Livy As A Historian

[Marcus Regulus]

I just picked up Livy's account of the early Roman period from the kings to the early republic and I was wondering what assessment people have of Livy as a historian. What do you say?

[Guest Scanderbeg]

The guys seems to be a fan of historical fiction.

 

He has his flaws, but is fun to read. I wouldn't put much on his history though.

[Primus Pilus]

Of the earliest period Livy is invaluable as the only ancient account that survives. While a great deal of the earliest formation of Rome is based on myth and legend, without Livy, we would have very little knowledge of what the Romans believed about themselves. Much of the 'credible' history is sprinkled with his wonderful propoganda (I say wonderful because I truly enjoy Livy's readable and entertaining style) and it can detract from his assessment as a historian. However, its important to note that Livy obviously had access to information that is now long lost to us, but his major fault (according to modern history/archaeology) is that he makes little to any note of these sources. With that in mind though, Livy didn't seem to care about a deep analyzation of Roman history but only wanted to tell the complete story of Roman history as it was known at the time.

 

Whatever any other amateurs, students, professors or scholars may think of Livy, I personally feel that he is indespensible as an ancient source and must be read to get a complete understanding of the earliest part of Roman history and culture.

[P.Clodius]

You got that right PP, Livy IS indespensible. Livy rules, but you do have to take what he says with a pinch of salt. Not that he was a bad historian, he just did it his way and of course he would have had access to material that is unavailable today. Read his War with Hannibal too, its very good.

[Hamilcar Barca]

I like Livy, he really did put a good effort into what he did by writing a complete history of Rome from 700BC through to his own time (59BC - 17AD). He certanely had his work cut out for him regarding Rome's early history mainly because most of the early Roman records were destroyed in 390BC when Rome was sacked by the Gauls. Unfortunatley, of his 142 books only 35 survive - 1-10, 21-45. This is unfortunate as the later histories which he wrote in his own time regarding the fall of the Republic would have likely been far more reliable than his previous works.

[Marcus Regulus]

Thanx guys,

 

I will give some sort of post when I am done reading it from my own mind. Such as it is.

[Augur]

Livy is grand, but one can't overlook Polybius (bc 200-118) who provided much of the early source materials from which Livy wrote. Ahh, nor Plutarch (ad 45-120), who went into such detail about the most prominent early Romans (and Greeks)... and can any such list not include Suetonius regading the detailed glory and dirt of the first Emps? Nor, alas, can we ignore the fellow who, in my humble opinion, is the most eloquent of them all: Tacitus?

[Anticleia]

Hardly any of Livy's work survives, and much of it was written many many years before his birth at a time when historicla sources would not have been as available as they are today.

 

It provides good insights into this period - but I would not take his facts as 'concrete'.

[Lacertus]

Hardly any of Livy's work survives, and much of it was written many many years before his birth at a time when historicla sources would not have been as available as they are today.

 

It provides good insights into this period - but I would not take his facts as 'concrete'.

 

Are you sure, that modern historians do not deform the facts? Probably, our descendants will receive rather approximate representation about our time. Livy tried to be unbiassed. Certainly, he could not be absolutely exact, and it is not his fault. I think his books are noteworthy and very informative.

[Hamilcar Barca]

I also think it's hilarious how every other paragraph is randomly interupted as he heralds in the new Consuls for the year.

[longbow]

Is Livey easy to get hold off,i want a copy?

[Hamilcar Barca]

You can buy his histories at most decent bookstores or you can also read his complete works online.

 

Livy's histories

 

Even though you can read it all here, you will probably want your own copies. I know I did after reading them.

[Augur]

Quote:"Hardly any of Livy's work survives, and much of it was written many many years before his birth at a time when historicla sources would not have been as available as they are today."

 

"Hardly any of Livy's work survives..." Actually, the amount of Livy's work that still survives is quite extensive. It is true that only 35 of the 147 books of Livy's History of Rome survive, but I can think of no ancient Roman author from whom more is available, at least on the shelves of my own small library, which includes three Livy works containing a surprisingly large number of pages (over 1,700) packed with delicious Livy-text that deliveres a beautiful narrive of the founding of Rome (753 bc) down through the Third Macedonian War (167 bc). That's a lot of history. The man writting it had full access to all of the historical and literary resources that existed in 1st Century Rome. And all 1,700 pages are available from Penguin Classics for under $20 bucks.