Accordingly he goes , and afterwards returns , and gives Account to his Superiors , that the Treaty was concluded . Aristaenus , hearing nothing but a bare Relation of a League that was made , without any thing belonging to the Conditions of it , and well knowing that several forms of those Alliances had been us'd in the former Negotiations , ask'd Lycortas in the Concil , according to which of them this present Confederacy was made ? To this Question of his Enemy , Lycortas had not a word to answer . For it had so happen'd by the wonderful neglect of Philopoemen and his own , and also that of Ptolomy's Counsellors ; or , as I rather believe , by their Craft contriv'd , that the whole Transaction had been loosly and confusedly manag'd , which , in a Matter of so great importance , redounded to the Scandal and Ignominy of Philopoemen and Lycortas , in the Face of that grave Assembly . Now these Proceedings our Author so relates , as if he had been speaking of Persons to whom he had no manner of relation , tho' one of them was his own Father , and the other always esteem'd by him in the place of a better Father . But being mindful of the Law which himself had instituted , concerning the indispensible Duty of an Historian , ( which is Truth ) he chose rather to be thought a lover of it , than of either of his Parents . 'T is true , Lycortas in all probability was dead , when Polybius wrote this History ; but had he been then living , we may safely think that his Son wou'd have assum'd the same Liberty , and not fear'd to have offended him in behalf of Truth . Another part of this Veracity is also deserving the notice of the Reader , tho' , at the same time , we must conclude , that it was also an effect of a sound Judgment ; that he perpetually explodes the Legends of Prodigies and Miracles , and instead of them , most accurately searches into the natural Causes , of those Actions which he describes ; for , from the first of these , the latter follows of direct consequence . And for this reason he professes an immortal Enmity to those Tricks and Jugglings , which the Common-people believe as real Miracles , because they are ignorant of the Causes which produc'd them . But he had made a diligent Search into them , and found out that they preceeded either from the fond Credulity of the People , or were impos'd on them by the Craft of those whose Interest it was that they should be believ'd . You hear not in Polybius , that it Rain'd Blood , or Stones ; that a Bull had Spoken , or a thousand such Impossibilities , with which Livy perpetually crowds the Calends of almost every Consulship . His New Years could no more begin without them , during his Description of the Punick Wars , than our Prognosticating Almanacks without the Effects of the present Oppositions betwixt Saturn and Jupiter , the foretelling of Comets and Coruscations in the Air , which seldom happen at the times assign'd by our Astrologers , and almost always fail in their Events . If you will give Credit to some other Authors , some God was always present with Hannibal , or Scipio , to direct their Actions : That a visible Deity wrought Journey-work under Hannibal , to conduct him through the difficult Passages of the Alpes ; and another did the same Office of Drudgery for Scipio , when he Besieg'd New Carthage , by draining the Waters , which otherwise wou'd have drown'd his Army , in their rash Approaches . Which Polybius observing , says wittily and truly , That the Authors of such fabulous kind of Stuff , write Tragedies , not Histories . For , as the Poets , when they are at a loss for the Solution of a Plot , bungle up their Catastrophe , with a God descending in a Machine : So these inconsiderate Historians , when they have brought their Heroes into a Plunge , by some rash and headlong Undertaking , having no Humane way remaining to disingage them with their Honour , are forc'd to have recourse to Miracle ; and introduce a God for their Deliverance . 'T is a common Frenzy of the ignorant Multitude , says Casaubon , to be always ingaging Heaven on their side ; and indeed it is a successful Stratagem of any General , to gain Authority among his Souldiers , if he can perswade them , that he is the Man by Fate appointed for such , or such an Action , though most impracticable . To be favour'd of God , and command , ( if it may be permitted so to say , ) the extraordinary concourse of Providence , sets off a Heroe , and makes more specious the Cause for which he Fights , without any consideration of Morality , which ought to be the beginning and end of all our Actions . For where that is violated , God is only present in permission ; and suffers a Wrong to be done , but not Commands it . Light Historians , and such as are Superstitious in their Natures , by the artifice of feign'd Miracles , captivate the gross Understandings of their Readers , and please their Fancies by Relations of things which are rather Wonderful than True : But such as are of a more profound and solid Judgment , ( which is the Character of our Polybius , ) have recourse only to their own natural Lights , and by them pursue the Methods at least of Probability , if they cannot arrive to a settled Certainty . He was satisfi'd that Hannibal was not the first , who had made a Passage through the Alpes , but that the Gauls had been before him in their Descent on Italy ; and also knew , that this most prudent General , when he laid his Design of Invading that Country , had made an Alliance with the Gauls , and prepossess'd them in his Favour , and before he stirr'd a foot from Spain , had provided against all those Difficulties which he foresaw in his Attempt , and compass'd his Undertaking , which indeed was void of Miracles , but full of Conduct , and Military Experience . In the same manner Scipio , before he departed from Rome , to take his Voyage into Spain , had carefully consider'd every particular Circumstance which might cross his Purpose , and made his Enterprise as easie to him as humane Prudence could provide ; so that he was Victorious over that Nation , not by vertue of any Miracle , but by his admirable Forecast , and wise Conduct in the execution of his Design . Of which , tho' Polybius was not an Eye-witness , he yet had it from the best Testimony , which was that of Lelius , the Friend of Scipio , who accompanied him in that Expedition , of whom our Author with great Diligence enquir'd concerning every thing of Moment , which happen'd in that War , and with whom he commends for hi● sincerity in that Relation . Whensoever h● gives us the Account of any considerable Action , he never fails to tell us why it succeeded , or for what reason it miscarried ; together with all the antecedent Causes of its Undertaking , and the manner of its performance ; all which he accurately Explains . Of which I will select but some few Instances , because I want Leisure to expatiate on many . In the Fragments of the 17th Book he makes a learned Dissertation concerning the Macedonian Phalanx , or gross Body of Foot , which was formerly believ'd to be Invincible , till Experience taught the contrary , by the success of the Battle , which Philip lost to the Commonwealth of Rome ; and the manifest and most certain Causes are therein related , which prove it to be inferior to the Roman Legions . When also he had told us in his former Books , of the three great Battles , wherein Hannibal had Overthrown the Romans , and the last at Cannae , wherein he had in a manner Conquer'd that Republick , he gives the Reasons of every Defeat , either from the Choice of Ground , or the Strength of the Foreign Horse in Hannibal's Army , or the ill-timing of the Fight on the vanquish'd side . After this , when he describes the turn of Fortune on the Part of the Romans , you are visibly conducted upwards to the Causes of that Change ; and the reasonableness of the Method which was afterward pursu'd by that Commonwealth , which rais'd it to the Empire of the World . In these and many other Examples , which for brevity are omitted , there is nothing more plain , than that Polybius denies all Power to Fortune , and places the Sum of Success in Providence . 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 , indeed are his Words . 'T is a Madness to make Fortune the Mistress of Events , because in herself she is nothing , can Rule nothing , but is rul'd by Prudence . So that whenever our Author seems to attribute any thing to Chance , he speaks only with the Vulgar , and desires so to be understood : But here I must make bold to part Company with Casaubon for a Moment . He is a vehement Friend to any Author with whom he has taken any Pains ; and his Partialily to Persius , in opposition to Juvenal , is too fresh in my Memory to be forgotten . Because Polybius will allow nothing to the Power of Chance , he takes an occasion to infer , that he believ'd a Providence , sharply inveighing against those who have accus'd him of Atheism . He makes Suidas his Second in this Quarrel , and produces his single Evidence , and that but a bare Assertion neither without Proof , that Polybius believ'd , with us Christians , God administer'd all humane Actions and Affairs . But our Author will not be defended in this case , his whole History reclaims to that Opinion . When he speaks of Providence , or of any Divine Admonition , he is as much in jest , as when he speaks of Fortune ; 't is all to the Capacity of the Vulgar . Prudence was the only Divinity which he Worshipp'd ; and the possession of Vertue the only End which he Propos'd . If I would have disguis'd this to the Reader , it was not in my Power . The Passages which manifestly prove his Irreligion , are so obvious , that I need not quote them . Neither do I know any reason , why Casaubon shou'd in large so much in his Justification , since to believe false Gods , and to believe none , are Errors of the same Importance . He who knew not our God , saw through the ridiculous Opinions of the Heathens concerning theirs ; and not being able without Revelation , to go farther , stopp'd at home in his own Breast , and made Prudence his Goddess , Truth his Search , and Vertue his Reward . If Casaubon , like him , had follow'd Truth , he would have sav'd me the Ungrateful Pains of contradicting him : But even the Reputation of Polybius , if there were occasion , is to be sacrific'd to Truth , according to his own Maxim . As for the Wisdom of our Author , whereby he wonderfully foresaw the Decay of the Roman Empire , and those Civil Wars which turn'd it down from a Commonwealth , to an absolute Monarchy : He who will take the Pains to review this History will easily perceive , that Polybius was of the best sort of Prophets , who predict from Natural Causes those Events , which must naturally proceed from them .

And these things were not to succeed even in the compass of the next Century to that wherein he liv'd . But the Person was then living , who was the first mover towards them ; and that was that great Scipio Africanus , who by cajolling the People , to break the Fundamental Constitutions of the Government , in his Favour , by bringing him too early to the Consulship , and afterwards by making their Discipline of War precarious , First taught them to devolve the Power and Authority of the Senate , into the hands of one , and then to make that one to be at the Disposition of the Souldiery ; which though he practis'd at a time , when it was necessary for the safety of the Common-wealth , yet it drew after it those fatal Consequences , which not only ruin'd the Republick , but also , in process of time , the Monarchy it self . But the Author was too much in the Interests of that Family , to Name Scipio ; and therefore he gives other Reasons , to which I refer the Reader , that I may avoid prolixity . By what degrees Polybius arriv'd to this heighth of Knowledge , and consummate Judgment in Affairs , it will not be hard to make the Reader comprehend ; for presupposing in him , all that Birth or Nature could give a Man , who was form'd for the Management of great Affairs , and capable of Recording them ; he was likewise enter'd from his Youth into those Employments which add Experience to Natural Endowments . Being joyn'd in Commission with his Father Lycortas , and the Younger Aratus , before the Age of Twenty , in an Embassy to Egypt . After which he was perpetually in the Business of his own Common-wealth , or that of Rome . So that it seems to be one Part of the Roman Felicity , that he was Born in an Age , when their Common-weath was growing to the heighth , that he might be the Historian of those great Actions , which were perform'd not only in his Life-time , but the chief of them even in his Sight . I must confess that the Preparations to his History , ( or the Prolegomena , as they are call'd ) are very large , and the Digressions in it , are exceeding frequent . But as to his Preparatives , they were but necessary , to make the Reader comprehend the Drift and Design of his Undertaking . And the Digressions are also so Instructive , that we may truly say , They Transcend the Profit which we receive from the Matter of Fact . Upon the whole we may conclude him to be a great Talker ; but we must grant him to be a Prudent Man . We can spare nothing of all he says , 't is so much to our Improvement : and if the rest of his History had remain'd to us , in all probability it wou'd have been more close ; for we can scarce conceive what was left in nature for him to add , he has so emptied almost all the Common-places of Digressions already ; or if he could have added any thing , those Observations might have been as Useful , and as Necessary , as the rest which he has given us , and that are descended to our Hands . I will say nothing farther of the Excerpta , which ( as Casaubon thinks ) are part of that Epitome , which was begun to be made by Marcus Brutus , but never finish'd ; nor of those Embassies which are collected and compil'd by the command of Constantine the Great : Because neither of them are translated in this Work . And whether or no they will be added in another Impression , I am not certain . The Translator of these Five Books having carried his Work no farther , than it was Perfect . He , I suppose , will acquaint you with his own Purpose in the Preface , which I hear he intends to prefix before Polybius .