It
comparing the tablet dug up in the monastery of embraces the period from B.
comparing the tablet dug up in the monastery of embraces the period from B.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - b
1 ; Tac.
Ann.
ii.
43, 84, iv
Tiberius , and to gratify her the senate proposed 1, 40, vi. 2; Dion Cass. Ivii. 22, lviii. 11. )
to confer upon her various extraordinary honours. 4. JULIA LIVILLA, the daughter of Germanicus
Thereupon Tiberius, perceiving that he was be- and Agrippina. [JULIA, No. 8. ]
coming a mere cypher in the state, forbade all these LIVIA GENS, plebeian, but one of the most
honours, and commanded her to retire altogether illustrious houses among the Roman nobility.
from public affairs; but she had gained such an Suetonius says (Tib. 3) that the Livii had obtained
ascendancy over him, that he did not feel himself eight consulships, two censorships, three triumphs,
his own master as long as he was in her neighbour- a dictatorship, and a mastership of the horse. The
hood, and accordingly removed his residence from first member of the gens who obtained the consul-
Rome to Capreae. Such was the return she was ship was M. Livius Denter, B. C. 302; and it at
destined to receive for all the toil she had sustained length rose to the imperial dignity by the marriage
and the crimes she had probably committed, in of Livia with Augustus, whose son Tiberius by a
order to secure the empire for her son. Tiberius former husband succeeded the latter in the govern-
no longer disguised the hatred he felt for his ment of the Roman world. The cognomens in this
mother, and for the space of three years he only gens are DENTER, DRUSUS, LIBO, Macatus, and
spoke to her once. When she was on her death- SALINATOR.
bed, he even refused to visit her. She died in A. D. LIVINEIUS. The name Livineius seems to
29, after suffering from repeated attacks of illness, belong to the family of the Reguli itself, originally
at a very advanced age, eighty-two according to at least a branch of the Gens Atilia. In Cicero
Pliny (H. N. xiv. 8), eighty-six according to Dion (ad Att. iii. 17, ad Fam. xiii. 60) it is the appel-
Cassius (lviii. 2). Tiberius did not attempt to lation of two freedmen of the brothers M. and L
dissemble the joy which he felt at her death. He Regulus, one of whom, L. Livineius Trypho, Cicero
took no part in the funeral rites, and forbade her commends to C. Munatius, as having befriended
consecration, which had been proposed by the when others deserted him (ad Fam. l. c. ); compare
senate, on the ground that she had not wished it Tac. Ann. iii. 11, xiv. 17. [REGULUS. ] [W. B. D. )
herself. Her funeral oration was delivered by her M. LIVIUS, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 320,
great-grandson, C. Caesar, subsequertly the em- | opposed the proposition for annulling the treaty
3 E 3
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790
LIVIUS.
LIVIUS.
а
கண்ணா
made with the Samnites at Caudium. (Liv. ix. Claudius.
The first of these assertions is entitled
8. )
to respect, since it has been adopted by Niebuhr,
LI'VIUS, the Roman historian, was born at but seems to rest entirely upon a few notices in
Patarium, in the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus, Quintilian, from which we gather that the Epistola
B. c. 59. The greater part of his life appears to ud Filium, alluded to above, contained some precepts
have been spent in the metropolis, but he returned upon style (Quintil. ii. 5. & 20, viii. 2. § 18, x. 1.
to his native town before his death, which happened § 39). The second assertion, in so far as it affirms
at the age of 76, in the fourth year of Tiberius, the existence of two sons, involves the very broad
A. D. 17. We know that he was married, and that assumption that the following inscription, which is
he had at least two children, for a certain L. Magius, said to have been preserved at Venice, but with
a rhetorici is named as the husband of his daugh regard to whose history nothing has been recorded,
ter, by Seneca (Proocm. Controv. lib. v. ), and a neither the time when, nor the place where, nor the
sentence from a letter addressed to a son, whom he circumstances under which it was found, must refer
urgis to study Demosthenes and Cicero, is quoted to the great historian and to no one else: T. Livius.
by Quintilian (x. 1. § 39). His literary talents C. F. SIBI. ET. suis. T. LIVIO. T. F. PRISCO. F. T.
secured the patronage and friendship of Augustus LIVIO. T. F. LONGO. ET. CASSIAE. SEX. F. PRIMAE.
(Tacit. Ann. iv. 31); he became a person of con- UXORI ; while the number of daughters depends
sideration at court, and by his advice Claudius, after- upon another inscription of a still more doubtful
wards emperor, was induced in early life to attempt character, to which we shall advert hereafter. The
historical composition (Suct. Claud: 41), but there third assertion is advanced because it has been
is no ground for the assertion that Livy acted as deemed certain that since Virgil, Horace, and various
preceptor to the young prince. Eventually his re- other personages of wit and fashion were wont in
putation rose so high and became so widely diffused that age to resort to the Campanian court, Livy
that, as we are assured by Pliny (Epist. ii. 3), a must have done the like. With respect to the
Spaniard travelled from Cadiz to Rome, solely for fourth assertion, we are informed by Senecn (Slusor.
the purpose of beholding him, and having gratified 100) that Livy wrote dialogues which might be
his curiosity in this one particular, immediately regarded as belonging to history as much as to
returned home.
philosophy (Scripsit enim et dialimos quos non
Although expressly termed Patavinus by ancient magis Philosophiae annumerare possis quam His-
writers, some doubts have been entertained with toriae), and books which professed to treat of phi-
regard to the precise spot of his birth, in consequence losophic subjects (cr professo Philosophiam conti-
of a line in Martial (Ep. i. 62):-
nentes libros); but the story of the presentation to
Verona docti syllabas amat vatis,
Octavianus is an absolute fabrication. The fifth
Marone felix Mantua est,
assertion we have already contradicted, and not
without reason, as will be seen from Suetonius
Censetur Apona Livio suo tellus,
Stellaque nec Flacco minus-
(Claud. 41).
The memoirs of most men terminate with their
from which it has been inferred that the famous death ; but this is by no means the case with our
hot-springs, the Patavinae Aquae, of which the historian, since some circumstances closely con-
chief was A ponus fons, situated about six miles to nected with what may be fairly termed his per-
the south of Patavium, and now known as the Bagni sonal history, excited no small commotion in his
d'Abano, ought to be regarded as the place of his native city many centuries after his decease. About
nativity. According to this supposition he was the year 1360 a tablet was dug up at Padua, within
styled Patavinus, just as Virgil was called Man- the monastery of St. Justina, which occupied the
tuanus, although in reality belonging to Andes ; site of an ancient temple of Jupiter, or of Juno, or
but Cluverius and the best geographers believe that of Concordia, according to the conflicting hypotheses
Apona tellus is here equivalent to Patarina tellus, of local antiquaries. The stone bore the following
and that no village Aponus or Aponus vicus existed inscription, V. F. T. LIVIUS . LIVIAE. T. F. QUARTAE.
in the days of the epigrammatist. In like manner L. HALYS . CONCORDIALIS. PATAVI. SIBI. ET. SUIS,
Statius (Silv. iv. 7) designates him as “ Timavi OMNIBUS, which was at first interpreted to mean
alumnum,” words which merely indicate his trans- Vivus fecit Titus Livius Liviae Titi filiae quartae,
padane extraction.
(sc. uxori) Lucii Halys Concordialis Patavi sibi et
The above particulars, few and meagre as they suis omnibus. Some imagined that QUARTAE . L.
are, embrace every circumstance for which we can HALYS denoted Quartae legionis Halys, but this
appeal to the testimony of ancient writers. The opinion was overthrown without difficulty, because
bulky and minute biography by Tomasinus, and even at that time it was well known that L. is seldom
similar productions, which communicate in turgid if ever used in inscriptions as an abbreviation of
language a series of details which could have been Legio, and secondly because the fourth legion was
ascertained by no one but a contemporary, are entitled Scythica and not Halys. It was then de-
purely works of iinagination. The greater number cided that QUARTAE must indicate the fourth
of the statements derived from such sources have daughter of Livius, and that L. Halys must be
gradually disappeared from all works of authority, the name of her husband ; and ingenious persons
but one or two of the more plausible still linger endeavoured to show that in all probability he was
even in the most recent histories of literature. Thus identical with the L. Magius mentioned by Seneca.
we are assured that Livy commenced his career as They also persuaded themselves that Livy, upon
a rhetorician and wrote npon rhetoric ; that he was his return home, had been installed by his country-
twice married, and had two sons and several men in the dignified office of priest of the goddess
daughters ; that he was in the habit of spending Concord, and had erected this monument within
much of his time at Naples ; that he first recom- the walls of her sanctuary, marking the place of
mended himself to Octavianus by presenting some sepulture of himself and his family. At all events,
dialogues on philosophy, and that he was tutor to whatever difficulties might seem to embarrass the
## p. 791 (#807) ############################################
LIVIUS.
791
LIVIUS.
explanation of some of the words and abbreviations / from one who was well acquainted with his subject,
in the inscription, no doubt seems for a moment to and were probably drawn up not long after the
have been entertained that it was a genuine me- appearance of the volumes which they abridge. By
morial of the historian. Accordingly, the Bene- some they have been ascribed to Livy himself, by
dictine fathers of the monastery transported the others to Florus; but there is nothing in the lani
tablet to the vestibule of their chapel, and caused guage or context to warrant either of these con
a portrait of Livy to be painted beside it. In clusions; and external evidence is altogether
1413, about fifty years after the discovery just wanting.
described, in digging the foundations for the erection From the circumstance that a short introduction
of new buildings in connection with the monastery, or preface is found at the beginning of books 1, 21,
the workmen reached an ancient pavement com- and 31, and that each of these marks the com-
posed of square bricks cemented with lime. This mencement of an important epoch, the whole work
having been broken through, a leaden coffin became has been divided into decades, or groups, contain
visible, which was found to contain human bones. ing ten books each, although there is no good
An old monk declared that this was the very spot reason to believe that any such division was intro
above which the tablet had been found, when im- duced until after the fifth or sixth century, for
mediately the cry rose that the remains of Livy Priscian and Diomedes, who quote repeatedly from
had been brought to light, a report which filled the particular books, never allude to any such distribu-
whole city with extravagant joy. The new-found tion. The commencement of book xli. is lost, but
treasure was deposited in the town hall, and to the there is certainly no remarkable crisis at this place
ancient tablet a modern epitaph was affixed. At which invalidates one part of the argument in
a subsequent period a costly monument was favour of the antiquity of the arrangement.
added as a further tribute to his memory. Here, The first decade (bks. i–x. ) is entire. It em-
it might have been supposed, these weary bones braces the period from the foundation of the city to
would at length have been permitted to rest in the year B. c. 294, when the subjugation of the
peace. But in 1451, Alphonso of Arragon preferred Samnites may be said to have been completed.
a request to the Paduans, that they would be The second decade (bks. xi—xx. ) is altogether
pleased to bestow upon him the bone of Livy's lost. It embraced the period from B. c. 294 to
right arm, in order that he might possess the limb B. C. 219, comprising an account of the extension
by which the immortal narrative had been actually of the Roman dominion over the whole of Southern
penned. This petition was at last complied with ; Italy and a portion of Gallia Cisalpina ; of the
but just as the valuable relic reached Naples, Al- invasion of Pyrrhus ; of the first Punic war; of
phonso died, and the Sicilian fell heir to the prize. the expedition against the Illyrian pirates, and of
Eventually it passed into the hands of Joannes Jo other matters which fell out between the conclusion
vianus Pontanus, by whom it was enshrined with an of the peace with Carthage and the siege of
appropriate legend. So far all was well. In the Saguntum.
lapse of time, however, it was perceived, upon The third decade (bks. xxi-xxx. ) is entire.
It
comparing the tablet dug up in the monastery of embraces the period from B. C. 219 to B. c. 201,
St. Justina, with others a similar description, comprehending the whole of the second Punic war,
that the contractions had been erroneously ex- and the contemporaneous struggles in Spain and
plained, and consequently the whole tenor of the Greece.
words misunderstood. It was clearly proved that The fourth decade (bks. xxxi-xl. ) is entire,
L. did not stand for Lucius but for LIBERTUS, and also one half of the fifth (bks. xli-xlv. ). These
and that the principal person named was Titus fifteen books embrace the period from B. Ć. 201 to
Livius Halys, freedman of Livia, the fourth daugh- B. c. 167, and develope the progress of the Roman
ter of a Titus Livius, that he had in accordance with arms in Cisalpine Gaul, in Macedonia, Greece and
the usual custom adopted the designation of his Asia, ending with the triumph of Aemilius Paul-
former master, that he had been a priest of Concord lus, in which Perseus and his three sons were ex-
at Padua, an office which it appeared from other hibited as captives.
records had often been filled by persons in his Of the remaining books nothing remains except
station, and that he had set up this stone to mark inconsiderable fragments, the most notable being a
the burying-ground of himself and his kindred. few chapters of the 91st book, concerning the
Now since the supposition that the skeleton in the fortunes of Sertorius.
leaden coffin was that of the historian rested solely The whole of the above were not brought to
upon the authority of the inscription, when this light at once. The earliest editions contain 29
support was withdrawn, the whole fabric of con- books only, namely, i-x. , xxi—xxxii. , xxxiv—
jecture fell to the ground, and it became evident xl. , the last breaking off abruptly in the middle of
the relics were those of an obscure freedman. chapter 37, with the word edixerunt. In 1518
The great and only extant work of Livy is a the latter portion of bk. xxxiii. , beginning in chapter
History of Rome, termed by himself Annales 17th with artis faucibus, together with what was
(xliü. 13), extending from the foundation of the wanting of bk. xl. , were supplied from a MS. be-
city to the death of Drusus, B. C. 9, comprised in longing to the cathedral church of St. Martin at
142 books: of these thirty-five have descended to Mayence. In 1531 bks. xli. —xlv. were discovered
us; but of the whole, with the exception of two, by Grynaeus in the convent of Lorsch, near Worms,
we possess summaries, which, although in them- and were published forth with at Basle by Frobe-
selves dry and lifeless, are by no means destitute nius ; and finally, in 1615, a MS. was found at
of value, since they afford a complete index or table Bamberg, which filled up the gap remaining in bk.
of contents, and are occasionally our sole authorities xxxiii. ;
and this appeared complete for the first
for the transactions of particular periods. The time at Rome in 1616. The fragment of bk. xci.
compiler of these Epitomes, as they are generally was copied from a palimpsest in the Vatican by
called, is unknown ; but they must have proceeded | Paulus Jacobus Bruns in 1772, and printed in the
a
3 E 4
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792
LIVIUS.
LIVIUS.
following year at Rome, Leipzig, and Hamburgh. | tempt has been made to render these limits still
A small portion which he failed to decypher was narrower, from the consideration that the emperor
afterwards made out by Niebuhr, who also sup is here spoken of as Augustus, a title not conferred
plied some words which had been cut away, and until the year 1. c. 27 ; but this will only prove
published the whole in his Ciceronis pro M1. Fonteio that the passage could not have been published
ct C. Rabirio Orat. Fragm. , Berlin, 1820. Two before that date, since, although written previously,
short fragments possessing much interest, since the honorary epithet might have been inserted
they describe the death and character of Cicero, here and elsewhere at any time before publication.
are preserved in the sixth Suasoria of Seneca. Again, we gather from the epitome that bk. lix.
From the revival of letters until the reign of contained a reference to the law of Augustus, De
Louis XIV. the hopes of the learned were perpe Muritandis Ordinibus, from which it has been con-
tually excited and tantalised by reports with regard cluded that the book in question must have been
to complete MSS. of the great historian. Strenuous written after B. c. 18 ; but this is by no means
exertions were made by Leo X. and many other certain, since it can be proved that a legislative
European potentates in their efforts to procure a cnactment upon this subject was proposed as early
perfect copy, which at one time was said to be de- as 1. c. 28. Since, however, the obsequies of
posited at Iona in the Hebrides, at another in Chios, Drusus were commemorated in bk. cxlii. it is evi-
at another in the monastery of Mount Athos, at dent, at the very lowest computation, that the task
another in the seraglio of the grand signor, while must have been spread over seventeen years, and
it has been confidently maintained that such a probably occupied a much longer time. We must
treasure was destroyed at the sack of Magdeburg ; not omit to notice that Niebuhr takes a very dif-
and there can be no doubt that a MS. containing ferent view of this matter. He is confident that
the whole of the fifth decade at least was once in Livy did not begin his labours until he had attained
existence at Lausanne. Tales too were circulated the age of fifty (B. c. 9), and that he had not fully
and eagerly believed of leaves or volumes having accomplished his design at the close of his life.
been seen or heard of under strange and romantic He builds chiefly upon a passage in ix. 36, where
circumstances ; but the prize, although apparently it is said that the Ciminian wood was in these days
often within reach, always eluded the grasp, and as impenetrable "quam nuper fuere Germanici
the pursuit has long since been abandoned in saltus," words which, it is urged, could not bave
despair.
been used before the forests of Germany had been
We remarked that two of the Epitomes had opened up by the campaigns of Drusus (B. C. 12–
been lost. This deficiency was not at first detected, 9); and upon another in iv. 20, where, after it is
since the numbers follow each other in regular recorded that Augustus had repaired the shrine of
succession from 1 up to 140 ; and hence the total Jupiter Feretrius, he is termed “templorum om-
number of books was supposed not to exceed that nium conditorem aut restitutorem," a description
amount. Upon more careful examination, how- which could not have been applied to him in an
ever, it was perceived that while the epitome of early part of his career. Now, without insisting
bk. cxxxv. closed with the conquest of the Salassi, that casual remarks such as these might have been
which belongs to B. C. 25, the epitome of bk. cxxxvi. introduced during a revision of the text, it must be
opened with the subjugation of the Rhaeti, by evident that the remarks themselves are much too
Tiberius, Nero, and Drusus, in B. c. 15, thus leav- vague to serve as the basis of a chronological theory,
ing a blank of nine years, an interval marked by except in so far as they relate to the restoration of the
the shutting of Janus, the celebration of the secular shrine of Jupiter Feretrius ; but this we know was
games, the acceptance of the tribunitian power by undertaken at the suggestion of Atticus (Comel.
Augustus, and other occurrences which would Nep. Ait. c. 20), and Atticus died B. c. 32. On
scarcely have been passed over in silence by the the other hand, the reasoning grounded on the
abbreviator. Sigonius and Drakenborch, whose shutting of the temple of Janus must be held, in so
reasonings have been generally admitted by scholars, far as bk. i. is involved, to be absolutely impregnable;
agree that two books were devoted to this space, and we can scarcely imagine that the eighth book
and hence the epitomes which stand as cxxxvi. , was not finished until sixteen years after the first.
cxxxvii. , cxxxviii. , cxxxix. , cxl. , ought to be In attempting to form an estimate of any great
marked cxxxviii. , cxxxix. , cxl. , cxli. , cxlii. , re- historical production, our attention is naturally and
spectively.
necessarily directed to two points, which may be
It was little probable, à priori, that an under- kept perfectly distinct: first, the substance, that is,
taking so vast should have been brought to a close the truth or falsehood of what is set down ; and
before any part of it was given to the world; and secondly, its character merely as a literary compo-
in point of fact we find indications here and there sition.
which throw some light upon the epochs when dif- As to the latter subject, Livy has little to fear
ferent sections were composed and published. Thus from positive censure or from faint praise. His
in book first (c. 19) it is stated that the temple of style may be pronounced almost faultless; and a
Janus had been closed twice only since the reign great proof of its excellence is, that the charms with
of Numa, for the first time in the consulship of which it is invested are so little salient, and so
T. Manlius (B. C. 235), a few years after the termi- equally diffused, that no one feature can be selected
nation of the first Punic war; for the second time for special eulogy, but the whole unite to produce
by Augustus Caesar, after the battle of Actium, in a form of singular beauty and grace. The narrative
B. C. 29, as we learn from other sources. But we flows on in a calm, but strong current, clear and
are told by Dion Cassius that it was shut again by sparkling, but deep and unbroken ; the diction dis-
Augustus after the conquest of the Cantabrians, in plays richness without heaviness, and simplicity
B. c. 25; and hence it is evident that the first book without tameness. The feelings of the reader are not
must have been written, and must have gone forth laboriously worked up from time to time by a
between the years B. C. 29 and B. c. 25. An at-grand effort, while he is suffered to languiste
;
## p. 793 (#809) ############################################
LIVIUS.
793
LIVIUS.
through long intervals of dullness, but a sort of and he moulded what had before been a collection
gentle excitement is steadily maintained : the atten- of heavy, rude, incongruous masses, into one com-
tion never droops ; and while the great results manding figure, synimetrical in all its proportions,
appear in full relief, the minor incidents, which full of vigorous life and manly dignity. Where
often conduce so materially to these results, are his authorities were in accordance with each other,
brought plainly into view. Nor is his art as a and with common sense, he generally rested satis-
painter less wonderful. There is a distinctness of fied with this agreement; where their testimony
outline and a warmth of colouring in all his de- was irreconcilable, he was content to point out
lineations, whether of living men in action, or of their want of harmony, and occasionally to offer
things inanimate, which never fail to call up the an opinion on their comparative credibility. But,
whole scene, with all its adjuncts, before our eyes. however turbid the current of his information, in
In a gallery of masterpieces, it is difficult to make no case did he ever dream of ascending to the
a selection, but we doubt whether any artist, an- fountain head. Never did he seek to confirm or
cient or modern, ever finished a more wonderful to confute the assertion of others by exploring the
series of pictures than those which are found at the sources from which their knowledge was derived.
conclusion of the 27th book, representing the state He never attempted to test their accuracy by ex-
of the public mind at Rome, when intelligence was amining monuments of remote antiquity, of which
first received of the daring expedition of the consul not a few were accessible to every inhabitant of
Claudius Nero, the agonising suspense which pre- the metropolis. He never thought it necessary to
vailed while the success of this hazardous project inquire how far the various religious rites and
was yet uncertain, and the almost frantic joy which ceremonics still observed might throw light upon
hailed the intelligence of the great victory on the the institutions of a distant epoch ; nor did he en-
Metaurus. The only point involving a question of deavour to illustrate the social divisions of the early
taste from which we should feel inclined to with Romans, and the progress of the Roman constitu-
hold warm commendation is one which has called tion, by investigating the antiquities of the various
forth the warmest admiration on the part of many Italian tribes, most of whom possessed their own
critics. We mean the numerous orations by which records and traditions.
the course of the narrative is diversified, and which It may perhaps be objected that we have no
are frequently made the vehicle of political dis right to assume that Livy did not make use of such
quisition. Not but that these are in themselves ancient monuments or documents as were available
models of eloquence; but they are too often out of in his age, and that in point of fact he actually
keeping with the very moderate degree of mental refers to several. We shall soon discover, how-
cultivation enjoyed by the speakers, and are fre- ever, upon close scrutiny, that in all such cases he
quently little adapted to the times when they were does not speak from personal investigation, but
delivered, or to the audiences to whom they were from intelligence received through the medium of
addressed. Instead of being the shrewd out-pour- the annalists. Thus he is satisfied with quoting
ings of homely wisdom, or the violent expression of Licinius Macer for the contents of the Foedus
rude passion, they have too much the air of polished Ardeatinum (iv. 7); the “ Lex vetusta priscis
rhetorical declamations.
literis verbisque scripta" (vii. 3), and the circum-
Before proceeding to examine and to judge the stances connected with the usage there commemo-
matter or substance of the work, we are bound to rated are evidently taken upon trust from Cincius
ascertain, if possible, the end which the author Alimentus ; and although he appeals (viii. 20) to
proposed to himself
. Now no one who reads the the Foedus Neapolitanum, he does not pretend to
pages of Livy with attention can for a moment have seen it. On the other hand, we have many
suppose that he ever conceived the project of draw- positive proofs of his negligence or indifference.
ing up a critical history of Rome. He desired When he hesitates between two different versions
indeed to extend the fame of the Roman people, of the Libri Lintei given by two different writers
and to establish his own reputation ; but he evi- (iv. 23), we might be inclined, with Dr. Arnold,
dently had neither the inclination nor the ability charitably to believe that they were no longer in
to enter upon laborious original investigations with existence, rather than to suppose that he was so
regard to the foreign and domestic relations of the indolent that he would not take the trouble of
republic in remote ages. His aim was to offer to walking from one quarter of the city to another for
his countrymen a clear and pleasing narrative, the sake of consulting them, had he not himself a
which, while it gratified their vanity, should con- few pages previously given us to understand that
tain no startling improbabilities nor gross amplifi- he had never inspected the writing on the breast-
cations, such as would have shocked his fastidious plate of Cossus (iv. 20), and had he not elsewhere
contemporaries. To effect this purpose he studied completely misrepresented the Icilian law (iii. 31),
with care some of the more celebrated historians although it was inscribed on a column of bronze in
who had already trodden the path upon which he the temple of Diana, where it was examined by
was about to enter, comparing and remodelling the Dionysius, to whom we are indebted for an accu-
materials which they afforded. He communicated rate account of its purport: nay, more, it is per-
warmth and ease to the cold constrained records of fectly clear that he had never read the Leges
the more ancient chronicles, he expunged most of Regiae, nor the Commentaries of Servius Tullius,
the monstrous and puerile fables with which the nor even the Licinian Rogations; and, stranger
pages of his predecessors were overloaded, retaining still, that he had never studied with care the laws
those fictions only which were clothed with a cer- of the twelve tables, not to mention the vast col-
tain poetical seemliness, or such as had obtained so lection of decrees of the senate, ordinances of the
firm a hold upon the public mind as to have become plebs, treaties and other state papers, extending
articles in the national faith; he rejected the back almost to the foundation of the city, which
clumsy exaggerations in which Valerius Antias had been engraven on tablets of brass, and were
and others of the same school had loved to revel, / consumed to the number of three thousind in tho
## p. 794 (#810) ############################################
79+
LIVIUS.
LIVIUS.
1
destruction of the capital by the Vitellians. (Sueton. | mitted in another, without sufficient attention being
V'esp. 8; Tacit. Hist. iii. 71. )
paid to the dependence and the connection of the
The inquiry with regard to the authorities whom events. Hence the numerous contradictions and
he actually did follow would be simple had these inconsistencies which have been detected by sharp-
authorities been preserved, or had they been regu- eyed critics like Perizonius and Glareanus ; and
Jarly referred to as the work advanced. But un- | although these seldom affect materially the leading
fortunately not one of the writers employed by incidents, yet by their frequent recurrence they
Livy in his first decade has descended to us entire shake our faith in the trustworthiness of the whole.
or nearly entire, and he seldom gives any indica-Other mistakes also are found in abundance, arising
tion of the sources from whence his statements are from his want of anything like practical knowledge
derived, except in those cases where he encoun- of the world, from his never having acquired even
tered inexplicable contradictions or palpable blun- the elements of the military art, of jurisprudence,
ders. The first five books contain very few allusions or of political economy, and above all, from his
to preceding historians, but a considerable number singular ignorance of geography. It is well known
of fragments relating to this period have been pre- that his account of the disaster at the Caudine
served by Dionysius, Plutarch, and the gramma- Forks, of the march of Hannibal into Etruria, of
rians. On the other hand, scarcely any fragments the engagement on the Thrasymene Lake, and of
have been preserved relating to the period enbriced the passage of the Alps by the Carthaginians, do
by the five last books of this decade; but here we not tally with the natural features of the regions
find frequent notices of preceding historians. We in question, and yet the whole of these were
are thus enabled to decide with considerable cer- within the limits or on the borders of Italy, and
tainty that he depended chiefly upon Ennius, the localities might all have been visited within
Fabius Pictor, Ciucius Alimentus, and Calpurnius the space of a few weeks.
Piso ; and to these must be added, after the com- While we fully acknowledge the justice of the
mencement of the Gallic war, Claudius Quadrigarius; censures directed against Livy on the score of these
while he occasionally, but with less confidence, and other deficiencies, we cannot admit that his
made use of Valerius Antias, Licinius Macer, and general good faith has ever been impugned with
Aelius Tubero. We can discern no traces of Sul- any show of justice. We are assured (Tacit. Ann.
picius Galba, nor of Scribonius Libo, nor of Cassius iv. 34) that he was fair and liberal upon matters of
Hemina, nor of Sempronius Tuditanus, who were contemporary history, where, from his position
not altogether destitute of weight: we need not about court, he had the greatest temptation to flatter
lament that he passed over Postumius Albinus and those in power by depreciating their former adver-
Cn. Gellius, to the latter of whom especially Dio- saries; we know that he did not scruple to pay a
nysius was indebted for a load of trash ; but it high tribute to the talents and patriotism of such
must ever be a source of regret that he should have men as Cassius and Brutus, that his character of
neglected the Annals and Antiquities of Varro, as Cicero is a high eulogium, and that he spoke so
well as the Origines of Cato, works from which he warmly of the unsuccessful leader in the great civil
might have obtained stores of knowledge upon war, that he was sportively styled a Pompeian by
those departments of constitutional history in which Augustus, who to his honour did not look coldly on
he is conspicuously defective. From the con- the historian in consequence of his boldness and
mencement of the third decade he reposes upon a candour. It is true that in recounting the domestic
much more firm support. Polybius now becomes strife which agitated the republic for nearly two cen-
the guide whom, for the most part, he follows turies, he represents the plebeians and their leaders
closely and almost exclusively. Occasionally indeed in the most unfavourable light ; and whilst he at
he quits him for a time, in order to make room for times almost allows that they were struggling for
those representations of particular occurrences by their just rights against the oppression of the pa-
the Latin annalists which he deemed likely to be tricians, he contrives to render their proceedings
more palatable to his readers ; but he quickly re- odious. This arose, not from any wish to pervert
turns to the beaten path, and treads steadily in the the truth, but from ignorance of the exact relation
footsteps of the Greek.
of the contending parties, combined with a lively
It will be seen from these remarks that when remembrance of the convulsions which he witnessed
Livy professes to give the testimony of all pre- in his youth, or had heard of from those who were
ceding authors (omnes auctores), these words must still alive when he had grown up to manhood. It
be intended to denote those only which happened is manifest that throughout he never can separate
to be before him at the moment, and must not by in his own mind the spirited plebeians of the infant
any means be understood to imply that he had con- commonwealth, composed of the noblest and best
sulted every author accessible, nor even such as blood of the various neighbouring states subjugated
were most deserving of credit.
Tiberius , and to gratify her the senate proposed 1, 40, vi. 2; Dion Cass. Ivii. 22, lviii. 11. )
to confer upon her various extraordinary honours. 4. JULIA LIVILLA, the daughter of Germanicus
Thereupon Tiberius, perceiving that he was be- and Agrippina. [JULIA, No. 8. ]
coming a mere cypher in the state, forbade all these LIVIA GENS, plebeian, but one of the most
honours, and commanded her to retire altogether illustrious houses among the Roman nobility.
from public affairs; but she had gained such an Suetonius says (Tib. 3) that the Livii had obtained
ascendancy over him, that he did not feel himself eight consulships, two censorships, three triumphs,
his own master as long as he was in her neighbour- a dictatorship, and a mastership of the horse. The
hood, and accordingly removed his residence from first member of the gens who obtained the consul-
Rome to Capreae. Such was the return she was ship was M. Livius Denter, B. C. 302; and it at
destined to receive for all the toil she had sustained length rose to the imperial dignity by the marriage
and the crimes she had probably committed, in of Livia with Augustus, whose son Tiberius by a
order to secure the empire for her son. Tiberius former husband succeeded the latter in the govern-
no longer disguised the hatred he felt for his ment of the Roman world. The cognomens in this
mother, and for the space of three years he only gens are DENTER, DRUSUS, LIBO, Macatus, and
spoke to her once. When she was on her death- SALINATOR.
bed, he even refused to visit her. She died in A. D. LIVINEIUS. The name Livineius seems to
29, after suffering from repeated attacks of illness, belong to the family of the Reguli itself, originally
at a very advanced age, eighty-two according to at least a branch of the Gens Atilia. In Cicero
Pliny (H. N. xiv. 8), eighty-six according to Dion (ad Att. iii. 17, ad Fam. xiii. 60) it is the appel-
Cassius (lviii. 2). Tiberius did not attempt to lation of two freedmen of the brothers M. and L
dissemble the joy which he felt at her death. He Regulus, one of whom, L. Livineius Trypho, Cicero
took no part in the funeral rites, and forbade her commends to C. Munatius, as having befriended
consecration, which had been proposed by the when others deserted him (ad Fam. l. c. ); compare
senate, on the ground that she had not wished it Tac. Ann. iii. 11, xiv. 17. [REGULUS. ] [W. B. D. )
herself. Her funeral oration was delivered by her M. LIVIUS, tribune of the plebs, B. C. 320,
great-grandson, C. Caesar, subsequertly the em- | opposed the proposition for annulling the treaty
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LIVIUS.
LIVIUS.
а
கண்ணா
made with the Samnites at Caudium. (Liv. ix. Claudius.
The first of these assertions is entitled
8. )
to respect, since it has been adopted by Niebuhr,
LI'VIUS, the Roman historian, was born at but seems to rest entirely upon a few notices in
Patarium, in the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus, Quintilian, from which we gather that the Epistola
B. c. 59. The greater part of his life appears to ud Filium, alluded to above, contained some precepts
have been spent in the metropolis, but he returned upon style (Quintil. ii. 5. & 20, viii. 2. § 18, x. 1.
to his native town before his death, which happened § 39). The second assertion, in so far as it affirms
at the age of 76, in the fourth year of Tiberius, the existence of two sons, involves the very broad
A. D. 17. We know that he was married, and that assumption that the following inscription, which is
he had at least two children, for a certain L. Magius, said to have been preserved at Venice, but with
a rhetorici is named as the husband of his daugh regard to whose history nothing has been recorded,
ter, by Seneca (Proocm. Controv. lib. v. ), and a neither the time when, nor the place where, nor the
sentence from a letter addressed to a son, whom he circumstances under which it was found, must refer
urgis to study Demosthenes and Cicero, is quoted to the great historian and to no one else: T. Livius.
by Quintilian (x. 1. § 39). His literary talents C. F. SIBI. ET. suis. T. LIVIO. T. F. PRISCO. F. T.
secured the patronage and friendship of Augustus LIVIO. T. F. LONGO. ET. CASSIAE. SEX. F. PRIMAE.
(Tacit. Ann. iv. 31); he became a person of con- UXORI ; while the number of daughters depends
sideration at court, and by his advice Claudius, after- upon another inscription of a still more doubtful
wards emperor, was induced in early life to attempt character, to which we shall advert hereafter. The
historical composition (Suct. Claud: 41), but there third assertion is advanced because it has been
is no ground for the assertion that Livy acted as deemed certain that since Virgil, Horace, and various
preceptor to the young prince. Eventually his re- other personages of wit and fashion were wont in
putation rose so high and became so widely diffused that age to resort to the Campanian court, Livy
that, as we are assured by Pliny (Epist. ii. 3), a must have done the like. With respect to the
Spaniard travelled from Cadiz to Rome, solely for fourth assertion, we are informed by Senecn (Slusor.
the purpose of beholding him, and having gratified 100) that Livy wrote dialogues which might be
his curiosity in this one particular, immediately regarded as belonging to history as much as to
returned home.
philosophy (Scripsit enim et dialimos quos non
Although expressly termed Patavinus by ancient magis Philosophiae annumerare possis quam His-
writers, some doubts have been entertained with toriae), and books which professed to treat of phi-
regard to the precise spot of his birth, in consequence losophic subjects (cr professo Philosophiam conti-
of a line in Martial (Ep. i. 62):-
nentes libros); but the story of the presentation to
Verona docti syllabas amat vatis,
Octavianus is an absolute fabrication. The fifth
Marone felix Mantua est,
assertion we have already contradicted, and not
without reason, as will be seen from Suetonius
Censetur Apona Livio suo tellus,
Stellaque nec Flacco minus-
(Claud. 41).
The memoirs of most men terminate with their
from which it has been inferred that the famous death ; but this is by no means the case with our
hot-springs, the Patavinae Aquae, of which the historian, since some circumstances closely con-
chief was A ponus fons, situated about six miles to nected with what may be fairly termed his per-
the south of Patavium, and now known as the Bagni sonal history, excited no small commotion in his
d'Abano, ought to be regarded as the place of his native city many centuries after his decease. About
nativity. According to this supposition he was the year 1360 a tablet was dug up at Padua, within
styled Patavinus, just as Virgil was called Man- the monastery of St. Justina, which occupied the
tuanus, although in reality belonging to Andes ; site of an ancient temple of Jupiter, or of Juno, or
but Cluverius and the best geographers believe that of Concordia, according to the conflicting hypotheses
Apona tellus is here equivalent to Patarina tellus, of local antiquaries. The stone bore the following
and that no village Aponus or Aponus vicus existed inscription, V. F. T. LIVIUS . LIVIAE. T. F. QUARTAE.
in the days of the epigrammatist. In like manner L. HALYS . CONCORDIALIS. PATAVI. SIBI. ET. SUIS,
Statius (Silv. iv. 7) designates him as “ Timavi OMNIBUS, which was at first interpreted to mean
alumnum,” words which merely indicate his trans- Vivus fecit Titus Livius Liviae Titi filiae quartae,
padane extraction.
(sc. uxori) Lucii Halys Concordialis Patavi sibi et
The above particulars, few and meagre as they suis omnibus. Some imagined that QUARTAE . L.
are, embrace every circumstance for which we can HALYS denoted Quartae legionis Halys, but this
appeal to the testimony of ancient writers. The opinion was overthrown without difficulty, because
bulky and minute biography by Tomasinus, and even at that time it was well known that L. is seldom
similar productions, which communicate in turgid if ever used in inscriptions as an abbreviation of
language a series of details which could have been Legio, and secondly because the fourth legion was
ascertained by no one but a contemporary, are entitled Scythica and not Halys. It was then de-
purely works of iinagination. The greater number cided that QUARTAE must indicate the fourth
of the statements derived from such sources have daughter of Livius, and that L. Halys must be
gradually disappeared from all works of authority, the name of her husband ; and ingenious persons
but one or two of the more plausible still linger endeavoured to show that in all probability he was
even in the most recent histories of literature. Thus identical with the L. Magius mentioned by Seneca.
we are assured that Livy commenced his career as They also persuaded themselves that Livy, upon
a rhetorician and wrote npon rhetoric ; that he was his return home, had been installed by his country-
twice married, and had two sons and several men in the dignified office of priest of the goddess
daughters ; that he was in the habit of spending Concord, and had erected this monument within
much of his time at Naples ; that he first recom- the walls of her sanctuary, marking the place of
mended himself to Octavianus by presenting some sepulture of himself and his family. At all events,
dialogues on philosophy, and that he was tutor to whatever difficulties might seem to embarrass the
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LIVIUS.
791
LIVIUS.
explanation of some of the words and abbreviations / from one who was well acquainted with his subject,
in the inscription, no doubt seems for a moment to and were probably drawn up not long after the
have been entertained that it was a genuine me- appearance of the volumes which they abridge. By
morial of the historian. Accordingly, the Bene- some they have been ascribed to Livy himself, by
dictine fathers of the monastery transported the others to Florus; but there is nothing in the lani
tablet to the vestibule of their chapel, and caused guage or context to warrant either of these con
a portrait of Livy to be painted beside it. In clusions; and external evidence is altogether
1413, about fifty years after the discovery just wanting.
described, in digging the foundations for the erection From the circumstance that a short introduction
of new buildings in connection with the monastery, or preface is found at the beginning of books 1, 21,
the workmen reached an ancient pavement com- and 31, and that each of these marks the com-
posed of square bricks cemented with lime. This mencement of an important epoch, the whole work
having been broken through, a leaden coffin became has been divided into decades, or groups, contain
visible, which was found to contain human bones. ing ten books each, although there is no good
An old monk declared that this was the very spot reason to believe that any such division was intro
above which the tablet had been found, when im- duced until after the fifth or sixth century, for
mediately the cry rose that the remains of Livy Priscian and Diomedes, who quote repeatedly from
had been brought to light, a report which filled the particular books, never allude to any such distribu-
whole city with extravagant joy. The new-found tion. The commencement of book xli. is lost, but
treasure was deposited in the town hall, and to the there is certainly no remarkable crisis at this place
ancient tablet a modern epitaph was affixed. At which invalidates one part of the argument in
a subsequent period a costly monument was favour of the antiquity of the arrangement.
added as a further tribute to his memory. Here, The first decade (bks. i–x. ) is entire. It em-
it might have been supposed, these weary bones braces the period from the foundation of the city to
would at length have been permitted to rest in the year B. c. 294, when the subjugation of the
peace. But in 1451, Alphonso of Arragon preferred Samnites may be said to have been completed.
a request to the Paduans, that they would be The second decade (bks. xi—xx. ) is altogether
pleased to bestow upon him the bone of Livy's lost. It embraced the period from B. c. 294 to
right arm, in order that he might possess the limb B. C. 219, comprising an account of the extension
by which the immortal narrative had been actually of the Roman dominion over the whole of Southern
penned. This petition was at last complied with ; Italy and a portion of Gallia Cisalpina ; of the
but just as the valuable relic reached Naples, Al- invasion of Pyrrhus ; of the first Punic war; of
phonso died, and the Sicilian fell heir to the prize. the expedition against the Illyrian pirates, and of
Eventually it passed into the hands of Joannes Jo other matters which fell out between the conclusion
vianus Pontanus, by whom it was enshrined with an of the peace with Carthage and the siege of
appropriate legend. So far all was well. In the Saguntum.
lapse of time, however, it was perceived, upon The third decade (bks. xxi-xxx. ) is entire.
It
comparing the tablet dug up in the monastery of embraces the period from B. C. 219 to B. c. 201,
St. Justina, with others a similar description, comprehending the whole of the second Punic war,
that the contractions had been erroneously ex- and the contemporaneous struggles in Spain and
plained, and consequently the whole tenor of the Greece.
words misunderstood. It was clearly proved that The fourth decade (bks. xxxi-xl. ) is entire,
L. did not stand for Lucius but for LIBERTUS, and also one half of the fifth (bks. xli-xlv. ). These
and that the principal person named was Titus fifteen books embrace the period from B. Ć. 201 to
Livius Halys, freedman of Livia, the fourth daugh- B. c. 167, and develope the progress of the Roman
ter of a Titus Livius, that he had in accordance with arms in Cisalpine Gaul, in Macedonia, Greece and
the usual custom adopted the designation of his Asia, ending with the triumph of Aemilius Paul-
former master, that he had been a priest of Concord lus, in which Perseus and his three sons were ex-
at Padua, an office which it appeared from other hibited as captives.
records had often been filled by persons in his Of the remaining books nothing remains except
station, and that he had set up this stone to mark inconsiderable fragments, the most notable being a
the burying-ground of himself and his kindred. few chapters of the 91st book, concerning the
Now since the supposition that the skeleton in the fortunes of Sertorius.
leaden coffin was that of the historian rested solely The whole of the above were not brought to
upon the authority of the inscription, when this light at once. The earliest editions contain 29
support was withdrawn, the whole fabric of con- books only, namely, i-x. , xxi—xxxii. , xxxiv—
jecture fell to the ground, and it became evident xl. , the last breaking off abruptly in the middle of
the relics were those of an obscure freedman. chapter 37, with the word edixerunt. In 1518
The great and only extant work of Livy is a the latter portion of bk. xxxiii. , beginning in chapter
History of Rome, termed by himself Annales 17th with artis faucibus, together with what was
(xliü. 13), extending from the foundation of the wanting of bk. xl. , were supplied from a MS. be-
city to the death of Drusus, B. C. 9, comprised in longing to the cathedral church of St. Martin at
142 books: of these thirty-five have descended to Mayence. In 1531 bks. xli. —xlv. were discovered
us; but of the whole, with the exception of two, by Grynaeus in the convent of Lorsch, near Worms,
we possess summaries, which, although in them- and were published forth with at Basle by Frobe-
selves dry and lifeless, are by no means destitute nius ; and finally, in 1615, a MS. was found at
of value, since they afford a complete index or table Bamberg, which filled up the gap remaining in bk.
of contents, and are occasionally our sole authorities xxxiii. ;
and this appeared complete for the first
for the transactions of particular periods. The time at Rome in 1616. The fragment of bk. xci.
compiler of these Epitomes, as they are generally was copied from a palimpsest in the Vatican by
called, is unknown ; but they must have proceeded | Paulus Jacobus Bruns in 1772, and printed in the
a
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792
LIVIUS.
LIVIUS.
following year at Rome, Leipzig, and Hamburgh. | tempt has been made to render these limits still
A small portion which he failed to decypher was narrower, from the consideration that the emperor
afterwards made out by Niebuhr, who also sup is here spoken of as Augustus, a title not conferred
plied some words which had been cut away, and until the year 1. c. 27 ; but this will only prove
published the whole in his Ciceronis pro M1. Fonteio that the passage could not have been published
ct C. Rabirio Orat. Fragm. , Berlin, 1820. Two before that date, since, although written previously,
short fragments possessing much interest, since the honorary epithet might have been inserted
they describe the death and character of Cicero, here and elsewhere at any time before publication.
are preserved in the sixth Suasoria of Seneca. Again, we gather from the epitome that bk. lix.
From the revival of letters until the reign of contained a reference to the law of Augustus, De
Louis XIV. the hopes of the learned were perpe Muritandis Ordinibus, from which it has been con-
tually excited and tantalised by reports with regard cluded that the book in question must have been
to complete MSS. of the great historian. Strenuous written after B. c. 18 ; but this is by no means
exertions were made by Leo X. and many other certain, since it can be proved that a legislative
European potentates in their efforts to procure a cnactment upon this subject was proposed as early
perfect copy, which at one time was said to be de- as 1. c. 28. Since, however, the obsequies of
posited at Iona in the Hebrides, at another in Chios, Drusus were commemorated in bk. cxlii. it is evi-
at another in the monastery of Mount Athos, at dent, at the very lowest computation, that the task
another in the seraglio of the grand signor, while must have been spread over seventeen years, and
it has been confidently maintained that such a probably occupied a much longer time. We must
treasure was destroyed at the sack of Magdeburg ; not omit to notice that Niebuhr takes a very dif-
and there can be no doubt that a MS. containing ferent view of this matter. He is confident that
the whole of the fifth decade at least was once in Livy did not begin his labours until he had attained
existence at Lausanne. Tales too were circulated the age of fifty (B. c. 9), and that he had not fully
and eagerly believed of leaves or volumes having accomplished his design at the close of his life.
been seen or heard of under strange and romantic He builds chiefly upon a passage in ix. 36, where
circumstances ; but the prize, although apparently it is said that the Ciminian wood was in these days
often within reach, always eluded the grasp, and as impenetrable "quam nuper fuere Germanici
the pursuit has long since been abandoned in saltus," words which, it is urged, could not bave
despair.
been used before the forests of Germany had been
We remarked that two of the Epitomes had opened up by the campaigns of Drusus (B. C. 12–
been lost. This deficiency was not at first detected, 9); and upon another in iv. 20, where, after it is
since the numbers follow each other in regular recorded that Augustus had repaired the shrine of
succession from 1 up to 140 ; and hence the total Jupiter Feretrius, he is termed “templorum om-
number of books was supposed not to exceed that nium conditorem aut restitutorem," a description
amount. Upon more careful examination, how- which could not have been applied to him in an
ever, it was perceived that while the epitome of early part of his career. Now, without insisting
bk. cxxxv. closed with the conquest of the Salassi, that casual remarks such as these might have been
which belongs to B. C. 25, the epitome of bk. cxxxvi. introduced during a revision of the text, it must be
opened with the subjugation of the Rhaeti, by evident that the remarks themselves are much too
Tiberius, Nero, and Drusus, in B. c. 15, thus leav- vague to serve as the basis of a chronological theory,
ing a blank of nine years, an interval marked by except in so far as they relate to the restoration of the
the shutting of Janus, the celebration of the secular shrine of Jupiter Feretrius ; but this we know was
games, the acceptance of the tribunitian power by undertaken at the suggestion of Atticus (Comel.
Augustus, and other occurrences which would Nep. Ait. c. 20), and Atticus died B. c. 32. On
scarcely have been passed over in silence by the the other hand, the reasoning grounded on the
abbreviator. Sigonius and Drakenborch, whose shutting of the temple of Janus must be held, in so
reasonings have been generally admitted by scholars, far as bk. i. is involved, to be absolutely impregnable;
agree that two books were devoted to this space, and we can scarcely imagine that the eighth book
and hence the epitomes which stand as cxxxvi. , was not finished until sixteen years after the first.
cxxxvii. , cxxxviii. , cxxxix. , cxl. , ought to be In attempting to form an estimate of any great
marked cxxxviii. , cxxxix. , cxl. , cxli. , cxlii. , re- historical production, our attention is naturally and
spectively.
necessarily directed to two points, which may be
It was little probable, à priori, that an under- kept perfectly distinct: first, the substance, that is,
taking so vast should have been brought to a close the truth or falsehood of what is set down ; and
before any part of it was given to the world; and secondly, its character merely as a literary compo-
in point of fact we find indications here and there sition.
which throw some light upon the epochs when dif- As to the latter subject, Livy has little to fear
ferent sections were composed and published. Thus from positive censure or from faint praise. His
in book first (c. 19) it is stated that the temple of style may be pronounced almost faultless; and a
Janus had been closed twice only since the reign great proof of its excellence is, that the charms with
of Numa, for the first time in the consulship of which it is invested are so little salient, and so
T. Manlius (B. C. 235), a few years after the termi- equally diffused, that no one feature can be selected
nation of the first Punic war; for the second time for special eulogy, but the whole unite to produce
by Augustus Caesar, after the battle of Actium, in a form of singular beauty and grace. The narrative
B. C. 29, as we learn from other sources. But we flows on in a calm, but strong current, clear and
are told by Dion Cassius that it was shut again by sparkling, but deep and unbroken ; the diction dis-
Augustus after the conquest of the Cantabrians, in plays richness without heaviness, and simplicity
B. c. 25; and hence it is evident that the first book without tameness. The feelings of the reader are not
must have been written, and must have gone forth laboriously worked up from time to time by a
between the years B. C. 29 and B. c. 25. An at-grand effort, while he is suffered to languiste
;
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LIVIUS.
793
LIVIUS.
through long intervals of dullness, but a sort of and he moulded what had before been a collection
gentle excitement is steadily maintained : the atten- of heavy, rude, incongruous masses, into one com-
tion never droops ; and while the great results manding figure, synimetrical in all its proportions,
appear in full relief, the minor incidents, which full of vigorous life and manly dignity. Where
often conduce so materially to these results, are his authorities were in accordance with each other,
brought plainly into view. Nor is his art as a and with common sense, he generally rested satis-
painter less wonderful. There is a distinctness of fied with this agreement; where their testimony
outline and a warmth of colouring in all his de- was irreconcilable, he was content to point out
lineations, whether of living men in action, or of their want of harmony, and occasionally to offer
things inanimate, which never fail to call up the an opinion on their comparative credibility. But,
whole scene, with all its adjuncts, before our eyes. however turbid the current of his information, in
In a gallery of masterpieces, it is difficult to make no case did he ever dream of ascending to the
a selection, but we doubt whether any artist, an- fountain head. Never did he seek to confirm or
cient or modern, ever finished a more wonderful to confute the assertion of others by exploring the
series of pictures than those which are found at the sources from which their knowledge was derived.
conclusion of the 27th book, representing the state He never attempted to test their accuracy by ex-
of the public mind at Rome, when intelligence was amining monuments of remote antiquity, of which
first received of the daring expedition of the consul not a few were accessible to every inhabitant of
Claudius Nero, the agonising suspense which pre- the metropolis. He never thought it necessary to
vailed while the success of this hazardous project inquire how far the various religious rites and
was yet uncertain, and the almost frantic joy which ceremonics still observed might throw light upon
hailed the intelligence of the great victory on the the institutions of a distant epoch ; nor did he en-
Metaurus. The only point involving a question of deavour to illustrate the social divisions of the early
taste from which we should feel inclined to with Romans, and the progress of the Roman constitu-
hold warm commendation is one which has called tion, by investigating the antiquities of the various
forth the warmest admiration on the part of many Italian tribes, most of whom possessed their own
critics. We mean the numerous orations by which records and traditions.
the course of the narrative is diversified, and which It may perhaps be objected that we have no
are frequently made the vehicle of political dis right to assume that Livy did not make use of such
quisition. Not but that these are in themselves ancient monuments or documents as were available
models of eloquence; but they are too often out of in his age, and that in point of fact he actually
keeping with the very moderate degree of mental refers to several. We shall soon discover, how-
cultivation enjoyed by the speakers, and are fre- ever, upon close scrutiny, that in all such cases he
quently little adapted to the times when they were does not speak from personal investigation, but
delivered, or to the audiences to whom they were from intelligence received through the medium of
addressed. Instead of being the shrewd out-pour- the annalists. Thus he is satisfied with quoting
ings of homely wisdom, or the violent expression of Licinius Macer for the contents of the Foedus
rude passion, they have too much the air of polished Ardeatinum (iv. 7); the “ Lex vetusta priscis
rhetorical declamations.
literis verbisque scripta" (vii. 3), and the circum-
Before proceeding to examine and to judge the stances connected with the usage there commemo-
matter or substance of the work, we are bound to rated are evidently taken upon trust from Cincius
ascertain, if possible, the end which the author Alimentus ; and although he appeals (viii. 20) to
proposed to himself
. Now no one who reads the the Foedus Neapolitanum, he does not pretend to
pages of Livy with attention can for a moment have seen it. On the other hand, we have many
suppose that he ever conceived the project of draw- positive proofs of his negligence or indifference.
ing up a critical history of Rome. He desired When he hesitates between two different versions
indeed to extend the fame of the Roman people, of the Libri Lintei given by two different writers
and to establish his own reputation ; but he evi- (iv. 23), we might be inclined, with Dr. Arnold,
dently had neither the inclination nor the ability charitably to believe that they were no longer in
to enter upon laborious original investigations with existence, rather than to suppose that he was so
regard to the foreign and domestic relations of the indolent that he would not take the trouble of
republic in remote ages. His aim was to offer to walking from one quarter of the city to another for
his countrymen a clear and pleasing narrative, the sake of consulting them, had he not himself a
which, while it gratified their vanity, should con- few pages previously given us to understand that
tain no startling improbabilities nor gross amplifi- he had never inspected the writing on the breast-
cations, such as would have shocked his fastidious plate of Cossus (iv. 20), and had he not elsewhere
contemporaries. To effect this purpose he studied completely misrepresented the Icilian law (iii. 31),
with care some of the more celebrated historians although it was inscribed on a column of bronze in
who had already trodden the path upon which he the temple of Diana, where it was examined by
was about to enter, comparing and remodelling the Dionysius, to whom we are indebted for an accu-
materials which they afforded. He communicated rate account of its purport: nay, more, it is per-
warmth and ease to the cold constrained records of fectly clear that he had never read the Leges
the more ancient chronicles, he expunged most of Regiae, nor the Commentaries of Servius Tullius,
the monstrous and puerile fables with which the nor even the Licinian Rogations; and, stranger
pages of his predecessors were overloaded, retaining still, that he had never studied with care the laws
those fictions only which were clothed with a cer- of the twelve tables, not to mention the vast col-
tain poetical seemliness, or such as had obtained so lection of decrees of the senate, ordinances of the
firm a hold upon the public mind as to have become plebs, treaties and other state papers, extending
articles in the national faith; he rejected the back almost to the foundation of the city, which
clumsy exaggerations in which Valerius Antias had been engraven on tablets of brass, and were
and others of the same school had loved to revel, / consumed to the number of three thousind in tho
## p. 794 (#810) ############################################
79+
LIVIUS.
LIVIUS.
1
destruction of the capital by the Vitellians. (Sueton. | mitted in another, without sufficient attention being
V'esp. 8; Tacit. Hist. iii. 71. )
paid to the dependence and the connection of the
The inquiry with regard to the authorities whom events. Hence the numerous contradictions and
he actually did follow would be simple had these inconsistencies which have been detected by sharp-
authorities been preserved, or had they been regu- eyed critics like Perizonius and Glareanus ; and
Jarly referred to as the work advanced. But un- | although these seldom affect materially the leading
fortunately not one of the writers employed by incidents, yet by their frequent recurrence they
Livy in his first decade has descended to us entire shake our faith in the trustworthiness of the whole.
or nearly entire, and he seldom gives any indica-Other mistakes also are found in abundance, arising
tion of the sources from whence his statements are from his want of anything like practical knowledge
derived, except in those cases where he encoun- of the world, from his never having acquired even
tered inexplicable contradictions or palpable blun- the elements of the military art, of jurisprudence,
ders. The first five books contain very few allusions or of political economy, and above all, from his
to preceding historians, but a considerable number singular ignorance of geography. It is well known
of fragments relating to this period have been pre- that his account of the disaster at the Caudine
served by Dionysius, Plutarch, and the gramma- Forks, of the march of Hannibal into Etruria, of
rians. On the other hand, scarcely any fragments the engagement on the Thrasymene Lake, and of
have been preserved relating to the period enbriced the passage of the Alps by the Carthaginians, do
by the five last books of this decade; but here we not tally with the natural features of the regions
find frequent notices of preceding historians. We in question, and yet the whole of these were
are thus enabled to decide with considerable cer- within the limits or on the borders of Italy, and
tainty that he depended chiefly upon Ennius, the localities might all have been visited within
Fabius Pictor, Ciucius Alimentus, and Calpurnius the space of a few weeks.
Piso ; and to these must be added, after the com- While we fully acknowledge the justice of the
mencement of the Gallic war, Claudius Quadrigarius; censures directed against Livy on the score of these
while he occasionally, but with less confidence, and other deficiencies, we cannot admit that his
made use of Valerius Antias, Licinius Macer, and general good faith has ever been impugned with
Aelius Tubero. We can discern no traces of Sul- any show of justice. We are assured (Tacit. Ann.
picius Galba, nor of Scribonius Libo, nor of Cassius iv. 34) that he was fair and liberal upon matters of
Hemina, nor of Sempronius Tuditanus, who were contemporary history, where, from his position
not altogether destitute of weight: we need not about court, he had the greatest temptation to flatter
lament that he passed over Postumius Albinus and those in power by depreciating their former adver-
Cn. Gellius, to the latter of whom especially Dio- saries; we know that he did not scruple to pay a
nysius was indebted for a load of trash ; but it high tribute to the talents and patriotism of such
must ever be a source of regret that he should have men as Cassius and Brutus, that his character of
neglected the Annals and Antiquities of Varro, as Cicero is a high eulogium, and that he spoke so
well as the Origines of Cato, works from which he warmly of the unsuccessful leader in the great civil
might have obtained stores of knowledge upon war, that he was sportively styled a Pompeian by
those departments of constitutional history in which Augustus, who to his honour did not look coldly on
he is conspicuously defective. From the con- the historian in consequence of his boldness and
mencement of the third decade he reposes upon a candour. It is true that in recounting the domestic
much more firm support. Polybius now becomes strife which agitated the republic for nearly two cen-
the guide whom, for the most part, he follows turies, he represents the plebeians and their leaders
closely and almost exclusively. Occasionally indeed in the most unfavourable light ; and whilst he at
he quits him for a time, in order to make room for times almost allows that they were struggling for
those representations of particular occurrences by their just rights against the oppression of the pa-
the Latin annalists which he deemed likely to be tricians, he contrives to render their proceedings
more palatable to his readers ; but he quickly re- odious. This arose, not from any wish to pervert
turns to the beaten path, and treads steadily in the the truth, but from ignorance of the exact relation
footsteps of the Greek.
of the contending parties, combined with a lively
It will be seen from these remarks that when remembrance of the convulsions which he witnessed
Livy professes to give the testimony of all pre- in his youth, or had heard of from those who were
ceding authors (omnes auctores), these words must still alive when he had grown up to manhood. It
be intended to denote those only which happened is manifest that throughout he never can separate
to be before him at the moment, and must not by in his own mind the spirited plebeians of the infant
any means be understood to imply that he had con- commonwealth, composed of the noblest and best
sulted every author accessible, nor even such as blood of the various neighbouring states subjugated
were most deserving of credit.
