Titus Livius — Livy — set out to write the complete history of Rome from its legendary founding to his own day, ultimately producing 142 books of which 35 survive. Books 1 to 8 cover Rome’s earliest centuries: the kings, the founding of the Republic, the Twelve Tables, the wars against the Etruscans and Gauls, and the gradual conquest of Italy. Livy writes with rhetorical power and a deep sense of Roman moral character.
This free EPUB edition is formatted for e-readers and covers the foundation era in full. For students of Roman history, Livy’s narrative — however embellished — remains an essential primary source for understanding how Rome remembered and mythologised its own beginnings.