LVV1US, TITUS, the Roman historian, was born at Patavinm (Padua), ac. 59. We possess very few particulars respecting his life. He appears to have lived at Rome, and to have been on intimate terms with Augustus, who used, according to Tacitus Ann.; iv. 34), to call him a Pompeian, on account of the praises which he bestowed upon Pompease party. He also appears to have superintended the studies of Claudius, who was afterwards emperor. (Snot., 'Claud.,' c. 41.) He died A.D. 17, in his seventy-sixth year.
Livy's great work, which was originally published in 142 books, gave an account of the history of Rome, from the earliest period to the death of Drusus, ex. 9. Of these books only 35 are now extant, namely, the first ten, which contain the history of the city to n.c. 293; and from the twenty-first to the forty-fifth inclusive, which commence with the second Punic War, B.O. 218, and continue the history to the conquest of Macsdon, n.c. 167. There also exist brief epitomes of the lost books, as well as of those which have come down to us, which have beeu frequently eupposed, though without sufficient reason, to have been compiled by Florus. We have however only epitomes of 140 books ; but it has been satisfactorily shown by Sigonius and Drakenborch, on Livy, 'Ep.' 136, that the epitomes of the 136th and 137th books have been lost, and that the epitome of the 136th book, as it is called, is in reality the epitome of the 138th. Many hopes have been entertained at various periods of recovering the lost books of Livy's original work ; but they now appear to be irrevocably lost. Erpenius and others stated that there was a translation of them in Arabic; but such a translation has never been discovered. The fmg menta of the lost books, which have been preserved by grammarians and other writers, are given in Drakenborch's edition. That portion of Roman history which was contained in the lost books has been written in Latin by Freinshemius with considerable diligence, and has been published in the Delphin and Bipont editions, together with the extaut books.
We have no means for ascertaining at what time the whole of the history was completed, though there are indications of the time in which some particular portions were written. Llvy (i. 19) mentions the first shutting of the temple of Janus by Augustus after the battle of Actium, a. c. 29; whence we may conclude that the first book was Mitten between this year and 11. C. 25, when it was closed a time Ho must also have been engaged on the 59th book after n.c. 18, since the law of Augustus, ' De maritandia ordinibus,' passed in that year, is referred to in the epitome of the 59th book.
The fame of Livy appears to have been widely extended even during his life, If we may believe a story related by Pliny (' Ep.,' iL 3), and repeated by Jerome, that a native of Cadiz came to Rome with the sole object of seeing the great historian. Teehas (' Ann.,' iv. 34) and Seneca (' Sasser.; vii.) among the later Roman writers, speak in the highest terms of the beauty of his style and the fidelity of his history— praises which have been constantly repeated by modern writers. But while most will be ready to admit that his style is eloquent, his narra tive clear, and his powers of description great and striking, It can scarcely be denied that he was deficient in the first and most import ant requisites of a faithful historian—a love of truth, diligence and care in consulting authorities, and a patient and painstaking examina tion of conflicting testimonies. "In reporting the traditions of the
early ages of Rome," as Professor Malden has very justly observed, " he seems lass desirous to ascertain the truth than to array the popu lar story in the most attractive garb. Ile is not so much an historian as a poet. As the history advances and the truth of facts is better ascertained, he is of course compelled to record them with greater fidelity ; but still his whole work is a triumphal celebration of the heroic spirit and military glory of Rome." And to that everythiug else is sacrificed. (See an admirable summary of Livy's chief merits and defects as an historian by Professor Malden in his' History of Rome,' published by the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Know ledge,' pp. 39.41.) "To his passion for extolling the military reputa tion of Rome" (we quote from Malden) "we owe the comparative neglect of the less popular and leas ostentatious subjects of domestic history. Every war and triumph of which any memorial, true or false, existed, is scrupulously registered; but the original constitution of the state, the diviaiona of its citizens, their several rights, the con tests between the orders, the constitution of the general or partial assemblies of the people, the powers of the magistrates, the laws, the jurisprudeuce, their progressive melioration ; these are subjects on which our information is vague and scanty and ill-counectsd. It is evident that to tho mind of Livy they possessed comparatively little interest ; and that on these matters, to say the least, he did not exert himself to correct the errors or supply the defects of the writers who preceded him. He was satisfied if from a popular commotion he could extract the materials of an eloquent speech. It is a sufficient proof that on this most important portion of Roman history he was really ignorant, that with all his powers of language he does not convey clear and vivid ideas to the minds of his readers. Who has risen from the perusal of the early books of Livy with the distinct notion of a client or of an agrarian law?" In addition to the history of Rome, Livy wrote several other works, which have not come down to us ; amongst which Seneca (' Ep.,' 100) mentions dialogues on historical and philosophical eubjects, and Quin Chan (' Inst. Orator.; x. 1), a letter to his eon, recommending the study of Demosthenes and Cicero.
The best editions of Livy are those by Crevier, 1735.1740; Drakcn bomb, 1738-1746 ; Ernesti, 1804; Ruperti, 1817 ; Dbring, 1816-1824 ; Kreysig, 1823.1827 ; Alchefski, 1811, &c. His Roman History has been translated into most European languages; but we are not aware of any one which gives a faithful representation of the original work. The most esteemed are the translations in German by Wagner, 1776.1782, and Cilano, 1777-1779; in Italian by Niardi, 1575 ; and in French by Dureau de la Mane and Noel, 1810.1812 and 1824. There are English translations by Philemon Holland, 1600; Baker, 1797; and "a literal translation," which forms four volumes of Bolsn'e 'Classical Library.'