Ab Urbe Condita Libri—often shortened to
Ab Urbe Condita—is a monumental history of ancient
Rome in
Latin begun sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian
Titus Livius, known in English as Livy. The Latin title can be literally translated as "Books since the city's founding". It is often referred to in English, however, as
The History of Rome. The work covers the time from the stories of
Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c. 753 BC, to Livy's own times in the reign of the emperor
Augustus. The last year covered by Livy is 745
AUC, or 9 BC, the death of
Drusus. About 25% of the work survives.