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Livy: The Cultural History Of Rome

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From what we have seen in class thus far, there are a handful of authors that have engaged with Roman history from the standpoint of a true Roman. The core idea of a true roman was that a Roman citizen was a patriotic one. Rome was great, and this greatness was upheld with good citizenship. Livy especially stressed the importance of recognizing moments where Roman citizens committed to this raison d’être, and following in their footsteps. He looked back on Roman history to identify why Rome declined, doing so from a point of view that was deeply entrenched in Roman cultural thought. Livy commended great characters of Rome’s 700 year history, while playing Rome as the protagonist. His claim was that Roman declined due to the peoples’ loss of …show more content…
There was a gratitude to Rome, which resulted in the belief that it was worth fighting, and laying down one’s life for. Livy reflected on Rome saying, “It was already written in the book of fate that this great city of ours should arise…mightiest empire the world has known-next to God’s.” (Livy, 34) Additionally, he indicated that his reflective writing on the great characters of the Roman cultural history “is the best medicine for a sick mind….you can find for yourself and your country both examples and warnings; fine things to take as models…rotten things through and through, to avoid.” (Livy, 30) He meant to say that the great acts committed in the name of Rome were meant to be remembered and emulated. Looking back, he pointed out that the decline was due to the rise in luxury that occurred at the peak of the empire. The luxury corrupted the morals of self-deprecation, denial, and justice, and created a relaxed, self-centered nation. The former, he said, was what ought to be …show more content…
Lucretia, in a fit of self-loathing and love for her city, killed herself after being raped. “Never shall Lucretia provide a precedent for unchaste women to escape what they deserve.” (Livy, 102) Her suicide became a motivating factor in the turn of events that resulted in the revolution. In putting her on a pedestal for this act that sparked a turn of history, Livy made her standard for proper Roman women’s values. Augustine said that was, in fact, not virtue, but weakness. For Lucretia should have valued her chastity of the heart in the eyes of god. She had no right to take her own life for the sake of the public good. This simply adds “crime to crime” (Augustine, 30), as the common good

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