Livy
Roman historian who wrote Ab Urbe Condita, a monumental history of Rome from its founding through the reign of Augustus.
He wrote a monumental history of Rome covering from the city's legendary origins through the reign of Augustus.[1] The Roman historian Titus Livius, whose birth is recorded as occurring in 59 BC and whose death is placed in AD 17, is referred to in English as Livy.[1][2] Augustus counted Livy among his friends, and Livy maintained positive relations with the Julio-Claudian family.[1]
Quick Facts
- Birth name
- Titus Livius
- Born
- 59 BC
- Birthplace
- Patavium, Roman Republic (modern Padua, Italy)
- Died
- AD 17 (aged 74–75)
- Place of death
- Patavium, Roman Empire
- Occupation
- Historian
- Discipline
- History
- Main interests
- History
- biography
- oratory
Facts from the source article.
Life and work
Livy was born in Patavium, modern Padua, probably in 59 BC, when his home city was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula.[3] His teenage years coincided with the civil wars of the 40s BC.[4] Livy likely went to Rome in the 30s BC but never held a government position or served in the army.[5][3] He was educated in philosophy and rhetoric and had the financial means to live independently.[3]
Livy devoted much of his life to his writings, giving recitations to small audiences.[3][6] The inhabitants of Patavium who were wealthy declined to provide Asinius Pollio with funds and weaponry, subsequently hiding themselves.[4] Livy knew the emperor Augustus personally and motivated the young Claudius, who later became emperor, to pursue historical writing.[6] The narrative of Livy's best-known work covers Rome's entire history, starting with its founding and ending with Augustus's death.[7]
To support the governmental system Augustus had instituted, Livy composed his history using dramatized portrayals of Roman bravery.[7] In AD 17, Livy passed away in Patavium, the city where he was born.[8]
What the cited sources add
The Attalus translation of Jerome's Chronological Tables records that the orator Messala Corvinus and the historian Titus Livius of Patavium were born in the 180th Olympiad.[9] The same source states that the historian Livius died at Patavium during the 199th Olympiad.[9]
References
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Tacitus, "Annales"; Suetonius, "Claudius" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Livius, "Livy", Clarendon Press, 1881, p. 1 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Livy 1998, p. ix (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Cicero Philippics xii. 4.10 (at Loeb Classical Library); "Livy | Roman Historian & Author of Ab Urbe Condita | Britannica", January 2024 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hazel, "Who's Who in the Roman World", Routledge, 2001 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Payne, "The Roman Triumph", Robert Hale, 1962, p. 38; Suetonius, "Claudius" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Dudley, "The Romans: 850 BC – AD 337", Alfred A. Knopf, 1970, p. 19; Feldherr, "Spectacle and Society in Livy's History", University of California Press, 1998, p. ix; Heichelheim, "A History of the Roman People", Prentice-Hall, 1962, p. 47 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Livy" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Mineo, Companion to Livy, p. xxxiii. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "St. Jerome (Hieronymus): Chronological Tables", Attalus, 29 February 2016. facts only, no text reused. attalus.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Livy (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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