Livy: History of Rome, Volume III, Books 5-7 (Loeb Classical Library No. 172) (Bks. 1-45, v. 3) [Hardcover]

Livy (Author), B. O. Foster (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1924 | ISBN-10: 0674991907 | ISBN-13: 978-0674991903

Livy (Titus Livius), the great Roman historian, was born at or near Patavium (Padua) in 64 or 59 BCE; he may have lived mostly in Rome but died at Patavium, in 12 or 17 CE.

Livy's only extant work is part of his history of Rome from the foundation of the city to 9 BCE. Of its 142 books, we have just 35, and short summaries of all the rest except two. The whole work was, long after his death, divided into Decades or series of ten. Books 1–10 we have entire; books 11–20 are lost; books 21–45 are entire, except parts of 41 and 43–45. Of the rest only fragments and the summaries remain. In splendid style Livy, a man of wide sympathies and proud of Rome's past, presented an uncritical but clear and living narrative of the rise of Rome to greatness.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of Livy is in fourteen volumes. The last volume includes a comprehensive index.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 544 pages
• Publisher: Loeb Classical Library (January 1, 1924)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674991907
• ISBN-13: 978-0674991903
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #651,184 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Basic History of Early Rome, July 11, 2011

By 

Stuart McCunn (New Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Livy: History of Rome, Volume III, Books 5-7 (Loeb Classical Library No. 172) (Bks. 1-45, v. 3) (Hardcover)

Since there are so many of these darn things the review shall be divided into three sections. First, a brief description of the Loeb series of books and their advantages/disadvantages. Second shall be my thoughts on the author himself, his accuracy, as well as his style and the style of his translator. This is of course only my opinion and should be treated as such. The final part shall review what this particular book actually covers.

The Loeb series date back to the turn of the last century. They are designed for people with at least some knowledge of Greek or Latin. They are a sort of compromise between a straight English translation and an annotated copy of the original text. On the left page is printed the text in Greek or Latin depending on the language of the writer and on the right side is the text in English. For somebody who knows even a little Greek or Latin these texts are invaluable. You can try to read the text in the original language knowing that you can correct yourself by looking on the next page or you can read the text in translation and check the translation with the original for more detail. While some of the translations are excellent mostly they are merely serviceable since they are designed more as an aid to translation rather than a translation in themselves. Most of them follow the Greek or Latin very closely. These books are also very small, maybe just over a quarter the size of your average hardcover book. This means that you'll need to buy more than just one book to read a complete work. They are also somewhat pricey considering their size. The Loeb Collection is very large but most of the more famous works can be found in better (and cheaper) translations elsewhere. If you want to read a rarer book or read one in the original language then you can't do better than the Loeb Editions.

There are 14 volumes of Livy available in the Loeb series which include all of his known writings. Livy wrote at the end of the first century BC and the beginning of the first century AD. His books cover the period from the foundation of Rome in 753 BC to the early Principate ending in 9 BC. Like most classical writers the majority of his work has been lost. While he wrote 142 books of it only about a quarter of them survive. After book 45 they only exist in summaries. Livy is a difficult author to like. His works are filled with the self-righteous moralizing that makes so many of the classical historians so irritating. Worse still he insists on following a strict chronological order in the way of an annal. This means that he covers everything that happens in one year before moving onto the next. This means that in practice his books are filled with repetitive lists of consuls. This is particularly true in the first books where he covers what are essentially myths. Which brings us to the question of accuracy. While few people have accused Livy of falsifying evidence there are plenty examples of times when he misinterprets it. He saw the Republic as being basically fully formed from the beginning and never really understood the early conflicts simply classifying them as being the patricians against the plebeians. This translation is about as basic as Livy's original text. While Livy is touted as a model of Golden Age Latin it is the form and not the content that makes it so. Individual passages may have been well formed but the whole is still repetitive. The translation neither adds from nor takes away from that fact. If you're looking for a cheaper way to read Livy then Books 1-5 are available as The Early History of Rome and Books 6-10 as Rome and Italy from Penguin Classics. They are well written translations.

This volume includes books 5 through 7 of Livy.