Frag. 91.) His unrivalled excellence is shown by the fact that succeeding historians, with the exception of Velleius Paterculus and Tacitus, simply abridged the work of Livy, such as Eutropius, Florus, Aur. Victor, and Orosius; Plutarch and Val. Maximus used it as a repertory for their examples; while the poem of Silius Italicus, "the most wretched of all poets," in the opinion of Niebuhr, is but a paraphrase of Livy's Roman History. In his philosophical opinions he was opposed to the Epicurean system, as well as the scepticism of Euhemerus' (cf. L. 37, 45), and inclined to Stoicism (cf. L. 1, 42; 9, 4). He was no courtier, like Virgil, but a thorough republican. Neither did he share in the sanguine opinions of that poet and Horace, in regarding the Augustan age as a reproduction of the golden era, but entertained somewhat pessimistic views as to the future, while he warned his countrymen of the dangers threatening Rome. Like Herodotus he has been accused of credulity; but Lallemand in his prolegomena ably refutes the charge. As a historian he certainly possesses serious defects. He had neither the experience of a traveller, conspicuous in Herodotus, though he visited Liternum (38, 56); nor the critical acumen and philosophical instinct of Thucydides, Polybius and Tacitus*; nor military experience, which makes the battle scenes of Caesar and Xenophon, as well as Gibbon in later times, so vivid and true. The speeches introduced into his narrative, unlike those of Thucydides, lack probability and 1 But cf. Browne's Rom. Lit. p. 76. 2 Cf. Praef, sub fin. 3 Cf. the excellent remarks of Gibbon, Extraits du Journal, Oct. 24, 1763. 4 Merivale, Romans 9, 84 compares Livy and Tacitus, and points out the superiority of the latter in his philosophical conception of history. reality, though graceful and eloquent. While copious materials were at hand for his work, he neglected them or consulted them only through others, so that his history bears the marks of a compilation. Unlike the father of Greek history he pays little attention to foreign nations, except in their direct relation with Rome (cf. 33, 20, 13; 39, 48, 6). As he grew older he became more prolix and tautologous, as may be seen in his later decades, beginning with Bk 31. This was no doubt the chief reason of the loss of so many books, which were little read and therefore seldom copied'; whereas the other books were largely read in the schools. The grammarian Diomedes has preserved the following fragment as a sample of his tautology -legati retro domum, unde venerant, redierunt (with which we may compare 37, 21; 38, 16; 40, 48; Quint. 8, 3, 53). The finest part of the history is probably the first book, and portions of the third decade, where Livy's marvellous and varied powers are seen in their perfection. In Livy's work we detect the strong aristocratic bias of the author, and prejudices analogous to those which we find in Hume. The plebeians and their tribunes are, treated with harsh contempt, and while the patrician Fabius is adorned with every virtue, the plebeian Flaminius is regarded as the bane of Rome3. But Livy has adorned with the glow of fancy and poetry the early legends of the foundation of that city, which was the glory and pride of every Roman patriot, whether pa 1 Plin. N. H. Pref. relates that in one of these lost books Livy said that he had now obtained distinction enough, and might have ceased from writing, but that his restless mind derived nourishment from the work. 2 Niebuhr strangely considers the Preface bad. As to the historical value of the first decade cf. Macaulay's Essay on Machiavelli, p. 48. 3 Cf. Merivale's Romans under Empire 5, 97 for some judicious remarks on this subject. trician or plebeian; and we who compare the magnificent historic dramas of Shakespeare, which stir the soul, with the dry annals which gave them birth, can in some degree estimate what Livy did, when he gave literary form and beauty to the crude materials of the Roman annals. Few can read unmoved the touching legends of Lucretia, Coriolanus and Virginia without feeling the dramatic skill of the artist who could paint them in such immortal colours, which make us sensible of the justness of Quintilian's criticism (10, 1, 101) affectus quidem, praecipue eos, qui sunt dulciores, nemo historicorum commendavit magis. LIVY XXI CONTENTS. ORIGIN OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR. Hannibal crosses the Hiberus and captures Saguntum. The Romans I. Origin and importance of Second Punic War. 1 IN parte operis mei licet mihi praefari, quod in principio summae totius professi plerique sunt rerum cond Punic War forms the third decade of Livy, viz. bks. 21-30, and may be regarded as a sepa- ities for the war are Polybius, tory': totius might be taken as D. L. rimi), as often in Livy: cf. 23, 13, in. plerique, qui memineri- tores ='historians'. unquam: this word is rarely 1 duce Carthaginienses cum populo Romano gessere. Nam neque validiores opibus ullae inter se civitates 2 gentesque contulerunt arma, neque his ipsis tantum unquam virium aut roboris fuit, et haud ignotas belli artes inter sese, sed expertas primo Punico conserebant bello, et adeo varia fortuna belli ancepsque Mars fuit, ut propius periculum fuerint, qui vicerunt. Odiis 3 used in affirmative clauses; in the present instance a negation is implied so in Cic. Or. 13, 41. Cf. a few lines later on-neque...tantum unquam virium. Hannibale (Gr. 'Avvißas). Gesenius (Ling. Phoen. Mon. 407) shows that this name in Phoenician dialect='grace of Baal' (cf. Heb. name Henadad): so Hasdrubal (Gr. 'Aodpoúßas) = 'whose help is Baal' (cf. Heb. name Ezra, the aspirate being wrongly used here on the analogy of Hannibal, the correct form being Asdrubal). 2. neque: the six reasons for the war being 'the most memorable of all' are brought out by neque neque, et-et, etiam etiam: neque followed by et is common in Livy: cf. 19, 3; 47, 5. his refers to Carthaginienses et populus Romanus above. virium aut roboris, 'powers of offence or defence'. Livy frequently brings these words into juxtaposition: cf. 55, 2; 22, 40, 5. As regards Rome this statement must refer to her previous history; but cf. Polyb. 1, 64. Hannibal stated on the bronze tablet which he set up at Lacinium that his army amounted to 90,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry: Polyb. 3, 34. The Romans at this time had more than half a million of soldiers, together with a navy of 220 quinqueremes. Cf. Mominsen, Vol. 2, p. 101. ignotas...inter sese, 'unknown to each other'; for the expression cf. 39, 9: inter sese might perhaps here be more simply referred to conserebant, like the parallel above-inter sese contulerunt. expertas: the part. of experior is often passive in Livy; cf. 22, 22, 19. conserebant (CM): an inferior MS. gives conferebant, which Madv. and Wfl. prefer as a less strained expression; but the above is modelled upon a phrase such as manus cum imparibus conserere. Liv. 6, 12. Mars, 'conflict'. Livy is fond of this word: cf. 1, 25, 11. For the metonymy, cf. use of Ceres = corn, Bacchus = wine, &c. periculum: some MSS. read periculo, like Sil. Ital. 1, 13, who probably derived his sentiment from Livy: cf. 22, 45, 6. But propius with an accus. is very common with Livy: cf. infra 22, 40, 5; 23, 26, 3. So prope metum 1, 25, 13 and proxime morem 24, 48, 11. fuerint: where Cicero would use the imperf. or pluperf. subj. Livy constantly employs perf. stating the result after a past tense: cf. 2, 6; 15, 4; 58, 3. vicerunt, 'were conquerors '; for this absolute use of the verb cf. 23, 13, 4. Cf. the saying of Pyrrhus after the battle of Heraclea -'Another such victory and I must return to Epirus alone'. |