Portraits of Peoples

Abstract

The Romanocentric point of view adopted by Livy leads him to summarily characterize foreign peoples, and individuals among them, using ethnographical stereotypes. His perspective is above all moral and patriotic, and results in a dialectical opposition between Romans and non-Romans, illustrating the superiority of Rome, caput orbis terrarum. However, this overall interpretive scheme must be qualified, since the Ab urbe condita, which has its share of contradictions and ambiguities, is also a reflection of the complex reality of conquest and its consequences for Roman identity. This reality is demonstrated, most notably, in Livy's balanced characterization of the Greeks and Italians, and in his characterization of Scipio Africanus.

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