This article is about a work sometimes referred to asAb Urbe Condita. For the dating convention used for Roman history, seeAb Urbe Condita.
Stories from Livy I.4, on an altar panel fromOstia.Father Tiber looks on at the lower right while the nationallupa (wolf) nourishesRomulus and Remus, founders of Rome. The herders are about to find them. One of their goats can be seen. Small animals denote the wildness of the place. The nationalaquila (eagle) is portrayed.
TheHistory of Rome, perhaps originally titledAnnales, and frequently referred to asAb Urbe Condita (English:From the Founding of the City),[1] is a monumentalhistory of ancient Rome, written inLatin between 27 and 9 BC by the Roman historian Titus Livius, better known in English as "Livy".[a] The work covers the period from the legends concerning the arrival ofAeneas and the refugees from the fall ofTroy, to thecity's founding in 753 BC,the expulsion of theKings in 509 BC, and down to Livy's own time, during the reign of the emperorAugustus.[b][c] The last event covered by Livy is the death ofDrusus in 9 BC.[1] 35 of 142 books, about a quarter of the work, are still extant.[3] The surviving books deal with the events down to 293 BC (books 1–10), and from 219 to 166 BC (books 21–45).
TheHistory of Rome originally comprised 142 "books", 35 of which—Books 1–10 with the Preface and Books 21–45—still exist in reasonably complete form.[1] 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.[4]
A fragmentarypalimpsest of the 91st book was discovered in theVatican 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.[5]
Some passages are nevertheless known thanks to quotes from ancient authors, the most famous being on the death ofCicero, quoted bySeneca the Elder.
Fragment ofP. Oxy. 668, with Epitome of Livy XLVII–XLVIII
Livy was abridged, in antiquity, to anepitome, which survives for Book 1, but was itself abridged in the fourth century into the so-calledPeriochae, which is simply a list of contents. ThePeriochae survive for the entire work, except for books 136 and 137.[6]
InOxyrhynchus, a similar summary of books 37–40, 47–55, and only small fragments of 88 was found on a roll of papyrus that is now in theBritish Museum classified as P.Oxy.IV 0668.[7] 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.[8] However, the Oxyrhynchus Epitome is damaged and incomplete.
The entire work covers the following periods:[1][9]
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.[d]
Livy wrote in a mixture of annualchronology andnarrative. This emerged from his decision to organise his narrative on a year-by-year scheme with regular announcements of elections of "consuls, prodigies, temple dedications, triumphs, and the like". This kind of year-by-year list of events is termed "annalistic history". Livy employed annalistic features to associate his history with the dominant traditional of Roman history, which was to write these annalistic chronicles; in so doing, he "imbued his history with an aura of continuity and stability" along with "pontifical authority".[19]
The first and third decades (see below) of Livy's work are written so well that Livy has become asine 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 bookBarthold 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...",[20] going so far as to conjecture that the later books were lost because copyists refused to copy such low-quality work.[21]
However, Livy also employed repetitive and formulaic wording in description of repetitive military affairs, described by Ogilvie as "mechanical and careless". Modern readers, however, view Livy's repetitive prose more positively at least in performance of prayers, blessings, and public religious rituals.[22]
Adigression in Book 9, Sections 17–19, suggests that the Romans would have beatenAlexander the Great if he had lived longer and had turned west to attack the Romans, making this digression one of the oldest known writtenalternate history scenarios.[23]
The first five books were published between 27 and 25 BC. The first date mentioned is the yearAugustus received that eponymous title: twice in the first five books Livy uses it.[24] For the second date, Livy lists the closings of the temple ofJanus but omits that of 25 (it had not happened yet).[25]
Livy continued to work on theHistory 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.[26]
The second pentad did not come out until 9 or after, some 16 years after the first pentad. In Book IX Livy states that theCimminian Forest was more impassable than the German had been recently, referring to theHercynian Forest (Black Forest) first opened byDrusus andAhenobarbus.[27]
There is no uniform system of classifying and naming manuscripts. Often the relationship of onemanuscript (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) ofAb urbe condita, which were copied through the Middle Ages and were used in the first printed editions, are derived from a singlerecension commissioned byQuintus Aurelius Symmachus, consul, AD 391.[28] A recension is made by comparing extant manuscripts and producing a new version, anemendation, 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 subscriptionVictorianus 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.[29] This recension and family of descendant MSS is called the Nicomachean, after two of the subscribers. From it several MSS descend (incomplete list):[30][31]
Epigraphists go on to identify several hands and lines of descent. A second family of the first decade consists of the VeronaPalimpsest, reconstructed and published byTheodore 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.[32]
During the Middle Ages, there were constant rumours 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 ofMartin V that he had seen the whole work, written in Lombardic script, in a monastery in Denmark. All of these rumours were later found to be unsubstantiated.[33]
An illumination in a manuscript ofAb urbe condita, in the French translation ofPierre Bersuire. The manuscript belonged to kingCharles V of France. The illumination shows mythical scenes concerning the foundation of Rome and previous mythical history. Paris, Bibliothèque Sainte-Geneviève, Ms. 777, fol. 7r.
The orthodox view is that "Livy was a very poor historian indeed, whether by ancient or modern standards".[34] This is rooted in a few major reasons. He did "no primary research", relying "exclusively on earlier histories". His understanding of those sources was poor: with Livy relating the same event twice on multiple occasions.[34] Moreover, "there are clear signs that his Greek was not good enough to understand properly one of his major sources, the Greek historian Polybius",[34] whom he followed closely for events in the east in books 31 to 45.[35]
Livy also did not intend to produce a history in terms of cataloguing and understanding the past, but rather, in terms of preserving a "memory ... [that] equips the reader with a sense of wrong and right as determined or exemplified by the actions of one's predecessors".[36] Moreover, the work was also written "under the shadow of the new emperor"[37] with the goal of supporting "the idea that the Augustan principate was theculmination of Roman history".[38]
While other sources have attempted to rehabilitate Livy's history in terms of its literary quality (for example, DS Levene'sLivy on the Hannibalic War),[39] this is not a defence of the history's historicity.[40] Modern criticism of Livy also goes into the "inaccuracy of his battle accounts, the vagueness of his geography, ... the excessive partiality shown to one or [an]other of his 'heroes', and in general the highly rhetorical nature of not only his speeches but also of his dramatic narrations".[41]
However, judgement on Livy's whole work ought to be withheld insofar as only the first third ofAb urbe condita survives; the portions of Livy that survive, heavily relying on an uncritical repetition of earlier sources, may not be the same approach he took for later periods of the republic or his own time, where he would have needed "to do his own research using contemporary testimonies from eyewitnesses[,] the records of the senate and the assemblies[, and records of the] speeches of the great orators".[42]
The details of Livy'sHistory vary from the legendary and mythical stories at the beginning[43] to detailed accounts of real events toward the end. Livy, in his preface on discussing the early history of Rome, noted the difficulties of interpreting or reconciling the sources in his own day:
So many chronological errors, magistrates appearing differently in different authors, suggest ... you cannot tell which consuls came after which or what belonged [to] any one year...[44]
It is not easy to prefer one thing over the other or one author over another. I think that the tradition has been contaminated... since various families have fraudulently arrogated to themselves the repute of deeds and offices. As a result, both individuals' deeds and the public records of events have certainly been thrown into confusion. Nor is there any writer contemporary with those times who could serve as a reliable standard.[45]
Livy too recognised that the early years of Rome were profoundly ahistorical, saying "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".[46] The first book has been one of the most significant sources of the various accounts of the traditional legend ofRomulus and Remus.[47] However, when comparing Livy's account of the kingdom to that ofDionysius of Halicarnassus, his scepticism is better evident, as he omitted "many stories which seemed rather improbable to him".[48] And in general, the early parts of the books are important accounts of early Rome surviving from antiquity.[49]
But while Livy did recognise "the higher reliability of older contemporary authors compared to younger ones", he did little to ensure that his history was internally consistent or follow his own insights on unreliability regularly, preferring the story of his chosen choice without changes, "even if he afterward detected capital errors".[50]
Livy's treatment of his own sources was more in terms of arranging material and synthesising a narrative rather than engaging in original research into official documents; in doing so, he "did little more than [trying] to reconcile discrepancies in his sources by using arguments from probability".[51] However, Livy did not substantially grapple with the possibility that annalists knew how to invent probable stories.[50] Furthermore, rarely did Livy provide the names of his sources, especially in the long passages where he followed one major source with infrequent comparisons to other sources to correct errors.[52] Fortunately, Livy's goal in telling existing narratives with "better style and arrangement" means he seemingly did not introduce into his history "invented episodes of exaggerations".[48]
Livy's work "came at the end of a long line of historians ... conventionally known as the 'annalistic tradition'".[53] Where he relied on these sources (along with other narrative sources available in his day) his principle was similar to that of Herodotus': "tell what he had been told".[48]
Livy did not use thelibri lintei or theannales maximi kept by thepontifex maximus; nor did he "walk around in Rome, or elsewhere, to discover inscriptions or other new documents".[57] The difficulties of using the senate's own archives, documented in speeches by Cicero, "hint... at the possibilities of falsifying evidence" and the poor transmission of authoritative historical records.[42]
The first complete rendering ofAb urbe condita into English wasPhilemon Holland's translation published in 1600. According to Considine, "it was a work of great importance, presented in a grand folio volume of 1,458 pages, and dedicated to [QueenElizabeth I]".[58]
^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 calledAugustus, a title which he was granted by theRoman 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.[2]
^Livy uses the chronology ofVarro, 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 theeponymous 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 theSamnite 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) gapbefore the event.[10]
^Two small fragments discovered in 1986 in Egypt.[5]
^"I should also mention the snake that Livy talks about in such detail and with such style. He says that in Africa, near the river Bagradas, there was a snake so huge that it was able to prevent the army of Atilius Regulus from using the river. It snatched up many soldiers in its huge mouth... Livy notes that the hide of the beast was sent to our city and measured 120 feet."[12][13]
Cornell, Tim (1986). "The Formation of the Historical Tradition of Early Rome". In Moxon, IS; Smart, JD; Woodman, Anthony John (eds.).Past Perspectives: Studies in Greek and Roman Historical Writing. Cambridge: University Press. p. 74.
Gowing, Alain M (2005).Empire and Memory: The Representation of the Roman Republic in Imperial Culture. Roman Literature and its Contexts. Cambridge: University Press.doi:10.1017/CBO9780511610592.ISBN978-0-521-83622-7.
Hahn, Frances Hickson (2015). "Livy's liturgical order". In Mineo, Bernard (ed.).A companion to Livy. Wiley. pp. 90–101.ISBN978-1-118-30128-9.
Hardwick, L. (2003).Reception Studies. Greece & Rome: New surveys in the classics. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-0-19-852865-4 – via Classical Association (Great Britain).
Niebuhr, Barthold Georg (1844).The History of Rome. Vol. 3. Smith, William (Translator): Schmitz, Leonhard (Translator). Philadelphia: Lea & Blanchard.
Seeley, J.R. (1881).Livy, Book I, with Introduction, Historical Examination and Notes (3rd ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press.
von Ungern-Sternberg, Jürgen (2015). "Livy and the annalistic tradition". In Mineo, Bernard (ed.).A companion to Livy. Wiley. pp. 167–177.ISBN978-1-118-30128-9.
Livius, Titus (1823).The History of Rome... in Six Volumes. Baker, George (Translator). New York: Peter A. Mesier et al; The Online Library of Liberty. Archived from the original on 6 June 2024. Retrieved14 October 2024.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) (Contains books I–CXL, with full text of extant books and the preserved summaries of the contents of lost books.)
Livius, Titus (2004) [1904]."Books I-III".Roman History. Freese, John Henry (Translator); Church, Alfred John (Translator); Brodribb, William Jackson (Translator); Osborne, Duffield (Contributor). Project Gutenberg.Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved13 August 2009.
Livius (Livy), Titus."Book XLVI". In McDevitte, William A. (ed.).The History of Rome by Titus Livius, with the epitomes and fragments of the lost books, literally translated, with notes and illustrations. London, Medford: George Bell and Sons, Tufts University: the Perseus Digital Library.
Livy. Lendering, Jona (ed.)."The Periochae".Livius. Retrieved2022-03-08.