Livy

Livy (59 bc-ad 17), Roman historian, whose History of Rome is one of the most important sources of information about early Rome and one of the finest works of Latin literature. Livy (Titus Livius) was born and died at Patavium (modern Padua) in northern Italy, but probably spent most of his life in Rome, where he was tutor to the future emperor Claudius I. His History of Rome is a narrative of events from the foundation of the city in 753 bc until 9 bc. Of the original 142 books that the History comprised, only 35 survive in their entirety: Books I-X, which consist largely of semi-legendary accounts of the origin and early history of the city (see Kings of Rome); and Books XXI-XLV, which deal with the second of the Punic Wars and the Macedonian and Syrian wars. Fragments survive of a few other books, while the contents of the remainder are known from descriptions in the works of other writers. The books were published in groups of five, the first in about 26 bc and the last after ad 14.

Writing during the reign of Emperor Augustus, when the Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean world, Livy intended his history to demonstrate that Rome had been destined for greatness even in the days of its humble origins and to provide a suitable backdrop for the glories of the Augustan age. He used the material he found in the accounts of earlier Roman historians, without trying to determine their reliability, blending fact with fiction, and his work is distinguished more for its literary style and dramatic skill than for its accuracy. His was the most widely read and admired history of Rome, and remained so until the Renaissance.