ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights the social nature of emotion. Fundamental terminology drawn from social scientific studies elucidate the role of emotions, exemplified through key passages in Polybius’ Histories, such as the Macedonian king Philip V’s first sack of the Aetolians’ sacred capital of Thermum, the capture of Achaeus, a rival for the Seleucid throne, and Achaean indignation at the general Aratus. Following the terms and features established in the first section, this chapter examines general ancient terms for emotion itself in the Histories. A comparison with the Hellenistic philosophies of Stoicism and Epicureanism, which flourished contemporary to Polybius, highlights the social nature of Polybius’ historiographical portrayals of emotion. A social constructivist approach to emotion brings into focus the cultural basis for emotion in Polybius’ Histories, examining emotions of the Epirotes, Aetolians, and Carthaginians. Emotions in ancient historiography fulfill roles identified and elucidated by modern social science; they occur between people, affect decisions, actions, and events and are formed and influenced by social and cultural constructs.
