The people’s moral emotions in polybius’ cycle of constitutions

Popular emotions play a critical role in Polybius’ theory of constitutional changes, or anacyclosis, in his Histories. Emotion coalesces with morality and reason in the changes of state-form (politeia) within Polybius’ political theory, leading to the removal of bad rulers and the reestablishment of a good state-form. Moreover, the people feel these rational emotions and thus preserve communal values. Polybius’ portrayal of the people’s moral emotions is unique in ancient philosophies of state-change, provides an ancient parallel to modern philosophy of emotions, and challenges long-standing scholarly assumptions that for Polybius the people had no beneficial role in politics.