City Readers Digital Historic Collections at the New York Society Library

Titus Livius Patavinus (Classical Latin: [ˈtɪ.tʊs ˈliː.wi.ʊs pa.taˈwiː.nʊs]; 64 or 59 BC – AD 17)—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 (Books from the Foundation of the City) – 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 take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus's wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood.