Polybius
3. A freedman of the emperor Claudius, was so highly favoured by this emperor that he was allowed to walk between the two consuls. He was the companion of the studies of Claudius; and on the death of his brother Seneca addressed to him a Consolatio, in which he bestows the highest praises upon his literary attainments. Polybius was put to death through the intrigues of Messalina, although he had been one of her paramours. (D. C. 9.29, 31; Suet. Cl. 28.)
From William Smith (ed.), Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Text provided under a CC BY-SA license by Perseus Digital Library, http://www.perseus.tufts.edu, with funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and Tufts University. Data accessed from https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-pdlrefwk/ on 17 October 2026.