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English 240: Ancient Literature Livy, The Histories, Books 1-2 Al Drake | Cyber Cafe M/W 10-11 | ajdrake@ajdrake.com Book 1 1. General question: when Livy narrates Roman history, what most interests him? Does he try to explain history by referring mostly to whole groups, or to certain individuals? How much stock does he put in politics, economics, and social conditions in his explanations of historical events? Give an example or two that you think shows his deepest interests, his “focus” in explaining events. 2. General question: how does Livy deal with the Roman people's foundational myths or legends? Does he “buy” them? If so, to what extent or in what manner? Why would an historian bother to detail such legends—what possible value could they have for the present? Give an example or two from Book 1. 3. What does Livy say in his Preface about the enterprise of writing history? What are his assumptions concerning what constitutes history and why it is valuable to people in the present? (pp. 29-30) 4. In the Preface, Livy suggests that Romans now are different from the way they were in past times. What does he say accounts for the change in character? What view does he seem to take of his own Augustan era? (30) 5. What does Livy say about Aeneas' contributions towards the making of Rome ? What did Aeneas do when he came to Italy ? And what did his son Ascanius or Iulus do afterwards? What is suggestive in this story for Rome 's later pattern of development? (31-33) 6. Now we come to the story of Romulus and Remus. How does the founding of Rome come about? Who are Faustulus, Numitor, and Amulius, and what role do they play with respect to the twin brothers? What causes the twins to quarrel? (34-37) 7. How does Livy characterize Romulus as a King? what did he do for his people, aside from strengthening them militarily? (38-41) 8. Regarding the infamous “rape of the Sabine women,” what military qualities do the Romans show in putting down that people (and others) after seizing their women? Why are they so successful at war, and how do they turn war into a means of furthering their civilization? (41-49) 9. How does Livy sum up Romulus ' reign and account for its conclusion? How much credence does he lend the stories told about Romulus ' final day? (48-49) 10. What most characterizes the rule of Numa Pompilius? What basic anxiety about the Roman people's welfare does Numa try to address, and by what means? What change does Numa's governing strategy bring about in the character of the Roman people, and how does it change the way Rome 's neighbors saw the emerging city? (50-55) 11. How does Tullus Hostilius, Numa's successor, differ from that King, and how does he deal with the civil war between Rome and the Albans? How do he and the Romans look upon the outrage committed by the hero Horatius against his sister? (55-62) 12. What does Tullus do when the Alban commander betrays him and joins the rebellious Fidenae? What lesson does Livy draw from this episode, and what seem to be his sentiments about the resulting destruction of Alba? (63-66) 13. How does Tullus' reign end? How does Livy judge his successor Ancus Marcius? What is his main shortcoming, and what virtues lend him some measure of worth? (68-72) 14. What is the story behind Lucumo's (Lucius Tarquinius Priscus') decision to abandon Tarquinii for Rome ? By means of what character traits and by what actions does he get himself elected King? What role does his wife Tanaquil play in his meteoric rise? (72-77) 15. What causes Lucius Tarquinius Priscus' troubles in the concluding period of his rule? What does Servius Tullius have to do with the trouble, and how do Tanaquil and he manage to overcome the peril following Priscus' assassination? (78-81) 16. What contribution to the development of the Roman state does Servius Tullius make after he becomes King? (81-83) 17. What lesson about the significance of Roman religion does Livy draw from his anecdote about a scheming Sabine man and a clever Roman priest after Servius Tullius' establishment of a temple of Diana in Rome ? (84-85) 18. What accounts for the animosity borne by the son of Priscus, Lucius Tarquinius, against Servius Tullius? What role does the younger Tullia (wife of Arruns and sister of the elder Tullia, wife of Lucius Tarquinius) play in the rise of her sister's husband? What happens to Servius, and what contrast between his reign and the upcoming reign of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus emerges from the details of the old king's murder? (86-90) 19. How does Tarquinius Superbus, the last of Rome 's Etruscan kings, measure up as a ruler? Does he differ from his predecessors? Consider his conduct of the campaign against the town of Gabii —by what method does he overcome this town, and what does Livy apparently think of that method? (91-96) 20. What marks the early years of Lucius Junius Brutus? Why does he behave as he does, and what special virtues does he possess? (99) 21. What initial events set in motion the downfall of Tarquinius Superbus and, therefore, the end of Tarquin rule over Rome ? What is it about Lucretia, wife of Lucius Tarquinius Collatinus, that sparks Sextus Tarquinius' lust? What argument does Sextus employ in forcing Lucretia to submit to his violent assault? Why is this such a powerful argument? (100-101) 22. What does the playing-out of Lucretia's sad story—her public suicide and Brutus's subsequent actions—illustrate concering the Roman idea of honor? How does a woman demonstrate her honor? How is a man expected to demonstrate his honor? 23. With regard to Lucretia's legend, what can you make of that fact that so often the founding myths of a people involve either sexual transgression or physical violence? (102-104) Book 2 (107-126 only) 24. How does Livy qualify what had seemed to be pure affirmation in his previous recounting of how the Tarquin kings were driven from Rome , and the Republic founded? What precautions does Brutus take when he becomes consul, and why? (107-110) 25. What circumstances lead to Brutus' death? How does Livy cap off his account of this Roman founder? (110-15) 26. How does the Tarquin period continue to cast a shadow over the newly founded Roman Republic ? How do the actions of the soldier Horatius Cocles, and then Gaius Mucius Scaevola, counter the continuing Etruscan threat in characteristically “Roman” ways? What effect does Scaevola's boldness have upon Porsena, King of Clusium? (115-26) Edition. Livy (Titus Livius). The Early History of Rome. Trans. Aubrey de Selincourt. New York: Penguin, 2002 (repr. with new introduction).
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