The Ideas That Formed the Constitution, Part 11: Livy

Engraving depicts the Roman historian Livy (Titus Livius 59 B.C.E.–17 C.E.). Livy was born in Patavium (Padua) and was the most important prose writer of the Augustan Age. He's best remembered for his 142 volume 'History of Rome,' of which only 35 volumes survive. Kean Collection/Getty Images

Commentary

The two previous essays (here and here) observed that the final years of the Roman Republic and the first years of the Roman Empire produced some outstanding poets. This period produced some outstanding historians as well. The one with the greatest impact on the American constitution-makers was Titius Livius, whom English speakers call “Livy.”