Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1831, by Hilliard & Brown, in the

Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts.

P R E F A СЕ.

THIS selection from the History of Livy is published with particular reference to those Colleges and higher schools, in which the first Five Books have hitherto formed a part of the course of Latin studies. The editor, by his experience as an instructer in Harvard University, was led to observe that the volume in common use, though it contains some of the finest passages of this writer, is yet in great part uninteresting to young students. To such, many of the details, which are necessary to the completeness of the Roman annals, prove wearisome from their similarity, if not from their want of importance. And to say nothing of the injustice done to the author by taking arbitrarily the first five books of a History of infinite variety, and consisting, as he wrote it, of at least one hundred and forty books (from thirty-five of which we still have a choice), justice is thus hardly rendered to those who may never have an opportunity to read more of the work than is comprehended in their early studies, or whose reading of the whole may depend on the impression given by this part.

Until he had principally made this selection, the editor was unable to learn that any book, having the same object, had been published; nor is he yet aware that any such is in use in Great Britain or in the South of Europe; but the kindness of friends has furnished him with two, published in Germany in the course of the last century.*

* Livius pro prima Classe Gymnasiorum Scholarumque Latinarum ita excerptus, ut intra Anni Spatium prælegi possit, et simul Historia in Connexione cum Fide, Ingenio, Stiloque Livii gustentur. A M. MARTINO FRIDER. SOERGEL, Gymnasii Martinei Brunsvicensis

Of these, the earlier one does not extend beyond the first twelve books, is without notes, and otherwise is far from being prepared with so good judgment as the other, which is accompanied by notes, generally in Latin, but sometimes in German. All the extracts in the later one are to be found also in the present volume, besides others which the purpose of the selection seemed equally to require. The propriety of giving the First Book entire will be obvious to all who consider how often the subject of it is alluded to, both in ancient and modern literature; while, with regard to the remainder of the volume, the world has been too long agreed as to what are masterpieces, to leave any doubt about the absolute excellence of the particular passages chosen, or much hesitation in preferring them to many others inferior only to these. The editor has endeavoured to save the volume from the appearance of unconnected fragments by giving entire the Epitoma * of all the books from the first to the last of those embraced in it, the portions which correspond to the text being distinguished by a larger type. But, even without this bond of connexion, it is believed that the book will be found to possess a good degree of unity; few events

Rectore et Soc. Reg. Teut. Gott. Memb. Lemgoviae, 1771, 12mo. pp. 296. [This was reprinted in 1784, and a second volume was added, embracing the last twenty-three books. See Index Editionum in the Bipont edition.]

T. Livii Patavini Historiarum Liber I. et Selecta quædam Capita. Scholis Moguntinensibus adornavit JOHANN. CASPARUS MÜLLER, Litterarum Humaniorum in Academiâ Moguntinâ Professor. Moguntiæ, 1780. 12mo. pp. 570.

* These Epitome by some, with little reason however, have been attributed to Livy himself; but, whoever was their author, they bear a classical stamp, and are models of the kind of composition to which they belong. Laboring under the odium of having been, as the substitute for the full History, the probable occasion of the negligence with which that was kept, and thus of the loss of the greater part of it, this abstract is sometimes spoken of contemptuously; but Gravina (De Instauratione Studiorum) does not hesitate to recommend the study of the Epitome Liviana to young persons, " ut quæ longè simplicior et candidior sit Flori et Velleji libris, resque exprimat propriis et convenientibus verbis, absque fuco et argutiis."

being mentioned as if within the reader's knowledge, of which an account has not been given in some preceding extract. The text of Drakenborch has been adopted as, on the whole, of the highest authority; but, Livy being the author first read in our Colleges, care has been taken to conform the orthography of those words which may be variously written, to the Dictionaries and Grammars in common use. With a similar regard to the condition of newly formed classes, necessarily consisting of individuals of different degrees of proficiency, certain ambiguous words are distinguished by accents; but students should become accustomed to dispense with these facilities in some part of their course, for modern editions of the classics rarely afford them.*

The Notes, which are chiefly derived from the editions of Müller, Doering, and Ruperti, fill as much space, as could well be allowed to them in this edition, since it was thought best not to exceed the size of the volume, for which this is proposed as a substitute. In quantity, however, that volume is considerably exceeded by the present. The notes are devoted principally to the First Book, because more real difficulties occur here, and because the student must be supposed to need fewer explanations as he advances, from having become accustomed to the peculiarities of the author's style. Moreover, the ambiguities which give occasion for many of the notes in the editions

* In employing accentual marks, Ruddiman's rules are followed. “Indeclinable words of the same form with words declinable, and prepositions used without a case, as adverbs, have a grave accent on the last syllable;" and, agreeably to Ruddiman also, this accent is not changed to an acute when an enclitic follows, since the purpose for which the mark is here used has no connexion with the sound. When, however, the declinable word is such as is found very rarely, and the indeclinable word of the same spelling is of very frequent occurrence, the accent is omitted, e. g. satis, magis, sæpe. "Contracted syllables are marked with a circumflex; also the final syllable of the ablative of the first declension," and this (contrary to Ruddiman) even when the governing preposition is expressed.

above named, are taken away from this by the use of accents. Adam's "Roman Antiquities is referred to in a few instances, but chiefly for the purpose of suggesting the sort of subjects respecting which it should constantly be consulted; for it is presumed that this book, as well as a "Classical Dictionary" for historical illustration, is in the possession of every student. Such remarks as occur of an historical nature, take for granted the essential truth of Livy's History; for it would be foreign to the purpose of this book to enter into any discussion of what is now so much the subject of research, and, with some, of scepticism.

The short Encomium on Livy, with which the volume closes, will not be deemed extravagant by him who shall have diligently read and thoroughly understood and felt all that precedes. Nor will it to a part, at least, of those for whose use the book is intended, be less acceptable for being clothed in the dialect of Modern Italy. Let such seize the opportunity, afforded them by a munificent public establishment, of entering the delightful field of Italian literature, adjacent, as it is, to the Roman and Greek, if it be not rather a part of the same vast domain. Nor let those, who are not equally favored, be deterred from seeking, by themselves, an acquaintance with the fathers of modern learning,

"whose rhetorike so swete

Enluminid Itaile,"

and awoke also the minds of our British ancestors in their distant Island. For to any youth who is reasonably well grounded in the Latin, the study of the Italian, so far from task-work, will be a recreation, an ingenuous pastime. · Milton, in marking out a scheme of liberal education, supposes that his pupils, when mid-way in their course, "either now, or before this, may have easily learned at any odd hour the Italian tongue," and prescribes the reading of various authors in it along with ancient classics. And besides innu