Everything about Ab Urbe Condita totally explained
Ab urbe condita (literally, "from the city having been founded") is a monumental history of
Rome, from its legendary founding (
ab Urbe condita, dated to
753 BC by
Varro and most modern scholars). The book was written by
Titus Livius (around
59 BC–AD
17). It is often referred to as
History of Rome. The first five books were published between 27 and 25 B.C.
Originally written in 142 books, only 35 have survived to the present day. The first book starts with Aeneas landing in Italy and the founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus and ends with
Lucius Junius Brutus and
Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus being elected as consuls in 509 BC. Books II-X deal with the history of the Roman Republic to the
Samnite Wars, while books XXI-XLV tell of the
Second Punic War and end with the war against
Perseus of Macedon.
The remaining books are preserved by a 4th century summary entitled Periochae, except for book 136 and 137. However, these were not compiled from Livy's original text but from an abridged edition that's now lost. In the Egyptian town
Oxyrhynchus, a similar summary of books 37-40 and 48-55 was found on a scroll of papyrus that's now in the
British Museum. However the Oxyrhynchus Epitome is damaged and incomplete.
Books XLVI-LXX deal with the time up to with Social War in
91 BC, In book LXXXIX there's the dictatorship of
Sulla in
81 BC and in book CIII is Gaius Julius Caesar's first consulship. Book 142 ends with the death of
Nero Claudius Drusus in
9 BC. While the first ten books deal with over 500 years, once Livy started writing about the
1st century BC, he devotes almost a whole book to each year.
This book is vital to many descriptions, portrayals, histories and other projects referring to the history of the Kingdom and Republic. Although slightly biased, it contains many references to sources, and does present the general history of Rome in a good writing style, which is very easy to understand and read. The reliability has often been questioned, since
Titus Livy was a roman, and as seen in his writings, the events seem to glorify the Romans. However, the book is invaluable in that it reflects the civilizations traditions and points of interest, most notably the Roman military successes. Other sources, such as
Suetonius'
Lives of the Twelve Caesars tend to generally agree in their hintings of the periods covered by "History of Rome".
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