Book contents
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Antiquity in Global Context
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Leadership in Third-Millennium Mesopotamia
- Chapter 2 Leadership in Rural Pharaonic Egypt
- Chapter 3 The Importance of Religion in Achaemenid Leadership
- Chapter 4 Leadership in Ancient China
- Chapter 5 Public Generosity and Models of Leadership in Classical Athens
- Chapter 6 Divine Kingship as Reflected in Deuterocanonical Literature
- Chapter 7 Cicero, Octavian and the Failure of Republican Leadership
- Chapter 8 Ciceronian Aspects of Leadership in Livy’s Ab Vrbe Condita
- Chapter 9 Imperial and Episcopal Leadership Networks in the Later Roman Empire
- Chapter 10 Concluding Remarks
- General Index
- References
Chapter 8 - Ciceronian Aspects of Leadership in Livy’s Ab Vrbe Condita
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 September 2025
Edited by
Book contents
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Antiquity in Global Context
- Leadership in the Ancient World
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Figures
- Table
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Leadership in Third-Millennium Mesopotamia
- Chapter 2 Leadership in Rural Pharaonic Egypt
- Chapter 3 The Importance of Religion in Achaemenid Leadership
- Chapter 4 Leadership in Ancient China
- Chapter 5 Public Generosity and Models of Leadership in Classical Athens
- Chapter 6 Divine Kingship as Reflected in Deuterocanonical Literature
- Chapter 7 Cicero, Octavian and the Failure of Republican Leadership
- Chapter 8 Ciceronian Aspects of Leadership in Livy’s Ab Vrbe Condita
- Chapter 9 Imperial and Episcopal Leadership Networks in the Later Roman Empire
- Chapter 10 Concluding Remarks
- General Index
- References
Summary
This chapter focuses on the way the Livian conception of political leadership reflects the corresponding Ciceronian theory. Although Livy does not seem to use any specific term for ‘leadership’, the latter is given a prominent role in his theory regarding the progress and the decline of the res publica: in his much-commented-on passage of his preface (praef. 9), both the relaxation of disciplina and the role of the leaders (uiri) are elucidated by reference to Cicero’s theory and terminology of leadership. Disciplina should then be defined as a way of moral and political life transmitted from one generation to the other, which is essentially based on the principle of obedience to an ‘enlightened’ political leadership. The characteristics of efficient leadership are expressed by Livy in various comments or speeches throughout the work. The role attributed to the people and the leaders in Livy’s scheme also reveals a close affinity with Cicero’s theory of the ideal leader as a moderator rei publicae, especially in the De re publica. Livy also promotes some leaders of the Roman past as exempla which have incarnated the Ciceronian ideal of leader.
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- Leadership in the Ancient WorldConcepts, Models, Theories, pp. 176 - 200Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
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