Now if from their success or failure alone we could form an adequate judgement of how far states and individuals are worthy of praise or blame, I could here lay down my pen, bringing my narrative and this whole work to a close with the last-mentioned events, as was my original intention.
For the period of fifty-three years finished here, and the growth and advance of Roman power was now complete.
Besides which it was now universally accepted as a necessary fact that henceforth all must submit to the Romans and obey their orders.
But since judgements regarding either the conquerors or the conquered based purely on performance are by no means final —
what is thought to be the greatest success having brought the greatest calamities on many, if they do not make proper use of it, and the most dreadful catastrophes often turning out to the advantage of those who support them bravely —
I must append to the history of the above period an account of the subsequent policy of the conquerors and their method of universal rule, as well as of the various opinions and appreciations of their rulers entertained by the subjects, and finally I must describe what were the prevailing and dominant tendencies and ambitions of the various peoples in their private and public life.
For it is evident that contemporaries will thus be able to see clearly whether the Roman rule is acceptable or the reverse, and future generations whether their government should be considered to have been worthy of praise and admiration or rather of blame.
And indeed it is just in this that the chief usefulness of this work for the present and the future will lie.
For neither rulers themselves nor their critics should regard the end of action as being merely conquest and the subjection of all to their rule;
since no man of sound sense goes to war with his neighbours simply for the sake of crushing an adversary, just as no one sails on the open sea just for the sake of crossing it. Indeed no one even takes up the study of arts and crafts merely for the sake of knowledge,
but all men do all they do for the resulting pleasure, good, or utility.
So the final end achieved by this work will be, to gain knowledge of what was the condition of each people after all had been crushed and had come under the dominion of <a class="linkToPlace" target="_blank" href="/place?placename=Rome&groupId=935&placeId=1669">Rome</a>, until the disturbed and troubled time that afterwards ensued.
About this latter, owing to the importance of the actions and the unexpected character of the events, and chiefly because I not only witnessed most but took part and even directed some, I was induced to write as if starting on a fresh work.
Walbank Commentary