Tite-Live, historien du mythe dans le livre I

In order to explain the traditional elements concerning original Roma, Livy had been faced to legendary material which is more a matter for Poetry than for History... at least for us. As far as ancient Historians are concerned, indeed, several aspects of Myth are not incompatible with historical narration. According to them, a less important distinction is made between what is true and what it is imaginary than between what is likely and what is unlikely. For Livy, a narration is believable provided that it’s not unlikely to philosophical, religious and political extents. Where we perceive in his work skepticism or distanciation, we have to consider only, most of the time, that Livy had applied to royal Roma’s traditions his own believability’s criterions.Martin Paul-Marius. Tite-Live, historien du mythe dans le livre I. In: Vita Latina, N°187-188, 2013. pp. 60-72