language, holds the attention. And yet he does not restrict himself to a bare statement of facts; on the contrary, there is an abundance of picturesque detail, which gives color and life even to the dullest portions of the narrative. Understanding human nature and having a keen dramatic instinct, he was able to portray scenes of emotion or excitement with a power and reality which few historians have attained. Livy seems, therefore, to approach the ideal of historical writing. As a careful investigator, he was at least not below the standard of his time; as a writer, he has for many centuries aroused the interest and won the admiration of discriminating readers.

9. Manuscripts. The Mss. of the first decade are divided into two classes. One is represented only by a palimpsest at Verona, of the fifth century, containing Books III-VI. The most important representative of the other class is the Mediceus of the eleventh century; there are, besides, a Paris Ms. of the tenth century, and several others of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries.

The Mss. of the third decade also are divided into two classes. The best representative of the first class is a Paris Ms. (Puteanus), of the fifth century. There are also four copies of this, of the ninth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries. The second class is as old as the first, but only fragments of Books XXVII and XXIX are preserved in the earliest Ms., a Turin palimpsest of the fifth century. Another representative, the codex Spirensis of the eleventh century, is lost (all but one leaf), but its readings are preserved in the editio Frobeniana, published at Basle in 1535. There are other Mss. closely related to the lost Spirensis.

The fourth decade comes to us in a Bamberg Ms. of the eleventh century, containing Books XXXI-XXXVIII

(through chap. 46, sec. 4). Another, the Moguntinus, is now lost, but was used for the Mayence edition of 1518 and the Basle edition of 1535.

The first five books, which are all we have of the fifth decade, are contained in a fifth-century Ms. found at Lorsch in 1527 and now in Vienna.

10. Editions.-The editio princeps was published at Rome about 1469. On account of their use of Mss. now lost, the Mayence edition of 1518 and the Basle edition of 1535 are important. The edition of Drakenborch, 1820-1828, in fifteen volumes, contains a very full textual commentary. There is no complete edition with full critical apparatus; of critical editions of portions, that of Luchs, Berlin, 18881889, containing Books XXI-XXX, is perhaps the most important. The edition of Zingerle, Vienna, 1888-1890, contains a brief critical apparatus for Books I-XL. The edition of Weissenborn, revised by M. Mueller (Teubner, Leipsic, 1899-1901), contains a brief critical apparatus for the whole work. Most useful is the edition of Weissenborn, revised in part by H. J. Mueller (Berlin, 1873-1900), which contains an explanatory commentary for the whole work, as well as a brief critical apparatus.

TITI LIVI

AB VRBE CONDITA LIBRI

PRAEFATIO

Facturusne operae pretium sim, si a primordio urbis res populi Romani perscripserim, nec satis scio nec, si sciam, dicere ausim, quippe qui cum veterem tum vulgatam esse rem videam, dum novi semper scriptores aut in rebus cer

tius aliquid adlaturos se aut scribendi arte rudem vetustatem 3 superaturos credunt. Vtcumque erit, iuvabit tamen rerum gestarum memoriae principis terrarum populi pro virili parte et ipsum consuluisse; et si in tanta scriptorum turba mea fama in obscuro sit, nobilitate ac magnitudine eorum 4 me, qui nomini officient meo, consoler. Res est praeterea et inmensi operis, ut quae supra septingentesimum annum repetatur et quae ab exiguis profecta initiis eo creverit, ut iam magnitudine laboret sua; et legentium plerisque haud dubito quin primae origines proximaque originibus minus praebitura voluptatis sint, festinantibus ad haec nova, quibus iam pridem praevalentis populi vires se ipsae con

be connected with novi, as the position indicates; the idea is, Writers are constantly appearing who believe etc.; cf. 5, 42, 6.– in rebus: in regard to the facts; cf. 40, 55, 8.

3. utcumque: as in § 8 and 45, 8, 5; for a different meaning see 21, 35, 2. -rerum... consuluisse to have contributed myself a man's part to the record etc.; a remarkable accumulation of genitives.in obscuro: Livy likes to use, in place of a pred. adj., a prep. with the abl. of an adj. used substantively; cf. 3, 45, 9 in tuto. - nobilitate: renown. - nomini: reputation; cf. 27, 49, 4; 45, 9, 7. 4. res . . . laboret sua: there is a gradual change in the meaning of res. With est and repetatur it means the subject; but the subject is the Roman state, and it is in the latter sense that the word must be taken with creverit and

laboret.- et inmensi: this et is
correlative with the one before
legentium; its position is due to
the fact that Livy intended to make
res the subject of the second state-
ment also, an intention which was
forgotten in the length of the first
sentence. - ut quae: always with
the subjunctive in Livy; see on
§ 2 videam.-legentium: as res,
at the beginning of its sentence,
indicates the nature of the first
difficulty, so legentium, in its em-
phatic position, suggests that of
the second. For this use of the
participle cf. § 5 scribentis and see
on 21, 42, 4 spectantes. — origines
originibus: it is a character-
istic of Livy to repeat a noun in-
stead of using a pronoun; cf. 1, 3,
3 urbem
urbis. - haec nova:
especially the civil wars. - iam
pridem : to be taken with conficiunt.
se ipsae conficiunt: are working
their own destruction.

...

ficiunt. Ego contra hoc quoque laboris praemium petam, 5 ut me a conspectu malorum, quae nostra tot per annos vidit aetas, tantisper certe, dum prisca illa tota mente repeto, avertam, omnis expers curae, quae scribentis animum etsi non flectere a vero, sollicitum tamen efficere posset.

Quae ante conditam condendamve urbem, poeticis magis 6 decora fabulis quam incorruptis rerum gestarum monumentis, traduntur, ea nec adfirmare nec refellere in animo est. Datur haec venia antiquitati, ut miscendo humana divinis 7 primordia urbium augustiora faciat; et si cui populo licere oportet consecrare origines suas et ad deos referre auctores, ea belli gloria est populo Romano, ut, cum suum conditorisque sui parentem Martem potissimum ferat, tam et hoc gentes humanae patiantur aequo animo, quam imperium patiuntur. Sed haec et his similia, utcumque animadversa 8 aut existimata erunt, haud in magno equidem ponam dis

5. curae anxiety. - efficere: for this use with an adj. cf. 45, 7, 3; facere is more common. - posset: apodosis of a non-occurrent condition.

6. condendamve: referring to those events which led to the foundation of the city; inserted as a correction or restriction of ante conditam urbem, which would have included everything prior to the foundation of the city, and much which did not pertain to it. - fabulis, monumentis: datives with decora.

7. origines: the object of referre, as well as of consecrare. potissimum ferat: chooses to present; the superlative implies that there were several from whom the

choice might have been made.
Livy's attitude toward the history
of this period is clearly shown in
this passage.
It is evident that
many things which he states as
facts in the early part of his his-
tory, he does not himself believe.

8. his with similis and dissimilis Livy uses only the dat. of words denoting things (except in the phrase veri similis), the gen. or dat. of words denoting persons. — animadversa: noted.— existimata : considered. haud discrimine: I shall not treat as matters of critical moment at any rate; the expression does not occur elsewhere, but is analogous with in incerto ponere, in aequo ponere etc.; the meaning

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