Sinds de stichting van de Stad

by Livy

Weinig geschiedenissen spreken zo tot de verbeelding als die van de Stad der steden. En wie aan Rome denkt, denkt aan Livius. Bij geen ander vinden we een zo omvangrijk en spannend verslag van de vroegste geschiedenis van die kleine nederzetting, die uitgroeide tot het machtigste rijk op aarde.Veel van Livius' oorspronkelijke werk is verloren gegaan, maar wat wel bewaard is, is nog steeds een indrukwekkende hoeveelheid. In deze uitgebreide bloemlezing staan uiteraard de beroemdste passages, zoals over Romulus en Remus, de Sabijnse maagdenroof, Hannibals tocht over de Alpen en de slachting bij het Trasumeense Meer. Maar ook nog niet eerder vertaalde fragmenten uit de latere boeken van Livius, zoals het schandaal rond de Bacchanalia in Rome.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

332 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 28

About the author

Titus Livius (Patavinus) (64 or 59 BC – AD 17)—known as Livy in English, and Tite-Live in French—was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people – Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Books from the Foundation of the City) – covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian dynasty, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus's wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood.

Reviews

[Marc Lamot]

The legendary stories in the first halve (Romulus and Remus, the Horatii, the Curatii etc) are real classics. But to be honest: especially the second halve (with only wars and battles) is very boring.

[Jolanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

And that was Ab Urbe Condita! ..... Okay, selections from Ab Urbe Condita. Honestly, I just read selected passages from a work that in its original form consisted out of 142 books, of which we have 35 in more or less complete form and I read 'selected passages'. The Historian in me weeps. To be fair, I've got the 'complete' Ab Urbe Condita on my shelf, but this was obligatory reading for a course. The course description said "read the first 122 pages". I figured it would be much less of a hassle to just buy the prescribed edition than having to figure out which passages are included in those 122.
That being said I really liked this. I have every intention of picking up the entire work someday. Livy is a surprisingly readable author as far as ancient historians go. Tacitus is incredibly dry and nobody reads Thucydides for fun, not for long at least. By that I don't mean that those works aren't incredibly interesting, they are! But my point is that they are not and never will be the light literature one rejoices in reading for an hour before going to bed. To say so would be an insult to the authors, they certainly never intended for their works to be read like that. These works demand to be studied thoroughly. As a result I need a break after reading Thucydides or Tacitus for an hour. A long break, one that involves cookies, trying not to cry and reading tons of fanfiction. Yes, I said fanfiction, do not judge me. I read Mesopotamian literature, decipher cuneiform texts, ancient historians and secondary literature on all the aforementioned on a daily basis. Fanfiction relaxes me. Do not judge me.
Anyway I would consider Livy before going to bed, and that is by no means meant as a derogatory remark. Livy's style is surprisingly pleasant and comprehensive for an ancient author, who usually take pride in constructing the most complicated sentences just to show that they can actively write the Ancient Attic dialect that had become the standard for Historians ( Ab Urbe Condita was written in Latin of course, but certain tradition are universal, certainly in a Greek/Latin literary context. Both traditions are very interwoven with one another ). Livy's history is lovely, especially his stories about the earliest days of Rome, especially those stories under the reign of the kings. I call them stories for I do not believe them to be true. Livy himself refuses to comment on the credibility of those stories, but just says that 'no matter if the stories are true or not, a city like Rome deserves stories like this.' I will not comment on whether or not I believe that is true, but the stories are a great reflector on the moral values of the empire. Certainly the Romans are the inventors of the phrase 'everything used to be better before-", do not let your grandparents take the credit for it, Romans are notable naggers about moral decay and a longing for times past.
All things considered, Livy is an author with a pleasant style, certainly obligatory reading to anyone interested in the self perceived history of the Roman Republic. I had fun and I will certainly pick up the entire work ( or what's left of it ) one day. On to Xenophon's Anabasis!

[Daan Olthoff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fijne bloemlezing van stukken uit dit beroemde werk

[Lenno · Rating 4 out of 5]

Helaas bloemlezing, daarom soms van hak op de tak. Maar mooie vertaling van mooie boekwerken