livy and reliability aim: to assess livy’s reliability in the early history of rome starter: given...
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Livy and ReliabilityAim: To assess Livy’s reliability in the Early History of
Rome
Starter:Given Livy is writing between 20 B.C. and 17 A.D. what immediate problems can you think of with Livy’s History?
Make a list
In Livy’s own words…
• Read the Preface• In your book (under the sub heading ‘from the
Preface’)…• Make a list of any possible problems Livy high
lights?• Any examples of Livy discussing his methods• Any examples of Livy writing something other
than History
2 big issues (to begin with)
• Largely, a lot of Livy’s reliability problems can be put under 2 headings:
• His Sources
• His Methods
• Split a page into 2 with these headings
His sources
• Read the hand out• Make notes on: • Who were Livy’s main sources• Their methods of ‘doing History’• Influence of the Greeks• Why these accounts can be seen as
reliable
Review• From the Preface and what you have
just read…
• What points suggest he is RELIABLE• What points suggest he is NOT RELIABLE
• Which seems more prevalent?
His Methods• The ‘Roman Historian’• Livy like all Roman Historians didn’t really do
their own research.• Preferred to use other accounts.• Wanted to create a grand narrative of the
whole history of the Empire.• Included different versions of events• Scan through Livy and come up with 3
examples where he says there may be more than one version
• Beyond the Historian• Roman Historians aimed to entertain as
much as inform.• This helps explain some of the more
‘theatrical’ events/ speeches.• “When he told a story… it was clear as
crystal, his speeches were eloquent beyond description.” [Quintilian] [Roman writer 35 AD]
• Flick back through what we have done and find 3 good examples of Livy’s Theatrical Nature
• The Moral/ Political Writer• As we know Roman Historians wrote to
make political points.• Livy doesn’t want to write a critical History
of the Republic• He writes ‘the story’ of the republic.• Along with this comes the ‘Goodies’ and
‘Baddies’• Who’s a good guy/ bad guy? Make a list
Archaeology to the rescue!
• There are some archaeological findings in Rome that do ‘support’ what Livy is writing.
• Mostly civic buildings e.g. temples• More examples will have been in place
when Livy was writing that have since been destroyed/ built upon