Ab Urbe Condita Libri
The book History of Rome, sometimes referred to as Ab Urbe Condita, is a monumental history of ancient Rome, written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by the historian Titus Livius, or "Livy", as he is usually known in English. The work covers the period from the legends concerning the arrival of Aeneas and the refugees from the fall of Troy, to the city's founding in 753, the expulsion of the Kings in 509, and down to Livy's own time, during the reign of the emperor Augustus. The last event covered by Livy is the death of Drusus in 9 BC. About 25% of the work survives.
The History of Rome originally comprised 142 "books", thirty-five of which—Books 1–10 with the Preface and Books 21–45—still exist in reasonably complete form. Damage to a manuscript of the 5th century resulted in large gaps (lacunae) in Books 41 and 43–45 (small lacunae exist elsewhere); that is, the material is not covered in any source of Livy's text.
A fragmentary palimpsest of the 91st book was discovered in the Vatican Library in 1772, containing about a thousand words (roughly three paragraphs), and several papyrus fragments of previously unknown material, much smaller, have been found in Egypt since 1900, most recently about 40 words from Book 11, unearthed in 1986.
Livy was abridged, in antiquity, to an epitome, which survives for Book 1, but was itself abridged in the fourth century into the so-called Periochae, which is simply a list of contents. The Periochae survive for the entire work, except for books 136 and 137. In Oxyrhynchus, a similar summary of books 37–40 and 48–55 was found on a roll of papyrus that is now in the British Museum classified as P.Oxy.IV 0668. There is another fragment, named P.Oxy.XI 1379, which represents a passage from the first book (I, 6) and that shows a high level of correctness. However the Oxyrhynchus Epitome is damaged and incomplete.
Books 1–5 – The legendary founding of Rome (including the landing of Aeneas in Italy and the founding of the city by Romulus), the period of the kings, and the early republic down to its conquest by the Gauls in 390 BC.
Books 11–20 – The period from 292 to 218, including the First Punic War (lost).
Books 21–30 – The Second Punic War, from 218 to 202.
Books 31–45 – The Macedonian and other eastern wars from 201 to 167.
Books 46 to 142 are all lost:
Books 46–70 – The period from 167 to the outbreak of the Social War in 91.
Books 91–108 – From 78 BC through the end of the Gallic War, in 50.
Books 109–116 – From the Civil War to the death of Caesar (49–44).
Books 117-133 – The wars of the triumvirs down to the death of Antonius (44–30).
Books 134-142 – The rule of Augustus down to the death of Drusus (9).
Table of contents
|Book number||Status||Years covered||Main events covered|
|1||Complete||Down to 510 BC||Foundation myths: Aeneas, Ascanius, Romulus and Remus, Rape of the Sabine women; history of the Roman Kingdom, expulsion of Tarquinus Superbus.|
|2||Complete||509-468 BC||Foundation of the Republic by Brutus, wars against Tarquinius Superbus and Porsena, Secession of the Plebs, Volscian Wars.|
|3||Complete||467-446 BC||The Decemvirate.|
|4||Complete||445-404 BC||Conflict of the Orders, murder of Spurius Maelius by Ahala, war against the Fidenates.|
|5||Complete||403-387 BC||War against Veii, Sack of Rome by Brennus.|
|6||Complete||387-366 BC||Story of Marcus Manlius Capitolinus, Leges Liciniae Sextiae.|
|7||Complete||366-342 BC||Stories of Titus Manlius Torquatus and Marcus Valerius Corvus, First Samnite War.|
|8||Complete||341-322 BC||First Samnite War, Latin War.|
|9||Complete||321-304 BC||Second Samnite War, defeat of the Caudine Forks, alternate history with Alexander the Great defeated by Rome.|
|10||Complete||303-293 BC||Third Samnite War, sacrifice of Publius Decius Mus.|
|11||Fragments||292-287 BC||Third Samnite War, plague in Rome, Secession of the Plebs.|
|12||Lost||284-280 BC||War against the Senones, Pyrrhic War, campaigns against the Samnites and Italians, betrayal of Decius Vibullius at Rhegium.|
|13||Lost||280-278 BC||Pyrrhic War, treaty with Carthage, campaigns against Italic peoples.|
|14||Lost||278-272 BC||Pyrrhic War, treaty with Ptolemy II, Carthage breaks the treaty with Rome, campaigns against Italic peoples.|
|15||Lost||272-267 BC||Rome recovers Tarentum and Rhegium. The Picentes, Umbrians and Sallentini submit.|
|16||Quotes||264-263 BC||First Punic War, first gladiatorial games.|
|17||Lost||260-256 BC||First Punic War|
|18||Quote||255 BC||First Punic War|
|19||Quote||251-241 BC||First Punic War|
|20||Lost||237-220 BC||Wars against the Faliscans, Sardinians, Corsicans, Illyrians, Gauls, Insubres, and Istrians.|
|21||Complete||219-218 BC||Second Punic War: battle of the Trebia.|
|22||Complete||217-216 BC||Second Punic War, defeats of the Lake Trasimene and Cannae.|
|23||Complete||216-215 BC||Second Punic War.|
|24||Complete||215-213 BC||Second Punic War, First Macedonian War.|
|25||Complete||213-212 BC||Second Punic War, fall of Syracuse.|
|26||Complete||211-210 BC||Second Punic War, First Macedonian War.|
|27||Complete||210-207 BC||Second Punic War, First Macedonian War.|
|28||Complete||207-205 BC||Second Punic War, First Macedonian War.|
|29||Complete||205-204 BC||Second Punic War, revolt of Indibilis and Mandonius.|
|30||Complete||203-201 BC||Second Punic War, Battle of Zama.|
|31||Complete||201-199 BC||Second Macedonian War.|
|32||Complete||198-197 BC||Second Macedonian War.|
|33||Complete||197-195 BC||Second Macedonian War, Battle of Cynoscephalae.|
|34||Complete||195-194 BC||Lex Oppia repealed, victory of Cato in Hispania, War against Nabis, triumphs of Cato and Flamininus.|
|35||Complete||193-192 BC||Campaign against the Ligurians, discussion between Scipio Africanus and Hannibal, affairs of Greece, talks with Antiochus III, who then invades Greece.|
|36||Complete||191 BC||Roman-Seleucid War, Battle of Thermopylae.|
|37||Complete||190-188 BC||Roman-Seleucid War.|
|38||Complete||188 BC||Operations in Greece, campaign against the Galatians, Treaty of Apamea, trial and exile of Scipio Africanus.|
|39||Complete||187-181 BC||The Bacchanalia, causes of the Third Macedonian War, deaths of Scipio Africanus and Hannibal.|
|40||Complete||184-179 BC||Perseus kills his brother Demetrius, and inherits the kingdom of Macedon. Campaign against the Ligurians.|
|41||Almost complete||179-174 BC||Campaigns against the Ligurians, Histrians, Sardinians and Celtiberians; Perseus' activities in Greece.|
|42||Complete||173-171 BC||Third Macedonian War.|
|43||Almost complete||171-169 BC||Third Macedonian War.|
|44||Almost complete||169-168 BC||Third Macedonian War, Battle of Pydna.|
|45||Almost complete||168-166 BC||Third Macedonian War, capture of Perseus, Sixth Syrian War, triumph of Aemilius Paullus.|
|46||Lost||165-160 BC||Eumenes II's visit to Rome, campaigns in North Italy, embassies to Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII, and Ariarathes V, death of Paullus Aemilius, the Pomptine Marshes are drained.|
|47||Lost||160-154 BC||Division of Egypt between Ptolemy VI and Ptolemy VIII, support of Ariarathes V against Demetrius I, campaigns against the Dalmatians and Ligurians.|
|48||Lost||154-150 BC||Origin of the Third Punic War, death of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Second Celtiberian War, Lusitanian War.|
|49||Lost||149 BC||Third Punic War, Lusitanian War, Fourth Macedonian War.|
|50||Lost||149-147 BC||Prusias II of Bithynia is killed by his son Nicomedes II, death of Massinissa, Third Punic War, Scipio Aemilianus elected consul, Fourth Macedonian War.|
|51||Lost||147-146 BC||Third Punic War, destruction of Carthage, Achaean War.|
|52||Lost||146-145 BC||Achaean War, Lusitanian War, war between Alexander Balas and Demetrius II.|
|53||Lost||143 BC||Lusitanian War.|
|54||Lost||141-139 BC||Numantine War, Lusitanian War, death of Viriathus.|
|55||Lost||138-137 BC||Numantine War, murder of Antiochus VI by Diodotus Tryphon.|
|56||Lost||136-134 BC||Numantine War, First Servile War.|
|57||Lost||133 BC||Numantine War, campaign of Scipio Aemilianus.|
|58||Lost||133 BC||Reforms of Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus, his death; First Servile War.|
|59||Lost||133-129 BC||Numantine War, victory of Scipio Aemilianus; First Servile War, revolt of Eumenes III of Pergamon, war between Antiochus VII and Phraates II, crisis in Egypt, riots in Rome in the aftermath of Tiberius Gracchus' reforms.|
|60||Lost||126-123 BC||Reforms of Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, Quintus Caecilius Metellus' campaign in the Balearic Islands.|
|61||Lost||122-120 BC||War against the Gauls, victory of Fabius Maximus Allobrogicus against Bituitus, death of Gaius Gracchus.|
|62||Lost||118-117 BC||Affairs of Numidia, with a civil war started by Jugurtha.|
|63||Lost||114-112 BC||Campaigns against the Scordiscians in Thrace, beginning of the Cimbrian War.|
|64||Lost||112-110 BC||Jugurthine War.|
|65||Lost||109-107 BC||Jugurthine War, Cimbrian War.|
|66||Lost||106 BC||Jugurthine War.|
|67||Lost||105-104 BC||Cimbrian War, Marius' triumph and successive consulships.|
|68||Lost||103-100 BC||Cimbrian War.|
|69||Lost||100 BC||Reforms of Saturninus and Glaucia, their deaths.|
|70||Lost||97-91 BC||Campaign against the Celtiberians, Ptolemy Apion bequeaths his kingdom, Sulla reinstates Ariobarzanes in his kingdom, reforms of Marcus Livius Drusus.|
|71||Lost||91 BC||Drusus is murdered, Social War.|
|72||Lost||91 BC||Social War.|
|73||Lost||90 BC||Social War.|
|74||Lost||89-88 BC||Social War.|
|75||Lost||88 BC||Social War.|
|76||Lost||89-88 BC||Social War, Mithridates conquers Cappadocia and Bithynia.|
|77||Lost||88 BC||Sulla's first Civil War, First Mithridatic War.|
|78||Lost||88 BC||First Mithridatic War.|
|79||Lost||87 BC||Sulla's first Civil War.|
|80||Lost||87-86 BC||Citizenship given to Italian allies, Sulla's first Civil War, death of Marius.|
|81||Lost||87-86 BC||First Mithridatic War, Sulla takes Athens.|
|82||Lost||86 BC||First Mithridatic War, battles of Chaeronea and Orchomenus, Valerius Flaccus is murdered by Fimbria.|
|83||Lost||86-84 BC||First Mithridatic War, Sulla's second Civil War.|
|84||Lost||84 BC||Sulla's second Civil War, death of Cinna.|
|85||Lost||83 BC||Sulla's second Civil War.|
|86||Lost||83-82 BC||Sulla's second Civil War, Second Mithridatic War.|
|87||Lost||82 BC||Sulla's second Civil War.|
|88||Lost||82 BC||Sulla's second Civil War, Battle of the Colline Gate, death of Marius the Younger.|
|89||Lost||82-81 BC||Sulla's second Civil War, death of Carbo, Sulla's proscriptions and reforms, Pompey's first triumph.|
|90||Lost||78 BC||Death of Sulla, uprising of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Sertorian War.|
|91||Fragment||77 BC||Sertorian War.|
|92||Lost||76 BC||Sertorian War, campaign of Gaius Scribonius Curio against the Dardanians.|
|93||Lost||76-75 BC||Publius Servilius conquers Isauria, Third Mithridatic War, Sertorian War.|
|94||Lost||74 BC||Third Mithridatic War, Sertorian War.|
|95||Lost||74-73 BC||War of Gaius Scribonius Curio against the Dardanians, Third Servile War, Third Mithridatic War.|
|96||Lost||73-72 BC||Third Servile War, Sertorian War.|
|97||Lost||71-70 BC||Third Servile War, campaign of Marcus Antonius Creticus in Crete, Third Mithridatic War, Crassus and Pompey become consuls.|
|98||Lost||70-69 BC||Third Mithridatic War, campaign of Quintus Caecillius Metellus in Crete.|
|99||Lost||68-67 BC||Third Mithridatic War, Pompey's expedition against the Cilician Pirates, campaign of Quintus Caecillius Metellus in Crete.|
|100||Lost||66 BC||Third Mithridatic War, wars in Armenia.|
|101||Lost||66-65 BC||Third Mithridatic War, Catilinarian conspiracy.|
|102||Lost||64-63 BC||Third Mithridatic War, death of Mithridates, Pompey takes Jerusalem, Catilinarian conspiracy.|
|103||Lost||62-58 BC||Catilinarian conspiracy, Publius Clodius Pulcher goes over to the plebeians, First Triumvirate, Gallic Wars.|
|104||Lost||58-56 BC||Gallic Wars, Cicero returns from exile.|
|105||Lost||56-54 BC||Cato's attempt to obstruct the Triumvirate, Gallic Wars, first Crossing of the Rhine.|
|106||Lost||54-53 BC||Gallic Wars, Battle of Carrhae, death of Crassus.|
|107||Lost||53-52 BC||Gallic Wars, murder of Clodius Pulcher by Milo, Pompey elected sole consul, revolt of Vercingetorix.|
|108||Lost||52-50 BC||Gallic Wars, Battle of Alesia, victory of Gaius Cassius Longinus against the Parthians.|
|109||Lost||50-49 BC||Caesar's Civil War, Crossing of the Rubicon.|
|110||Lost||49-48 BC||Caesar's Civil War.|
|111||Quote||48 BC||Caesar's Civil War (Battle of Pharsalus).|
|112||Quote||48 BC||Caesar's Civil War.|
|113||Lost||47 BC||Caesar's Civil War.|
|114||Lost||46 BC||Caesar's Civil War.|
|115||Lost||46 BC||Caesar's Civil War.|
|116||Lost||45-44 BC||Caesar's Civil War, assassination of Caesar.|
|117||Lost||44 BC||Octavian arrives in Italy, Antony disrupts the allotment of provinces, preparations for war on multiple sides.|
|118||Lost||44 BC||Brutus takes the army of Publius Vatinius in Greece, Octavian builds an army, Antony besieges Modena.|
|119||Lost||44-43 BC||Publius Cornelius Dolabella is declared enemy of the state, Battle of Mutina, Octavian becomes consul at 19.|
|120||Quote||43 BC||Second Triumvirate, proscriptions, death of Cicero.|
|121||Lost||43 BC||Liberators' Civil War: Cassius besieges Dolabella in Laodicea, who commits suicide; Brutus executes Gaius Antonius.|
|122||Lost||43 BC||Liberators' Civil War, Brutus' campaign in Thrace.|
|123||Lost||42 BC||Sicilian Revolt by Sextus Pompey, Liberators' Civil War.|
|124||Lost||42 BC||Liberators' Civil War, Battle of Philippi.|
|125||Lost||41 BC||Perusine War.|
|126||Lost||41-40 BC||Perusine War.|
|127||Lost||40-39 BC||Pompeian–Parthian Invasion, Pact of Misenum.|
|128||Lost||38-37 BC||Sicilian Revolt, Antony's Parthian War, Siege of Jerusalem.|
|129||Lost||36 BC||Sicilian Revolt, Battle of Naulochus, Octavian defeats Lepidus.|
|130||Lost||36 BC||Antony's Parthian War.|
|131||Lost||35-34 BC||Sextus Pompey is captured and executed by Antony, Octavian's campaigns in Illyria, Antony's conquest of Armenia, Donations of Alexandria.|
|132||Lost||34-31 BC||Antony's Civil War: Battle of Actium.|
|133||Lost||30-28 BC||Antony's Civil War: suicides of Antony and Cleopatra; conspiracy of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus Minor.|
|134||Lost||27 BC||Octavian becomes Augustus, census in the three Gauls, campaign of Marcus Licinius Crassus against the Basterni and Moesians.|
|135||Lost||25 BC||Campaigns of Marcus Crassus against the Thracians, and of Augustus in Hispania.|
|136||Lost||Missing in the Periochae.|
|137||Lost||Missing in the Periochae.|
|138||Lost||15-12 BC||Tiberius and Drusus conquers Raetia, death of Agrippa, Drusus makes a census in Gaul.|
|139||Lost||12 BC||Drusus' campaign in Germania, Imperial cult at Lugdunum.|
|140||Lost||11 BC||Conquest of Thracia, Drusus' campaign in Germania, death of Octavia.|
|141||Lost||10 BC||Drusus' campaign in Germania.|
|142||Lost||9 BC||Death of Drusus.|
Livy wrote in a mixture of annual chronology and narrative, often interrupting a story to announce the elections of new consuls. Collins defines the "annalistic method" as "naming the public officers and recording the events of each succeeding year". It is an expansion of the fasti, the official public chronicles kept by the magistrates, which were a primary source for Roman historians. Those who seem to have been more influenced by the method have been termed annalists.
The first and third decades (see below) of Livy's work are written so well that Livy has become a sine qua non of curricula in Golden Age Latin. Some have argued that subsequently the quality of his writing began to decline, and that he becomes repetitious and wordy. Of the 91st book Barthold Georg Niebuhr says "repetitions are here so frequent in the small compass of four pages and the prolixity so great, that we should hardly believe it to belong to Livy...." Niebuhr accounts for the decline by supposing "the writer has grown old and become loquacious...", going so far as to conjecture that the later books were lost because copyists refused to copy such low-quality work.
A digression in Book 9, Sections 17–19, suggests that the Romans would have beaten Alexander the Great if he had lived longer and had turned west to attack the Romans, making this digression the oldest known alternate history.
The first five books were published between 27 and 25 BC. The first date mentioned is the year Augustus received that title: twice in the first five books Livy uses it. For the second date, Livy lists the closings of the temple of Janus but omits that of 25 (it had not happened yet).
Livy continued to work on the History for much of the rest of his life, publishing new material by popular demand. This explains why the work falls naturally into 12 packets, mainly groups of 10 books, or decades, sometimes of 5 books (pentads or pentades) and the rest without any packet order. The scheme of dividing it entirely into decades is a later innovation of copyists.
The second pentad did not come out until 9 or after, some 16 years after the first pentad. In Book IX Livy states that the Cimminian Forest was more impassable than the German had been recently, referring to the Hercynian Forest (Black Forest) first opened by Drusus and Ahenobarbus. One can only presume that in the interval Livy's first pentad had been such a success that he had to yield to the demand for more.
There is no uniform system of classifying and naming manuscripts. Often the relationship of one manuscript (MS) to another remains unknown or changes as perceptions of the handwriting change. Livy's release of chapters by packet diachronically encouraged copyists to copy by decade. Each decade has its own conventions, which do not necessarily respect the conventions of any other decade. A family of MSS descend through copying from the same MSS (typically lost). MSS vary widely; to produce an emendation or a printed edition was and is a major task. Usually variant readings are given in footnotes.
All of the manuscripts (except one) of the first ten books (first decade) of Ab Urbe Condita Libri, which were copied through the Middle Ages and were used in the first printed editions, are derived from a single recension commissioned by Quintus Aurelius Symmachus, consul, AD 391. A recension is made by comparing extant manuscripts and producing a new version, an emendation, based on the text that seems best to the editor. The latter then "subscribed" to the new MS by noting on it that he had emended it.
Symmachus, probably using the authority of his office, commissioned Tascius Victorianus to emend the first decade. Books I–IX bear the subscription Victorianus emendabam dominis Symmachis, "I Victorianus emended (this) by the authority of Symmachus." Books VI–VIII include another subscription preceding it, that of Symmachus' son-in-law, Nicomachus Flavianus, and Books III–V were also emended by Flavianus' son, Appius Nicomachus Dexter, who says he used his relative Clementianus' copy. This recension and family of descendant MSS is called the Nicomachean, after two of the subscribers. From it several MSS descend (incomplete list):
|Location & Number||Name||Date|
|V||Veronensis rescriptus||10th century|
|F||Paris 5724||Floriacensis||10th century|
|P||Paris 5725||Parisiensis||9th/10th century|
|R||Vaticanus 3329||Romanus||11th century|
|O||Bodleianus 20631||Oxoniensis||11th century|
Epigraphists go on to identify several hands and lines of descent. A second family of the first decade consists of the Verona Palimpsest, reconstructed and published by Theodore Mommsen, 1868; hence the Veronensis MSS. It includes 60 leaves of Livy fragments covering Books III-VI. The handwriting style is dated to the 4th century, only a few centuries after Livy.
In the Middle Ages there were constant rumors that the complete books of the History of Livy lay hidden in the library of a Danish or German Monastery. One individual even affirmed under oath in the court of Martin V that he had seen the whole work, written in Lombardic script, in a monastery in Denmark. All of these rumors were later found to be unsubstantiated.
The details of Livy's History of Rome vary from arguably legendary or perhaps even mythical stories at the beginning to detailed accounts of certainly real events toward the end. He himself noted the difficulty of finding information about events some 700 years or more removed from the author. Of his material on early Rome he said "The traditions of what happened prior to the foundation of the City or whilst it was being built, are more fitted to adorn the creations of the poet than the authentic records of the historian." The first book has been one of the most significant sources of the various accounts of the traditional legend of Romulus and Remus.
Nevertheless, according to the tradition of writing history at the time, he felt obliged to relate what he read (or heard) without passing judgment as to its truth or untruth. One of the problems of modern scholarship is to ascertain where in the work the line is to be drawn between legendary and historical. One view has been that buildings, inscriptions, monuments and libraries prior to the sack of Rome in 387 BC by the Gauls under Brennus were destroyed by that sack and were scarcely available to Livy and his sources. This view originates from Livy himself, who notes this fact. A layer of ash over the lowest pavement of the comitium believed to date from that time seemed to confirm a citywide destruction.
A new view by Tim Cornell, however, deemphasizes the damage caused by the Gauls under Brennus. Among other reasons, he asserts that the Gauls' interest in movable plunder, rather than destruction, kept damage to a minimum. The burnt layer under the comitium is now dated to the 6th century BC. There apparently is no archaeological evidence of a widespread destruction of Rome by the Gauls. Cornell uses this information to affirm the historicity of Livy's account of the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
For the first decade, Livy studied the works of a group of historians in or near his own time, known as annalists. Some twelve historians in this category are named by Livy in Book I as sources on the period of the monarchy. In date order backward from Livy they are: Gaius Licinius Macer, Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius, Valerius Antias, Gnaeus Gellius, Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus (consul 129 BC), Lucius Cassius Hemina, Lucius Calpurnius Piso Frugi (consul 133), Aulus Postumius Albinus (consul 151), Gaius Acilius Glabrio, Marcus Porcius Cato, Lucius Cincius Alimentus, Quintus Fabius Pictor. Elsewhere he mentions Sempronius Asellio. Macer, the latest of these, died in 66. Fabius, the earliest, fought in the Gallic War of 225.
Livy's sources were by no means confined to the annalists. Other historians of his time mention documents then extant dating as far back as the Roman monarchy. These include treaties between Servius Tullius and the Latins, between Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and Gabii, three between Rome and Carthage, and one between Cassius and the Latins, 493, which was engraved in bronze. In addition the Pontifex Maximus kept the Annales Maximi (yearly events) on display in his house, the censors kept the Commentarii Censorum, the praetors kept their own records, the Commentarii Pontificum and Libri Augurales were available as well as all the laws on stone or brass; the fasti (list of magistrates) and the Libri Lintei, historical records kept in the temple of Juno Moneta.
Nevertheless, the accounts of Rome's early history are for the most part incomplete and therefore suspect (in this view). Seeley argues, "It is when Livy's account is compared with the accounts of other writers that we become aware of the utter uncertainty which prevailed among the Romans themselves... The traditional history, as a whole, must be rejected..." As Livy stated that he used what he found without passing judgement on his sources, attacks on the credibility of Livy often begin with the annalists. Opinions vary. T.J. Cornell presumes that Livy relied on "unscrupulous annalists" who "did not hesitate to invent a series of face-saving victories." Furthermore, he argues, "The annalists of the first century BC are thus seen principally as entertainers..." Cornell does not follow this view consistently, as he is willing to accept Livy as history for the 4th and 3rd centuries BC. A more positive view of the same limitations was given by Howard:
The annalists were not modern historians, and not one of them is absolutely free from the faults attributed to Antias. That any of them, even Antias, deliberately falsified history is extremely improbable, but they were nearly all strong partisans, and of two conflicting stories it was most natural for them to choose the one which was most flattering to the Romans, or even to their own political party, and, as the principle of historical writing even in the time of Quintilian was stated to be that history was closely akin to poetry and was written to tell a story, not to prove it, we may safely assume that all writers were prone to choose the account which was most interesting and which required the least work in verification.
For the third decade, Livy followed the account of the Greek historian Polybius, as did the historical accounts of Marcus Tullius Cicero. Polybius had access to Greek sources in the eastern Mediterranean, outside the local Roman traditions.
Machiavelli and Livy
The first complete rendering of Ab Urbe Condita into English was Philemon Holland's translation published in 1600. According to Considine, 'it was a work of great importance, presented in a grand folio volume of 1458 pages, and dedicated to the Queen'.
The authoritative translation of The History of Early Rome, was made by B.O. Foster in 1919 for Harvard University Press. A 1960 edition, translated by Aubrey de Sélincourt, was printed by Penguin Books Ltd.
- Livy himself called his history the Annales, but this title has not been used by modern scholars, who usually refer to it simply as the History of Rome, or History of Rome from the Founding of the City, or in Latin, Ab Urbe Condita ("From the Founding of the City"). As with other Latin works, the number of books is frequently appended to the title, hence the occasional rendering Ab Urbe Condita Libri CXLII, ("From the Founding of the City in 142 Books").
- Various indications point to the period from 27 to 20 BC as that during which the first decade was written. In the first book (xix. 3) the emperor is called Augustus, a title which he was granted by the Roman Senate early in 27, and in ix. 18 the omission of all reference to the restoration, in 20, of the standards taken at Carrhae seems to justify the inference that the passage was written before that date. In the epitome of book lix, there is a reference to a law of Augustus which was passed in 18.
- Livy uses the chronology of Varro, one of his predecessors, whose chronology was the most widely accepted in antiquity, and remains in general use today, although scholars continue to debate the dating of specific events, including the founding of Rome itself.
- In Roman times, it was customary to date events according to the consuls of each year, rather than assigning each year a numerical name; so while it was possible to date events by reference to the founding of Rome, this was rarely done. For instance, the consuls of 439 BC were Agrippa Menenius Lanatus and Titus Quinctius Capitolinus Barbatus, so that year would typically be referred to as "the consulship of Agrippa Menenius and Titus Quinctius", rather than "the year three hundred and fifteen". From this custom, the consuls who began each year are sometimes referred to as the eponymous magistrates of that year; that is, the magistrates after whom the year was named.
- This is the traditional date, but some uncertainty exists with regard to four years during the Samnite Wars for which no consuls are named in any source, and for which no elections were supposedly held; this has led some scholars to conclude that the Gallic sack of Rome occurred in or about 386 BC, although this also creates an unexplained (and undated) gap before the event.
- Livy, xliii. 13.
Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Livius". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. II. p. 790.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Pelham, Henry Francis (1911). "Livy". In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. 16 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 817–823.
- Foster (1874), p. xvi.
- Hardwick, Lorna (2003). Reception Studies. Greece & Rome: New Surveys in the Classics No. 33. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Classical Association. p. 23.
- Chantal Gabriellin "Lucius Postumius Megellus at Gabii: A New Fragment of Livy" in The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 53, No. 1 (May, 2003), pp. 247-259.
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- Broughton, vol. I, pp. xi, 94–96, 141, 148, 149, 163, 164, 171.
- Livy, i. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, ii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, iii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, iv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, v. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, vi. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, vii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, viii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, ix. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, x. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Two small fragments discovered in 1986 in Egypt. Chantal Gabriellin "Lucius Postumius Megellus at Gabii: A New Fragment of Livy" in The Classical Quarterly, New Series, Vol. 53, No. 1 (May, 2003), pp. 247-259.
- Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii Aeneidem Commentarii, i. 366, 738. English translation by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, p. 2213.
- Valerius Maximus, i. 8 § 19. English translation by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, p. 2213, 2214.
- Maurus Servius Honoratus, In Vergilii Aeneidem Commentarii, vi. 198. English translation by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, p. 2214.
- Livy, xxi. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxiii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxiv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxvi. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxvii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxviii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxix. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxx. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxi. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxiii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxiv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxvi. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxvii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxviii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xxxix. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xl. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xli. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xlii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xliii. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xliv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Livy, xlv. Translated by Rev. Canon Roberts, 1905.
- Large fragment found in the Vatican Library, cf. Livy, The History of Rome, translated by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, pp. 2215-2217.
- Plutarch, Caesar, 47. English translation by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, p. 2219.
- Seneca the Younger, De Tranquillitate Animi, ix. 5. English translation by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, p. 2219.
- Seneca the Elder, Suasoriae, vi. 17. English translation by William A. McDevitte, London, 1862, pp. 2220, 2221.
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- Niebuhr (1844), p. 38.
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- Niebuhr (1844), p. 39, citing Livy IX.36.
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