Rome's Italian Wars

Oxford World's Classics

A new translation of Books 6 to 10 of Livy's monumental history of Rome, in which Rome recovers from its Gallic disaster to impose mastery over almost the entire Italian peninsula.

The most up-to-date edition drawing on the latest scholarship to illuminate this unique document in Roman literature and history.

John Yardley's translation gives a vivid sense of the energy, variety, and literary skill of Livy's great work.

Dexter Hoyos's introduction sets Livy in the context of Roman historiography and discusses the sources that he used and their strengths and limitations. It deftly sets out the structure of the work and explains why the fourth century BC was so critical an era for the rise of Rome.

Comprehensive notes clarify problems of historical content, topography, and chronology.

Detailed glossary explains Roman technical terms.

Appendix analyses Livy's invaluable, but in places flawed, description of how the Roman legion of the time was organized.

Two maps clarify the regions and peoples of Italy mentioned in the text.

'People have it in their minds that he would have been a match for Alexander, had Alexander turned his arms on Europe.'

So Livy characterizes Papirius Cursor, one of Rome's famous generals in the fourth century BC. In Books 6 to 10 of his monumental history of Rome, Livy deals with the period in which Rome recovered from its Gallic disaster to impose mastery over almost the entire Italian peninsula in a series of ever greater wars. Along with Papirius, Livy paints vivid portraits of other notable figures, such as Camillus, who rescued the city from its Gallic captors in 390, young Manlius Torquatus, victor in a David-versus-Goliath duel with a Gallic chieftain, and Appius Claudius who built Rome's first major highway, the Appian Way. Livy's blend of factual narrative and imaginative recreation brings to life a critical era for the rise of Rome, and Books 6 to 10 of his work are the one complete account we have, as the city passes from myth and legend into the increasing light of reliable history.

John Yardley's fluent translation is accompanied by an introduction and notes that set Livy in the context of Roman historiography.

The complete Livy in English, available in five volumes from Oxford World's Classics.