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What information about Livy’s lost books was preserved in a papyrus from Egypt?
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Livy
Livy.
A 3rd-century papyrus discovered in Egypt contains concise summaries of Livy’s lost books, specifically covering Books 37–40 and 48–55.1
These summaries were created because the immense size of Livy’s complete 142-book history made the work unmanageable for readers. While the majority of the books following Book 45 are lost, these papyrus fragments, along with the 4th-century Periochae (a summary of the entire work) and various quotations from ancient grammarians, provide the primary evidence for the content of the missing sections.1