SOURCE: "Presidential Address," in Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, New Series, Vol XI, 1897. Reprint by Kraus, 1971, pp. 1-17.

In the following excerpt, Duff cites passages from the writings of Polybius to demonstrate the timeliness of his political ideas and to advocate a wider study of his works.

In previous Addresses I have spoken of Thucydides, Tacitus, Herodotus, and Aristotle, with special reference to the amount of light to be gained from their writings by the modern statesman. To-day I propose to take for my subject a far less famous personage, but one who should certainly not be passed over without some notice, by anybody who is interested in the contributions made by the ancient world to political thought.

Polybius—for it is to him that I allude—has been in several respects very unfortunate. In the first place, of his large and carefully ordered work only five...