The truth about this history is that is quite literally a gift to the reader from an unlikely point of view. Instead of just being lost in the flow of time, Polybius took the time to express his understanding of current events and his experience of them. Now, we have more detailed, well-crafted versions of history, but Polybius demonstrates the very essence of history, a desire to communicate the unimaginable nature of human reality.
Plus, there is undeniable artistic framing in the history, which is fascinating because that was done by time. The story covers the privileges of the citizens, the development and continual improvement of a balanced democracy, and the rise of the Roman Empire by defeating Carthage and then dominating the Mediterranean. But why doesn't it contain more? Because the vast majority of the text has been lost—we only have a small selection of his history, and in some ways it is quite a sufficient stand-alone fragment.
This relic of human consciousness also includes depictions of honor and warfare. The wars covered in this history (The Punic Wars) were a turning point in human combat, kind of like the WWI and WWII. Before, war meant one thing, and afterward, war meant something different: That's the picture Polybius paints of these wars. After the fall of Corinth, the reader knows from history what comes next: Absolute Roman domination of Europe and Africa and the Middle East.
