The historian Livy (59 BC - 17 AD) was born in Padua. Little is known of his life. Most of it was taken up by writing a History of Rome (Ab Urbe Condita), consisting of 142 books, of which only 35 are completely extant. The texts below are from The History of Rome, Vol. I-VI, Titus Livius, Editor Ernest Rhys, Translator Rev. Canon Roberts, New York 1912.
| XXXIII [640-616 BC] - Additi eodem [Aventinum] haud ita multo post, Tellenis Ficanaque captis, novi cives ... Nec urbs tantum hoc rege [Ancus Marcius] crevit, sed etiam ager finesque; silva Mesia Veientibus adempta, usque ad mare imperium prolatum, et in ore Tiberis Ostia urbs condita, salinae circa factae ... | XXXIII [640-616 BC] - ... the Aventine was assigned to the new-comers. Not long afterwards there was a further addition to the number of citizens through the capture of Tellenae and Ficana ... The additions made by this king [Ancus Marcius] were not confined to the City. The Mesian Forest was taken from the Veientines, and the Roman dominion extended to the sea; at the mouth of the Tiber the city of Ostia was built; salt-pits were constructed on both sides of the river ... |
| XXXIV [492 BC] - ... ad frumentum coemendum, non in Etruriam modo dextris ab Ostia litoribus laevoque per Volscos mari usque ad Cumas, sed quaesitum in Sicilia quoque ... | XXXIV [492 BC] - [In consequence of a famine, the consuls provided] ... by sending men in various directions to buy corn. They penetrated not only along the coast to the right of Ostia into Etruria, but also along the sea to the left past the Volscian country as far as Cumae. Their search extended even as far as Sicily. |
| XXX [429 BC] - Veientes in agrum Romanum excursiones fecerunt. Fama fuit quosdam ex Fidenatium iuventute participes eius populationis fuisse ... Quidam Ostiam relegati ... | XXX [429 BC] - The Veientes made inroads into the Roman territory, and it was rumoured that some of the Fidenates had taken part in them ... Some were interned at Ostia ... |
| XXV [349 BC] - Galli ... per campos maritimaque loca vagi populabantur; mare infestum classibus Graecorum erat oraque litoris Antiatis Laurensque tractus et Tiberis ostia, ut praedones maritimi cum terrestribus congressi ancipiti semel proelio decertarint ... Consul [Lucius Furius Camillus] ... praetorem [Lucium Pinarium] maritimam oram tutari Graecosque arcere litoribus iussit. | XXV [349 BC] - The Gauls ... spread themselves in plundering hordes over the plains and the maritime districts. The sea was infested by fleets of Greek pirates who made descents on the coast round Antium and Laurentum and entered the mouth of the Tiber. On one occasion the sea-robbers and the land-robbers encountered one another in a hard-fought battle ... The consul [Lucius Furius Camillus] ... ordered the praetor [Lucius Pinarius] to protect the coast-line and prevent the Greeks from effecting a landing. |
| XII [340 BC] - Antiates in Agrum Ostiensem Ardeatem Solonium incursiones fecerunt. | XII [340 BC] - The Antiates made incursions into the territories of Ostia, Ardea, and Solonia. |
| XI [217 BC] - ... litterae ab urbe adlatae sunt, naves onerarias commeatum ab Ostia in Hispaniam ad exercitum portantes a classe punica circa portum Cosanum captas esse. Itaque extemplo consul Ostiam proficisci iussus, navibusque quae ad urbem romanam aut Ostiae essent, completis milite ac navalibus sociis, persequi hostium classem ac litora Italiae tutari ... Magna vis hominum conscripta Romae erat ... Ex hoc urbano exercitu qui minores quinque et triginta annis erant in naves imposit ... | XI [217 BC] - ... a despatch was handed in from the City stating that some transports which were carrying supplies for the army in Spain had been captured by the Carthaginian fleet near the port of Cosa. The consul was thereupon ordered to man the ships which were lying off Rome or at Ostia with full complements of seamen and soldiers, and sail in pursuit of the hostile fleet and protect the coast of Italy. A large force was raised in Rome ... Out of these city troops, all under thirty-five years of age were placed on board the ships ... |
| XXXVII [216 BC] - Per eosdem dies ab Hierone classis Ostia cum magno commeatu accessit. | XXXVII [216 BC] - About the same time a fleet which had been despatched by Hiero arrived at Ostia with a large quantity of supplies. |
| LVII [216 BC] - [Marcus Claudius Marcellus] qui classi ad Ostiam stanti praeesset ... ab Ostia mille et quingentos milites, quos in classem scriptos habebat, Romam, ut urbi praesidio essent, mittit ... | LVII [216 BC] - ... M.Claudius, who was commanding the fleet stationed at Ostia ... sent from Ostia 1500 men who had been enrolled for service with the fleet to garrison Rome ... |
| XXXVIII [215 BC] - ... quinque naves quae Macedonum atque Poenorum captos legatos Romam portabant ... cum praeter Cumas velis ferrentur, neque hostium an sociorum essent satis sciretur, Gracchus obviam ex classe sua naves misit ... Cum eodem fere die ... legati Romam venissent ... ad naves viginti quinque, quibus Publius Valerius Falccus praefectus praeerat, viginti quinque parari alias [senatores] decernunt. His comparatis deductisque, et additis quinque navibus quae advexerant captivos legatos, triginta naves ab Ostia Tarentum profectae ... | XXXVIII [215 BC] - ... the five ships which were carrying the Macedonian and Carthaginian agents to Rome ... when Gracchus, uncertain whether they belonged to friends or foes, sent vessels from his own fleet to intercept them ... the agents both reached Rome the same day ... [senatores] also decided to equip twenty vessels in addition to the twenty-five which P. Valerius Flaccus already had under his command. After these had been fitted out and launched, the five ships which had carried the agents were added and thirty vessels left Ostia for Tarentum ... |
| XX [212 BC] - In ea duo maritima castella [Casilinum et Volturni ostium] frumentum, quod ex Sardinia nuper missum erat quodque Marcus Iunius praetor ex Etruria coemerat, ab Ostia convectum est ... | XX [212 BC] - The corn which had lately been sent from Sardinia as well as that which M. Junius had purchased in Etruria was conveyed from Ostia into these two maritime fortresses [Casilinum et Volturni ostium] .... |
| XIX [211 BC] - Ita cum triginta navium classe - omnes autem quinqueremes erat - ostiis Tiberis profectus [P. Cornelius Scipio] ... Emporiis ... copias exposuit. | XIX [211 BC] - Setting sail from the mouth of the Tiber with a fleet of thirty vessels, all quinqueremes, he coasted along the Etruscan shore, crossed the Gulf of Gaul, and after rounding the Pyrenaean Promontory brought up at Emporiae ... |
| XI [208 BC] - ... [tacta de caelo erant signum Iovis] et Ostiae lucus ... (some manuscripts have ostium, locus, lacus) | XI [208 BC] - [Various places had been struck by lightning] a grove at Ostia ... |
| XXII [208 BC] - Et P.Licinio Varo praetori urbano negotium datum ut naves longas triginta veteres reficeret quae Ostiae erant, et viginti novas sociis navalibus conpleret, ut quinquaginta navium classe oram maris vicinam urbi romanae tueri posset. | XXII [208 BC] - P. Licinius Varus, the City praetor, was charged with the task of refitting the thirty old warships which were laid up at Ostia, and manning with their full complement twenty new ones, so that he might have a fleet of fifty ships for the protection of that part of the coast which was nearest to Rome. |
| XXIII [208 BC] - ... et Ostiae murum portamque de caelo tactam ... | XXIII [208 BC] - ... at Ostia a gate and part of the wall had been struck by lightning ... |
| XXXVIII [207 BC] - ... colonos etiam maritimos, qui sacrosanctam vacationem dicebantur habere, dare milites cogebant. Quibus recusantibus, edixere in diem certam ut, quo quisque iure vacationem haberet, ad Senatum deferret. ea die ad senatum hi populi venerunt: Ostiensis, Alsiensis, Antias, Anxurnas, Minturnensis, Sinuessanus et ab supero mari Senensis. Cum vacationes suas quisque populus rcitaret, nullius, cum in Italia hostis esset, praeter Antiatem Ostiensemque, vacatio observata est; et earum coloniarum iuniores iure iurando adacti supra dies triginta non pernoctaturos se esse extra moenia coloniae suae, donec hostis in Italia esset. | XXXVIII [207 BC] - Even the maritime colonies which were declared to have been solemnly and formally exempted from military service were called upon to furnish soldiers, and on their refusal a day was fixed on which they were to appear before the senate and state, each for themselves, the grounds on which they claimed exemption. On the appointed day representatives attended from Ostia, Alsium, Antium, Anxur, Minturnae, Sinuessa, and from Sena on the upper sea. Each community produced its title to exemption, but as the enemy was in Italy, the claim was disallowed in the case of all but two - Antium and Ostia - and in the case of these, the men of military age were compelled to take an oath that they would not sleep outside their walls for more than thirty nights as long as the enemy was in Italy. |
| XIV [205 BC] - Publius Cornelius cum omnibus matronis Ostiam ire iussus obviam Deae [Matre Idaea], isque eam de nave accipere, et in terram elatam tradere ferendam matronis. Postquam navis ad ostium amnis Tiberini accessit, sicut erat iussus in salum nave evectus, ab sacerdotibus Deam accepit extulitque in terram. | XIV [205 BC] - P. Scipio was ordered to go to Ostia, accompanied by all the matrons, to meet the goddess [the Magna Mater]. He was to receive her as she left the vessel, and when brought to land he was to place her in the hands of the matrons who were to bear her to her destination. As soon as the ship appeared off the mouth of the Tiber he put out to sea in accordance with his instructions, received the goddess from the hands of her priestesses, and brought her to land. |
| I [199 BC] - ... nuntiatum est ... erat de caelo tactum ... item Ostienses aedem Iovis ... | I [199 BC] - ... others from Ostia reported that the temple of Jupiter there also had been struck [by lightning] ... |
| III [191 BC] - In comparanda impigre classe C.Livium praetorem contentio orta cum colonis maritimis paulisper tenuit. Nam cum cogerentur in classem tribunos plebi appellarunt; ab iis ad senatum reiecti sunt. Senatus ita ut ad unum omnes consentirent decrevit vacationem rei navalis eis colonis non esse. Ostia et Fregenae et Castrum Novum et Pyrgi et Antium et Tarracina et Minturnae et Sinuessa fuerunt quae cum praetore de vacatione certarunt. | III [191 BC] Whilst C. Livius was doing his utmost to make the fleet ready for sea he was for some time delayed by a dispute with the citizens of the maritime colonies. When they were impressed for the fleet they appealed to the tribunes of the plebs, who referred them to the senate. The senate unanimously decreed that there was no exemption from service for the colonists. The colonies concerned were Ostia, Fregenae, Castrum Novum, Pyrgi, Antium, Tarracina, Minturnae and Sinuessa. |