Gavin A Weaire

In service of an argument that Ephorus was not a "universal" historian, John Tully (2014) challenges the traditional view that Polybius views himself as a "universal" historian (in some sense). He argues that the expressions tau kappa alpha theta o lambda omicron upsilon gamma rho alpha phi epsilon iota nu and kappa alpha tau mu epsilon rho omicron sigma refer to the presence or absence of a balanced overall perspective, irrespective of scope. This is untenable, but Tully is correct to argue that Ephorus is not otherwise seen as the first "universal" historian. Polybius perhaps constructed him as this in order to erase Herodotus, a more threatening predecessor.