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Titus Livius, an early 20th century depiction.
Titus Livius, an early 20th century depiction.

Titus Livius (traditionally 59 BC – AD 17[1]), known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC) through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC Ab Urbe condita (literally "from Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was

Contents

Life and works

The title of his most famous work, Ab Urbe Condita ("From the Founding of the City"), expresses the scope and magnitude of Livy's undertaking. Ab Urbe condita (literally "from He wrote in a mixture of annual chronology and narrative—often having to interrupt a story to announce the elections of new consuls as this was the way that the Romans kept track of the years. Definition A chronology may be either relative &mdashthat is locating related events relative to each other&mdashor ''absolute'' &mdashlocating A narrative or story is a construct created in a suitable format (written spoken poetry prose images song Theater, or Dance) that describes a sequence of Consul (abbrev cos; Latin plural consules) was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire Livy claims that lack of historical data prior to the sacking of Rome in 387 BC by the Gauls made his task more difficult. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western [2]

Livy wrote the majority of his works during the reign of Augustus. Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was However, he is often identified with an attachment to the Roman Republic and a desire for its restoration. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the Since the later books discussing the end of the Republic and the rise of Augustus did not survive, this is a moot point. A republic is a State or Country that is not led by a hereditary Monarch, but in which the people (or at least a part of its people have impact on its Certainly Livy questioned some of the values of the new regime but it is likely that his position was more complex than a simple "republic/empire" preference. Augustus does not seem to have held these views against Livy, and entrusted his great-nephew, the future emperor Claudius, to his tutelage. Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I ( August 1, 10 BC &ndash October 13, AD 54 ( Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to His effect on Claudius was apparent during the latter's reign, as the emperor's oratory closely adheres to Livy's account of Roman history.

Livy's writing style was poetic and archaic in contrast to Caesar's and Cicero's styles. Also, he often wrote from the Romans' opponent's point of view in order to accent the Romans' virtues in their conquest of Italy and the Mediterranean. In keeping with his poetic tendencies, he did little to distinguish between fact and fiction. Although he frequently plagiarized previous authors, he hoped that moral lessons from the past would serve to advance the Roman society of his day.

Livy's work was originally composed of 142 books, of which only 35 are extant; these are Books 1–10 and 21–45 (with major lacunae in 40–45). Extant literature refers to texts that have survived from the past to the present time A lacuna is a gap in a Manuscript, Inscription, text painting or a musical work A fragmentary palimpsest of the 91st book was discovered in the Vatican Library in 1772, containing about a thousand words, and several papyrus fragments of previously unknown material, much smaller, have been found in Egypt since 1900, most recently about forty words from Book 11, unearthed in the 1980s. A palimpsest is a Manuscript page whether from scroll or Book that has been written on scraped off and used again The Vatican Library ( Latin: Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana) is the Library of the Holy See, currently located in Vatican City. Livy was abridged, in antiquity, to an epitome, which survives for Book 1, but was itself abridged into the so-called Periochae, which is simply a list of contents, but which survives. An epitome ( Greek epitemnein —to cut short is a summary or miniature form also used as a Synonym for embodiment An epitome of Books 37–40 and 48–55 was also uncovered at Oxyrhynchus. Oxyrhynchus (Ὀξύρρυγχος "sharp-nosed" ancient Egyptian Pr-Medjed; Coptic Pemdje; modern Egyptian Arabic So we have some idea of the topics Livy covered in the lost books, if often not what he said about them.

His sources include the annalists, including Quintus Fabius Pictor, Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius, Sempronius Asellio and Valerius Antias. Annalists (from Latin annus, year hence annales, sc libri, annual records is the name given to a class of writers on Roman history Quintus Fabius Pictor (c 254 BC -? was one of the earliest Roman Historians and considered the first of the Annalists. Quintus Claudius Quadrigarius, Roman Annalist, living probably in the first century BC wrote a history in at least twenty-three books which began with the conquest of Publius Sempronius Asellio (died after 91 BC1 was an early Roman historian and one of the first writers of historiographic work in Latin Valerius Antias was a Roman annalist living apparently in the first century BC a younger contemporary of Quadrigarius, who wrote the history of Rome

In turn, a number of Roman authors used Livy, including Aurelius Victor, Cassiodorus, Eutropius, Festus, Florus, Granius Licinianus and Orosius. Sextus Aurelius Victor (ca 320-ca 390 was an historian and politician of the Roman Empire. Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c 485 - c 585 commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and great writer serving in the administration For the Byzantine officer see also Eutropius (Byzantine official (396-397 Florus, Roman Historian, lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian. Granius Licinianus was a Roman annalist, believed to have lived in the age of the Antonines ( 2nd century AD) Paulus Orosius (b circa 375 d 418? was a Christian Historian, theologian and disciple of St Julius Obsequens used Livy, or a source with access to Livy, to compose his De Prodigiis, an account of supernatural events in Rome, from the consulship of Scipio and Laelius to that of Paulus Fabius and Quintus Aelius. Julius Obsequens was a Roman writer who is believed to have lived in the middle of the fourth century AD The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events

A digression in Book 9, Sections 17–19, suggests that the Romans would have beaten Alexander the Great if he lived longer and turned west to attack the Romans, making this the oldest known alternate history. Digression ( parekbasis in Greek, egressio, digressio and excursion in Latin) is a section of a composition or speech that Alexander the Great ( or, Mégas Aléxandros; July 20 356 BC June 10 or June 11 323 BC also known as Alexander III of Macedon (el Ἀλέξανδρος Γ' Alternate history or alternative history is a subgenre of Speculative fiction (or Science fiction) and Historical fiction

Reception

Livy's work met with instant acclaim. His books were published in sets of ten, although when entirely completed, his whole work was available for sale in its entirety. His highly literary approach to his historical writing renders his works very entertaining, and they remained constantly popular from his own day, through the Middle Ages, and into the modern world. Dante speaks highly of him in his poetry, and Francis I of France commissioned extensive artwork treating Livian themes. Francis I (September 12 1494 &ndash March 31 1547 was crowned King of France in 1515 in the cathedral at Reims and reigned until 1547 That he was chosen by Rome's first emperor to be the private tutor to his eventual successor indicates Livy's renown as a great writer and sage. As topics from his history appear to have been used for writing topics in Roman schools, it is more than likely that his works, or sections, were used as textbooks. The two ten-book sets that remained popular throughout the millennia are the first ten books, describing the founding of Rome and its conquest of Italy, and the third set of ten books (XXI to XXX) recounting the war with Hannibal, which he himself indicates is his greatest theme. Hannibal (Pronounced in Phoenician: Hanniba'al means " Ba'al is my grace " or " Ba'al has given me grace " 247 BC &ndash He can be looked upon as the prose counterpart of Vergil in Golden Age Latin literature. Publius Vergilius Maro ( October 15, 70 BCE &ndash September 21, 19 BCE later called Virgilius, and known in English as Virgil or

Politics

Many of Livy's comments on Roman politics seem surprisingly modern today. For example, he wrote (of the year 445 BC):

War and political dissension made the year a difficult one. Hardly had it begun, when the tribune Canuleius introduced a bill for legalizing intermarriage between the nobility and the commons. The senatorial party objected strongly on the grounds not only that the patrician blood would thereby be contaminated but also that the hereditary rights and privileges of the gentes, or families, would be lost. Further, a suggestion, at first cautiously advanced by the tribunes, that a law should be passed enabling one of the two consuls to be a plebeian, subsequently hardened into the promulgation, by nine tribunes, of a bill by which the people should be empowered to elect to the consulship such men as they thought fit, from either of the two parties. The senatorial party felt that if such a bill were to become law, it would mean not only that the highest office of state would have to be shared with the dregs of society but that it would, in effect, be lost to the nobility and transferred to the commons. It was with great satisfaction, therefore, that the Senate received a report, first that Ardea had thrown off her allegiance to Rome in resentment at the crooked practice which had deprived her of her territory; secondly, that troops from Veii had raided the Roman frontier, and, thirdly, that the Volscians and Aequians were showing uneasiness at the fortification of Verrugo. Veii (pron WAY-ee or VAY-ee also Veius) was in ancient times an important Etrurian city 16 km NNW of Rome, Italy; its site lies in the modern The Volsci were an ancient Italic people, well known in the history of the first century of the Roman Republic. In the circumstances it was good news, for the nobility could look forward even to an unsuccessful war with greater complacency than to an ignominious peace. [3]

References and further reading

Notes

  1. ^ Ronald Syme, following G. M. Hirst, has argued for 64 BC–AD 12
  2. ^ Many modern historians do not think there were actually many records to lose at this early point. Sir Ronald Syme OM ( 11 March, 1903 &ndash 4 September, 1989) New Zealand -born Historian, was an eminent Gertrude Mary Hirst ( January 22, 1869 – January 12, 1962) better known as G Year 64 BC was a year of the pre-Julian calendar. Events By place Rome Servilius Rullus, Roman Tribune
  3. ^ Livy, History of Rome, Penguin Classics, 1982, ISBN 0-14-044388-6


External links

Primary sources

Secondary sources

Dictionary

Livy

-proper noun

  1. Titus Livius, a Roman historian
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