Titus Livius Patavinus (64 or 59 BC – AD 17) was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people - Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Books from the Foundation of the City) - covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian dynasty, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus's wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood.
Ab Urbe Condita Libri was Livy’s most famous work. In it he explains the complete history of the city of Rome, from its foundation to the death of Augustus. Because he was writing under the emperor Augustus, Livy’s history emphasizes the great triumphs of Rome. He wrote his history with embellished accounts of Roman heroism in order to promote the new type of government implemented by Augustus when he became emperor. In Livy’s preface to his history, he said that he did not care whether his personal fame remained in darkness, as long as his work helped to “preserve the memory of the deeds of the world’s preeminent nation.”] Because Livy was writing about events that had occurred hundreds of years earlier, the value of his history was questionable, although many Romans came to believe what he wrote to be the true history of Rome’s foundation. He had also written other works, including an essay in the form of a letter to his son, and numerous dialogues, most likely using Cicero as a model.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Livy
