PREFACE.

THIS edition of Livy is based upon Professor Wölfflin's third edition of the 21st book-revised by Luterbacher — and his second edition of the 22d book. The text is that of Wölfflin without change, but in an appendix will be found a brief consideration of the principal variations of the Mss., and the more important conjectures.

The notes of Professor Wölfflin's edition, which are of especial value for the help they give toward a correct understanding of the Hannibalic war, by correcting and supplementing Livy's account, and also for the attention they pay to the literary and grammatical study of the author, I have attempted to adapt to the needs of our college students. Some I have omitted, many have been expanded or contracted, and something has been added in the way of historical explanation, and in consideration of Livy's style, and in references to the grammars. In connection with Wölfflin's edition, I have made especial use of Weissenborn's, Fabri's, Luterbacher's, Tücking's, and also of many others. The introduction on Livy as a writer, and on the relations of Rome and Carthage to the close of the Punic wars, has been added, and also the index to the notes.

Of the maps, that of Lake Trasumennus is from Wölfflin's edition; that of the Alps is taken, with a slight change, from Arnold's Second Punic War; and the plan of the field of

Cannae is slightly changed from the one in Smith's Carthage and the Carthaginians.

In order to give opportunity for practice in rapid reading, in connection with the 21st and 22d books, the 1st book has been prepared. With such reading in view, the notes to the book are short and put at the foot of the page. For con

venience of class-room work it is bound in one volume with the 21st and 22d books, but for those who prefer it in separate form it is also issued by itself.

I take pleasure in expressing my thanks to Professor Wölfflin, for his courteous permission to use his edition as a basis for the present one. I also acknowledge with pleasure the great obligation under which Professor E. M. Pease, the editorin-chief of the series, has placed me, by his many and acute suggestions in the completion of the notes, and by his unwearied diligence in forwarding the publication of the book. For similar suggestions, and for their conscientious care in reading the proof, I gratefully acknowledge my indebtedness to Professor C. G. Herbermann and to Professor E. H. Spieker.

INTRODUCTION.

I.

TITUS LIVIUS.

TITUS LIVIUS, the great Roman historian, was born at Patavium, the modern Padua, about 59 or 57 B.C. His only extant work, the history of Rome, has reached us in a fragmentary state. Out of 142 books supposed to have been written, only 35, with a few inconsiderable fragments, are in existence. These include the first ten books, or decade, as they are called, covering the period from the founding of the city to nearly the close of the third Samnite war, and the third, fourth, and half the fifth decades, books 21 to 45 inclusive, giving the history of Rome from the outbreak of the second Punic war to the triumph of Æmilius Paulus over Macedonia, 167 B.C.

These portions of his history are sufficient to give a just idea of him as a historian and a writer. Modern criticism has diligently examined his work, inquiring particularly into the sources and authenticity of his materials, the fidelity of his research, and his credibility as a witness. The result of this examination has been to detract seriously from Livy's reliability as a historian. He has been shown to be lacking in the "historical instinct." He did not consciously misstate, having rather a strict regard for the truth, but while he was free from such a partisan bias that he was unable fairly to estimate men and measures, he was careless in obtaining and sifting his information. For a searching examination of Livy's shortcomings as a historian, the English student is referred to Seeley's "Livy, Bk. I., Introduction"; to Sir G. C. Lewis' "On the Credibility of Early Roman History," and to Niebuhr's "Historical Lectures."

But however much Livy may have suffered as a historian, he has gained as a master of style, and the charm of his manner and his mastery of diction are an offset for his lack of research and his many inaccuracies. The reader almost for gets the frequent inconsistencies and absurdities of the narra tive in his pleasure at the grace with which it is told. There is a warmth of feeling that enlivens the most trifling events, and a picturesqueness in the grouping of details, as well as in the general outline, that is almost poetic. Even in the earlier portions of the history, where the brief statements of the annalists gave little variety, he seized upon the salient points with such skill and combined them with such grace that the narrative never becomes dry or dull, or fails of interest.

scenes.

Livy's way of thinking was pictorial. His historical view was not of a series of events in orderly arrangement, but of a succession of pictures, a panorama of individual though connected He therefore had little discussion of cause and result, little development of the logical or philosophical sequence of history; but he delighted in the description of striking circumstances and feelings. He was fully sensible of the power of words, showing clearly their power over himself; and he found opportunity for their effective use in description, and especially in the speeches which he puts into the mouths of his characters. As illustrations the student has but to examine in these two books the accounts of Hannibal's character, of his dream on setting out for Italy, of the siege of Saguntum, of the passage of the Alps with Hannibal's speech on the summit; of the speeches before the battle on the Trebia, of the effect on Rome of the defeat at Trasumennus, and, to mention no others, of the debate in the senate on the ransom of the prisoners taken at Cannae.

These illustrations show Livy at his best, in the delineation of character, the exhibition of motives and the portrayal of feelings; that is, as a word-painter. The human element in him was strong. He possessed the power of realizing the exigencies and feelings of a given occasion, and thus the

speeches which he puts into the mouths of historical personages, while exhibiting his own rotund and flowing diction, yet happily represent what the persons might well have said on the given occasions. He catches the spirit of an event, though he expresses it in his own phraseology, and not in that of the time. It is this human, sympathetic element that gives Livy such power. He was a true Roman, an ardent admirer of Rome's early history, of her republican institutions, of her traditional heroes, and a believer in her eternal destiny; but this did not prevent him from appreciating the feelings of an enemy, as shown by the speech which he assigns to Hannibal at the Trebia. In reading the 21st and 22d books the student cannot fail to note the pictorial element, how the historian is not detailing the events of a dead past, but painting scenes, which he sees vividly before him, and which in his story live again.

The general impression which an author's style makes upon the reader is often as distinct and yet as evasive of description as the author's personality. As it is the tone of the voice, the glance of the eye, and the fleeting gesture that determine the impression which an individual makes upon his fellows, and as none of these can be exactly photographed or described, so the style of an author taken as a whole produces an impression peculiar to itself, and independent of the use of words and idioms. From what has been said of Livy's style, it is easy to see that it must be pleasing. It was the expression of a man, imaginative, sympathetic, learned, enamoured with his subject, and rich in utterance. His speech was flowing and free, and he naturally adopted the periodic form. This form was well suited to his purpose. For logical and philosophical discussions the sonorous period is ill adapted, but in descriptive, imaginative, and emotional writing it finds its true place. It is always exposed to the danger of exaggeration, and of straining for effect, and Livy may be criticised for these faults. His periods are sometimes long and labored, sacrificing substance to form, but in general he carries the reader on with the smooth and strong current of his words. The historian and narrator of bare facts