Ab urbe condita
History of Rome, Volume XIV, Summaries. Fragments. Julius Obsequens. General Index (Loeb Classical Library No. 404)
by Titus Livius · first published 1481
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"Romulus and Remus, the rape of Lucretia, Horatius at the bridge, the saga of Coriolanus, Cincinnatus called from his farm to save the state - these and many more stories immortalized by Livy in his history of Rome have become part of our cultural heritage." "The historian's huge work consisted of 142 books which trace Rome's history from its foundation in 753 BC to events in Livy's own lifetime (9 BC). Only 35 books survive in their entirety. These first five books cover the period from Rome's beginnings and her first great foreign conquest, the capture of the Etruscan city of Veii, to her fi
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It's great seeing Livius getting some attention, and on hackernews of all places. Ab Urbe Condita is really much more of an epic tale than a proper history book by modern standards, even though, as Deveraux notes, the later bits are probably more or less accurate in the big picture (e.g. the 2nd punic…
on “The Queen’s Latin or Who Were the Romans? Part I: Beginnings and Legends” ↗…miraculo datum. > Some writers think that Larentia, from her unchaste life, had got the nickname of "She-wolf" amongst the shepherds, and that this was the origin of the marvellous story. (Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, I.4) Probably, people just kept using the legend of the she-wolf to symbolize the might of Rome.
on “Happy Lupercalia (2011)” ↗…their peers. The term has been used in cultures of the English-speaking world.[..] [..]The concept originates from accounts in Herodotus' Histories (Book 5, 92f), Aristotle's Politics (1284a), and Livy's Ab Urbe Condita Libri, Book I. [Periander] had sent a herald to Thrasybulus and inquired in what way he would best and most safely govern his city. Thrasybulus led the man who had come from Periander outside the town,…
on “California Has the Jobs but Not Enough Homes” ↗…two explanations for things, one the more popular myth and one a more plausible explanation. Taking into account that Roman historians generally didn't care that much for facts, and that Livy wrote his Ab Urbe Condita because it was commissioned by Octavian (i.e. he was kinda obliged to make the history of Rome look good), he was actually a pretty decent historian. Doesn't mean I love Livy, though - reading his Latin…
on “A No-Nonsense Machiavelli” ↗I'm not talking about cave paintings. When Livy wrote Ab Urbe Condita, when Chaucer wrote Centerbury Tales, who were they planning to sell the rights too? Professional/career writing didn't become the default until the middle of the 19th century, when a rise in literacy…
on “Copyright is not a moral right, it's a monetization strategy” ↗