Aim: To assess Livy’s reliability in the Early History of Rome Livy and Reliability Aim: 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

Capitoline Hill where the Sabines entered to fight the Romans The Roman Forum Capitoline Hill where the Sabines entered to fight the Romans

Bronze age huts on Palatine Hill- “The Romulus Huts”

The Temple of Janus (rebuilt numerous times)

Why might using Archaeology be ‘a tricky business’ The Lupercal Cave Why might using Archaeology be ‘a tricky business’

How did Ancient Roman Historians differ to Modern Historians? Plenary How did Ancient Roman Historians differ to Modern Historians? Ancient Modern