Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
HISTORY
RELATED
Book 1 of Livy's "History of Rome"
Beginning with the foundations of Rome at the hands of Romulus and Remus, the Augustan historian charted the early rule of the Roman people at the hands of tyrants.
By Will Street
Jul. 25, 2019, 11:30 AM
Introduction
In 27 BC, Augustus cemented his position as ruler of Rome and its empire. Previously known as Octavian, the period before 27 BC had witnessed civil war across Europe, with different generals and clans vying for power. However, the newfound ruler styled himself as a Princeps (literally “first man”) rather than Imperator (“Emperor”). Augustus fashioned his command over the empire as a return to the Republic and, in 27 BC, he made a show of returning full power to the Roman Senate and relinquishing his control of the Roman provinces and their armies.
Augustus’ reign marked a period of relative peace, known as Pax Romana. Through his friend and political advisor, Maecenas, the Roman leadership enlisted Latin authors and poets to support this period of peace with fitting works of literature to accompany it. Poets such as Horace and Virgil both flourished under the patronage of Maecenas.
Out of this desire to produce works of literature to promote the new form of government came a history of the Roman people, written in prose, from the beginning of the city’s foundations. It came in the form of Livy’s “Ab Urbe Condita” (literally “From the Founding of the City”) that charted the history of Rome from its foundations right up to the Augustan period. Although only 35 books remain, in total it amounted to 142 Latin books. Written between 27 and 9 BC, the work proved highly popular among the literate Romans and continued to remain influential and widely read throughout the imperial period. In the analysis below, I look at Book 1 in more detail.
The Life of Livy
Livy, or Titus Livius as he was known to the Romans, was born at Padua in northern Italy in 59 BC, or possibly 64 BC according to Eusebius. Little is known about his family background except that Padua was a city famous for its moral rectitude and had suffered severely in the Civil Wars. The author himself, Livy, was unfortunately prevented from going to university in Greece as a result of the conflicts, which would have been the common custom of most educated young Romans, yet was able, at least, to study philosophy (according to the elder Seneca, he wrote philosophical dialogues) and other traditional subjects.
The author is not known to have had a public career either at the bar or in politics and, indeed, there is no record of him holding any public office in his lifetime. Rather, he devoted his entire career to writing his History of Rome, spending most of his lifetime in the capital of the empire – Rome itself.
There, his highly esteemed reputation brought him into contact with Augustus, yet there is little evidence of a close friendship between the two figures. The only attested evidence of his intimacy with the imperial family is when, according to Suetonius, Livy helped the young Claudius with his academic studies.
The relationship between the imperial family and Livy was, to go as far as say, fractured. The emperor disapproved of Livy’s outspoken treatment of the recent past and Augustus’ dislike was so palpable that Book 121 was not published until after his death in AD 14 for fear that it might cause offence. It is noteworthy that he is not referred to by any contemporary writer, who we can presume were more pro Augustan.
Nonetheless, Livy succeeded in writing all 142 of his books, 35 of which remain extant today. The author, who would go on to have far reaching influence on later Roman authors, died at Padua in AD 17.
Livy's "Early History of Rome"
Embarking on his task to trace the history of his people from their origins, the first five books of Livy’s “History of Rome” were conceived, written and published as a whole. They covered the period from the foundation of Rome up to the Gallic occupation in 386 BC. There are indications within the text that the work was conceived as one discrete entity for, in the narrative’s design and construction, the Commission of Ten is positioned at the centre and Camillus’ great speech, which echoes the foundation of the city, at the end.
Similarly, the initial Preface is intended as a preface to the first five books alone, neither solely of the first nor the remaining books to come. Locating a date of Livy’s writing, references in the text, such as the closing of the Temple of Janus (I.19.3), indicate that the author began his task in 29 BC and finished the five books by 27 BC. That said, the text has transcended to the modern era is almost certainly a revised edition, published in or after 24 BC. This is surmised from the fact the excursus on Cossus (IV.20.5-11), that includes the reference to “sacrilege” is an untoward addition that contradicts the narrative, therefore suggesting that it the work must have been composed after Augustus had assumed the title of Divi filius (literally “Son of God”). Nonetheless, it is highly plausible that the defeat of Mark Anthony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, and the subsequent end of the Civil Wars, would bring the fitting cadre for a historian to begin tracing the situation the Roman people now found themselves in.
Yet Livy was not a public man. He did not take a political interpretation of the history, which was typical of earlier writers. That said, Livy was not unconcerned with the problems of his generation. The difference was that his philosophical detachment enabled the author and reader to view the past in terms of human characters and representative individuals instead of partisan politics. Livy drew his theory from a tradition tracing back to Aristotle (particularly his Rhetoric) and Thucydides that explained historical events by the characters of the individuals involved. Aristotle, himself, famously wrote “actions are signs of character” in his Rhetoric.
The tradition went as far as to extend its analysis of character to returning signs of people from different generations. It argued that if similar characters emerge even in different generations, they will behave in the same way concerning their variable circumstances. As a result of this, Livy readily transferred events from the recent past to the remote past.
But Livy was primarily concerned with providing a narrative of the past, which the Romans could read and enjoy. The historian used his framework of characters to chart a series of moral episodes among different events. For instance, Tullius Hostilius (1.22-31) is fierce (ferox) while the events of his reign are tailored to illustrate his fierceness. Similarly, the story of the Commission of Ten displays the lust of Appius Claudius and the chastity of Verginia (III. 36), the accounts of the Veii and the Gauls elucidates the piety of M. Furius and Camillus and the period of the reign of Tarquinus Superbus gleams with its own pride.
​
Engaged in his writing craft, Livy deployed some characteristic literary devices to tell his stories. Each moral episode almost always ends with a short speech or dialogue announced by the principal characters. Rather than draw criticism from his readers, as Thucydides did for the sameness of his speeches, Livy used a whole range of literary devices to differentiate the style of each character announcing a speech. From his imitations of the great orators of his youth, such as Cicero or Hortensius, that envisaged an atmosphere akin to the late Republic with thundering periods, political clichés and emotive vocabulary, in the speeches of T. Quinctius (III.67-68), C. Canuleius (IV.3-5), Ap. Claudius (V.3-6) and Camillus (V.51-54), Livy evoked the speech of a great statesman. Alternatively, there are colloquial, archaic and poetical flavours as well, for example the vulgar exclamation of Turnus Herdonius (I. 50.9) that displays his coarse impetuosity, the tragic language and thoughts of Coriolanus’ mother to her son (II.40.5), the crude, blunt character of C. Laetorius’ speech befitting a soldier (II.56.9) and the epic prayer of Horatius Cocles before he jumps into the Tiber (II.10.11). These mechanisms ensured that each character appeared real to the reader.
As to the nation whose history he was recounting, Livy was positioned within the mass of people and climate that viewed Rome as morally in decay. In the Preface of Books 1-5, he described the present state of Rome as result of the decline of moral character: “I would have [the reader] trace the process of our moral decline, to watch, first, the sinking of the foundations of morality as the old teaching was allowed to lapse, then the rapidly increasing disintegration, then the final collapse of the whole edifice, and the dark dawning of our modern day when we can neither endure our vices nor face the remedies needed to cure them.” This was a common theme among Roman historians of the age. Sallust decried the destruction of Carthage and the capture of Greece as the start of the deterioration, arguing that Carthaginian enemy kept Rome on its toes and the Greek expansion had opened up the seductive vices and luxuries of the Greek world (Sallust, Catiline 9.1-3; Jugurtha 41.2).
Within Livy’s History of Rome, there are several pessimistic comments in the opening books. In III.20.5, he wrote that “fortunately, however, in those days authority, both religious and secular, was still a guide to conduct, and there was as yet no sign of our modern scepticism which interprets solemn compacts, such as are embodied in an oath or a law, to suit its own convenience.” Yet Livy is not averse to extolling the greatness of the Roman Empire. In the Preface, he describes Rome as “the greatest nation in the world” and proclaims that its success is so great that the Roman people can legitimately claim the god Mars as their ancestor. The first five books conclude with an inspiring panegyric in the form of Camillus’ speech that extols the rise of Rome and promises still greater achievements in the years to come. The source of this self-aggrandizement comes from the present day. In book 1 (I.19.3), Livy wrote: “Augustus Caesar brought peace to the world by land and sea.”
How was, then, Livy received in this new Augustan era? For his writings, Livy’s fame was immediate. Legend said that a man travelled all the way from Cadiz, in southwestern Spain, just to look at the author (Pliny, Letters II.3.8). His books were instantly regarded as classics, acclaimed as such by the later writers Tacitus (Agricola 10.3) and Quintilian (X.1.101 ff.). Its popularity was so great only scattered fragments of previous histories survive today.
To his readers, Livy offered an education into history, which he believed solved the tension between pessimism and optimism, between the evils of modern Rome and the dawning of a Golden Age. The same tension between optimism and pessimism can be found in the contemporary poetry of Horace and Virgil, and Livy’s own version of prose history, he argued, “is the best medicine for a sick mind; for in history you have a record of the infinite variety of human experience plainly set out for all to see; and in that record you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models, base things, rotten through and through, to avoid.”
And Livy’s own take on history was that if characters improve all will be well and good. Rome's leading men, he argued, must learn and improve on similar occasions from the past. There is, nonetheless, some similarities with his diagnoses and prognoses with Horace and Virgil. Virgil, who had previously stressed the harshness of nature and the deterioration of life in the Georgics, would then go to use the myths and legends of Rome’s foundations to the emphasize the qualities that could maintain Rome, particularly pietas (“piety”), with the Aeneid. Horace, alternatively, had a similar message in the Odes: “whoever shall work to put an end to impious slaughter and civic savagery, if he shall to be inscribed on statues as the patron of cities, let him be brave to rein in uncontrolled licentiousness…. What is the point of sad lamentations if sin is not pruned by punishment or of laws that are useless without morality?” (Odes III.24)
The impetus for moral improvement in Rome came from Augustus himself. The ruler introduced moral legislation in 28 BC, albeit which he was forced to withdraw as a result of bitter opposition, and restored 82 temples in Rome. Through mass publicity, he set about popularizing his ideals, for example by setting up a golden shield in the Curia Julia commemorating his virtus, clementia, iustitia and pietas in 27 BC. Even more widespread, these and other virtues were repeatedly depicted on coins, public monuments and other visible objects throughout his reign.
As for Livy’s impact on this society, he was rooted in the Augustan revival, despite stories that recitations from his work were poorly attended. Through abridgments of the very large text, which were made at an early date, by later antiquity only the most readable and exciting books were still in circulation. The transcription of the text through the Dark Ages, owes its passage to a new edition of the first ten books in AD 396, by the pagan senator Q. Aurelius Symmachus. What presumably evoked for him the finest spirit of classical Rome, came through him down the generations to the modern era today.
Livy's Historical Accounts
To write his history, Livy most probably would have found himself with a basic, pre-existing version of Rome’s history. Stories such as Rome’s Etruscan heritage or the reigns of the kings would have been commonly understood by generations previous to him. However, the traditional version of events, as it is told by Livy, can be quickly revealed as not a true account of the past. Instead, a lot of his stories are Greek narratives redesigned in a Roman appearance.
This is true for even the most famous of his stories – the account of Romulus and Remus. The basic tale of Romulus and Remus, both being sons of the god Mars before they are left by a river, suckled by a wolf and adopted by a shepherd, is, in fact, an adaptation of an old Near Eastern myth that appeared in Greece in the form of the legend of Neleus and Pelias, who were said to be sons of the god Poseidon and left on the river Enipeus before they were suckled by a bitch and a mare. The fatal strife between Romulus and Remus on the Capitol hill is also a recollection of the Greek legends of Oeneus and Toxeus or Poimander and Leucippus.
This is a recurring feature for many of Livy’s tales. Tarpeia, who, in Livy’s history, demonstrates her treachery and suffers a sad demise, was a memorable Hellenistic motif (1.1.6ff). Livy’s imitation of Greek historians’ narratives can be even more obvious. For instance, in the reign of Tarquinius Superbus, two of the most infamous events are copied from 6th Century BC writer, Herodotus. The lopping of the poppy-heads (I.54.6) is a recollection of Thrasyboulus’ message to Periander (Herodotus, 5.92.6) while the infiltration of the Gabii at the hands of Sextus Tarquinius (I.53.5) recalls Zophyrus’ ruse against Babylon (Herodotus, III. 154).
Equally, there are instances of chronological alignment between Greek and Roman history. It is no coincidence that the Tarquins are expelled in about 510 BC as a result of a love-affair when the tyrants in Greece were known to endure the same fate at the same date. This feature of Livy’s writings can also be found in the heroic stand of the 300 Fabii at Cremera (II.50) which mirrors to every detail the deeds of the Spartans at Thermopylae. Yet further, Coriolanus (II.34) imitates Themistocles, who was banished from Athens’ in 471 BC and led the Peloponnesian League against it. In fact, it turns out that practically no extended story from Livy’s early Roman history that cannot be revealed as Greek in origin.
The problem was that the Romans had no mythology or oral tradition of their own. A relatively young nation compared to the Greeks, Egyptians and Persians, they found themselves with no substantial written records before the 4th Century. A lot of this absence was due to a fire, which Livy writes about in the beginning of the sixth book, stating that most of the records were destroyed in a fire which ravished the city during the Gallic occupation of 386 BC. Archaeological evidence supports this claim and ostensibly destroyed many of the ancient buildings including the Royal Palace (Regia) in the Forum where historical records might have been kept.
But at the same time, Livy’s concept of recurring characters resulted in imitations of contemporary or recent Roman public figures. What had begun through Thucydides as a theory of repeating characters throughout history had permeated Roman historian’s work and Roman streams of thought. The popular measures of the Gracchi with its demagogic esprit or the threatening plot of the Catiline Conspiracy all show their reflections in the events of Livy’s history where similar characters are thought to perform similar actions in similar circumstances. Immediately evident of this feature in Book 1 is the plot through which Tarquinius Superbus gains the throne (I.47). Nonetheless, the memories of generations and nearby Greek colonies among other sources ensured that the bare bones of Livy’s history has some truth to it, the veracity of which we will come onto after a summary of the events of Book 1.
A Summary of Book 1
Beginning his tale of Rome from its origins, Livy opens his narrative with a prologue in which he decries the decline of morality but equally lauds the greatness of the Roman empire and its achievements. In the opening three sections, he lists the foundation stories of Rome, first the legend of Antenor and then, in section 3, Aeneas and the Alban kings.
This is followed by sections 3 to 7, which primarily revolve around Romulus and Remus, beginning with their birth followed by them being taken to the river Tiber on the orders of the King Amulius before they are found by a she-wolf and then adopted by a shepherd called Faustulus. What follows is the account of the recognition of the twins and then the foundation of Rome on the Palatine Hill by Romulus.
After this point, Rome starts to grow rapidly. Constitutional measures are brought into place in section 8, along with magisterial emblems, an asylum and senate. In sections 9 to 13 Rome and the Sabines unite. This begins in section 9 with the rape of the Sabine women after which plight Romulus admits them into the city. Following this, fearing Rome’s development, war ensues between Rome and the Caeninenses, Antemnates and Crustumini. Once defeated, the Sabines attack and Spurius Tarpeius, the commander of a Roman citadel’s, daughter, Tarpeia, admits some Sabine soldiers into the citadel, after which she is crushed by them.
A battle follows between the Romans and the Sabines before the two parties reconcile and combine. Thereafter, a Roman, Tatius, is killed in Laurentia, but rather than go to war, Romulus renews a pact between Rome and Lavinium. Again fearing Rome’s development, there is then a war between Rome and the Fidenae and Veii, who were neighbouring settlements. Concluding this stage of the narrative is an apotheosis in section 16, reflecting on Rome’s early success.
Livy’s narrative then moves on to a brief interregnum in section 17, before Numa, a religious figure, is elected leader of Rome in section 18. Livy lists the establishment of the Temple of Janus and the reform of the calendar in section 19, the roles of the Flamines, Vestal Virgins, the Salii and the Pontiffs in section 20 and finally the establishment of the shrines of Egeria and Fides and the role of the Argei in section 21.
Again there is another interregnum, before Tullius Hostilius is elected as Numa’s successor to rule over Rome in section 22. Thereafter, there is some minor conflict between the Romans and Albans over cattle raids, after which the Romans and the Albans amalgamate. Livy describes the battle between the Albans and the Romans in sections 24 and 25. War continues between the two settlements until section 29, when Alba Longa falls to the Roman troops. Finally, Tullus Hostilius, himself dies in section 31.
Thereafter, Ancus Marcius is elected by the people and ratified by the senate. Ancus Marcius surrounds himself with internal and military concerns. There is then a war between Rome and the Latins, decreed by Ancus Marcius himself. Following this, after the two parties had amalgamated, Livy wrote that a man called Lucumo, who was the son of Demaratus of Corinth, travels from Etruria to Rome and is later renamed Lucius Tarquinius Priscus.
In section 35, Tarquinius Priscus is elected leader of Rome. His first campaign is war with the Latins and at the same time he builds the first Circus Maximus. After this, Tarquinius wages a second war with the Sabines before Servius Tullius is introduced into the narrative, who is foretold by Tanaquil, wife of Tarquinius Priscus, that he will bring great glory to their family and Rome.
The following sections, sections 40 to 48, narrate the accession and reign of Servius Tullius after the assassination of Tarquinius Priscus. Tarquinius Priscus was slain by the sons of his predecessor, Ancus, and immediately on the scene, Tanaquil pronounces Servius Tullius as the next leader. In sections 42 and 43, Servius establishes a constitution, the different tribes of Rome and a census. He then goes on to enlarge the city, the pomerium, while maintaining the city walls. After this point, a temple is built in Rome by the Latin peoples in association with the Romans. It is called the Temple of Diana and underscores the primacy of the Romans over the Latins.
In section 46, Livy writes that there were some succession problems before Servius lived in increasing threat of Tarquinius Superbus, grandson of Tarquinius Priscus. Eventually, Tarquinius Superbus storms the palace and, after a confrontation between the two figures, King Servius is thrown from the palace and then killed by one of Tarquinius’ assassins. Thus ensues Tarquinius Superbus’ reign.
In section 49, Tarquinius Superbus is immediately marked out for his tyrannical behaviour. He punishes men with death or exile and confiscates their land freely. He similarly removes himself from the ratification of the senate. He visits Turnus Herdonius in Latium where the two have an angry discussion, before he seeks help from the Latins and frames Turnus for a plot against his life. Turnus is then executed and the Latin and Roman troops amalgamate, with the Latins in equal numbers under the command of a Roman centurion.
In sections 53 and 54 there is a minor conflict with the Gabii, a neighbouring settlement, and instances of treachery between Tarquinius Superbus and his son, Sextus. What follows is a treaty with the Etruscans and extensive building works by the Roman ruler, before a snake portent and subsequent task force sent by the king to consult the Delphic oracle in Greece.
In sections 57 to 60, after a discussion between the leading generals and Sextus Tarquinius during a siege by the Romans of the settlement of Ardea about the beauty of their wives, the group travelled to the house of the general Collatinus and eat dinner with his wife, Lucretia. Sextus Tarquinius, aroused by Lucretia, then rapes her. Following this, Brutus raises a rebellion and Tarquinius Superbus and his sons are exiled, concluding the events of book 1.
Veracity
As I have stated, while many of Livy’s claims have no legitimacy to them, some of Livy’s narrative can be verified as the truth. In order to assess the veracity of Livy’s work, firstly, let’s look at the possible sources for Rome’s history.
An important source for Rome’s history is literature from neighbouring settlements, who were older and more developed. To the south of Rome, on today’s Italy, were several Greek colonies. One of these was the settlement of Cumae, which was founded as early as c. 750 BC and enjoyed a flourishing civilization comparable to that of mainland Greece and considerably more advanced than Rome. Livy wrote that the Tarquins took refuge there in Book 2 (II.21.5) and it is plausible that there were local histories in Cumae to confirm this.
On mainland Greece, it is known that the historians Hecataeus of Miletus (c. 500 BC) and Hellanicus of Mytilene (c .450 BC) made reference to Rome in their works. Further, a fragment of Aristotle has survived that shows he had a detailed knowledge of the Gallic occupation of Rome in 386 BC. While this evidence is circumstantial and there is no way of knowing whether the Greek histories were correct or even whether Livy’s accounts were the same as the Greek writers, it at least illustrates that there was some documentation and sources out there at the time.
The power of Greece’s historians on detailing the past is made clear by Dionysius of Halicarnassus, a Greek contemporary of Livy, who refers to an archaic inscription concerning Servius Tullius’ dedication of the Temple of Diana (I.45). This evidence also highlights the importance of inscriptions in recording the past, an entity that is referred to extensively by other Roman historians. On that subject, Polybius, 150 years before Livy’s writing, seems to have seen a treaty between the Romans and Carthaginians, which he dated to 507 BC and, confirming this, in 1966, parallel Punic and Etruscan texts, dating from about 500 BC, were discovered in gold leaf in a temple in the coastal town of Pyrgi, a few miles north of Rome. Therefore, it can be established that both inscriptions and Greek histories did record the past, plausibly providing writers of Livy’s age with sources to refer to.
Another source that potentially would have existed at the time of Livy’s writing were the Commentaries of the Pontifices. These originated because the Roman religious year was complicated and kept secret, so to inform the average Roman what was a holy day or not, or when he could conduct public or legal business, the pontifices annually erected a large whitened board outside the Royal Palace. The boards could also inform the days of special religious significance, which would have had their origins in special events, as well as record the census figures and provide the names of the chief magistrates.
These notices were likely transcribed into a book-roll and maintained by the pontifices in order to set precedents and thus maintain the religious practices of the city. While Livy wrote that most of what was recorded in the Commentaries of the Pontifices perished in a fire in 386 BC (IV.1.2), his account of the 5th Century is highly detailed implying that he still had the source of the Commentaries of the Pontifices to refer to. As for the Regal period, the Pontifex Maximus, P. Mucius Scaevola, who had been consul in 133 BC, published the Commentaries of the Pontifices in the form of the Annales Maximi, which could potentially have provided information going back to the Regal period. Therefore, it is highly likely that Livy had a detailed account of the chief magistrates and notable events with which to refer to when he was writing his history.
However, in order to assess the validity of Livy’s history of Rome, let’s now look at the history of Rome from our own point of view. I’ll trace it here for you now. The first habitation of Rome dates from the Iron Age. Although archaeologists disagree, it is generally accepted that the area was inhabited between the 9th and 10th centuries BC. What is firmly established, however, is that there were originally two distinct settlements – one on the Palatine and one on the Esquiline.
The burial and pottery customs of these two settlements are distinct and different. With easily defended hills and acting as a convenient crossing place of the river Tiber with good pastureland, it is natural that Rome attracted two different groups of settlers from the Alban and Sabine mountains. Therefore, there is some substance for the stories of the foundation from Alba Longa (I.3.4) or the fusion of the Romans and Sabines (I.13).
The tale of Aeneas has its recollection in the culture of the Etruscans to the north of Rome. Around the 10th century, migrants travelled from the Balkans via sea and arrived at North Italy. They absorbed the native population and created an Etruscan culture. The story of Aeneas appeared on the art of these early Etruscan settlers. Rome lay at an advantageous location for the Etruscans, which aided in its development. The story of Tarquinius Priscus, although largely a Greek romance, has its origins in this Etruscan influx.
Through the range of sources he had and the power of memory, Livy’s history therefore had a basic truth to it, often paralleling through elaborate tales the demographic and cultural natural shifts of his settlement.
Themes
A central theme of Livy’s Book 1 is the decline of one-man rule. From the early elections of leaders after the death of Romulus, by the death of Tarquinius Priscus, the leader assumes his position by force. Equally, from the early success of Numa, one-man rule descends to extremely tyrannical behaviour by the reign of Tarquinius Superbus. It is clear throughout the narrative of Book 1 that one-man rule inevitably declines into tyranny. The impetus for this theme lies in Livy’s contemporary times. After the defeat of Mark Anthony at the Battle of Actium, Rome now found itself with a newfound leader, Augustus. However, Livy, writing at the very beginning of Augustus’ tenure, is promoting a return of power to the senate and an ostensible return of the Republic, making clear that if all power is given to Augustus, Roman society will decline.
Conclusion
Livy, therefore, was one of the most successful and popular writers of his age. An almost stoic man, who did not pledge too much allegiance to Augustus, hoped and wrote for a better Roman society, tracing his own people’s heritage in order to do so. The extent of his studies and writing class places him as one of the most influential and best historians of all time. These, among many other reasons, is why I hope you’ll join us at blawa.com in saluting the Roman historian, Titus Livius.