Commentary Inf XXVIII 12

The problem of the extent of Dante's knowledge of Livy remains a vexed one. See Antonio Martina, 'Livio, Tito,' (ED.1971.3), for a summary and bibliography through 1965 (especially important are the studies of Giuseppe Billanovich). Commentators point out that Dante here would rather seem to be following Orosius (or Augustine) than Livy, but still appeals to Livy as the most authoritative historian of Rome. His vast compendium, Ab urbe condita, did not come through the ages intact; precisely which parts of it were known to Dante is not known to us.