The History of Rome, Books I-V: The Early History of Rome

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The History of Rome, Books I-V: The Early History of Rome (Histoire romaine #1)

by Livy, Aubrey de Sélincourt (Translator), Robert Maxwell Ogilvie, S.P. Oakley, Stephen Oakley (Preface)

3.81 of 5 stars 3.81 · rating details · 3,129 ratings · 81 reviews

With stylistic brilliance and historical imagination, the first five books of Livy's monumental history of Rome record events from the foundation of Rome through the history of the seven kings, the establishment of the Republic and its internal struggles, up to Rome's recovery after the fierce Gallic invasion of the fourth century B.C. Livy vividly depicts the great charac...more

Paperback, 488 pages

Published June 25th 2002 by Penguin Classics (first published -29)

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Jun 07, 2010 Jesse Lopes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Nowhere is the class struggle so vividly laid out as in Livy. Plebeians want more land and equality, so the patricians distract them by going to war; plebeians want equal political representation, so the patricians distract them by invoking the gods ("What would the Gods think? You're too poor!"). My dog, is Appius Claudius not ready for Fox News? This is an excellent translation, superior to the Penguin edition, too, in my regard, for politely breaking up the consulships. By the time the kings...more

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Apr 12, 2009 Derrick rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Derek Benz

First, note that the translation I have is the Barnes and Noble version! Maybe look for others...

For its historical significance Livy's work is a 5. The writing, however, is just bad. Not sure if the translation is to blame or if Livy was that bad of a writer, Latin or no. There were times where I simply wasn't sure who was doing what. This type of confusion and ridiculously long and awkward sentences are common making the flow almost non existent. The end notes are bad too. Not enough useful in...more First, note that the translation I have is the Barnes and Noble version! Maybe look for others...

For its historical significance Livy's work is a 5. The writing, however, is just bad. Not sure if the translation is to blame or if Livy was that bad of a writer, Latin or no. There were times where I simply wasn't sure who was doing what. This type of confusion and ridiculously long and awkward sentences are common making the flow almost non existent. The end notes are bad too. Not enough useful information.

The first book and the last are easily the most enjoyable to read. The first gives the predominately mythical origin of Rome from Aeneas's arrival on the peninsula to its founding by Romulus. The last book gives us the legendary accounts of Camillus and the first sack of Rome by the Gauls. Important stuff to be sure.

The middle books can be summarized by the following: class struggles between patricians and plebes and the resulting political conflicts are only to be interrupted by the occasional battles with the Aequi or Volsci, who never seem to learn their lesson. These battles were actually welcomed by the Roman leaders for this very reason. It wasn't soon enough that the plebes learned to take advantage of their inherit leverage by refusing levy whenever they wanted something. The fathers weren't much quicker. It would not be for another couple hundred years until the Romans would make their military a professional one.

Like Herodotus, Livy generally neither refutes nor accepts many of the fantastical tales. Instead, he feels obliged to include myth and legend as part of Rome's history. He decides that it is best to include these accounts because this is what the Romans believed. He doesn't spend near as much time commenting whether these things actually happened, which is good thing! The fact that book one is essentially picking up where Virgil's Aeneid left off should be kept in the proper perspective.

Despite the chore it is to read there is no denying the importance and feel very satisfied that I was able to finish. If you've ever wondered how you got where you are, as in how you got to such a country and why you are the race and religion that you are, and why you are who you are, then Roman history probably has at least part of these answers. Thanks to Livy this important information was written down to be preserved for us. If you don't care about such things then I feel sorry for you. Not as sorry as I felt for myself trying to read this at times but still pretty sorry!(less)

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Jan 01, 2012 T.F. Rhoden rated it 4 of 5 stars

There is more than enough in Livy’s work to keep one’s self busy. Though I had only planned on reading the first ten of the forty or so books in his history (each book contains around 40-50 chapters or around 50 pages a book), I now plan on reading all of the books. Livy was born in c.59 BCE and wrote these books from the middle part of his life till his death after the turn of the millennium.

As for the first book, it mainly tells the story of the founding of Rome (which was in 753 BCE for Livy)...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Jim rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ancient-rome, history

This year I have determined to read a number of books written during the Roman Republic and Empire. I have started with Livy's The Early History of Rome, which covers the period from the founding of Rome to the sacking of the city by the Gauls in 386 B.C.

Although Livy was no match for the dark power of Tacitus, the story he tells is one of war all the time. From its founding, Rome was constantly at war with the Etruscans, the Sabines, the Volsci, and other nearby peoples. At the same time, from...more

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Mar 28, 2011 Pete daPixie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history-roman

I thought Livy's 'The Rise of Rome' Books 1-5 to be some of the hardest reading I've done for quite some time. Like eating cardboard. The more I read, the harder it was to digest the thing. A historian whose work I read recently, my colander brain prevents recall of who this was, advocated strongly for reading the literature of a period to fully understand the history. So I met the advice half way in deciding to read this book.
Titus Livius wrote 142 books in this monster series of his history of...more I thought Livy's 'The Rise of Rome' Books 1-5 to be some of the hardest reading I've done for quite some time. Like eating cardboard. The more I read, the harder it was to digest the thing. A historian whose work I read recently, my colander brain prevents recall of who this was, advocated strongly for reading the literature of a period to fully understand the history. So I met the advice half way in deciding to read this book.
Titus Livius wrote 142 books in this monster series of his history of Rome, from it's foundation in 753bc to 9bc. Only 35 books survive. (Thank the gods for that!) This series from 1-5 covers the formation of the city of Aeneas, after the fall of Troy, with guest appearances from Hercules and the dynamic duo of Romulus and Remus. Book 5 ends with the sack of the city by the Gauls in 390bc.
What is incredible about Livius' work is that all of this data was available at all in the first century bc. As well as consulting earlier historical writings from Fabius Pictor, Licinius Macer or Valerius Antias, he was also able to access histories recorded in the Linen Books kept in the Temple of Juno Moneta. (This was also home to Rome's mint, hence our money.)
Occasionally the narrative contains a gem. Information of the first settlements on Rome's hills, or the founding of temples or the mythical creation of the Isola Tiberina. However the bulk of this work covers the almost continuous attrition between the city and her neighbours, the Sabines, Etruscans, Volsci, Aequi, Fabii, Veii, etc. Or who were consuls for the year. What politics occupied the senate. Who stabbed who in the back, or who was sent into exile. Who offended the plebs.
As Livius states, 'the fates ordained the founding of this great city and the beginning of the world's mightiest empire, second only to the power of the gods.' On the subject of gods, Romulus and Remus were born from a Vestal virgin, the father was Mars. The children were cast adrift in a basket to be reared by a she wolf. It is also interesting to learn that Romulus ascended bodily to heaven and that Rome was bidden to perform rituals by a voice from heaven on Mount Alba. All very familiar.
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Nov 06, 2011 umberto rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ancient-history

I think reading this unthinkable book by Livy is like reading an epic. In other words, don't expect to enjoy reading him or understand every event, dialog, uprising, etc. since there're innumerable complexities in there. However, reading him is worth spending our time so that we can grasp some ideas from one of the great three Roman historians; the trio being Livy, Sallust and Tacitus (according to a synopsis from a Penguin paperback, I wonder how about Polybius, why not?).

Therefore, I'd like to...more I think reading this unthinkable book by Livy is like reading an epic. In other words, don't expect to enjoy reading him or understand every event, dialog, uprising, etc. since there're innumerable complexities in there. However, reading him is worth spending our time so that we can grasp some ideas from one of the great three Roman historians; the trio being Livy, Sallust and Tacitus (according to a synopsis from a Penguin paperback, I wonder how about Polybius, why not?).

Therefore, I'd like to share my ideas with my GR friends who read Livy in the following:

1) From his marvelous godlike narrative, we can't help admiring his complexities regarding many problematic issues in need of wise decision/verdict from those in charge. So there're various unfamiliar positions/terms like the Senate, consuls, tribunes, etc. In essence, their principles and applications have since been evolved into our knowledge and practice of balance-checking administration among the powers that be. I think that's one of the reasons why the Roman law is essentially the foundation for law degrees in universities.

2) From this excerpt:

The consuls were immediately recalled to Rome. Lucretius entered the city covered with glory and laden with the spoils of war. The enthusiasm which greeted his arrival was further increased by his generous behaviour in having all the captured material laid out in the Campus Martius for a period of three days, for public inspection: anyone who recognized property of his own could take it away; whatever was not claimed was sold. Lucretius had, by general consent, earned the distinction of a Triumph, but since in his own view discussion of Terentillus's proposal for political reforms was of more immediate importance, the celebration was postponed. ... (p. 205)

What do you think?

From my notes:
i) Lucretius has revealed his transparency and integrity;
ii) the Triumph celebration vs. the discussion for political reforms signify an advanced view/practice in that the public is more essential than an individual.

3) My humble suggestion: It is a bit annoying when I found any inconsistency in translation. I know we can't find its perfect version, however, we hope expertise and professionalism are the key solutions for those involved in its next revised edition. For instance, are these two positions similar or different? I mean, 'Master of the Horse' (p. 128) or 'Master of Horse' (p. 227)?

That's it. I think that should be enough for now since, I'm sure, there're many Livian scholars out there smiling and ready to post more in-depth tips of thought for our GR reading venue worldwide.(less)

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Dec 25, 2012 max added it · review of another edition

Shelves: rome

Quintilian credited Livy with a style he curiously described as possessing "lactea ubertas," i.e., milky richness. There is a striking variety in his compositional method. Longer sentences wind on at a leisurely pace, while other, shorter ones hit home with an epigrammatic touch. To read him in Latin is to savor one of the great stylists of the language. He is unlike Cicero and nothing akin to Tacitus. Caesar is an affordable Barolo; Livy is an expensive Amarone. But this is a translation, and a...more Quintilian credited Livy with a style he curiously described as possessing "lactea ubertas," i.e., milky richness. There is a striking variety in his compositional method. Longer sentences wind on at a leisurely pace, while other, shorter ones hit home with an epigrammatic touch. To read him in Latin is to savor one of the great stylists of the language. He is unlike Cicero and nothing akin to Tacitus. Caesar is an affordable Barolo; Livy is an expensive Amarone. But this is a translation, and a very good one at that.

Livy's narrative style is often highly economical and remarkably vivid. He has a marvelous flair for setting a stage, for shaping the content he is working with in a dramatic and absorbing fashion. The speeches of his historical figures are of course made up, as is so much else for that matter -- he was, after all, writing about events that preceded him by many centuries with no "historical" record to go on except stories that had been told and retold over the long ages. In this respect he is somewhat like Herodotus, although at least Herodotus is more willing to share occasionally with us the sources of his information and what he finds credible or not.

Livy can also be slanted, another reason that I like him. His "history" -- especially in the earlier, pre-Republic period -- is frequently less concerned with reconfiguring for the reader a factual historical reality than serving as a patriotic exemplar of those inherently Roman values that he prizes: honor, bravery, fidelity, self-control, self-reliance, self-sacrifice, etc. -- the whole civic virtue thing that the Romans took very seriously.

It is fascinating how much we are like the Romans. Amidst our wasteful, never-ending wars, our marginalization of indigenous peoples -- not to mention our exploitation of plebian underlings by a financial elite that holds Congress in thrall -- we cling to and perpetuate the myth of the so-called American Dream. In like fashion the Romans subjugated the Gauls and other peoples over the centuries -- robbing, plundering, erasing their languages and customs while exalting their own cultural superiority. Their civilization was a perpetual militaristic project based on raw exploitation and brutal subjugation. It is certainly true that Roman history is filled with numerous examples of compromise and conciliation, of effective political solutions to problems that bedeviled them. Indeed, these are the important developments that Livy chronicles in vivid detail. In the end, however, it is difficult to square their high-toned values of law, order and social harmony with the gladiatorial combat they craved and the slave labor that drove their economy.

This particular edition is highly recommended. The translation is accurate and readable. The introduction, appendices and index are also very well put together. Perhaps best of all, this edition helpfully contains subheadings supplied by the editors / translators for various chapters that indicate what each is about.(less)

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Sep 24, 2009 Jeremy added it

Shelves: politics, sociological

Straight forward and enjoyable, there are none of those 20 page long digressions which plague the greek historians. The real draw of this is that it shows how a small settlement in the ancient world developed and gained power until it became an entire civilization. It's obvious that Livy really really loves Rome, and at times it can feel like pure propoganda, but its balanced out with some very even-handed depictions of major conflicts and crazy personal ambitions. In their early stages, you can...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was introduced to Livy's work by Machiavelli, who was among the first of the moderns to take a deferential view toward the ancients, as Europe climbed out of its Dark Age ditch and labored toward the domineering heights of the Enlightenment. Classical authors, Livy among them, were being unearthed and gave intellectuals a new array of secular (or so they thought) observations to work with. What Galileo did with astronomy and Da Vinci did with anatomy and engineering, Machiavelli attempted to d...more I was introduced to Livy's work by Machiavelli, who was among the first of the moderns to take a deferential view toward the ancients, as Europe climbed out of its Dark Age ditch and labored toward the domineering heights of the Enlightenment. Classical authors, Livy among them, were being unearthed and gave intellectuals a new array of secular (or so they thought) observations to work with. What Galileo did with astronomy and Da Vinci did with anatomy and engineering, Machiavelli attempted to do with politics by studying Rome, the Enlightenment model for large-scale governance. Thus, Livy's histories became Machiavelli's Bible, so to speak - or at least his Old Testament.

It was in this frame of mind that I approached my first volume of Livy, as he takes on, in a characteristically detached, yet quietly patriotic way, the semi-mythical early years of the Roman state; from its founding by Romulus and Remus, to the overthrow of the despotic Tarquins and the establishment of the Republic, through many bitter years of infighting between the patricians and plebeians as the city's power grows, and ending just after the Gallic sacking of Rome in 386 BC.

Yet despite surface appearances, Livy is not simply reciting one event after another as an archivist would (although there are long, boring stretches in which Rome alternatively deals with plebeian concerns and fights off invading Volscians and Aequians). He is also telling a moral story about good governance and the personal character needed to sustain it.

In making these deeper points, he subtly grappled with political concerns that are as relevant today as they were at the time of writing. The tribunes often don't seem concerned about defending the city in the face of invasion, seeing military service, and patriotism itself, as a tool used by the aristocracy to get the commons to fight for the interests of a decadent elite. This attitude confounds the patrician Consuls, who note that to defend the city is to defend the lives and property of every Roman, patrician and plebeian alike. Such tensions have always strained political bodies.

Yet although Livy certainly bemoans the dysfunction of Roman politics, I could also sympathize with Machiavelli's view that class conflict was also a creative force that forged better governance and spurred Rome's martial success, as all citizens had personal interest in honorable service to the state. There are a few instances in which the plebeian soldiers, galvanized by the concessions of the patrician order or by the existential threat posed by enemies in the field, accomplish great acts of heroism. When the classes hammered out some political consensus, they were more formidable than any tyranny.

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Feb 16, 2012 Curt Hopkins Hopkins rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, rome

If anyone EVER tells you Livy is deadly, well. Yeah, believe them. He's awful. He managed to turn 400 years of Roman history into 400 pages of the dullest Bachelor Sitcom History Professor porno you could ever hope to hate. In all those pages he managed to tell two stories I retained, both near the end: the conquest of Veii and the sack of Rome by the Gauls. (So soporific and sententious I wound up cheering for the Gauls.)

There is a reason to read it, however, aside from the consul lists and rot...more

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Sep 07, 2011 M. Milner rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: good-history-stuff, ancient-primary-sources

Livy's first five books of his huge history of Rome - he originally wrote some 140+ volumes - is somewhat of a mixed bag. It covers the rise of the city-state of Rome, from it's founding in about 750 BC to the Gallic sack in about 386 BC, so there's a lot of events detailed here. But there isn't a ton of actual history, either. Livy used mostly myths about Rome's origins to recreate it's earliest days. Most of these came from ancient Greece; Aeneas and Hercules literally came to Rome from Greece...more

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Feb 26, 2010 max added it · review of another edition

Shelves: latin

Livy is like fine wine. I keep coming back to him and am never let down. He is the single most important Roman historian when it comes to Rome's early history. He reads rather like Herodotus in many ways. As a storyteller, he appreciates the importance of character and dramatic presentation. He is colorful and entertaining, never dry and tedious. The period of the monarchy, the Struggle of the Orders, the establishment of the Republic: all of these are treated in depth. If you want to know more...more

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Feb 17, 2012 Philip rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, jordabecker-book-club

I was in Sienna, Italy back in 2000/2001. My host family had been taking me around some parts of Europe that weren't too distant from Varaždin, Croatia. At one point, while we were walking to the Cathedral, I asked my host brother, "What's up with all those statues and pictures everywhere?"

"What statues and pictures?"

"The ones with the kids and the wolf." I'll never forget the look he gave me. The look of, "Are you kidding me?"

"That's Romulus and Remus..." Blank stare. "Romulus? The founder of R...more

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Mar 02, 2009 Jon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read the reviews of Livy's History and I see that his writing has been badly misunderstood. Critics make two charges against it; one worthless, and one worthwhile.

The first is that Livy is reliant on myth and miraculous stories. He includes tales that are not possibly true, or have been pilfered from the Greeks. They complain also that Livy is too credulous about fantastic occurrences like, for example, when he observes talking cows or phenomenal weather.

But this charge is frankly stupid. It...more I read the reviews of Livy's History and I see that his writing has been badly misunderstood. Critics make two charges against it; one worthless, and one worthwhile.

The first is that Livy is reliant on myth and miraculous stories. He includes tales that are not possibly true, or have been pilfered from the Greeks. They complain also that Livy is too credulous about fantastic occurrences like, for example, when he observes talking cows or phenomenal weather.

But this charge is frankly stupid. It is preposterous to expect of ancient historians sensibilities that are modern. And, in any case, it presumes to judge what is the method best equipped for recounting a political story. This entry then will waste no more time answering charges of this sort. They do not deserve the dignity of a reply, let alone a serious one.

There is however a second criticism of Livy, one that must be answered. It says that Livy's History is flat; it is shaped to read as "And then... And then... And then...", one consul after another, and has no arc or great complication that it builds to. Livy, they say, is giving epic history, but without epic form. And by that reason his History is boring. It is tedious and dull, and at times almost admittedly so--when, for example, Livy emphasizes "once again" the Aequians and the Volscians are pillaging the Roman hinterland, since such, like his History, are routine in pattern.

This criticism is partly right, but mostly wrong. I concede his History is arranged in unepic form, but this is by design, not by accident. And when one reflects upon it, it's usage is actually quite ingenious.

If one wants to read the Rise of Rome, you must turn to Polybius. This is where Rome's rise as such is given in the classic history. Not however with Livy. His is the History of the Republic of Rome. They are different--the Rise and the Republic. And where the first might require epic arrangement, the second does not. Instead Livy has organized his narrative as a montage. The origin and life of Romulus, for example, is really a collection of unrelated accounts, but each to a purpose. First there is the story of Romulus's and Remus's adolescence; then their revenge against a wicked king; then the foundation of Rome and Remus's death; then a comparison between Hercules and Romulus; then the abduction of Sabine women; then the betrayal of a Roman fort by Tarpeius's daughter; then the intervention of Sabine women; and finally Romulus's strange disappearance. The narrative here does not aggregate into something larger. Though it progresses with time, each is a story of its own, adjoined only by the coincidence of their Roman association.

This technique of story-making is distinctive. And readers may be wrongly expecting from Livy qualities of the larger Roman genre of history that is dominated by the Polybian style. In Tacitus, in Gibbon--there you see the epic form of history told.

The question then should not be why Livy went wrong in his recount. That question, I have just argued, is a misapprehension of his History. Instead the question should be what motive Livy had to write the way that he did? Why the anti-epic? Was it a repudiation of Caesarian politics? Was Livy nostalgic for the Republic? Was it that he wanted to designify the great moments in their relation to the little? Did he want to elevate the ordinary travails of republican life to the level of the extra-ordinary? Or was his meaning purely moral? And does the History figure then only as a stage on which to portray the famous life lessons of Roman virtue?

These are questions to which I have not the answer. But they are questions that are fair to ask. And those who wait for Livy to ascend to lofty themes rather than attend to the small, will have had an experience similar to having heard something without listening to it. (less)

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Jul 25, 2008 Bruce rated it 3 of 5 stars

I found reading this book to be a mixed experience. It clearly gives a sense of Roman history up to 386 BC, much of course being based on myth and legend, and as such it is an invaluable introduction to the history of Rome.

The writing itself seems uneven. There are seemingly interminable chronological lists of consuls and tribunes, squabbles between patricians and plebians, repetitive conflicts with neighboring tribes and cities that become mind-numbing. Interspersed with these are fascinating "...more

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Jan 09, 2008 M rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: authors-of-classical-antiquity, history

This is only for people with a strong interest in the early history of ancient Rome. It adheres to none of the rigors of modern scholarship -- the author fills in a lot of blanks in an effort to instruct the reader on Roman character. However, the book is not a fairy tale either, the author conscientiously attempts to identify what he believes only to be myth. The accounts of early Roman engagements are very repetitive, Livy essentially records what happened in Rome year by year.

My biggest inter...more

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Aug 16, 2012 Andrew rated it 2 of 5 stars

Covers the first 365 years of Roman history. The first book covers the founding of the city and the Roman monarchy through 7 kings. Books 2 through 5 cover the first part of the Roman Republic and are basically a year-by-year summary of battles with neighbors of Rome in Italy or the political conflicts between the patricians and the plebians. Although interesting to read it from the ancient Roman perspective, for a general early history of Rome, I'd suggest something more modern.

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Jul 01, 2010 Angela rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Just one of many of Livy's Histories of Rome, I find myself going back to this as a reference frequently. One of the foremost authorities on Roman history in his time, Livy covers the origins of Rome up to his own lifetime. This particular history, books 1-5, covers early Rome. Like many historians of his day, his history does include some legends and myths, but this gives insight into the culture.

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May 23, 2013 Wise_owl rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Another 'Classic Work' which I had examined in parts when I was younger, the work of Livy was a major historical work of the Roman Period, composing something like 142 volumes of which only 30 or so survive. These five cover the mythical formation of rome up to it's invasion and sacking by the Gauls. It's certainy a different historical work, alternating between long stretches of tedious descriptions of Tribunes and Consules and repititive conflicts between the Senators and the Plebs, to the per...more

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Mar 26, 2008 Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-general

Reasonable secondary source history of Rome. Livy covers the time period from 1200BC to ~385BC in minor detail, but includes some famous speeches from the time. Enjoyable for a number of reasons, excruciating for a number of others.

Enjoyable: Its nice to hear a pagan bitching about how everything's going to shit because the gods aren't being followed and kids these days don't give the gods the respect they deserve.

Enjoyable: The names of Roman Senators. My favorites were definitely Spurius Furiu...more

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Sep 25, 2012 Summer rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this. It isn't as dry and thick as Herodotus or Thucydides, and the events progress in a chronological, almost story-like manner. The style was very enjoyable to read, and it's the first historical text I can say is a page-turner. I'll have to read the entire text sometime when I'm not in college.

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Dec 12, 2011 Mlong3863 rated it 5 of 5 stars

completely satisfying account of rome's founding mythology, and subsequent march toward republicanism. This was very enjoyable as a counterpoint to Volume 1, which was about an endless tumble into worse and worse political realities. In Livy's book, the world feels very small, while in Gibbon the world feels impossibly large.

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Dec 13, 2010 Shawn rated it 3 of 5 stars

The past few ancient history books I have read I didn't much care for. This one was a decent read though. Covers the origins of Rome under the kings beginnig with Romulus circa 750 BC and culmintaing in about 350 BC when it was a republic, about 300 years before the rule of the caesars and the empire began.

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Jul 06, 2010 Keith rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: roman-history-and-culture, reading-list-grad

This is an easy translation to read, for the most part. I think the translator could have spent a little bit more time ordering his language into standard English syntax. It's great that Romans could stylize their Latin so gracefully, but that really just confuses the English if not done up properly.

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Jul 23, 2011 Yann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: antiquité, histoire, italie, politique

Passionnant ! La naissance de Rome. Au delà des épisodes connus (Remus et Romulus, les Horaces et les Curiaces, Numa,Tarquin, Lucrèce, Brennus, ... ), outre les peintures de bravoures ou de félonies, des guerres incessante, Tite-Live dessine la constitution d'un espace politique caractérisé par une rivalité permanente entre plébéiens et patriciens. Ballotés de périls en périls, Rome tire profit de ses expériences et créé petit à petit les institutions qui permettent de conserver au mieux l'équil...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Alison McNeely Buxton rated it 4 of 5 stars

Enjoyable, though a bit tedious in spots. If you don't bring a love of the topic to the reading of the book, it might become a slog-fest. But overall it's a fantastic starting point for a study of Roman culture and history. To be fair, I am not sure my high school students found it quite as engaging or readable as I did.

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Jun 04, 2010 Cscearce rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm reading the first book of Livy's history. I don't know if there is any real history in the early books. Seems more like mythology. Still, it's turning out to be more interesting from a story perspective than I expected it to be.

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Jan 03, 2010 Corey Rowe rated it 3 of 5 stars

ummm, read machiavelli's discourses. this was written right after the fall of the tarquin kings, i don't really understand it without machiavelli's help....and i still like machiavelli's interpretation of republicanism better:)

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May 20, 2011 Rick K. rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011

People back then were just like people now. The Roman republic seemed like actually a pretty cool thing. I also think that this history shows how much more meaningful of an impact that one individual can have when there are fewer people.

Some parts are a little slow, but the history is well-written and surprisingly well-substantiated.

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Feb 04, 2013 Elisabeth Sepulveda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Very thorough and specific history of Rome with many of the stories included in history textbooks written with far more detail. If you're into Ancient history and Western Civ. this has good content.

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About Livy

Titus Livius ( ca. 59 B.C. - ca. 17 A.D. ) known as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms wit...more

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Books by Livy

The History of Rome, Books XXI-XXX: The War With Hannibal

Rome and Italy: Books VI-X of the History of Rome from its Foundation

The History of Rome, Books XXXI-XLV: Rome and the Mediterranean

The War with Hannibal: Books XXI-XXX of the History of Rome from its Foundation

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“The study of history is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see: and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings: fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid.” — 15 people liked it

“It is your duty,' he said, 'to recover your country not by gold but by the sword. You will be fighting with all you love before your eyes: the temples of the gods, your wives and children, the soil of your native land scarred with the ravages of war, and everything which honor and truth call upon you to defend, or recover, or avenge.” — 3 people liked it

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The History of Rome, Books I-V: The Early History of Rome (Histoire romaine #1)

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