Titus Livius (; 64 or 59 BCAD 17)—known as
Livy in
English—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.