Although its origins are little known, the work of Livy , born in Padua between 64 and 59 BC. J-C, has become a classic of Roman history. Contemporary of Augustus, he is the hagiographer of Rome, under the influence of Caesar's adopted son, but criticizes the latter's dictatorship. In his Roman History, which will be taken up by many of his successors, he analyzes the rise of Roman power and sees in the institution of the Empire the consecration of this culture. He died in AD 17. J-C, three years after the emperor.
A little-known and modest life
Livy's origins are uncertain, as is his date of birth (between 64 and 59). We know, however, that he was born in Padua, probably into a wealthy family if we judge his art of rhetoric, which presupposes a solid formation. He was educated in Rome, and possibly in Athens (which is more disputed).
Married to a certain Cassia Prima, Livy has two sons and lives between Rome and Padua. If he has military knowledge, he probably did not follow a career in the army. Likewise, he never exercised a magistracy, nor entered the equestrian order. His view of institutions is therefore external, even if he becomes a hagiographer of Augustan Rome. Livy died in Padua in 17 after having, it seems, given historical advice to the young Claudius, the future emperor.
Livy, hagiographer of Augustus?
His work is a story to the glory of Rome, in line with the Augustan ideology. His style, his art of storytelling, the finesse of his portraits, ensured him a certain success which influenced later historians. He became close to Augustus in the years 27-25, as Cremutius Cordus indirectly recalls:“Livy, whose eloquence and veracity put him in the forefront of glory, praised Cn so highly. Pompey that Augustus called him “the Pompeian”, and that did not hinder their friendship”.
Pompeian perhaps, close to Augustus certainly, but also critical of the dictator Caesar; he would indeed have said of the latter:"we do not know whether the Republic had to congratulate itself or not on his birth" .
However, it is difficult to get a precise idea of his ideas, especially on the subject of the principate, because his work has come down to us incomplete.
Roman History by Livy
The rhetorician began his work around the age of thirty, and we know that the writing of the first five books of his Roman History predates the triple triumph of Augustus in 29 BC. J-C.
Influenced by Polybius, he uses second-hand sources, checking them little, and annalists like Fabius Pictor. His work would have counted 142 books, of which only about thirty have come down to us. This is what serves us for the knowledge of his point of view on the civil wars and the principate.
His Roman History dates back to the origins of Rome, and at least until 127 BC. J-C, according to the fragments that remain to us. We know in part what is missing indirectly, Livy having service as a source for some of his most illustrious successors, such as Plutarch, Appian, Florus, and above all Orosius. Indeed, and this is what makes him an essential source for Roman history, Livy is considered by his posterity as a reference monument. Dante (1265-1321) himself will quote it, following their meeting in Hell , and Machiavelli (1469-1527) will study it.
Bibliography
- Livy, Roman History , trans. Annette Flobert, Flammarion, 1995-1997, 7 volumes.
- N. Machiavelli, Discourse on the first decade of Livy , Gallimard, 2004.
- B.Mineo, Livy and the History of Rome , Klincksieck, 2006.