Livius
1.
Andronīcus. An early writer who is
regarded as the founder of Roman epic and dramatic poetry. He was by birth a Greek of
Southern Italy, and was brought as a slave to Rome, after the conquest of Tarentum in B.C.
272, while still a young man. His master, a Livius (perhaps Livius Salinator), whose name he
bears, gave him his liberty, and he became an instructor in the Greek and Latin languages.
This employment probably gave occasion for his translation of the
Odyssey into
Saturnian verse, which, in spite of its imperfections, remained a school-book in Rome for
centuries. The first verse runs as follows:
“Virum mihi, Camena, insece
versutum.”
In B.C. 240 he brought upon the Roman stage the first drama composed after a Greek model,
and with such success that thenceforward dramatic poetry was well established in Rome.
According to ancient custom he appeared as an actor in his own pieces. His dramatic
compositions, tragedies, and comedies were faithful but undoubtedly imperfect translations of
Greek originals. He attempted lyric poetry also, for he was commissioned by the State to
write a march in honour of Iuno Regina. Scanty remains of his works are all that have come
down to us; and these are collected by Ribbeck in his
Scaenicae Romanorum Poesis
Fragmenta (Leipzig, 1873), and Bährens,
Frag. Poetarum
Romanorum, pp. 37-43
(Leipzig, 1886). See, also, Wordsworth's
Fragments and Specimens of Early Latin (Oxford, 1874).
2.
Titus. One of the greatest and certainly the most popular of the
Roman writers of history. He was born at Patavium (B.C. 59), of good family, and, after being
carefully educated, betook himself early (before B.C. 31) to Rome, where he soon became
acquainted with the most distinguished men of the day. Even Augustus
entertained friendly relations towards him in spite of his openly expressed republican
convictions, for which he called him a partisan of Pompey. He does not seem to have taken
public office, but to have lived exclusively for literature. He was esteemed by his
contemporaries so highly that a Spaniard is said to have travelled from Gades (Cadiz) to Rome
merely to see him (Pliny ,
Epist. ii. 3). He died in his native town in A.D.
17. He must have begun his great historical work between B.C. 27 and 25; it can only have
been completed shortly before his death, as he did not publish the first twenty-one books
until after the death of Augustus (A.D. 14). It recounts the history of Rome in 142 books,
extending from the foundation of the city (whence the title
Ab Urbe Condita
Libri) to the death of Drusus (A.D. 9). His own death must have prevented its
continuation to the death of Augustus, as he doubtless had proposed. He published the work,
called by himself
Annales (xliii. 13), from time to time, in separate parts,
arranging his material—at least for the first ninety books—as far as
possible in decades (portions consisting of ten books), and half-decades; the division into
decades was, however, first carried through in the fifth century, probably for convenience of
handling so vast a series of books. There still remain only the first decade (to B.C. 293),
the third, fourth, and half of the fifth decade (218-167); and of the remainder, with the
exception of a fairly large portion of the ninety-first book, only inconsiderable fragments.
We also possess from an unknown pen, epitomes (
periochae) of all the
books except 136 and 137, and a scanty extract from the account of the portents (
prodigia), which appeared in B.C. 249 and following year. This is by a
certain Iulius Obsequens, and perhaps dates from the fourth century.
Livy 's importance rests more on the magnitude of his patriotic undertaking and the charm
of his style than on his acquisitions as a scientific historian. He is, in fact, best
regarded as a remarkable story-teller, who possessed a diction almost perfect in its way, and
an unusual power of graphic narrative. For writing history, however, he had no special
training, and his knowledge of Roman law and of the Roman military system was but slight. In
selecting his authorities, also, he showed little discrimination, basing his judgment of them
on
a priori assumptions. Thus he follows Valerius Antias in the first
decade with no mistrust (cf. vii. 36; ix. 27, 37, 43), but later denounces him as a falsifier
(xxvi. 49; xxx. 19; xxxiii. 10, etc.). He does, however, use Polybius, besides Licinius Macer
, Quadrigarius, and Caelius Antipater, but often draws different portions of his narrative
from conflicting accounts, so that there are frequent inconsistencies to be noticed. It is
evident that he had never read the
Leges Regiae or even many important laws of
later times. His purpose, however, was not at all to write a critical history, but rather, by
a lively and brilliant narrative, to rekindle the patriotic spirit among his countrymen and
to inspire them with a desire to emulate the deeds of their heroic ancestors. From this
standpoint, his history deserves the highest praise, and justly won for him the name of
“the Roman Herodotus.” The only criticism of any account that has come
down to us is that of Asinius Pollio recorded by Quintilian (i. 5, 56 and viii. 1, 3), which
charges the historian with displaying in his writings a certain Patavinity
(
Patavinitas, from Patavium, Padua, Livy 's birthplace). Just what this
criticism was meant to imply is not clearly known. It may have been intended to characterize
the style as being more florid than was consistent with the reserve of a Roman gentleman, or
it may refer to the presence of provincialisms, which we are not now able to detect as such.
It may, as some think, have marked the enthusiasm of the writer as opposed to the polished
and self-contained
urbanitas of the metropolis. On this point, see
Wiedemann,
De Patavinitate Livii (Görlitz, 1848-54); and
Moritz Haupt,
Opuscula, ii. 69.
Of Livy's history, the first decade (books one to ten) is entire. It embraces the period
from the foundation of the city to the year B.C. 294, when the subjugation of the Samnites
may be said to have been completed. The second decade (books eleven to twenty) is altogether
lost. It embraced the period from 294 to 219, comprising an account, among other matters, of
the invasion of Pyrrhus and of the First Punic War. The third decade (books twenty-one to
thirty) is entire. It embraces the period from 219 to 201, comprehending the whole of the
Second Punic War. The fourth decade (books thirty-one to forty) is entire, and also one half
of the fifth (books forty-one to forty-five). These fifteen books embrace the period from 201
to 167, and develop the progress of the Roman arms in Cisalpine Gaul, in Macedonia, Greece,
and Asia, ending with the triumph of Aemilius Paulus. Of the other books nothing remains
except inconsiderable fragments, the most notable being a few chapters of the ninety-first
book, concerning the fortunes of Sertorius. The composition of so vast a work necessarily
occupied many years; and we find indications which throw some light upon the epochs when
different sections were composed. Thus, in the first book (ch. 19), it is stated that the
temple of Ianus had been closed twice only since the reign of Numa—for the first
time in the consulship of T. Manlius (B.C. 235), a few years after the termination of the
First Punic War; for the second time by Augustus Caesar, after the battle of Actium, in 29.
But we know that it was shut again by Augustus, after the conquest of the Cantabrians, in 25;
and hence it is evident that the first book must have been written between the years 29 and
25. Moreover, since the last book contained an account of the death of Drusus, it is evident
that the task must have been spread over seventeen years, and probably occupied a much longer
time.
The discovery of the lost books of Livy has been a dream of scholars for many centuries,
and may yet be realized. In the sixteenth century a complete Livy was reported to be in
existence in a monastery in Denmark, where two travellers independently professed to have
seen it; but inquiry failed to verify the claim.
Among the most famous
manuscripts of Livy now
in existence are a Codex Mediceus and a Co dex Parisinus, each of the eleventh century.
Portions of bks. iii.-vi. are preserved in a very old palimpsest at Verona. The third decade
is preserved in a MS. now in Paris (the Codex Puteaneus) of the eighth century, and in a
Mediceus of the eleventh century. The fourth decade is known from a Codex Moguntinus
(Mayence), now lost, and from a MS. at Bamberg. What is preserved of the fifth decade is in a
sixth-century MS. at Vienna.
The
editio princeps of Livy appeared at Rome about 1469 (bks. xxxiii.
and xli.-xlv. omitted). The first critical edition was that of F. Gronovius
(Leyden,
1645). Great editions are those of Drakenborch with variorum notes and supplements (7
vols. Amsterdam, 1738-46; reprinted at Stuttgart, 1820-28, and edited by Bekker and Raschig,
Berlin, 1829 foll.); Madvig, Ussing, and Luchs, not yet finished (Berlin, 1888 foll.); and
Weissenborn and Müller, with German notes
(Berlin, 1867- 1888). Good
editions of separate portions are the following: Bk. i., by Seeley
(Oxford,
1876), Purser
(Dublin, 1881), Stephenson
(London, 1886); bk.
iv., Stephenson
(London, 1890); bk. v., Whibley
(London, 1890),
Prendeville, 13th ed.
(London, 1890); bks. v.-vii., Cluer and Matheson
(London, 1881); bks. vii.-viii., Luterbacher
(Leipzig, 1890); bks.
xxi.-xxii., Lord
(Boston, 1891); bks. i., xxi.-xxii., Westcott
(Boston,
1891); bks. xxi.-xxv., Harant
(Paris, 1886); bks. xxvi.-xxx., Riemann
(Paris, 1889).
On Livy 's language, see Riemann,
Études sur la Langue et la
Grammaire de Tite Live (Paris, 1884). There is a vast lexicon to Livy ,
preparing by Fügner, of which in 1894 six parts had appeared. On the sources of Livy
's history, see Lachmann,
De Fontibus Historiarum T. Livii
(Göttingen, 1821); H. Peter,
Hist. Reliquiae, i. 89, 198,
225; and Kieserling,
De Rerum Romanarum Scriptoribus Quibus T. Livius Usus
Est (Berlin, 1858).
There is a translation of the whole of Livy into Elizabethan English by Philemon Holland
(London, 1600); of bks. xxi.-xxv., by Church and Brodribb
(2d ed. London,
1890); and of the whole into German by Klaiber and Teuffel, in 6 vols.
(2d ed.
Stuttgart, 1854-56). See
Historia.