Historical and Comparative Sources: Plutarch and Livy

Livy’s History of Rome: Methodology and Reliability

If all the official records of a city burned down, how would you write its history? Livy faced this exact problem when writing Ab Urbe Condita during the reign of Augustus. He did not base his work on primary state records like the Annales Maximi because they were completely destroyed in the Gallic Sack of 390 BC. Instead, he relied on later historians and national memory.

To evaluate Livy's reliability, we must weigh his factual accuracy against his cultural validity.

• Arguments Against Reliability: Livy frequently uses invented speeches to illustrate character motivations rather than recording factual dialogue. He openly admits that the early foundation stories are based on "poetic fables" rather than trustworthy historical proofs. Furthermore, he often displays historical agnosticism, refusing to confirm a single truth. For example, he provides two conflicting versions of Romulus's death—a miraculous ascension and a cynical murder by the Senate—leaving the biological truth unresolved.
• Arguments For Reliability: Despite lacking primary records, Livy successfully preserves what the Romans collectively believed about their past. Additionally, modern archaeology supports some of his details, such as the 8th-century "Huts of Romulus" on the Palatine Hill.
• Balanced Judgement: Livy sacrifices strict factual accuracy to achieve a higher purpose. He aimed to write a didactic history, using the past to teach moral lessons. For Livy, history was a documentum (a conspicuous monument) offering an escape from the moral decay and civil wars of his own time, which perfectly aligned with Augustus's moral reforms.

Roman Values and Character Exempla in Livy

Livy believed it was acceptable to mingle divine myths with human history because it added dignity to Rome's origins. To communicate his moral lessons, he built his narrative around the exemplum—a character intended to serve as a model for imitation or avoidance. These figures demonstrated the mos maiorum, the unwritten traditional moral code of Rome.

• Positive Exempla: Romulus is presented as the ultimate model of virtus (martial courage and excellence), earning deification for his deeds. Numa Pompilius, the second king, exemplifies pietas (devotion to the gods and state) by establishing Rome's religious framework. Lucretia serves as the standard for pudicitia (female chastity), as her tragic sacrifice sparks the birth of the Republic.
• Negative Exempla: Tarquinius Superbus, the final king, is portrayed as a warning. He embodies superbia (arrogant pride), making him the ultimate tyrant to be avoided.

Comparing Livy and Plutarch

While both writers aim to educate their readers morally, their approaches to history and legend differ significantly. Plutarch does not write a continuous chronological history of a nation; instead, he isolates individuals to extract universal truths.