Livy

Collection of contributions on the reception of ancient historiography in Early Modern Culture and Intellectual History. 

INDICE
INTRODUZIONE
I. G. Mastrorosa (Università di Firenze)
Oltre ‘riscoperte’, Nachleben e ‘fortuna’: considerazioni introduttive
ARCHETIPI
L. Porciani (Università di Pavia)
La parola orale. Erodoto e la costruzione del discorso politico
M. Lentano (Università di Siena)
L’eredità di Serse. Suasoria retorica e discorso storiografico a Roma
INTERPRETI E MODELLI
S. Gambino Longo (Université de Lyon III)
Erodoto nel Rinascimento: dalla riabilitazione a un nuovo modello storiografico
J.C. Iglesias-Zoido (Universidad de Extremadura-Cáceres)
La ‘actualización’ de los discursos de Tucídides en las antologías renacentistas de contiones: los argumenta del epitafio (2.35-46)
A. Raffarin (Université Paris-Est-Créteil)
D’un antiquaire à l’autre : Varron source et modèle de Flavio Biondo
P. Ponzù Donato (Università di Firenze)
Interpretazione, divulgazione, attualità: Pier Candido Decembrio volgarizzatore di Cesare
I. G. Mastrorosa (Università di Firenze)
Livio e Machiavelli fra passato e presente: tendenze demagogiche, aspirazioni tiranniche e strumenti di tutela della ‘riputazione’
A. Severi (Università di Bologna)
Dalla Roma imperiale alla Bologna principesca: la vocazione attualizzante del commento beroaldiano a Svetonio
L. Claire (Université de Picardie Jules Verne)
Sur quelques évolutions des commentaires aux Annales de Tacite dans les années 1580: Lipse, Muret, Pasquali, Scotti
LABORATORI FIORENTINI
L. Bernard-Pradelle (Université de Limoges)
L’historien en son laboratoire: Leonardo Bruni Aretino (ca. 1370-1444) et le travail sur les sources antiques
V. Pineda (Universidad de Extremadura-Cáceres)
The Memory of the Ancients in the Florentine Genre of epistole e dicerie
CONCLUSIONI
U. Roberto (Università Europea di Roma)
‘Attualizzare il passato’: alcune riflessioni sulla rilettura dei testi antichi tra l’età tardoantica e l’Europa del Rinascimento
ABSTRACTS

Si l’on met de côté la première phrase de sa description d’Emporion, au début du livre XXXIV, Tite-Live brosse un tableau cohérent du site de la petite colonie grecque. Il reproduit en substance un texte de Caton relatif au soulèvement indigène de 197. Les indications topographiques de Tite-Live paraissent globalement fiables, à l’exception des dimensions de la ville indigène qui sont certainement surestimées. L’agglomération indigène ne pouvait être située qu’à l’ouest de la ville grecque, probablement dans la partie nord du Turó d’Empúries. Enfin, il convient de bien distinguer le témoignage de Tite-Live de celui de Strabon : ils ne se réfèrent pas au même moment historique et, malgré les apparences, leur mention d’une ville « double » ne recouvre pas la même réalité.

RESUMO: Examinamos aqui uma fonte epigráfica, o senatus-consulto promulgado na época da repressão às Bacanais, no contexto político-social; este documento nos informa sobre as medidas tomadas em 186 a.C. pelo senado romano contra manifestações religiosas consideradas perigosas à ordem pública. PALAVRAS-CHAVE: Bacanais; Dioniso; senado romano; história das religiões.

Violence in Roman warfare is certainly not a myth. But until recently, historians have understood violence in terms of their own standards instead of considering the thresholds of Roman sensibilities. Within the framework of the “histoire des representations”, a discussion is made about the discourses that underly the violence in Roman warfare. We aim to reassess the methodological basis of such an analysis by close observation of its vocabulary. By scrutinizing the appearance of the terms uis and βία, we undermine their traditional relevance in war contexts. Then, we apply methods of correspondence analysis on the example of Latin verbs for killing. It reveals their meaning and stresses the strengths and flaws of text analytics, still not much employed in ancient history. In the end, returning to the texts and their contexts is necessary to qualify and refine this technique.

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La violence de Rome à la guerre n’est certes pas un mythe. Mais, jusqu’à très récemment, les historiens l’ont davantage évaluée à l’aune de leurs propres normes qu’ils n’ont abordé la question des seuils de sensibilités proprement romains en la matière. Dans le cadre d’une histoire des représentations, l’étude de la violence guerrière romaine implique par conséquent un examen des discours qui la sous-tendent. Cet article a ainsi pour ambition de repenser les fondements méthodologiques d’une telle analyse à travers l’observation serrée du vocabulaire de la violence guerrière. Un examen complet des contextes d’apparition des termes uis et βία permet de relativiser leur pertinence en contexte guerrier. Dès lors, le recours à d’autres méthodes est nécessaire. À travers l’exemple des verbes latins signifiant l’action de tuer, on entend montrer les atouts et les limites de l’analyse factorielle des correspondances, branche de la statistique textuelle encore peu mobilisée en histoire ancienne. Enfin, un retour aux textes et à leurs contextes est une démarche nécessaire afin de nuancer et d’affiner cette technique.

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Hannibal's most famous achievement is his crossing of the Alps. Two major historical sources exist for this event, Polybius and Livy. However, reconstruction of the crossing, and indeed any topic concerning the history of the Punic Wars itself, is contentious, due to the discrepancies and contradictions between the available sources. This paper examines significant conflicts between the accounts of Polybius and Pliny.

Appians Keltiké, das vierte Buch seiner vierundzwanzig Bücher umfassenden Römischen Geschichte, behandelt die kriegerischen Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Römern und Kelten, beginnend mit dem von Brennus geführten Angriff auf Rom bis hin zur Eroberung Galliens durch Caesar. Die Keltiké, obgleich nur bruchstückhaft erhalten, stellt eine wertvolle Quelle für die Geschichte der Kelten sowie der römischen Republik dar, denn sie bietet eine Reihe von Informationen, die entweder sonst nirgends belegt sind oder die sich deutlich von den bei anderen Autoren überlieferten Traditionen unterscheiden, da Appian für seine Darstellung auf heute weitgehend verlorene Historiker zurückgegriffen hat. Um so verwunderlicher ist es, daß bislang noch kein Kommentar zur Keltiké veröffentlicht wurde. Dieses Defizit will die vorliegende Publikation beheben: Nach einer kurzen Einleitung folgt der eigentliche Kommentar, in dem zunächst von jedem Fragment der Originaltext und eine Übersetzung geboten wird. Daran schließt sich eine Analyse, die die einzelnen Zeugnisse in möglichst umfassender Weise auswertet. Dabei wird nicht nur die Überlieferung für jedes Fragment diskutiert, wozu die Eigenheiten und die Arbeitsweise der verschiedenen byzantinischen Exzerptoren genauestens untersucht wurden, sondern auch die sehr kontrovers verhandelte Quellenfrage. Ferner wird der historische Zusammenhang, in den das jeweilige Bruchstück gehört, vorgestellt, wofür die gesamte antike Parallelüberlieferung herangezogen werden mußte. Die Übereinstimmungen wie auch die Abweichungen zur übrigen literarischen Evidenz wurden herausgearbeitet, um Appians Position innerhalb der historiographischen Traditionen besser bestimmen zu können. Schließlich wurden mehrfach Überlegungen zum Inhalt der verlorenen Teile der Keltiké angestellt. Der vorliegende Kommentar erfüllt zunächst ein Desiderat der Appianforschung, indem er eine Lücke in der wissenschaftlichen Aufarbeitung dieses Autors schließt. Aber auch die Forschung zur römischen Republik und den antiken Kelten kann von der Arbeit profitieren, mit der eine wenig beachtete Quelle erstmals gründlich erschlossen wird.

The scope of Hamilton’s project is not historical reconstruction, but an “attempt to show what the Romans were as they appear in their great authors” (263). Hamilton’s aim is to pinpoint the peculiar Roman qualities that distinguished them from the other cultures of antiquity (263). In order to do this, Hamilton takes her readers on a thirteen-chapter whirlwind tour of the most influential Roman writers—describing their texts and the Rome in which they lived. The book is written in four rough sections: the establishment of Roman letters in the comedies of Plautus and Terence (chapters 1-3); the Republic and Caesar as depicted by Cicero (chapters 4-6); the age of Augustus as depicted in the poetry of Catullus and Horace (chapters 7-10); and the elevation to romantic literature before the bifurcation and disintegration of Roman society (chapters 11-13). In each chapter, Hamilton makes the case that Roman writers were “Romans first” and “individual artists only second” (264). Her thesis is that in the end the differences between Roman authors were “superficial compared to their fundamental resemblances” (264). All followed “the Roman way.”

Livy's History of Rome was a celebrated classic in his own lifetime. In the tumultuous era of the Roman civil wars, which spanned more than a half century, Livy's readers turned to his account of ancient Roman history for consolation and repose. His treatment of the generations of Rome's paternal and maternal ancestors seems like the stuff of fables or legend: from the grafting of the exiled Aeneas' Trojan branch by marriage on to indigenous and sturdy Latin stock, firmly rooted in Italian soul; through the new roots first planted at Alba Longa by Aeneas' son, Ascanius, and strengthened by 13 generations of Silvian kings; to the series of events that conspire-partly by necessity, and partly by chance-to bring forth the twins, Romulus and Remus, who eventually would restore the Silvian kingdom to their grandfather, its rightful heir, and then immediately depart-following their own "desire to establish" for themselves a new city of their own making in the forests and hills near the Tiber river where they were raised. Once the new city, Rome, is established through divine sanction and Romulus' spirited defense of the principle of numerical superiority over priority in time, the founder of the city fortified the walls upon his Palatine hill and began to shape the character of the people who would reside there, and become Romans.

Tacitus portrays the wedding of Livia and Octavian as an abduction.  His interpretation contrasts with the other surviving sources, which are much less hostile.  Tacitus’ analysis comes into clearer focus when placed in the historiographical tradition on violence against women and political revolutions.  Often violations against women were viewed as excesses of tyrannical power and resulted in the offender being exiled or murdered and in a more democratic constitution for the state.  The abduction of Livia, however, coincided with a more authoritarian constitution at Rome.  Tacitus’ interpretation suggests that the Romans’ passive acceptance of Octavian’s abduction of Livia inaugurated a new autocracy at Rome.

Abstract
This article examines the longstanding rivalry of Rome and Parthia, which began as an unintended consequence of Crassus’ decisive defeat at Carrhae in 53 BCE. It synthesizes the accounts and opinions of numerous Graeco-Roman writers from the Augustan Age to late antiquity in order to help illustrate the new and interconnected post-Carrhae world and its legacy. The rivalry of the Romans and Parthians became a primary focus of their foreign policies and drastically expanded their perceptions of the world in which they interacted. Even after the fall of the Parthians to the rebellious Sassanid Persians in the 220s CE, the Romans continued to find their three-century-long rivalry with the Parthians of interest and relevant to the changing world of late antiquity.

Here are some notes for an intensive discussion of Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy. By systematically working through multiple sections of this particular work, the goal is to appreciate the breadth and diversity of Machiavelli's political theory beyond the narrower perspective of The Prince.

Kbor Klib, the battlefield of Zama.



The purpose of this short paper is to provide supporting evidence drawn from the histories of; Polybius, Livy, Appian and Cassius Dio to identify the location of the battlefield of Zama as being at Kbor Klib as proposed Duncan Ross.

The author is trying to solve the chronological problems of Livy’s information on the war operations in the region around and north of Lake Lychnidus during the Third Macedonian War. The focus is on the period between 170-169 B.C., namely, the problems regarding Livy’s information on Perseus’ counterattack on Roman positions at the turn of 170/169 B.C., Roman control over the city of Uscana and one undocumented Perseus’ attack on Dardanians in 170 B.C. The author concludes the events in question have a mutual connection, proposes a new chronological course of events and emphasizes the importance of Livy’s 43rd book for the study of the consequences of the war operations north of Lake  Lychnidus during the Third Macedonian War.

Late antique and medieval culture keeps on working on the tale of Lucretia, trying to find a more fitting position for the male characters who moves around the chaste matron, from Tarquin the Proud to Lucius Junius Brutus to Publius Valerius. The article aims to discover some moments of this never-ending reworking, paying special attention to the great basin of the early Dante’s commentaries.

The suppression of the Bacchanalia in Rome 186 BCE was the first major religious persecution in Europe. The essay provides a new analysis, referring to the political theory of Eric Voegelin. It shows that the suppression was a reaction of the Roman commonwealth to a cult which challgenged the meaning of political existence within the republic. Ultimately, the Bacchanalian affair is a collision of two types of religiosity, the political religiosity of the public cult and the orgiastic and apolitical religiosity of the Bacchic underground. Both types are based on particular religious experiences, the experience of gods preserving and fostering the political community and the experience of a god promoting the fulfilment of bodily desires. As the essay shows at the example of Euripides’ Bacchae, the worship of Bacchus-Dionysus had always represented the apolitical dimension of human existence; already in the ancient myths the “alien god” appears as the enemy of rulers and politicians. Finally, this reconsideration of the Bacchanalia helps to understand why the early Christians were likened to the Bacchants.

La vicenda del testo degli Ab urbe condita libri di Tito Livio sembra cruciale per le origini dell'Umanesimo: essa offre significativi esempi di come gli intellettuali dell'epoca si avvicinarono alla tradizione classica, unendo una rinnovata metodologia filologica a originali forme di prassi editoriale. A questo proposito risulta emblematico il ruolo di Petrarca e Boccaccio, ma non mancano altre importanti conferme. Nell'Harleiano 2493 Petrarca mise insieme e restaurò con grande impegno filologico il testo delle tre decadi allora note, unendo tradizioni testuali diverse e sanando molte delle mende, vistose o minute, della "vulgata" liviana. L'altro manoscritto liviano posseduto dal Petrarca rivela, però, come già qualche decennio prima vi fosse un interesse editoriale in senso lato per l'opera dello storico latino: il Par. lat. 5690 tramanda anch'esso tre decadi e organizza il testo in una griglia di capitoli, ciascuno con un suo titolo. Questa paragrafatura si ritrova in altri codici umanistici, spesso in forma di tavola, talvolta attribuita a Donato Albanzani. Alcuni codici liviani legati al Livio citato nell'inventario della parva libraria del convento di S. Spirito, dove confluirono i libri del Certaldese, permettono poi di ricostruire i tratti di un'edizione, quantomeno della prima deca, riconducibile proprio a Boccaccio: in essa un ruolo determinante giocano le Periochae; una paragrafatura diversa da quella del Livio Parigino completa un progetto di grande impegno. Un altro caso significativo è offerto dal Vat. lat. 1859, che raccoglie tutto il materiale direttamente o indirettamente liviano allora superstite: l'epitome di Floro, le Periochae, tre deche, il tutto strutturato per mezzo di un ulteriore progetto di paragrafatura e di tavole. Si tratta solo di alcuni episodi del viaggio di Livio nel primo Umanesimo, ai quali altri se ne potrebbero aggiungere, per esempio indagando il formarsi della biografia liviana in quegli anni o seguendo le vie del ritorno delle Periochae nel Trecento.

Protected by Rome, Carthage regained much prosperity under a relatively open political system, while the grasping Masinissa of Numidia was thwarted repeatedly from annexing Punic territory. But Rome's attitude changed after 167, to his advantage.

While martyrdom is a powerful cultural symbol for early Christianity, those seeking to encourage emulation of the martyrs in the post-Constantinian period face a special problem: how can Christians imitate those who died under imperial persecution when they now live in a period of imperial privilege? This article explores Augustine’s solution to this problem through his cultivation of the martyrs as rhetorical exempla who serve to undermine traditional Roman historiography as represented by Sallust and Livy. By reject- ing the premise of a Golden Age and the accompanying narrative of decline, Augustine makes every historical period ripe for imitating the martyrs in their true fight—not against human enemies but against spiritual temptation and demonic powers. In this way, he helps to make martyrdom a relevant category for Christian identity even in a time of imperial privilege for the church.

"This article is a critical analysis of the livian account, a prerequisite to any use of it in the context of historical inquiry. The approach implemented in this paper is twofold. The first applies the principles of the criticism of "accuracy" in order to review the elements influencing the historicity of the Livy's narrative (special attention is given to the reserves of the Paduan historian himself on this matter). The second step is the criticism of "sincerity", which aims to highlight the peculiarities of Livy's view of history (diverse notions are so considered: exemplarity, anachronism, literary reconstruction of characters and narrative cycles, as well as the use of speech and portraits)."

Chapter III (55)

How Roman Arms Came to Conquer the Successors of Alexander (55)

How Much More Successful Was the Roman Legion than the Macedonian Phalanx? (57)

The Best Soldiers versus the Best Formation (59)

Why the Greeks Were Shocked after Rome’s Domination of Macedon (60)

Final Thoughts on the Impact of Alexander on Polybius’ Work (63)

Livy, in his Ad Urbe Condita, presents a narrative account of all Roman history. One of the more controversial episodes of Book I, the book that examines the legendary foundations of Rome to the fall of the Roman kings after the rape of Lucretia, is that of the abduction of the Sabine women. Though the rape was later illustrated in art by such sculptors and painters as Giambologna, Poussin, Rubens, and Picasso, I examine in this paper how Livy portrayed the abduction of the Sabine women in its literary context. 1 Unlike his annalist predecessors, Livy combines his literary skill and a historical flair to provide moral exempla for his contemporary audiences. With this, he presents historical events through the lenses of contemporary rituals:

Machiavelli advocated for control and manipulation, among other deceptive methods, in order for one to accomplish their goal of becoming a “sovereign power.” In fact, he specified while reflecting on the work of Camillus that “Government consists in nothing else but so controlling subjects that they shall neither be able to, nor have cause to, do you [government, or sovereign] harm,” (Discourses, ii.23.1-3).

Vesta and the Vestal priestesses represented the very core of Roman cultural identity, and Augustus positioned his public image beside them to augment his political legitimacy. Through analysis of material culture, historiography, and poetry that originated during the principate of Augustus, it becomes clear that each of these sources of evidence contributes to the public image projected by the leader whom Ronald Syme considered to be the first Roman emperor. The Ara Pacis Augustae and the Res Gestae Divi Augustae embody the legacy the Emperor wished to establish, and each of these cultural works contain significant references to the Vestals. The study of history Livy undertook also emphasized the pathetic plight of Rhea Silvia as she was compelled to become a Vestal. Livy and his contemporary Dionysius of Halicarnassus explored the foundation of the Vestal Order and each writer had his own explanation about how Numa founded it. The Roman poets Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Tibullus incorporated Vesta and the Vestals into their work in a way that offers further proof of the way Augustus insinuated himself into the fabric of Roman cultural identity by associating his public image with these honored clerics.

Comme le rappelle L. Poznanski, comment étudier l'Antiquité en négligeant la guerre qui occupe une place de choix dans un monde pour lequel elle est la normalité 1 . Ainsi que le stipule J.-P. Vernant, « la guerre tend à se reconstituer comme une activité à part, une fonction séparée, sous forme d'un acte possédant en lui-même sa finalité et ses moyens, d'un métier exigeant ses spécialistes à tous les niveaux, dans le commandement et l'exécution 2 . » L'année 202 avant notre ère voit l'affrontement décisif des armées romaines et carthaginoises à Zama. Cette bataille mit fin à la deuxième guerre punique. « Pour Carthage, écrit Y. Le Bohec, le succès signifiait le maintien de son autorité sur l'Afrique et, plus dramatiquement, la survie ; Rome en attendait, suivant l'expression de Polybe, "la domination du monde et l'empire universel 3 " ». Si les études relatives à la guerre d'Hannibal se sont multipliées 4 , le volet historiographique de la bataille de Zama, quant à lui, n'a pas été traité dans son ensemble. L'objet de cette étude sera de rendre compte du récit livien en le comparant à celui de Polybe. Cette mise en parallèle offre également une occasion de préciser les caractéristiques historiographiques du tableau livien.

Although Machiavelli argues that “return to first principles” is a necessary
and perhaps even sufficient condition for counteracting political corruption, few
scholars have engaged in a sustained textual analysis of Discourses III.1, the
chapter in which he outlines the meaning of this enigmatic concept. Reassessing
Machiavelli’s exempla in this chapter will reveal that return to first principles
consists in the revival of the ethos of innovation and public-spiritedness that
accompanies every successful political founding. This process of renewal entails
reviving the psychological forces that initially guide human beings to establish
new political orders, including fear of violent death and longing for glory.
Existing interpretations of D III.1 have tended to emphasize renewal through
fear-invoking punishment, neglecting Machiavelli’s examples of renewal through
exemplary acts of civic virtue. A careful analysis of instruments and agents of
return to first principles will illustrate how both spectacular punishment and
virtuous acts of self-sacrifice converge to counteract corruption and foster
political innovation.

The foundation of Rome is surrounded by legends and myths written by both Roman and Greek authors to manufacture narratives which legitimized their contemporary contexts. Livy (1st century BC) and Plutarch (2nd century AD) recorded vignettes of the Rape of the Sabine women. The two accounts contain similarities and differences which reveal the different intentions of the respective authors. Both authors wanted their works to be didactic lessons about how their societies should operate. Two twentieth century works, Stephen Vincent Benét’s short story “The ‘Sobbin’ Women” (1937), which was then adapted into the 1954 musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers,  both used the vignette of the Rape of the Sabine women as a story within a story. The protagonist convinced his six brothers to go into town and steal seven brides for themselves, citing Plutarch’s account as justification. These modern renditions of the ancient accounts reveal the American gender norms and their importance to society. As indigenous peoples in the ancient accounts, the Sabine women fell victim to the forced colonization of the “civilized” Romans. In the twentieth-century variants, however, the Sabine women fell victim to the trickery of “non-civilized” men from the mountains. This paper places Seven Brides for Seven Brothers within its historical context and analyzes the level of historicism that the writers employed in their respective narratives.

The speeches of the ancient historians prove a curiosity. To dub them merely 'conventional' does them a disservice, reinforcing a truism equally trite to the ancient and the modern. Indeed they persist in a discipline which, according to Cicero, might be regarded as the "testis temporum, lux veritatis, vita memoriae, magistra vitae, nuntia vetustatis." By such lofty standards, the orations of the classical historiographers seem wanting. To this, however, Finley asserts "it is untenable that every single practitioner was indifferent to the fact he was a falsifier", peddling their falsehoods in lieu of historical fact for no ostensible purpose. It is true that these writers were wholly unconcerned with the seemingly anachronistic preoccupation with 'what a man really said on such-and-such an occasion.'

This thesis examines divination at Rome and its role in Roman historiography, with particular reference to Livy and Tacitus. The focus of the thesis is why and how they used divination and the extent to which divination supported their historiographical aims.

Chapter One considers the meaning of divinatio and the types of diviners and supernatural sign encompassed by the term. I draw attention to the contradictions between types of divination observed by the Roman state and those observed by individuals in a personal or private capacity. This examination is supported by a full lexicography of divinatory terms in the appendix. The remainder of the chapter considers modern bibliography and the current scholarly position on divination and Roman historiography. I consider four main areas: divination, historiography, Livy and Tacitus. The final section of the chapter discusses Feeney (1998) on Literature and Religion at Rome and stresses the importance of regarding divination in Roman historiography as a text which could support the overall historiographical objectives of Livy and Tacitus.

The importance of divination at Rome is explored in Chapter Two. The chapter surveys Roman attitudes and approaches to divination from the late third century BC to the early second century AD. The analysis indicates a thriving competitive and mercenary atmosphere of diviners and divination that offered the Roman people an outlet outside of the more rigid practices of the Roman state. I argue that there was a plurality of views and approaches to divination. Even where Varro and Cicero seemed to promote a sense of a 'traditional' Roman approach to divination, both engaged with the subject from very different viewpoints. In contrast there was a plethora of authors and works that considered less acceptable types of divination, such as astrology. I suggest that an interest in forms of divination which were not practised by the Roman state was as much a concern for members of the Roman upper classes as it was for the lower classes. This interest meant Augustus was able to incorporate elements of astrology into his religious 'revival' without causing offence. I show too that 'traditional' Roman practice continued to be significant throughout the early Empire. I suggest that different types of divination were not practised to the exclusion of all other types, that Livy and Tacitus, in their desire to present a 'traditional' view of Roman divination, were subscribing to a literary construct laid down by Varro and Cicero and they have obscured the plethora of divinatory activity available at Rome.

Chapter Three considers why Livy and Tacitus included divinatory material in their histories. I consider briefly the nature of Roman historiography and the influence of poetry and drama and of rhetoric on the Roman historiographical tradition since these encouraged historians to indulge in inventio, in order to flesh out their historiographical narratives. I argue that both Livy and Tacitus were influenced by the character of the annalistic tradition which presupposed the inclusion of prodigies and other religious and divinatory material. This explains why both authors were aware of the dangers of fabulae but understood how that material could be manipulated to suit their own historiographical purposes.

Chapter Four shows how Livy used divination in Books 1 and 5 to emphasise the importance of Roman divinatory institutions and Rome's relationship with the gods. I show how he uses prophecy to direct his work towards the glorious years of the middle Republic and how the Third Decade deliberately echoes themes from the early books to point towards Rome's control over the Mediterranean. However, Livy also used divination to stress the sense of decline from the Fourth Decade onwards. Using the Liber Prodigiorum of Iulius Obsequens, I argue that this continued into the lost later books, but that Livy may have intended to bring his work round full circle by pointing towards the success of Augustus and his religious revival with conscious echoes of Book 1. Finally, I consider those types of divination that Livy included or omitted. I argue that the choices made stressed the sense of traditional divination and the antiquarian approach of his work. In particular, Livy used divination to emphasise the superiority of Roman divination to that of other nations and to private practices.

In Chapter Five, I consider how Tacitus adapted Livy's annalistic form for imperial historiography. The chapter begins with a survey of Tacitus' approach to prodigies and shows the different ways in which he could use prodigia as dramatic devices. I also show that, like Livy, Tacitus contrasted foreign and private forms of divinatory practice with the state practices in order to reflect the traditions of the annalistic form. But in the sections on the Histories and the Annals, I argue that Tacitus surpassed his predecessor in the use of divination for drama, characterisation and emphasis.