Biography of livy texas

The life of Titus Livius or Livy, to use his more common English name , is not well known. Almost everything we know about the author of the voluminous History of Rome from its foundation is derived from a handful of anecdotes recorded by later authors, who may have found them in a now lost book by the Roman biographer Suetonius called Historians and philosophers.

Nevertheless, we know something about Livy's life, and that is more than we can say about several other important ancient authors e. There is no evidence to contradict this piece of information.

How did livy die

It makes Livy a near contemporary of the Roman politician Octavian, who was born in 63, became sole ruler of the Roman empire in 31, accepted the surname Augustus in 27, and died in 14 CE. That Livy was born in Patavium modern Padua is clear from his own work. The historian Pollio mocked Livy's Patavian accent. We know nothing about his parents.

Several inscriptions from Padua mention members of the Livius family, but none of them can convincingly be connected to the historian. However, we can be confident that he belonged to the provincial elite and that his family, although not very rich, had enough money to send him to competent teachers. On the other hand, Livy's difficulties with the Greek language make it clear that he did not enjoy higher education in, say, Athens , which a Roman boy from the richest families certainly would have visited.

The History of Rome from its Foundation offers no indication that he ever traveled to Greece. Padua belonged to a province of the Roman empire that was known as Gallia Cisalpina. During Livy's youth, its governor was Julius Caesar , and it is likely that the boy often heard stories about the wars in Gaul. However, he never got used to military matters.