Mos uetustissimus –Tito Livio e la percezione della clemenza

Clemency plays an important role among Livy’s concepts of value. This work offers a wide-ranging analysis of this virtue, in order to highlight its impact and pattern of distribution in Livy’s History of Rome. Clemency is pleaded, exercised or denied within different areas (family, especially concerning fathers and sons, justice and army), which are all characterized by an uneven relationship between those who decide to exercise it or not, and those who may benefit from it. The conception that comes out is not monolithic at all, but evolves throughout the course of Livy’s work, and is related to various characters and situations. In this regard, clemency is a relevant ingredient for resolving conflicts at a political and diplomatic level, as well as a strategy for gaining the consent of the defeated. Lastly, special attention has been paid to the political and cultural environment contemporary to Livy, with the aim of ascertaining its influence on the author’s perception of clemency. This book is addressed to those who are interested in Livy’s historical work and, more specifically, in the role that clemency plays in Livy’s political and moral ideology.