t his narrative has
no trustworthy foundation, and gives it merely for what it is worth:
Praef. 6, 'Quae ante conditam condendamve urbem poeticis magis decora
fabulis quam incorruptis rerum gestarum monumentis traduntur, ea nec
adfirmare nec refellere in animo est. Datur haec venia antiquitati, ut
miscendo humana divinis primordia urbium augustiora faciat.'

The numerous speeches exemplify Livy's rhetorical tendency,
representing what he thought the speaker would have said under the
given circumstances: iii. 67, 1, 'ibi in hanc sententiam locutum
accipio.'

His power of describing character is noted by Seneca, _Suas._ vi. 21,
'Quoties magni alicuius viri mors ab historicis narrata est, toties
fere consummatio totius vitae et quasi funebris laudatio redditur. Hoc
... T. Livius benignius omnibus magnis viris praestitit.'

_Religion and morality._--Livy believes in the influence of the gods
on human affairs: ix. 1, 11, 'cum rerum humanarum maximum momentum
sit, quam propitiis rem, quam adversis agant dis.' Superior to the
gods is _necessitas_ (ix. 4, 16), and _fortuna_ is also powerful (ix.
17, 3; v. 37, 1). He condemns the irreligion of his own day (x. 40,
10, 'iuvenis ante doctrinam deos spernentem natus'), cf. iii. 20, 5;
viii. 11, 1. He retains the old belief in prodigies and portents,
every war being introduced by a list of them, but recognizes that many
reported instances were fictitious: xxi. 62, 1, 'Multa ea hieme
prodigia facta, aut, quod evenire solet motis semel in religionem
animis, multa nuntiata et temere credita sunt.'

He condemns the vices of his own age, and lauds the old Romans: Praef.
12, 'Nuper divitiae avaritiam et abundantes voluptates desiderium per
luxum atque libidinem pereundi perdendique omnia invexere.'

_Politics._--Livy is an aristocrat, with a poor opinion of the lower
orders: _e.g._ xxiv. 25, 8, 'Ea natura multitudinis est: aut servit
humiliter aut superbe dominatur; libertatem, quae media est, nec
cupere modice nec habere sciunt.' His political attitude is influenced
to a great extent by the earlier historians, who had mostly been on
the aristocratic side. Yet he is not a defender of the aristocratic
party through thick and thin; and though he admired the character of
some leading republicans, there can be no question of his loyalty to
the Empire. Cf. Tac. _Ann._ iv. 34, 'Scipionem, Afranium, hunc ipsum
Cassium, hunc Brutum nusquam latrones et parricidas, quae nunc
vocabula imponuntu