The History of Rome, Books 1-5, Livy

In addition to Valerie Warrior’s crisp, fluent translation of the first five books of Livy’s Ab Urbe Condita, this edition features a general introduction to Livy and his work, extensive foot-of-the-page notes offering essential contextual information, and a chronology of events.  Three appendices—on the genealogies of the most prominent political figures in the early Republic, Livy’s relationship with Augustus, and Livy’s treatment of religion—offer additional insight into the author and the early history of Rome.

This book is paperback and is recommended reading for Hillsdale’s free online course, “The Rise and Fall of the Roman Republic“

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“Dr. Warrior . . .  wisely chose to be more literal than free, and she happily refrained from importing ‘new and false metaphors’. . . . Her translation, accurate at every turn, is complemented with useful footnotes, especially in those parts of the work (e.g., the Preface) that need special elucidation.  The scholarship that went into these footnotes, as well as into the appendix articles and Dr. Warrior’s own Introduction, is current and of a very high quality.  (I do not think I have ever read a better introduction to Livy.)  A useful bibliography and several maps contribute to the excellence of a book, which, like Livy’s own work, is not likely ever to be surpassed.”—Blaise Nagy, College of the Holy Cross