The History of Rome: The Only Complete and Unabridged Edition in One Volume

by Livy, Jake E. Stief (Editor), Daniel Spillan (Translator)

Livy’s History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita Libri), of which only one third of the original 142 books remain, stands as one of the greatest historical works, not only of Rome, but of all history. This edition includes all surviving books, with a table of contents to aid in navigating through the 2,000 pages.

Genres: History, Classics, Nonfiction, Ancient History, Historical, Roman, Classical Studies

796 pages, Paperback

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

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Livy teaches the modern reader more about Livy's time period than the history he is supposedly telling. That’s what makes for perfect story telling.

Livy would break from his narrative a couple times in his story telling, that made for the best moments in the storytelling. He would, for example, after his Hannibal and the second Punic war narration, comment on how he had no idea that that section of his work would take so much out of him and take him as long as it did in order to tell his version of history.

BTW, one will never read a better history of Hannibal and the Second Punic war than what was laid out in this book. There are reasons why I can say that, part of it is because to Livy the Carthaginians are always treacherous, conniving, untrustworthy, sneaky and never worthy of Roman justice according to Livy and know even less about liberty. Similarly, Livy will mention that if Alexander the Great had tried to attack Rome he would have been in for a rude awakening because the Romans had known war for over four hundred years while the Macedonians had only known war for 10 or so years. So, therefore, the Alexandrian Greeks should consider themselves lucky for not making war with the Romans!

Yes, Livy tells history with an attitude, and he’ll even admit from time-to-time his attitude derives from the time period he is writing about. When Livy breaks out of his narrative the reader is richly rewarded.

By Jupiter, the supreme Good and Great, Livy defines who the Romans are at the time of his writing by describing how they thought they were through their history. The first 400 years of their history Livy would use the word ‘liberty’ frequently and the paramount consideration would be the liberty of the individual within the society as part of the whole and freedom reigned supreme for the Plebian and the Patrician man while he conveniently forgets slaves, the conquered, and women who he really and truly seems to have nothing but contempt for. By about 350 BCE he started to make the Roman character dependent on justice (fairness) for within and between Roman men and all others. Livy used that expression ‘Jupiter, the supreme Good and Great’ multiple times but only after the 2nd Punic War.

Miracles and myths abound, from dogs saving Rome from wolves and therefore portending the defeat of invaders, or a lone Roman holding off hundreds of would be conquerors on a bridge, or birds giving omens that only oracles can properly interpret, and don't forget the Rape of Lucretia, which shows that what happens is more important than what was intended, similarly as in the Old Testament when God struck dead that man who accidentally dropped the Ark of the Covenant, or as when the Greek Goddess Artemus turned Actaeon into a stag for seeing Her accidentally in the nude; or lastly the myth of the perfect citizen in the guise of the real Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus who inspired our nation to refer to George Washington as our Cincinnatus. Livy does describe a special relationship of sorts between the Romans and The Greeks but never once mentions Jews therefore relegating them to irrelevance. Syria does get mentioned albeit only briefly.


It's not important that the reader believes these miracles and myths for which Livy gives as certainties. Livy would start every great event by the portend of miraculous believed events such as ‘a known virgin giving birth’, or a baby born without sex organs, or the temple of Jupiter struck by lightning. It's important that the listener realize that the Romans at the time of Caesar believed them. That is what history is all about: understanding how the participants really did believe the things they said they believed and where they found their meaning, purpose and reason for being themselves.

The influence of this book cannot be overstated for those who love all history and who want to understand why we believe what we do today, the only change from today is that we believe a different set of myths, narratives and stories as we explain our meaning, purpose and reason for being to ourselves.

I must admit when I started reading this book two years ago, I absolutely hated it because I thought it was a history book about ancient Rome, little did I realize that I was misunderstanding it and I put this book on the shelf and thought of it as a misfiring at best. Now I realize my error and now know this is a book about how Romans thought about themselves at the time of Caesar and which has universal themes that influenced our founding fathers and for which still reverberate today with us as individuals and as a society, and more importantly, is just a fun book to get into once I got past my prejudices for what history is supposed to be. Of course, Thucydides wrote the best history book ever and there are echoes of him within this book.

I did not get all of this my first time trying to read this book but after having read Mary Beard's SPQR she connected all of the dots for me and now I want to share why I think this book is such a great deal and would recommend it for anyone who wonders how we got where we are today. BTW, Machiavelli in his life time was more known for his book Discourses on Livy than he was for the The Prince. The world risk only going backwards if they stop learning universal truths from great books like this one.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Without knowing anything about Livy or about the earliest history of Rome, I read this book straight through over a period of several weeks in order to form my own conclusions. So, forgive me, if anything here is inaccurate or incomplete.

Livy's "Early History of Rome" tells the story of the early Republic beginning with the city's myth-shrouded founding by brothers Romulus and Remus after the burning of Troy drives their ancestor Aeneas to escape to the Italian peninsula. After Romulus kills his brother, he establishes himself as king of Rome. The kings rule as tyrants with increasing brutality until, led by Brutus (whose descendant will oppose another alleged tyrant in 44 B.C.), the kings are expelled, a senate is established, and a Republic is proclaimed. A series of wars follow to ensure the kings are never able to return. What follows is a narrative of how the Republic continually fought for its own existence.

What largely appears to drive Livy's narrative are the following two themes:

1) The Roman Republic is a very unstable entity: when it is not at war with foreign enemies, its leaders are busy conspiring against one another.

2) The Roman Republic is established and maintained, and therefore undermined, by fear. Fear of further cruelty results in the expulsion of the kings; fear of their return results in some of Rome's best, brightest, and benevolent of early leaders to be tried, executed, exiled, or forced to commit suicide. Fear of the masses leads some patricians to conspire against the people. Fear of exploitation or domination by the patricians leads the plebs to greater excess in "protecting" their liberty.

Augustine of Hippo, in my view, was right to question in "The City of God" whether or not the Roman Republic and all its pagan virtues every really existed. No sooner is the Republic established than it begins to crumble and quake as rich and poor alike jockey for power, go to extremes in redressing wrongs, and allow fear to poison the very virtues to which they aspire.

There are certainly lessons for modern democratic societies, as well as for Christians who unwittingly side with and baptize current cultural attitudes and excesses. Livy's "Early History" - the only of his works to survive the centuries - deserves a careful, attentive reading today.

[Artsalnov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Осспадииии! Семь лет!
Долгих семь лет я цедил эту книгу!
если бы не вся эта самоизоляция, не знаю когда б я осилил!
Ну наконец-то! и да, не берите такие издания под одной обложкой... это ж кошмар, ужасный мелкий шрифт (бывает и мельче, конечно), невыносимый давящий объем томика, помноженный на не самый простой слог Т.Ливия.
Но и тем не менее, это было прекрасное путешествие в мир античности. Ливий хорош!
Некоторые вещи, ИМХО, не сильно зацепили. по мне так война с карфагенянами самая интересная и битвы с галлами и галлогреками тоже, а вот этолийцы, спартанцы, македоняне и Антиох с его наследством селевкидов как-то мимо.
Очень понравились две истории. Первая про взятие города Вейи, и про то, как римляне решились не переселяться из своей Зубчаниновки (так себе райончик в Самаре) в первоклассный, роскошный и укрепленный город. Сама предыстория, доводы квиритов и последовательность принятия решения теперь надолго в моем сердце.
А вторая про неоднократно повторяющийся ловкий трюк Ганнибала Барки, который при разгроме очередного римского войска собирал перстни с именитых граждан, убитых в бою, тут же строчил письма мелким почерком в разные стороны, припечатывал сургуч снятыми перстнями и таким образом дезориентировал противников. и много добился такими хитростями!
И да, тут пару месяцев как, гуляло в новостях, что Вин Дизель, начитавшись Тита Ливия, все никак не возьмется за экранизацию истории про Ганнибала. В ТРЁХ частях! К бабке не ходи, понятно кто будет в роли именитого полководца)

[Mike. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique year-by-year writing on the politics, culture, religion, law, economics, class struggles, notable happenings, and of course military engagements of one fortunate city state out of many in the region, and some about its competitors. The humanity of the players really comes through, even if some of it is likely imagined. There are occasional moments of development of the culture where it transitions from unfamiliar to familiar practices, practices that remain with western civilization today. Follows a vast number of recognizeable political and organizational situations and so might be considered a great textbook on leadership. I finished book ten, turned the page, and was horrified that the next ten books have not survived. What a loss.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[Katsuro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some more interesting historical storytelling by Titus Livius. I wish more of it was available in Swedish... English just isn't the same.

[Arnis · Rating 3 out of 5]

https://poseidons99.wordpress.com/202...

[Isen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Project Gutenberg version of Livy is based on a 1853 edition, translated by D. Spillan and published by John Childs and Son. It consists of all the extant books of Livy, with notes, and summaries of the books that are now lost. While of course this book is an invaluable as a historical document, I evaluate it solely based on how pleasant it is to read, and at times the two are at odds -- for example, Livy methodically names the elected officials of Rome every year that he has evidence for. While no doubt this is invaluable for tracing out the rise and fall of the great families of Rome, it makes for only slightly less boring reading than the genealogies of the old testament.

The translator notes that he went for a literal translation approach to the text. I don't speak Latin, and the ways things are going I never will, so I can't really evaluate the accuracy of such an approach, but the result is mostly readable. Sentences tend to be longer than one normally uses in English, and the shifts from past to present tense can be jarring, but overall there is nothing wrong with the way the book is written.

The extant books cover the period from the founding of Rome to the last war with Macedon, with a gap from the Pyrrhic War to the First Punic War. Livy's main focus is military history, and this makes the work pretty dull until Hannibal arrives on the scene. The trouble is that most of the opponents Rome faced in that period are minor Italic states that we don't really know anything about other than that they fought Rome and lost, and that is more or less all Livy tells us. Over, and over again. It seems to me that either the sources Livy had for this period are extremely sparse, or the ancient Romans took a Egyptian approach to history, because in these five or so centuries you could probably count the number of defeats Livy concedes on one hand, and the reasons given for this phenomenal military record amount to more or less "the Romans fought harder". Once we reach the Second Punic War things get more interesting. Rome is no longer invincible, merely very good, the tactics used by the various generals are more fleshed out, and the interplay of military campaigns and political developments are explored in greater detail.

Which brings us to Livy's secondary focus, political history, which makes for much more interesting reading. The Romans certainly weren't the only people of antiquity to experiment with representative government, but they were certainly the most interested in talking about it, and it is not accident that Livy's account of the evolution of Roman institutions remained a treasure trove for political philosophers for generations to come. The conflict between the fickle Plebeians and the manipulative Patricians is the dominant theme, the general impression being that the Patricians are better at running the state, but if left unchecked they will use any opportunity to enslave the Plebs and undermine the commonwealth. It's a shame we don't have Livy's account of the dying throes of the republic, because the very same forces remain in play until the very end.

Next to nothing is said about the social history, which is unfortunate because Livy is very much a Roman writing for other Romans, and doesn't see fit to explain the self evident facts of Roman life.

Livy by and large tries to maintain an objective tone, laying down the history as it is handed down to him, noting disagreements in the sources where he finds them, but making little effort to develop anything like a theory of history. At times, however, he cannot resist commenting on the events he describes, and these are fascinating for what they tell us about Livy himself. Two examples I remember is that when coming to the end of yet another intra-Italian war where the Romans kill everyone, loot everything, and sell everyone into slavery, Livy observes that if one were to tally the amount of casualties the Romans inflicted on the Italians over the years one would expect to find those countries barren wastelands, and not states capable of waging ongoing wars. His conclusion, however, is not that the Roman kill counts may have been slightly embellished, but rather that Italy must have had more people back then. Another is that in days of yore the world was full of portents like talking cows and bleeding statues, but no one seems to report anything like that in his own time. Could it be because cows don't actually talk? No, of course not. The countryside must be full of talking cows, it's just that the atheist youth of first century Rome no longer care to record such events.

Must have been an interesting guy.

[Marc Therrien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre que j’avais commencé il y a plusieurs années et que je me suis décidé à terminer. En tant que fan de l’histoire romaine, il était très intéressant, quoique lourd, de me plonger dans les écrits d’un historien ancien. Je regrette surtout l’absence de notes explications et de préface pour replacer l’écriture de l’œuvre de Tite-Live dans son contexte historique, ainsi que plusieurs fautes de frappes qui se sont multipliées à mesure que je me suis approché de la fin, mais pour quiconque souhaite lire des œuvres anciennes de qualité et à bas prix, les Éditions de la Bibliothèque Digitale sont une excellente option à prix abordable.

[Billie Lang · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

[Thomas Huang · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's Livy

[Abbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

the history of Rome is fascinating

[Rik Demeyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Herinneringen aan ongeziene teksten in atheneum. Horresco referens.

[math · Rating 1 out of 5]

J’aime pas il est pas clair c’est pas pratique pour une khôlle

[James Carrigy]

Unable to review due to its fragmentary state.

[Don Kilcullen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone who thinks history is boring has never read their Livy. If you can read Livy’s description of Hannibal taking his elephants across the Alps and not be absolutely riveted you might as well be a rock. Likewise Livy’s description of how Hannibal ambushed the Romans at the Battle of Lake Trasumennus and his most crushing defeat of the Romans ever at the Battle of Cannae make for incredibly compelling reading. The Battle of Cannae also gave me insight into what a major impact on history seemingly small events can have. After the victory at Cannae Hannibal’s subordinate commanders urged him to send the cavalry to the gates of Rome to announce the Carthaginian victory and take over the city of Rome. Hannibal decided to wait a day or two to recover from the battle just fought. That gave the Romans just enough time to regroup and reinforce their Capitol. Hannibal campaigned on the Italian peninsula for sixteen (16) years but never got any closer to the gates of Rome then he was immediately after the Battle of Cannae. It’s literally mind boggling to think how different history might have been if Carthage had prevailed in the Punic Wars.
The other major aspect of this book is the description of the incredible cruelty so prevalent in the ancient world. For example, Hannibal’s first major campaign of the Punic Wars was the siege of Saguntum in what is now Spain. The inhabitants of Saguntum fiercely resisted the siege. When Hannibal successfully conquered the city he responded by ordering all the adult inhabitants killed. Hannibal’s treatment of his elephants also illustrates this barbarous cruelty. Many of Hannibal’s elephants froze to death in that first winter in the Alps. Livy also describes the efficiency with which Hannibal’s elephant drivers would kill their own elephants if the elephants panicked or got disoriented in the heat of battle. In Livy’s own words: “More elephants were killed by their drivers than by the enemy. The drivers carried a mallet and a chisel like that used by carpenters. When the elephants began to lose their senses and charge into their own lines each driver placed the chisel between his mount’s ears at the joint between the head and the neck and struck it as hard as he could. That was the quickest way found for killing these great beasts when they had broken completely out of control.” (page 330).
There was no room for the SPCA in the world Livy described.
Reading Livy is like stepping into a time machine and being transported to the ancient world. A trip well worth taking.

[Doug Swicegood · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's 462 b.c. and Oops! Gaius Terentilius Harsa, a tribune to the Plebs has been urging them to harangue the Senate, whilst the consuls are away at war, regarding the overbearing arrogance of the Patricians. Terentilius wants to have the current laws changed for a new 'Code of Laws' that will enable the Plebeians (common working folk) to have more rights in the senate. He said that *"it's now more harsh than the days of the Kings because now we have two masters instead of one with uncontrolled, unlimited powers, with nothing to curb their license... "

In the absence of the consuls there was a meeting in the senate with Q Fabius, Prefect of the city who made a violent attack on the proposed law and its author! He made accusation after accusation toward Terentilius swaying the other tribunes and Plebs for peace since last year many had died of the plague and there was no time for this dissension amongst the classes!

Anyway after the meeting, Q Fabius calmed them all. Therefore, Terentilius and his tribunes came to an understanding of the matter and a fray was avoided and all adjourned. Info based on Livy's 'History of Rome'.

All of this history and I'm only 8% into it! Hope I can make it until the age of Augustus. Yikes!

*Actual quote from Book Three chapter nine.

[Bill Saracino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Re-living third/fourth year high school Latin - in English...started on a whim...find it fascinating and much more interesting this time.

[René · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remarquable chef-d’œuvre de l’antiquité, ce livre d’environ 2,000 pages vaut la peine d’être lu en entier – les premiers chapitres sont ardus (trop de noms semblables identifiés lors de leur nomination à une fonction sans rien de plus), et le dernier ne contient que des fragments couvrant 150 ans de l’histoire de Rome (difficile à lire sans savoir la date du fragment), mais Tite-Live couvre toute l’histoire politique et militaire de Rome, sans négliger de nommer des auteurs aux opinions divergentes ou de remettre en question certaines des valeurs et croyances religieuses de son époque. Ce livre aurait par contre gagné beaucoup à inclure plus d’information contextuelle (les noms des régions, villes et peuples se succèdent mais ne sont pas identifiés selon leur équivalent contemporain), surtout que certains des plus grands personnages sont parfois identifiés sous deux ou trois noms différents, selon la coutume de l’époque.

[Hiéroglyphe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Passionnant. Se lit comme un documentaire où se succède les figures héroïques, les moments de bravoure restés mémorables et surtout la construction de Rome au fil des siècles : pages après pages on assiste à l'évolution des lois, des mœurs et de la structure politique même de la République depuis les fondations légendaires par Romulus et Rémus jusqu'aux guerres puniques. En plongeant dans ces presque 700 ans d'histoire romaine on ne peut que regretter que Tite-Live n'ai pas eu a en conter 7000 !

« C’est en n’excluant aucune classe où brillait le mérite, que l’empire romain s’est agrandi. Rougissez donc d’avoir un consul plébéien, quand vos ancêtres n’ont pas dédaigné d’avoir des étrangers pour rois ; quand, après même l’expulsion des rois, notre ville n’a pas été fermée au mérite étranger. » (Livre IV)

[Kenneth Lund · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work was a marathon and an experience. It is dense as the Bible with the never-ending list of consuls, preators, prodigies, censors, and military engagements. But it immersed me in the Roman mind and the Roman world more than any Roman work I have read, including Plutarch and Cicero. The year-to-year attention to detail in this is incredible. It would be five times as long if all of his volumes were preserved. But it is loaded with detail about Rome’s early years, the Second Punic War, and the Macedonian Wars. I enjoyed it, but it is often dry and I am glad I am done. But I am glad I read it as it adds a lot of perspective and color to future books on the History of Rome, and so much Roman commentary throughout history relies upon Livy as a source.

[Manuel Alfonseca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pity just a quarter of this work has been conserved! An excellent history of Rome, written by a conscientious historian. Sometimes the wealth of details is overwhelming (up to 60 pages or more per year). Livy also quotes other authors (even Claudius) when they differ from his own views, and states clearly which is certain and which is debatable.
Livy makes it clear that he considers the Roman Republic as an excellent way of government, without hiding its bad moments. Augustus is presented as the ruler who finally put an end to 70 years of chaos and civil strife when the Roman Republic got bad, around the year 100 b.C.e. (653 a.u.c.)

[Juan Sanchez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent read for any fan of history and political science in general. Livy undoubtedly helps us better understand the genius and lunacy of the Romans and other leading nations of the ancient past. His work also brings clarity as to the mind of man across generations - in that the men striving to lead the greatest civilization of yesteryear are not at all different from those grappling to lead us today. And in that, we can comprehend that human greatness and folly are not exclusive to any one period.

[Nat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite being such a mammoth book i found it engaging and compulsive reading. Easily the best bits for me were the speeches dotted throughout the chapters which seemed to flow like poetry. The endless stream of names, places and the repetitive nature of the layout of chapters can get a bit much in places but this is a small niggle in amongst such a huge volume.

[Clayton Brannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent read! You need a map to find locations that are referred to in this excellent book. I used google to keep up with all the many names and places. Recommend to all who want a detailed history of Rome.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything and more you need to know about the rise of Rome to a world power. it's too bad half the work is lost.

[Robert Di Ferdinando · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say that has not already been said. If you like Roman History there are very few better places to start.

[Nick]

Reading books 1-5 a second time.