Genealogy Books - Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics)

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Summary: Reviews of masterworks of literature?
Comment: We must not presume to review masterworks of literature!
Reviews are meant to let other
readers know what you thought of recent releases. Volumes printed and coveted for thousands of years
need not be reviewed by laypersons (I am a layperson.)

I'm satisfied that the previous
review didn't insult the memory and achievement of Livy or his reputation established around 24B.C.
but the reviewer was out of line to even press the "Write your own review" button.
/>Certainly readers will need to decide if they will be interested in reading such important works
but you do yourselves a disservice if you let your literary decisions be influenced by the Jaywalk
Allstars.

There are many websites devoted the the "Greatest Books Ever Written" and
it's a simple task to do type "Livy History of Rome" into a search engine.

Amazon
reviews are meant for new releases. A work that is still being collected after over 2,000 years is
not a new release.

Customer Rating:

Summary: History of Rome
Comment: Titus Livius, (Livy) 59BCE-17ACE, born in Padua he was a popular and much admired writer in his day.
His history was a favorite of Caesar Augustus who reigned during the time of the writing of the
"History of Early Rome". His facts are not the most accurate, but like Plutarch, he believed that;
"if history were not morally instructive, it was nothing." "History of Early Rome" is a valiant
effort at recalling and preserving the memory of the noble deeds of the Romans. The history opens
with the Trojans wandering into Rome to found a new city around 750BCE. It traces the history of
Romulus the founder, the period of Roman kingship and then the Roman Republic era. Livy has a
wonderful description of the "rape of the Sabine women" in which Rome's men conduct to increase
their population. Wonderful telling of the life and acts of the noble and humble Cinncinatus who
many of George Washington's contemporaries believed modeled himself after and held many of the same
virtues. It contains an in depth look at Coriolanus, which was the source material for
Shakespeare's play "Coriolanus". "Shared danger is the strongest of bonds; it will keep men united
in spite of mutual dislike and suspicion."

Machiavelli loved reading Livy's histories
and wrote his most important philosophical work from it, "The Discourses", in which he glorifies
republican Rome as a model of good government. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his nephew that there were
three books every gentleman had to have familiarity with; Plutarch's "Lives", Livy's "History of
Rome" and Virgil's Aeneid. In fact, all the founding fathers of note had read Livy and learned much
from his history of Rome.

If you are truly interested in obtaining a classical
education, put this book on the top of your reading list! I recommend this book to anyone who is
interested in political philosophy, and history.

Back to Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics)

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