A History of Roman Literature

by Harold North Fowler

Livy, 59 B. C.-17 A. D.—His qualities as historian and writer—Pompeius Trogus, about 20 B. C.—Justin, second or third century after Christ—Fenestella, 52 B. C.-19 A. D.—Oratory—Seneca the elder, about 55 B. C. to about 40 A. D.—Verrius Flaccus, about 1 A. D.—Festus, third or fourth century after Christ—Hyginus, about 64 B. C. to about 17 A. D.—Extant works under the name of Hyginus—Labeo and Capito—Vitruvius, about 70 B. C. to after 16 B. C.

The Augustan period is the golden age of Latin poetry. Prose reached its greatest height in the age of Cicero and began to deteriorate soon after his death. Prose inferior to poetry of this period. One reason for this is the great development of poetry, which led to the introduction of poetic words and phrases into prose; another is the fashionable rhetoric of the day, which aimed not at simplicity and clearness, nor dignity and grandeur, but at novel or striking expressions, artificial arrangement, and subtlety of thought. The influence of the rhetorical schools is seen in some of the poetry of Ovid and Manilius, but is much more evident in the prose of this period and the succeeding times.

The only great prose writer of the Augustan period is Livy. Livy. Titus Livius was born at Patavium (Padua) in 59 B. C., and died in his native place in 17 A. D. Little is known of his life, but the tone of his writing indicates that he was not poor and belonged to a family of some position. He is said to have written philosophical works, probably popular treatises in the form of dialogues, and a treatise on rhetoric in the form of a letter to his son. These works are lost, and can never have possessed much importance in comparison with the great history to which Livy devoted more than forty years of his life. About 30 B. C. Livy moved to Rome, where he lived the greater part of the time until his death. Probably he visited his native Padua more than once, and he travelled also to other places in Italy. He was a republican in principle, but accepted the rule of Augustus without reserve. In fact, he was a personal friend of Augustus, who called him in jest a Pompeian, on account of his criticisms of Julius Cæsar and his admiration for the old republic. Livy appears in his work as a man of conservative tendencies, content to live under whatever government happened to exist, provided it was not too oppressive, willing to accept the state religion, with all its beliefs in signs and omens, while recognizing that some, at least, of the omens reported were inventions. His one great enthusiasm was for the greatness of Rome. This sentiment it was which led him to devote his life to the composition of a great history of Rome from the earliest times to his own day.

The title of Livy’s history was Libri ab Urbe Condita (Books from the Foundation of the City). Livy’s History. It consisted of 142 books, the first of which was written between 29 and 25 B. C., while the last twenty-two were published after the death of Augustus. The last book ended with the death of Drusus, in 9 A. D. Whether Livy intended to carry his work still further is unknown. The division into books is Livy’s own, but the division into decades, or groups of ten books, was made later, though it may perhaps have been suggested by the original publication of some of the books in groups. For the earlier parts of the work comparatively little material was available; consequently the history of the early years of Rome is less detailed than that of later periods. Fifteen books carry the narrative from the foundation of the city to the beginning of the Punic wars, a period of nearly five hundred years, while the war with Hannibal occupies ten books, and ten books are devoted to the eight years from the death of Marius to the death of Sulla (86-78 B. C.).

Of this immense work only thirty-five books are extant: Books I-X, from the beginning into the third Samnite War (753-293 B. C.), and XXI-XLV, from the second Punic War to the Macedonian triumph of Lucius Æmilius Paulus (218-167 B. C.). In Books XXI-XLV numerous gaps occur. The contents of the remaining books are known to us through a series of abstracts made not directly from Livy, but from an epitome. Such an epitome existed as early as the time of Martial, not many years after Livy’s death.

Livy derived his material from earlier historians, such as Fabius Pictor, Valerius Antias, Licinius Macer, Claudius Quadrigarius, and Polybius, following sometimes one and sometimes another, but seldom trying to reconcile conflicting statements of his authorities. Qualities of Livy’s History. When they did not agree, he usually accepted the statement that seemed to him most probable. He did not try to discover new truths by the study of original sources, such as inscriptions and other monuments, nor did he make careful studies of battlefields, routes of march, or the like. He did not, as most modern historians do, try to establish facts by independent research, but he worked over the accounts of his predecessors with the intention of presenting the whole of Roman history in an attractive literary form. In this he was so successful that his history soon became the one source from which all subsequent writers drew their information. His lack of military knowledge makes his description of battles and other military matters somewhat untrustworthy, and the early part of his work suffers from his inability to understand the gradual growth of Roman civilization, but such defects are more than compensated for by the admirable literary qualities of his history. He is, moreover, truthful, so far as he knows the truth, and any incorrect statements are due rather to insufficient knowledge than to any desire to conceal or pervert the truth. In his accounts of the dealings of the Romans with other peoples he is partial to the Romans, but that is because his sincere admiration for the Roman greatness leads him to believe that the Romans were in the right and acted rightly, and his partiality to the Scipios is to be accounted for in a similar way.

It is evident from what has been said above that Livy is far from being a perfect historian; yet his history is true in the main, and is based upon broad knowledge and insight into the underlying principles of human character and human actions. He is less interested in accuracy of detail than in broader and more general truth and dramatic presentation. Livy’s speeches. So in the speeches with which he enlivens his work, he does not pretend to repeat what the speakers actually said, nor even in every instance to put in their mouths words that express their individual characters, but rather to say in good rhetorical form what the circumstances seem to him to demand. In this he follows Thucydides, and his speeches, like those of Thucydides, serve not merely to give variety to the narrative, but also to bring vividly before us and to explain the circumstances and motives that led up to the actions narrated. These speeches are the most brilliant parts of his work. In them he shows the fruit of his training in the rhetorical schools and of careful study of Demosthenes and Cicero; but his rhetoric does not end in mere declamation. The speeches are not written merely to exhibit his rhetorical training, but to explain and enlighten.

Throughout his work Livy appears as the enemy of extremes. His admiration for Pompey does not lead him to become hostile to the ruling family; he is opposed alike to royalty and to unbridled democracy. At the same time he treats his subject with sympathy and warmth of feeling, and makes the ethical side of history prominent, seeking to present in a strong light such actions as may serve as models for conduct, not merely to give a record of events.

Livy is unrivalled as a narrator and a painter in words. His style is clear and straightforward, although his periods are often long and sometimes made complicated by the insertion in the sentence of numerous subordinate ideas, often expressed in the form of participles. Livy’s style. As is natural for one who wrote when Roman poetry was at its height, he introduces poetical words which are foreign to the prose of Cicero and Cæsar, and some of his phrases show poetic coloring. But his Latin is pure, and it is difficult to see what Asinius Pollio meant by accusing him of “Patavinitas” or Paduanism. In later prose writers the striving for poetic effect becomes a disagreeable mannerism, but such traces of poetry as are found in Livy are not the result of conscious effort, but of the literary atmosphere of the time. His style is not everywhere of uniform excellence; for it is inevitable that in such a long historical work the different qualities of the subject and the advancing age of the writer affect the mode of presentation, but there is no part of the work in which the style is dull or without charm. It is perhaps at its best in the books dealing with the Punic wars.

Livy’s work was even in his lifetime regarded as the most perfect example of historical writing. The younger Pliny tells us that a citizen of Cadiz travelled all the way to Rome merely to see Livy, and when he had seen him returned at once to Cadiz, feeling that the other sights of Rome were of no further interest. Livy’s influence upon later Roman writers was of the utmost importance, and his work has served as a model for more than one historian in more recent times. His enthusiasm for what is good and noble, his admiration for the great men of Rome, and his worship of Rome itself, give to his work something of the exalted character that belongs to a hymn of praise or a panegyric. His great history served, like Virgil’s Æneid, to give permanent literary expression to the greatness of the past days of the Roman commonwealth.