Polyaenus facts for kids
Polyaenus (pronounced POL-ee-EE-nuhs) was a Greek writer who lived a long time ago, in the 2nd century CE. He is most famous for his book called Stratagems in War. This book is a collection of clever tricks and plans used by military leaders.
Polyaenus was born in a place called Bithynia. He was a rhetorician, which means he was skilled at speaking and writing to persuade people. He even said he used to argue cases in front of the Roman emperor. Polyaenus wrote his famous book for two Roman emperors, Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus. He gave them the book around the year 163 CE, when they were fighting in a war. Polyaenus was too old to join them in battle, so he offered his wisdom through his book instead.
Contents
What are Polyaenus's Stratagems?
Polyaenus's book, Stratagems in War, is split into eight parts. It tells stories about the clever plans and tricks used by famous generals and leaders from history.
- The first six parts are about smart moves made by Greek generals.
- The seventh part talks about strategies from non-Greek and non-Roman leaders.
- The eighth part shares tricks used by Roman generals and even some famous women.
Originally, Polyaenus described about 900 different strategies. However, some parts of the sixth and seventh books are missing today. Because of this, we only have 833 of his clever stories left.
How the Book Survived History
There is only one complete copy of Polyaenus's book that has survived from the 13th century. This special copy is now kept in a library in Florence, Italy. The book is written in a clear and pleasant style. It contains many interesting stories about famous people from ancient times. It also helps us learn unique historical facts that might have been lost otherwise.
Over time, people made shorter versions of Polyaenus's work. There are at least five of these shorter versions from the Byzantine Empire. The most important one is also in the same library as the original book. This shorter version has 58 chapters and 354 strategies. It is very helpful for understanding parts of the original book that might be unclear or even missing.
Even with these shorter versions, Polyaenus's book was not very popular during the Middle Ages. Other writers from that time rarely mentioned the original book. This suggests that the full version was not widely read, and the shorter versions had taken its place. It seems that only one of these shorter versions was made directly from the original book, while the others were summaries of that first shorter version.
When Was the Book First Printed?
The first time Polyaenus's work was printed was in 1549. It was a Latin translation printed in Basel. The very first edition of the Greek text was published in 1589 in Lyon. Since then, it has been printed several more times. The book has also been translated into other languages, like English and German, so more people could read it.
Did Polyaenus Write Other Books?
Yes, Polyaenus wrote several other books, but sadly, none of them have survived. We only know their titles because other ancient writers mentioned them.
- One book was called On Thebes.
- Another was called Tactics, which was about military strategies and was in three parts.
Other writers also quoted from two more of his works:
- For the koinon of Macedonians
- For the Synedrion
Polyaenus also mentioned that he planned to write a book about the important actions of the emperors Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus, but this book was also lost.
Images for kids
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This old picture shows Polyaenus's book, Stratagems in War.
See also
In Spanish: Polieno para niños
