Religion in Livy

This book examines the use that Livy made of religious topics, and shows how this fits in with other aspects of his narrative.
The author shows how 'Livy's views of religion' depend less on personal belief than on the refinement of his narrative technique. He looks at the history decade by decade, and demonstrates that there are radical differences between different sections: in some Livy uses large-scale religious themes, but in others he deliberately avoids them. By a systematic analysis of Livy's narrative patterns and comparison with other ancient versions, it is proved that this is not simply due to subject-matter, but reflects a development in Livy's handling of his material. This profound difference between decades throws doubt on much of the standard picture of Livy: it also points to a need to revise notions of 'Augustan religious ideology'.

D.S. Levene was educated at the City of London School and Brasenose College, Oxford. His publications include articles on Sallust and Tacitus; he is currently Junior Research Fellow at Brasenose College.

'...rescues Livy from the annalistic tradition and places him where he belongs, among the literary artists.'
Kirk Summers, Religious Studies Review, 1994.
'...a careful, learned, and illuminating study of Livy's use of religious and ritual motifs.'
Christina S. Kraus, Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 1994.
'The strength of L.'s book lies [...] in the comprehensiveness of his investigation.'
W. Liebeschuetz, Journal of Roman Studies, 1995.
'Cette version revue d'une thèse de doctorat présentée à Oxford en 1989 nous propose une analyse, détaillée, érudite et systématique, de la manière dont les données religieuses sont utilisées par l'historien. L'approche différente, mise en oevre ici [...] nous vaut en tout cas un excellent travail, le meilleur qu'il nous ait été donné de lire depuis longtemps sur ce sujet difficile.'
Jacques Poucet, L'Antiquité, 1995.