中文导读
提图斯·李维（Titus Livius，公元前 59—公元 17 年）的《罗马建城以来史》原书 142 卷，现存约 35 卷（卷 1-10、21-45 及部分残篇），是从罗马建城（前 753 年）到李维同时代的通史巨著。它是罗马史学中"年鉴传统"（annalistic tradition）的最高成就——不以分析见长，而以叙事的力量打动读者。
卷一从埃涅阿斯到达意大利开始，经过罗慕路斯建城、努马立教、王政时代的七位国王，直到驱逐傲慢者塔克文（Tarquinius Superbus）、建立共和国（前 509 年）。李维在前言中自问：罗马为什么能从一个小镇发展成世界帝国？他的回答是：因为罗马人的道德品质（virtus）——勤劳、节俭、忠诚、对神灵的敬畏。这个回答本身就是一种意识形态建构——奥古斯都时代的道德复兴运动需要一部"罗马美德史"来提供合法性。
但李维比这种意识形态宣传更复杂。他在叙事中允许反面声音存在：萨宾妇女被劫后的抗议、被驱逐的塔克文的哀怨、被暗杀的布鲁图斯看见自己儿子被处决时的痛苦。他写的历史不是简单的歌颂，而是一种"从记忆中汲取教训"的道德实践。
本选本收录卷一前 10 节（前言与建城传说）。
Ab Urbe Condita Book I, Sections 1-10
Whether I am going to deserve the praise or the censure of my readers
by the work which I am now undertaking, I know not. For the task
of writing a history of the Roman people from the foundation
of the city—a task which I have set myself—is one that I know
to be full of difficulty, and I am not sure that my abilities
are equal to it. But the subject is one that is worthy
of the most serious attention; and if I can succeed in tracing
the history of the Roman people from its humble beginnings
to the height of its power, and in showing by what virtues
and by what vices the empire was won and lost, I shall consider
that my labour has not been in vain.
To begin with, it is generally agreed that, after the fall of Troy,
the Greeks devastated the city and drove out the Trojans,
some of whom, under the leadership of Aeneas, fled to Italy
and settled in the land of the Latins. Aeneas, the son of Venus
and Anchises, brought with him his household gods and his son Ascanius,
and after many adventures, he arrived in Latium, where he was
received by King Latinus, who gave him his daughter Lavinia in marriage.
Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, founded the city of Alba Longa
on the Alban Mount, and his descendants ruled there for many generations.
In the course of time, Numitor, the rightful king of Alba,
was deposed by his brother Amulius, who forced Numitor's daughter,
Rhea Silvia, to become a Vestal Virgin, so that she could not
bear children who might one day claim the throne. But Rhea Silvia—
so the story goes—was visited by Mars, the god of war,
and bore twin sons, Romulus and Remus.
When Amulius learned of this, he ordered the twins to be thrown
into the Tiber. But the river was flooded, and the basket
in which the twins had been placed was carried to the shore
and left at the foot of the Palatine Hill. There a she-wolf—
sent, it is said, by Mars himself—came and suckled the children,
until they were found by a shepherd named Faustulus,
who took them home and raised them as his own.
When the twins grew up, they learned of their true identity
and restored their grandfather Numitor to the throne of Alba.
Then they decided to found a new city on the spot where they had been
found by the she-wolf. But a dispute arose between them:
which of them should rule the new city? They agreed to seek
a sign from the gods. Romulus took the Palatine Hill,
and Remus took the Aventine. Six vultures appeared to Remus,
but then twelve appeared to Romulus. Remus claimed the right
to rule, because he had seen his sign first; but Romulus claimed it,
because he had seen more birds. The dispute turned violent,
and Romulus killed Remus—so the story goes—and became
the sole founder of the city, which he named Rome, after himself.
The city was founded on the Palatine Hill, on the twenty-first
of April, in the year which the Romans reckoned as the first year
of the city's existence. Romulus gathered a band of followers—
mostly shepherds and outcasts—and established the first laws
and the first institutions of the new city.
But there was a problem: the city had no women. Romulus sent
ambassadors to the neighbouring peoples, asking for wives
for his men, but all refused. So Romulus devised a plan:
he announced a great festival, with games and contests,
and invited the neighbouring peoples to attend. Among those
who came were the Sabines, with their wives and daughters.
At a given signal, the Romans seized the Sabine women
and carried them off. The Sabine men were furious, and war broke out.
But the Sabine women, who had by now been reconciled to their
Roman husbands, intervened. They rushed between the two armies
and begged their fathers and their husbands not to fight.
Their pleas were heard, and peace was made. The Romans and Sabines
became one people, and the Sabine king, Titus Tatius, ruled jointly
with Romulus.
（卷一续：王政时代的后续国王、政治制度的建立。）