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Primary sourceBook27-9 BC

History of Rome

Titus Livius · 27-9 BC

Livy's monumental history of Rome, written under Augustus's reign, tracing the city from its legendary founding to Livy's own time.

Written under Augustus's reign, this history's moral themes echoed the emperor's programme of restoring traditional Roman values.

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Scan of a printed page from a 1493 Venetian edition of Livy's Roman history, in Latin black-letter type with two woodcut illustrations. The left column reads 'LIBRO' and the right 'DECA' running heads. The top right woodcut shows figures in a scene with a bearded man and a woman.
Titus Livius, History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita), written 27-9 BC. Shown: 1493 Venetian printed edition.

About this source

What it is

The History of Rome, also known as Ab Urbe Condita, is a vast history written in Latin between 27 and 9 BC by Titus Livius (Livy). It originally comprised 142 books covering Rome from its legendary founding through the reign of Augustus, though only 35 books survive complete today, along with later summaries and fragments.

Why it matters

Livy wrote this history while Augustus ruled, and its moral vision of Rome's past, along with its preface lamenting contemporary decline, echoed Augustus's own programme of restoring traditional Roman values. The work became central to how later generations understood Rome's legendary origins and republican history, and shows how historians of the time worked within the political climate of the new imperial regime.

Look closer

  • Why might a historian writing under an emperor choose to emphasize Rome's moral decline?
  • What does it mean that only a quarter of this enormous work survives today?
  • How might Livy's history have served Augustus's political goals, even if indirectly?

This book is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Augustus and Hannibal Barca on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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