New and Literal Translation of the Twenty-First Book of Livy

By Livy and Marcus S. Dimsdale

Book Overview

This volume presents a new and literal translation of the twenty-first book of Livy's monumental history of Rome. Book XXI details the opening of the Second Punic War, focusing on Hannibal's epic march across the Alps and his initial campaigns in Italy. Titus Livius (Livy) was a Roman historian who lived from 59 BC to AD 17. He wrote a comprehensive history of Rome, "Ab Urbe Condita" ("From the Founding of the City"), covering the period from the legendary founding of Rome (traditionally dated to 753 BC) to the reign of Augustus in the 1st century BC. Only 35 of the 142 books he wrote are still extant, but they remain a vital source for Roman history.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1143478843
• ISBN13: 9781143478840
• Release Date: February 2010
• Publisher: Nabu Press
• Length: 68 Pages
• Weight: 0.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 6.1" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Livy Book XXI of the the Ab Urbe Condita - Start of the 2nd Punic War

Titus Livius (59BC-17 AD) was a famous Roman historian who wrote the magnificent Ab Urbe Condita (which covers Roman history from its founding until the reign of Augustus). Livy covered the history of the Punic War in books XXI-XXX. Sadly, both Livy's books on the First and Third Punic War are lost. This Bristol Classical Press LATIN TEXT edition of Livy's Book XXI covers the beginning of the Second Punic War, the character of Hannibal, and the historical events of Rome up till the reactions in Rome after the Roman catastrophe at the Battle of Trebia. Livy is a pretty good military historian and besides the copious battle scenes by far the most interesting parts of the history are his lists of bad omens that the inhabitants of Rome see after the defeat at Trebia (the Disaster and long occupation of the Italian Peninsula is to come) and Livy's elaborate battle exhortations and speeches of Hannibal and his Roman opposition. This Latin Text edition has a superb general introduction and Book XXI specific introduction by P. J. Walsh, a wonderful vocabulary list, further reading list, chronological table, an extremely helpful and extensive notes that help with cultural references and general grammatical explanation, and some a helpful maps (Battle of Trebbia, Sicily, Hannibal's Invasion route) and diagrams (Hannibal Crossing the Alps). This is an absolutely must read (for the layman pick up a copy of the English translation - Penguin, Loeb, etc) for anyone interested in Roman History. This Latin Text edition is a must for anyone who wants to do real research on Livy's monumental Ab Urbe Condita and understand a vital period of Roman Republican history.