Livy
Livy
Titus Livius—known as Livy /ˈlɪvi/ in English—was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people – Ab Urbe Condita Libri– covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian dynasty, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionHistorian
art food army
The army from Asia introduced a foreign luxury to Rome; it was then the meals began to require more dishes and more expenditure . . . the cook, who had up to that time been employed as a slave of low price, become dear: what had been nothing but a metier was elevated to an art.
resistance criminals better-late-than-never
Resistance to criminal rashness comes better late than never.
spirit defence
There is always more spirit in attack than in defence.
clever men shifting
Men are only clever at shifting blame from their own shoulders to those of others.
spring heart maturity
That sense – the only true patriotism – comes slowly and springs from the heart: it is founded upon respect for the family and love for the soil. Premature ‘liberty’ of this kind would have been a disaster: we should have been torn to pieces by petty squabbles before we had ever reached political maturity, which, as things were, as made possible by the long quiet years under monarchical government; for it was that government which, as it were, nursed our strength and enabled us ultimately to produce sound fruit from liberty, as only a politically adult nation can.
past errors easier
It is easier to criticize than to correct our past errors.
eye records action
This above all makes history useful and desirable; it unfolds before our eyes a glorious record of exemplary actions.
humble greatness rome
Rome has grown since its humble beginnings that it is now overwhelmed by its own greatness.
envy blind
Envy is blind. -Caeca invidia est
fire envy highest
Envy like fire always makes for the highest points.
vices cures endure
We can endure neither our vices nor their cure.
men trials guilty
It is better that a guilty man should not be brought to trial than that he should be acquitted.
military danger
The less there is of fear, the less there is of danger.
fall honor desire
Favor and honor sometimes fall more fitly on those who do not desire them.