❝From the Foundation of the City❞

Ab Urbe Condita (From the Foundation of the City) is a very important source on early Roman history, written between 27 and 9 BC from the Roman historian Livius (59 BC – 17 AD), covering the entirety of Rome's history from her mythical origins up to his own times in 142 books. The work covers the period from the legends concerning the arrival of Aeneas and the refugees from the fall of Troy, to the city's founding in 753, the expulsion of the Kings in 509, and to Livius time, during the reign of the emperor Augustus. Of these only books 1-10 and 21-45 have survived down to our times, covering the years from the foundation up to 293 and 220–167 BC. However summaries of the lost books have been preserved, and later historians such as Florus, Eutropius and Orosius used Livius as their source, so that we do have some knowledge of the contents of the lost books.



❝Roman Antiquities❞

Roman Antiquities — Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἀρχαιολογία from the Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus, his literary style was Atticistic (c. 60 – after 7 BC) is an important source of the history of Rome from the mythical period, covering from Rome's origins, with emphasis on the earlier period to the beginning, to the First Punic War 264 BC. It was categorized into 20 books, of which the first nine remain entire, the tenth and eleventh are nearly complete, and the remaining books exist in fragments in the excerpts of the Roman emperor Constantine Porphyrogenitus and an epitome discovered in a Milan manuscript. The first three books of Appian, Plutarch's Life of Camillus and Life of Coriolanus also embody much of Dionysius.



❝Historical Library❞

Bibliotheca historica — Βιβλιοθήκη ἱστορική ("Historical Library"), slightly earlier than Livius and Dionysius, is a work of universal history written between 60 and 30 BC from the Greek historian Diodorus Siculus (Diodorus of Sicily 90 BC - 30 BC). It consisted of forty books, which were divided into three sections. The first six books are geographical in theme, and describe the history and culture of Egypt (book I), of Mesopotamia, India, Scythia, and Arabia (II), of North Africa (III), and of Greece and Europe (IV–VI). In the next section (books VII–XVII), he recounts the history of the world starting with the Trojan War, down to the death of Alexander the Great. The last section (books XVII to the end) concern the historical events from the successors of Alexander down to either 60 BC or the beginning of Caesar's Gallic War in 59 BC. (The end has been lost, so it is unclear whether Diodorus reached the beginning of the Gallic War, as he promised at the beginning of his work, or, as evidence suggests, old and tired from his labors he stopped short at 60 BC.) He selected the name "Bibliotheca" in acknowledgement that he was assembling a composite work from many sources. Of the authors he drew from, some who have been identified include: Hecataeus of Abdera, Ctesias of Cnidus, Ephorus, Theopompus, Hieronymus of Cardia, Duris of Samos, Diyllus, Philistus, Timaeus, Polybius and Posidonius. Diodorus' immense work has not survived intact; only the first five books and books 11 through 20 remain. The rest exists only in fragments preserved in Photius and the excerpts of Constantine Porphyrogenitus.



❝Parallel Lives❞

Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives — Βίοι Παράλληλοι or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably written at the beginning of the second century AD. The surviving Parallel Lives comprises 23 pairs of biographies, each pair consisting of one Greek and one Roman of similar destiny, such as Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar, or Demosthenes and Cicero. It is a work of considerable importance, not only as a source of information about the individuals described, but also about the times in which they lived. Written from Plutarch (Πλούταρχος c. AD 46 – c. 120), was a Greek (and a Roman citizen later on) biographer and essayist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.



❝Roman History❞

Roman History — Ῥωμαϊκὴ Ἱστορία (Historia Romana) written from Cassius Dio (Δίων Κάσσιος c. 155 – c. 235) was a Roman statesman and historian of Greek and Roman origin. He published 80 volumes of history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the subsequent founding of Rome (753 BC), the formation of the Republic (509 BC), and the creation of the Empire (31 BC), up until 229 AD. Written in Ancient Greek over 22 years, Dio's work covers approximately 1,000 years of history. Many of his 80 books have survived intact, or as fragments, providing modern scholars with a detailed perspective on Roman history.