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aspiringorakle's review against another edition
4.0
this was a really cool book; super dry at points, (like a list of civil records) but when it was exciting, absolutely riveting; rome's fortune is truly astounding, especially as a baby state
kaaleppii's review
5.0
This was an excellent read. I already had a prior interest in the history of Rome, and so am predisposed to like a book like this, but the reason I picked it up is twofold: first, I learned that the city my family from--Cincinnati--is named after an exceptionally honorable Roman statesman who features heavily in this book, and second, I've become increasingly aware in the last several years that the education of our predecessors was far superior in many ways to that given today and have therefore developed a desire to receive/give myself more of a classical education, which valued Livy highly as his is not a disinterested overview of the early events of Rome, but rather a stylized historical narrative designed to teach its readers about what constitutes a righteous state and honorable citizens. This should not be taken as a strictly factual book, and it even gives this disclaimer within itself--nevertheless, I came away with a greater understanding of Rome as well as what it meant to be "Roman", which is perhaps another way of stating the purpose of Livy.
julesgou's review
3.0
For the POPSUGAR 2016 Reading Challenge, this book is "A Book at least 100 years older than me".
At first, I loved this book. It read like a novel and I found it really interesting. However, the unfortunate thing is that history tends to repeat itself. So, through out "The Early History of Rome", history repeated itself. A lot. It was the same battles and the same political problems, just different people involved. Until the end. Then it changed. But, the middle was hard to get through because it was a lot of the same.
My favourite thing about Livy is that he included the Gods in his history. Take the founding stories for example. Even if the founding of Rome didn't happen like that, the people of Rome believe it did and that is a very powerful thing. So, even though the legitimacy of the events is debatable, Livy still recorded it as history. He even says in his introduction that it isn't his job to judge whether or not something happened.
Definitely an important read if you are into Roman history. Livy does a really good job in the first five of his books. The fact that history tends to repeat itself isn't his fault!
At first, I loved this book. It read like a novel and I found it really interesting. However, the unfortunate thing is that history tends to repeat itself. So, through out "The Early History of Rome", history repeated itself. A lot. It was the same battles and the same political problems, just different people involved. Until the end. Then it changed. But, the middle was hard to get through because it was a lot of the same.
My favourite thing about Livy is that he included the Gods in his history. Take the founding stories for example. Even if the founding of Rome didn't happen like that, the people of Rome believe it did and that is a very powerful thing. So, even though the legitimacy of the events is debatable, Livy still recorded it as history. He even says in his introduction that it isn't his job to judge whether or not something happened.
Definitely an important read if you are into Roman history. Livy does a really good job in the first five of his books. The fact that history tends to repeat itself isn't his fault!
kirasgirly's review
4.0
Fascinating. Reading and thinking...wait...this happened in history? Things that I've seen in my lifetime happening thousand's of years before. Intriguing to think as a human race, we have evolved in some ways and in many others we haven't changed.
gabitara's review
3.0
2.75!
I didn't give this a 3-star rating purely because it's awfully repetitive. HOWEVER, it is so interesting, and tells the ancient history of Rome beautifully (whether completely factually is up for debate).
If you are interested in Ancient Rome, I highly recommend Books 1, 2, and 5 (instead of chapters the book is divided into 'books') as they are the most interesting.
I didn't give this a 3-star rating purely because it's awfully repetitive. HOWEVER, it is so interesting, and tells the ancient history of Rome beautifully (whether completely factually is up for debate).
If you are interested in Ancient Rome, I highly recommend Books 1, 2, and 5 (instead of chapters the book is divided into 'books') as they are the most interesting.
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