Chapter 4 A Cloud from the West
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Abstract
The Changing Shape of World History
Greek historians had long held an interest in synchronicity and the linkages of events across time and geographic/political space. They also worked within a tradition of dividing the past into a particular sequence of great kingdoms, following one upon the other across millennia. The patterns could vary, but they all tapped into a now accepted view of cyclical world history, and an equal anticipation of something greater: either a realization of Alexander’s pan-Hellenic dream, or a return to local/regional freedom. Such traditions began to posit Rome as the anticipated and prophesied “fifth kingdom” in world history.
Apocalyptic Traditions and Roman Despoteia
The notion that Rome represented a “fifth kingdom” was not pleasing to all. Apocalyptic prophetic texts began to communicate a belief in, and even a fevered anticipation of, a savior-king who would overcome Rome’s evil empire and restore a new Hellenic order. Contemporary political-philosophical debates also questioned the possibility of justice in international power, with some contending that all such rule was despotism (despoteia), beneficial only to the rulers, at the expense of the ruled.
Polybius’ Universal History
The work of Polybius considered all of the above trends, from the ever-increasing synthesis of the oikoumenē, to the uniqueness of the Roman polity on the international stage, to the significance of Roman views of their “greater-ness,” to contemporary theories regarding historical cycles and the demise of the Roman despot. This section explores the universalism of Polybius’ Histories, his quest to capture a holistic and didactic vision of the contemporary world, in its new essence as an “organic whole” (sōmatoeidēs), as well as his aims to instruct all current and future statesmen about the very nature and motion of History, writ large.
Fate (Tuchē) and the Cycles of History (Anacyclosis)
An important feature of Polybius’ contribution was his use of Fate (or Tuchē) as a recurring character. Tuchē appeared as the figure directing the central narrative of world history, pulling all peoples, places, and events into one endpoint. As such, Polybius’ Tuchē was reminiscent of contemporary ideologies regarding the goddess Roma, but importantly, the historian set her apart from Rome and the Romans. At the same time, this version of Tuchē emphasized a distinct interest in cyclical history and in the possibility that moments of transition can be decoded for instructional value. Polybius thus deployed a new theory of anacyclosis, establishing a model for the growth and decay of all politeiai, and he made it clear that Rome and the future (both for Rome and the rest of the word) should be evaluated according to it.