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Titus
Livius' History of Rome became a classic in his own lifetime and
exercised a profound influence on the style and philosophy of
historical writing down to the 18th century.
His
family apparently did not belong to the senatorial class and Livy does
not seem to have embarked on a political or forensic profession. He is
first heard of in Rome after Augustus had restored stability and peace
to the empire by his decisive naval victory at Actium in 31 BC. Most of
his life must have been spent at Rome, and at an early stage he
attracted the interest of Augustus and was even invited to supervise
the literary activities of the young Claudius (the future emperor). In
one of the few recorded anecdotes about him, Augustus called him a
"Pompeian", implying an outspoken and independent turn of mind.
Livy
began by composing and publishing in units of five books, the length of
which was determined by the size of the ancient papyrus roll. As his
material became more complex, however, he abandoned this symmetrical
pattern and wrote 142 books. Books 11-20 and 46-142 have been lost. The
later books after Book 45 are known only from summaries. In his letters
the statesman Pliny the Younger records that Livy was tempted to
abandon the enterprise but found that the task had become too
fascinating to give it up; he also mentions a citizen of C�diz who came
all the way to Rome for the sole satisfaction of gazing at the great
historian.
Livy
was unique among Roman historians in that he played no part in
politics. This deprived him of firsthand access to much material that
was preserved in official quarters. The chief effect is that Livy did
not seek historical explanations in political terms. The novelty and
impact of his history lay in the fact that he saw history in personal
and moral terms.
In
looking at history from a moral standpoint, Livy was at one with other
thinking Romans of his day. Augustus attempted by legislation and
propaganda to inculcate moral ideals. Horace and Virgil in their poetry
stressed the same message - that it was moral qualities that had made
and could keep Rome great.
The
earliest Roman historians had written in Greek, the language of
culture. Their successors had felt that their own history should be
written in Latin, but Latin possessed no ready-made style that could be
used for the purpose. Livy evolved a varied and flexible style that the
ancient critic Quintilian characterized as a "milky richness." It is
recorded that the audiences who went to his recitations were impressed
by his nobility of character and his eloquence. |
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