(Taken from Polybius 'Histories' Books I and VI) Translator's Introduction. Polybius (c. 200-118 B.C.) was born in Megalopolis, Arcadia, and was the son of Lycortas, the commander of the army of the Achaean League. After the defeat of Perseus, the King of Macedonia, by Lucius Aemilius Paullus, in 167 B.C. Polybius was sent to Rome as a hostage, and he remained in this position until 150. During this time he tutored Paullus' son, Scipio Aemilianus, to whom he became closely attached, and whom he accompanied during the Third Punic War...