Studied For Action

The Past and Present Society
"Studied for Action": How Gabriel Harvey Read His Livy

Author(s): Lisa Jardine and Anthony Grafton
Source: Past & Present, No. 129 (Nov., 1990), pp. 30-78
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of The Past and Present Society
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"STUDIED FOR ACTION": HOW
GABRIEL HARVEY READ HIS LIVY
I
PROLOGUE: "THE ACTIVITY OF READING"
This essayformspartof a larger,book-length project,whichis
intendedtocontribute tothehistoricalunderstanding ofthewaysin
whichhumanistically trainedreadersassimilatedand responded to
theclassicalheritage.'But it seeksto go beyondthetraditional,
textualdefinition ofthisfieldtoreconstructthesocial,professional
and personalcontexts in whichreadingtookplace.2Although the
presentstudydealswitha topichistorians tendto labelas "high
culture",itwillbe clearthatwe alsointendittobe in dialoguewith
a bodyofrecentpublications on thehistory ofreadingand ofthe
book. That work,althoughby no meanshomogeneous, broadly
concerns itselfwiththeproduction andcirculationofprinted texts,
andwithsetting theactivityofreadingin itshistorical
andcultural
contexts,as wellas withsomeofthesocialimplications thatresult
froma particular locatingofreadingin history.
Allhistorians ofearlymodern culturenowacknowledge thatearly
modernreadersdidnotpassively receivebutrather reinter-
actively
pretedtheirtexts,and so do we. Butwe intendto takethatnotion
of activityin a strongsense:notjusttheenergywhichmustbe
acknowledged as accompanying theinterventionofthescholar/reader
withhistext,northecerebral effortinvolvedin making thetextthe
reader'sown, but readingas intendedto giveriseto something
else.
Wearguethatscholarlyreading(thekindofreading
weareconcerned
withhere)was alwaysgoal-orientated- an active,ratherthana
passivepursuit.It was conductedunderconditions of strenuous
it employed
attentiveness; job-related
equipment(both machinery
' L. Jardine
A. Grafton, andW. Sherman, intheRenaissance
(provisional
Reading
title).
2 Althoughtheprojectis a significantly
newone,treating
Renaissancetextsas the
basisfortransactions
amongdesignated ofreaders,
groups werecognizethatindividual
studiesofhumanisticinfluence important
provide forourownwork.See,
precedents
forexample,M. Lowry, "TheArrival andUseofContinental BooksinYorkist
Printed
England",in P. Aquilonand H.-J.Martin(eds.), Le livredansl'Europede la
Renaissance:actesduXXVIIIe colloqueinternational de Tours(Paris,
d'etudeshumanistes
1988),pp. 447-59,atpp. 456-7.We aregrateful
toWarren
Boutcher
ofTrinity
Hall,
Cambridge, forthisreference.
HOW GABRIEL HARVEY READ HIS LIVY 31
and techniques) designedforefficient absorptionand processing of

thematter read; it was normally carriedout in the company of a
colleagueor student;and was a publicperformance, ratherthana
privatemeditation, in itsaims and character.3
Aboveall,as we shallsee,this"activity ofreading"characteristi-
callyenvisaged some other outcome ofreading beyondaccumulation
ofinformation; andthatenvisaged outcome thenshapedtherelation-
shipbetweenreaderand text.In consequence, a singletextcould
give riseto a of
variety goal-directed readings,depending on the
initialbrief.4
Inevitably thishas for
consequences specific readings
ofgiventextsbya readerbriefed (byhimself orothers) in particular
ways,whichmeanthatthemodern historian
cannot affordtoprejudge
whatwillconstitute itsfocusor centraltheme.Indeed,we would
arguethat,ifwe use ourownunderstanding ofthesalientfeatures
ofthetextofLivy(say)to identify thepointsofcrucialimportance
toan Elizabethan reader,weareverylikelytomissortoconfuse the
methods andobjectsat whichreadingwasdirected.
Webelievethatourstudy willsignificantly
enrichwhathasrecently
cometobe called"thehistory ofreading".Students ofthisburgeon-
3 See, forexample,a suggestivepassagein HenryWotton's commonplace-book:

"In readingofhistory,a soldiershoulddrawtheplatform ofbattleshe meetswith,
plantthesquadronsandorderthewholeframe as hefindsitwritten,
so heshallprint
itfirmlyinhismindandapthismindforactions. A politique
shouldfindthecharacters
ofpersonages andapplythemto someoftheCourthe livesin,whichwilllikewise
confirm hismemory andgivescopeandmatter forconjectureandinvention.A friend
toconfer readings
togethermostnecessary": L. P. Smith,TheLifeandLetters ofSir
HenryWotton,2 vols. (Oxford,1907), ii, p. 494.
4A fineexampleofthisis thereading
whichJohnDee offered
SirEdwardDyer,
in 1597, of Dee's own Generaland Rare MemorialsPertayning
to thePerfectArteof
Navigationoftwenty yearsearlier(1577).Dyerhadwritten Dee's advice
requesting
on "HerMa.'iesTitleRoyallandSea Soveraigntie
in S' Georges
Chanell;andinallthe
BrytishOcean;anyman[er] ofwaynextenvyroninge, ornextadioyning
vnto,England,
Irelandand Scotland,or anyofthelesserIles to themapperteyning":BritishLib.,
London(hereafter Brit.Lib.), HarleianMS. 249,fos.95-105,at fo.95. WhatDee
givesDyerisa routethrough GeneralandRareMemorials whichwillyielda "reading"
whichanswers hisquestion,andhedoesthiswithgreattextual "In the20th
precision:
pageofthatboke,(against thefigure,9 in themargent)begynneth matter,inducing
theconsiderationofherMa.tiesRoyallSealimits,
andherpeculiar inall
Iurisdiction,
theSeas, next,vntoherMatieskingdomes, dominions and Territories.{Notethis
worde,NEXTforit will haue diuersevses in the Consideration,De Confinioin Mari
statuendo, vtinTerra)Andherevppon,in the21 page,bothin theText,andallso
in theMargent, is pregnant
matterconteyned:andthesameconfirmed bythelawes
Ciuile:andthegreatCiuiliendoctorsIudgm[en]t,there etc.(ibid.).William
alledged"
Sherman is currentlyworkingin theCambridge EnglishFacultyon this
University
andotherofDee's manuscript inthecontext
writings, ofDee's ownroleas a political
facilitator as Sherman
(or "intelligencer", totermhim).Thisworkwillform
prefers
partof our collaborativebook, Readingin theRenaissance.
32 PAST AND PRESENT NUMBER 129
ingdiscipline, aboveall RobertDarntonand RogerChartier, have

donemuchtofocusscholars' attention
ontheprocessofreading and
thewaysinwhichthishaschanged overtime.Theyhaveshownthat
factors as diverseas thetypographical layoutofa text,thephysical
circumstances underwhichit is readand theprocessbywhichthe
readerobtainsithavea powerful on thereader'sexperience
effect of
thetextitself.Theyhaveturned up richinformation about authors'
and readers'expectations withinearlymodernnovelsandtreatises.
Theyhavesometimes beenabletodiscover readersintheprocessof
response, explaining tobooksellersorauthors themselvesexactlyhow
they were struck a
by giventext.5 But thisnew historiographyhas
yet to show an interestin the kindof materialwe tackle here.
Onereasonforthismaybe thatthetransactional modelofreading
whichwe use assumesthata singletextmaygiverisetoa plurality
ofpossibleresponses, nota tidilyunivocalinterpretation.Historians
ofreadinghavebeeninclinedto settleforrather simple models for
thereadingpractices ofdefinable socialgroupsand to locatesharp
moments oftransitionwhenone setofpractices yieldsto another:
whenreadingpassesfromspeechto silence,frompublicto private
settings,fromintensive to extensive
or passiveto active.But,even
in therealmofpopularculture, a varietyofkindsofreadingwere
understood totakeplace,andsuchreadings werenotsealedofffrom
more"serious"and "educated"encounters withthewritten word.6
Aspectsoftheleisured reading andoftheurbanconsump-
oftheel1ite
tionofbibliotheque bleuevolumes undoubtedly alsoshapethereading
whichtakesplaceinthescholarly studyortheuniversity classroom.'
Whatwe attempt hereis to showonekindofpurposeful reading
in process.We havechosentofocuson directed readingconducted
in the circle(and underthe auspices)of prominent Elizabethan
politicalfigures, becausewe ourselves findtheinteraction between
5 See, forexample,
R. C. Darnton,"ReadersRespondto Rousseau",in his The
GreatCat Massacreand OtherEpisodesin FrenchCulturalHistory(New York, 1984);
R. Chartier,TheCulturalUsesofPrintinEarlyModemEurope,trans.L. G. Cochrane
(Princeton,1987).A classicstudyofreading
bysomeone notprimarilyidentified
as
a studentof thisfieldis C. Ginzburg,TheCheeseand theWorms, trans.J. and
A. Tedeschi(Baltimore,1980).
6 As symptoms of theplurality fortheuse oftextsat a specified
ofpossibilities
historical
moment, seetheprefacetoJohn Euphues
Lyly, (London,1578);introductory
epistletoThomasNashe,TheUnfortunate Traveller(London,1594);preface toBen
Fair (London, 1631).
Jonson,Bartholomew
Cultural
7 Chartier, UsesofPrint,ch.5, "Publishing andWhatthePeople
Strategies
Read,1530-1660",ch.7, "TheBibliotheque andPopularReading";R. Chartier,
bleue
"Texts,Printing,
Readings",in L. Hunt(ed.), TheNewCulturalHistory
(Berkeley,
1989),pp. 154-75.
politicsand scholarshiphereparticularly excitingforthelightit can

castbothon politicalaffiliation
(who shared whatpoliticalbeliefs)and
on the activityof the scholars these figuresretainedmore or less
formallyin theirservice.At one level, of course,the discoveryof
close connectionsbetweenpoliticaltheoryas containedin classical
textsand Tudor politicalpracticeis notunexpected;it is thenature
of the connectionwhichis surprising(its methodicalcharacter,its
persistenceas an emphasisin scholarlyreading,theseriousnesswith
which"reading"was treatedby thoseactivein thepoliticalarena).
Elsewhere,in workwe are currently engagedin on otherreadingsin
othercontexts(medical,astronomical, philosophicaland dialectical),
wherethemodernreaderis lesspreparedforit,we arefinding equally
unexpected,relatedconjunctionsofreadingpracticeand application
to specifiedgoals.
II
"A WORD WILL SUFFICE FOR THE WISE": SCHOLARS AND
MARTIALISTS
On 18 February1601SirThomasArundelwrotea letterto SirRobert
Cecil, defendinghimselfagainstanyimplicationin theEssex rising,
and urgingclemencyforthe earl of Southampton.s Withthisletter
was enclosedan unsignedpaper in the same hand, whichcontains
the followingpassage:
I can notbutwrighte whatI thinkmayavayleyou so dothemylove
manyfest Theareis oneCuffa certayne
myfollye. purytane skolleroneof
thewhottestheadesofmylo: ofEssexhisfollowers.ThisCuffwassente
bymylo: ofEssextoreadetomylo: ofSouthampton in Pariswherehee
reddAristotles to hymwthsutchexposytions
polyticks as, I doubt,did
hymbutlyttle heereddtomylo: ofRutlande.
good:afterwards I protest
I owehymnomallyce, butyfheeshowd[?]faultye heerein,wchI greatelye
doubte,I cannotbutwishhispunishment. [In Latin]A wordwillsuffice
forthe wise (verbumsapienti).'
HenryCuffe,one-timeprofessor ofGreekat Oxford,and secretary
to theearl of Essex, had as one of his duties(accordingto Arundel)
8 Bodleian
Lib.,Oxford, Ashmolean MS. 1729,fo.189,SirThomasArundel toSir
RobertCecil,18Feb. 1601.We areextremely toPaulHammer
grateful forbringing
anditsenclosure
thisletter toourattention,andforhisunerring inthecourse
ability,
ofhis ownwork,to pickup fromthepolitical correspondenceofthe1590sitems
whichconfirm ourintuitions
abouttherelationshipinthatperiodbetween "armsand
letters".
9Ibid.,fo. 190.In a personal
communication, 21 July1989,Paul Hammer com-
ments:"In enclosing thisnoteon a separatepieceofpaperandunsigned, it seems
veryprobable Arundel wasfollowing a common procedure fordealingwithsensitive
information".
thatof professionalreader:"to readeto mylo: of Southampton",
andtoprovidehisownexpositions ofthetext(Aristotle's Politics)."'
The notesuggests thattherewasa specific category ofemployee ina
noblehousehold suchas Essex's:thescholar, retained to"read"with
his employer and his employer's associates.Andthereis a strong
suggestion thatthis reading is aware,thatit servesa
politically
politicalpurpose,ofwhichthescholar/secretary is apprised, andin
whichhe is activelyinvolved ("heereddAristotles polyticks tohym
wthsutchexposytions as, I doubt,didhym[Southampton] butlyttle
good").Thismight leadus toreassess theaccusation levelledatCuffe
byEssexafterhisarrest(according toCamden;proof,according to
MervynJames,ofEssex'sviolation of"all thecanonsofhonour"):
"youweretheprincipal manthatmovedmetothisperfidiousness"."
Was it to Cuffe'slinein "exposytions" thatEssexwas attributing
blame,on thegroundsthatthesehad led himto believethathis
political weresanctioned
activities bytheauthority ofclassical political
texts?'2
A secondletter fromtheEssexcirclefurther supports theideaof
scholar-secretaries for -
employed "reading" providing interpret-
ationsoftextualmaterial on pragmatic politicalthemes. Anundated
letterto Fulke Greville,attributed to Essex,advisesGrevilleas
follows:
1OHenry Cuffewasintheendhangedforhispartin theabortive rebellion(South-
amptongotlifeimprisonment). Here,however, we set on one side theemotive
"conspiracy" ofthestatepapersandCamden's
testimonies Annales, andconcentrate
on Cuffe's The statepapers(butnotCamden)contain
profession. a version ofCuffe's
scaffoldspeechwhichis entirelyappropriatetotheprofession ofscholarinservice to
themanofarms:"SchollarsandMartiallists (thoughelearning andvallourshould
havethep[re]hemynence yet)in Englandmustdyelikedoggesandbe hanged:To
mislikethis,werebutfolly;todisputeofit,buttymelost;toalteritimpossible; but
toendureitmanlye, andtoscorneitmagnanimitye": PublicRecordOffice, London
(hereafterP.R.O.), SP12/279,no. 26. Seealsothedocument containing Cuffe'sfinal
confession,inwhichhe triedtomaintain a distinction
between theguidance he gave
on policy(whichhe admitted) and theusetowhichthatadvicewasput(forwhich,
he triedtomaintain, hecouldnotbe heldresponsible). Thedocument records,"My
LordGrayesaide,thisis no timeforLogicke":P.R.O., SP12/279, no. 25.
" WilliamCamden,HistorieofElizabethQueeneofEngland(London, 1630),p. 187;
citedin MervynJames,Society,Politicsand Culture:Studiesin EarlyModernEngland
(Cambridge, discreditable
1986),p. 458:"Particularly washisbetrayal
ofa dependant,
hissecretaryHenryCuffe, andhisascriptiontohimofsucha highpoliticactas his
whichhisstatus
revolt, himtotakeuponhimself.
required WhentheearltaxedCuffe
that'youweretheprincipal manthatmovedmetothisperfidiousness', thelatterin
his turn'taxedbrieflyand sharplytheearl'sinconstancy,
in thathe betrayed
those
mostdevotedto him'"
Earl ofEssex: And GeorgeVilliers,
12 See also HenryWotton,Of RobertDevereux,
Duke ofBuckingham: byWayofParallel,in theTimeoftheirEstates
Some Observations
ofFavour,ed. SirEgerton (priv.pr.,Lee Priory,
Brydges Kent,1816),pp. 32-4.
CosinFoulke:youtellmeyouaregoingtoCambridge andthattheEnds
ofyorgoingare,to geta Scholartoyorliking, to liuewthyou,andsome
2, or 3 othersto remainin theUniuersitie,andgather foryou;andyou
requiremyOpinion,whatInstruction, youshallgiuethoseGatherers. to
wchI will,moreoutofAffection todo whatI can,then
foryorSatisfaction,
outofConfidence thatI can doo anything:andthough yougetnothing
ellsbythisidlediscourse; yetyoushalllearnthis,that,ifyouwillhaue
yorFriendpe[r]form whatyourequire, youmustrequirenothing aboue
hisStrength.Hee thatshalloutofhisownReadinggather fortheuse of
another, must(as I think)do it by Epitome,or Abridgment, or under
Heads,andcommonplaces.13
In our earlierworkon humanisteducationwe noted,tentatively,
thatsome humanistteacherssuggestedthata noblemanor prince
mightemploya poor but giftedyoungman to read and excerptthe
classicsforhim.Here we suggestthatsomeElizabethangreathouses
supporteda recognizableclass ofscholarwho performed exactlythis
function,actinglessas in
advisers themodern sense than as facilitators
easing the difficult
negotiationsbetween modern needs and ancient
texts.Such readersread, eitheralone or in company,on theirem-
ployers'ratherthan on theirown behalf,for purposesand with
methodsthat varied dramaticallyfromoccasion to occasion. We
proposeto show how one such individualactuallyused his skillsto
derivecounselfromthe texts.Our facilitator is GabrielHarvey;his
employment was in the householdof the earl of Leicester.14
III
READING "IN THE TRADE OF OUR LIVES": THE PHILIP SIDNEY
READING
Gabriel Harveywas born in 1550 of a prominentSaffronWalden
burgherfamily,and died therea highlyrespectedlocal publicfigure
in 1630. He tookhis B.A. at Christ'sCollege,Cambridge,in 1569-
70, was a fellowof firstPembrokeHall (wherehe took his M.A.,
againstsome internalcollegeopposition),and thenTrinityHall (of
which he made an unsuccessfulattemptto become master). He
occupieda numberofuniversity posts,includinguniversitypraelector
of rhetoric(1573-5) and universityproctor(1583). He obtainedhis
LL.B. in 1584, and was inceptedDoctor of Civil Law at Oxfordin
1585.In thelate 1580she practisedin theCourtofArchesin London.
13BodleianLib.,TannerMS. 79,fos.29'-30'.We aregrateful

toPaulHammer for
also,andtoWilliam
thisreference Shermanformaking a preliminary for
transcription
us.Theremainder oftheletter
details
methodsformaking andcommonplace
epitomes
andthekindsofworkusefully
collections, tobe epitomized.
14 We owetheterm heretoRachelWeiloftheUniversity
"facilitator" ofGeorgia.
He held a secretarialpost withtheearl of Leicesterbriefly in 1580,
and appearsto have had otherofficialconnectionswithmembersof
thecourtcircle(in particular membersoftheso-called"warparty"-
Low ChurchopponentsofElizabeth'spolicyofpoliticalappeasement
in Europe). He publishedboth"high"educationalworks,and popu-
lar works (includingseveral exchangesof letterswith his friend
EdmundSpenser,and some "low" pamphletmaterial).His publish-
ing careerwas terminated aftera rancorousseriesof pamphletex-
changes with Thomas Nashe, at the end of which,in 1599, both
men's workswere bannedfrompublication."1
Harvey'sLivyis a grandand heavyfolioin sixes,printedin Basle
in 1555.'6 In thisedition,the textof Livy appearsflankedby both
criticsand supporters.Two elaboratecommentaries, one byIoannes
Velcurioand one byHenricusGlareanus,followthetextandexplicate
it,oftenphrasebyphrase.Instructions forreadinghistory,bySimon
Grynaeus,precedeit. LorenzoValla's iconoclastic demonstration that
Livyhad committed a genealogicalerroralso appears,lestthereader
feelmore reverencethana Roman classic properlydemands.The
entirebook is denselyannotatedby Harvey,indicatingsuccessive
readingsovera periodof morethantwentyyears.17
At theend ofbook threeofthefirstdecade ofHarvey'sLivythere
is the followingnote:
Thecourtier PhilipSidneyandI hadprivately thesethreebooks
discussed
of Livy,scrutinizing themso faras we couldfromall pointsof view,
applying a political
analysis,justbeforehisembassytotheemperor Rudolf
II. He wenttooffer himcongratulations inthequeen'snamejustafter he
had beenmadeemperor. Our considerationwas chiefly at the
directed
forms ofstates,theconditions ofpersons, ofactions.
andthequalities We
paidlittleattentionto theannotations ofGlareanusandothers.'8
" This
summaryis based on V. F. Stern,GabrielHarvey:His Life,Marginaliaand
Library(Oxford,1979); G. C. Moore Smith,GabrielHarvey'sMarginalia(Stratford-
upon-Avon,1913). For some recentremarkson Harvey'srelationship withAndrew
Perneat Cambridge,see PatrickCollinson,"AndrewPerneand his Times" (unpub-
lished paper).
16 PrincetonUniversityLib., Deposit of Lucius Wilmerding Jr.,T. Livii Patavini,
Romanaehistoriae principis,decadestres,cumdimidia(Basle, 1555) (hereafter Harvey's
Livy). The volumeis inscribed"ex dono DrisHenriciHarveij.A. 1568", and contains
notesmade duringtheperiod1568-90.We are extremely gratefulto theownerand to
PrincetonUniversity Libraryforallowingus access to thisvolume.
"7On Harvey'shabitsofannotating, see Moore Smith,GabrielHarvey'sMarginalia;
C. BrownBourland,"GabrielHarveyand theModernLanguages",Huntington Lib.
Quart.,iv (1940-1),pp. 85-106;H. S. Wilson,"GabrielHarvey'sMethodofAnnotat-
inghis Books", Huntington Lib. Bull., ii (1948), pp. 344-61;J.-C.Margolin,"Gabriel
Harvey,lecteurd'Erasme", Arquivosdo CentroCulturalPortugues, iv (1972), pp. 37-
92; Stern,GabrielHarvey(and her bibliography, ibid., pp. 272-3).
18 Harvey'sLivy, p. 93. In all instanceswhereexcerptsfromHarvey'smarginalia
are givenin modernEnglishthisindicatesthattheoriginalannotationwas in Latin.
precisereference.
Hereis anextremely Justthesethreebooks,read
through by Harveyand Sidney,t0te-d4-tte,
withan eyeto political
analysis,and "shortlybeforehis embassyto EmperorRudolph
II". Theywereparticularly in typesofrepublic,in the
interested
andcircumstances,
character
protagonists' andinthetypesofaction.
ignored- as menofactionperhapsshould- the
They deliberately
humanist commentaries.
In October1576Sidneyreturned from Ireland,probably
escorting
thebodyoftheearlofEssex,whohaddiedthereon22 September.19
Whilein Irelandhe had accompanied hisfather, SirHenrySidney
in Ireland),withthetaskofdealing(apparently
(governor-general
pretty withbandsofrebels.
unsuccessfully)
ThiswasSidney'sfirstactiveservice.He setoutonhisembassy to
RudolphinFebruary 1577.Between Irelandandthisfirstdiplomatic
serviceSidneywasin England;he visitedJohnDee on 16 January
1577andsenta letter
from Leicester
Houseon8 February.20 Itseems
reasonabletoinferthathe andHarveyreadLivyat Leicester House
betweenOctober 1576 and February1577.21
In bookoneofthethird
decadeHarvey onceagainlinksa "reading"
ofLivywithmembers ofSidney'scircleor associates:22
19See H. Hore, "Sir HenrySidney'sMemoirof his Government", UlsterJl.
Archaeol.,v (1857),pp. 299-323:"Here[Galway] heardwefirstoftheextreame and
hopelesse sickness oftheearlofEssex,bywhomSirPhilipbeingoften mostlovingly
andearnestly wishedandwritten for,he withall thespeedhe couldmakewentto
him,butfoundhimdeadbefore hiscoming, inthecastleatDublin"(p. 314).Weare
gratefultoWilliamMaleyforthisreference.
20 The Dee visitincluded Leicester,PhilipSidneyand "thelatter's closefriend,
EdwardDyer":J. M. Osborn,YoungPhilipSidney,1572-1577 (New Havenand
London,1972),pp. 449,451.
21 Anadditional clueis thatonsig.Fii'ofGabrielHarvey, Gratulationes
Valdinenses
(London,1578),"a poemis described as havingbeenpresented toLeicester in 1576":
Stern,Gabriel Harvey, p. 39. Thereis onefurther pieceoftantalizingcircumstantial
evidence suggesting thatHarveymayhavebeenin somewayassociated withSidney
evenearlier.In Osborn,YoungPhilipSidney,pp. 402-3,thereis a seriesofthree
lettersfrom thebiographer ofRamus,Theophile de Banos,concerning hisedition of
Ramus'sCommentaries, preceded bya biography ofRamus,whichtheprinter Wechel
(alsoa friendofSidney's) hadjustproduced. Thefirst letter
promises that:"ifI cannot
finda friend to takethem[Ramus'sCommentaries], I willsenda manspecially to
MasterHarveyin Antwerp, so thatyouwillsafely receivethem"."MasterHarvey"
musthavebeenreturning to England,thusa carrier forthebook.In theevent,de
Banossendstwofurther anxiousletters,becausethebookhasapparently notarrived,
andinMarchhereceives wordfromSidneythathehasstillnotreceived it:ibid.,pp.
408-9,416-17.FromJanuary untilthebeginning of theCambridge Easterterm
(April?),Harveywas inexplicably outof Cambridge, andnothing is knownofhis
whereabouts: Stern,Gabriel Harvey, pp. 30-1.Harveywasa dedicated Ramist, and
in anycase theSidney/Ramus/Wechel connection - Sidneyexchanges letterswith
Wechelauthorizing himtobuyhimthelatestbooksat theFrankfurt bookfair,for
whichhe willreimburse him- is intriguing.
22 On fo. 53' of Brit.Lib., SloaneMS. 93 (theso-called
Harveyletter-book),
(cont.onp. 38)
38 PASTAND PRESENT NUMBER129
Eachdecadeis fine,butthisoneshouldbe studied bythebestactors.The
quality ofthecontent,anditsgreatpower;wherethevirtue oftheRomans
suffers so much.Certainly somelightcan be shedby Louis le Roy's
Commentaries onAristotle's Bodin'sRepublicandMethodus;
Politics; du
Poncet's Turkish SecretsintheGallicCourt;Sansovino's PoliticalMaxims;
therecentworkson politics byAlthusius andLipsius;a fewothers.And
it is fitting
forprudent mento makestrenuous efforts to use whatever
shedslighton politics:and to increaseit as muchas theycan. Two
outstanding courtiersthanked meforthispolitical andhistorical inquiry:
SirEdwardDyerandSirEdwardDenny.Butlettheproject - once
itself
fullytried- be myreward.All I wantis a livelyandeffective political
analysis ofthechiefhistories:
especiallywhenHannibal andScipio,Marius
and Sylla,Pompeyand Caesarflourished.23
Otherevidencecomplements thesenotes,enablingus to reconstruct
Harvey's role in full. In Harvey's Sacrobosco(now in the British
Library),whichcarriestheinscription "Arte,et virtute,1580" on its
title-page,24a note on sig. aiirreads: "Sacrobosco & Valerius,Sir
Philip Sidneis two bookes forthe Spheare.Bie him speciallycom-
mendedto theEarl ofEssex, SirEdwardDennie,& diversgentlemen
of the Court. To be read withdiligentstudie,but sportingly, as he
termedit".25
So Sidney,by 1580, apparentlyhad his own viewson "reading"
forthose in the politicalarena. Or did he? Osborn printsa letter
fromSidney to Edward Denny which came to lightin a "near-
contemporary transcript"in 1971. It is dated 22 May 1580, on the
eve of Denny's departure(like Spenser)in the trainof Lord Grey,
thenewgovernor ofIreland,appointedtoputdownIrishdisturbances
moresingle-mindedly thanhad HenrySidney.26 It apparently answers
an inquiryfromDenny as to what he should read to improvehis
mind(and presumably hisprospects),and is something ofa setpiece.
It also makes clear, as Sidneydoes elsewhere in his letters,thatin
thefaceof Elizabeth's determined resistance to military engagement
(n.22cont.)
somewhat inserted
cryptically inthenarrative,
isa fragment ofa letter
from"Immerito"
(Spenser)at courtwhichreads:"The twoeworthy gentlemen, Mr. SidneyandMr.
Dyer,haveme,I thankethem,in sumuseoffamiliaritye; ofwhomandtowhome
whatspeachepassithforyourcreddite andestimation, I leaveyourselfetoconceyve,
havinge allwayesso wellconceyvidofmyunfainid affectionandgoodwilltowardes
yow.Andnowetheyhaveproclaymid inthere Sternmistakenlymakes
aQeLwayw".
thisa letterfromHarvey: Stern,GabrielHarvey, p. 39.
23Harvey's Livy,p. 277.
24 Stern,GabrielHarvey,pp. 233-4.
25 79.
Transcribedibid., p.
26 See L.
Jardine,
"'Mastering theUncouth':GabrielHarvey,EdmundSpenser
in Ireland",in J. Henryand S. Hutton(eds.),New
and theEnglishExperience
on RenaissanceThought:Essays in theHistoryofScience,Educationand
Perspectives
Philosophyin MemoryofC. B. Schmitt(London, 1990), pp. 68-82.
aspiringmenofactionlikehimselfand Dennyhavea gooddeal oftime

on theirhands, and that"reading" and "study" are the approved,
character-forming way of relievingboredom:
You willme to tellyoumymindeofthedirectinge yourstudyes. I will
doeitas wellas thehastofyourboy[thewaiting messenger], andmylittle
judgement willhableme. Butfirst letmereioyse withyou,thtsincethe
vnnobleconstitution ofourtyme,dothkeepevs fromfitte imployments,
youdoe yetkeepeyourselfeawake,wtthedelight ofknowledge.27
For thefoundation of studySidneynaturallyprescribesscriptural
reading. But when he comesto "the tradeofour lives", he specifies
reading which is (we would argue)quiteclearlybased on that"read-
ing" with Gabriel Harvey three yearsearlier:
Thesecondparteconsists as itwereinthetradeofourlives.Fora physician
muststuddy onethinge, anda Lawyeran other,buttoyouthtwithgood
reasonbendyourselfetosouldiery, whatbookescandeliver, standsinthe
booksthtprofess thearte,& inhistoryes. Thefirstsheweswhatshouldbe
done,andtheotherwhathathbenedone.Ofthefirst sorteis Langeaiin
french, andMachiavell in Italian,andmanyotherwherof I willnottake
vponme to iudge,butthisI thinke ifyouwillstuddythem,it shallbe
necessary foryoutoexercise yourhandein settingdownewhatyoureed,
as in descriptions ofbattaillons,camps,andmarches, withsomepractise
ofArithmetike, whichsportingly youmayexercise. OfthemI willsaynoe
further,forI amwitness ofmyneowneignoraunce. Forhistoricall
maters,
I wooldwishyoubefore youbegantoreeda littleofSacroboscus Sphaere,&
theGeography ofsomemoderne writer,wheroftherearemany& is a very
easyanddelightful studdy. You haveallreadyverygoodiudgement ofthe
Sea mappes,whichwillmaketheothermucheasier;and provideyour
selfeofanOrtelius, thtwhenyoureedofanyplace,youmayfinde itout,&
haveit,as itwerebefore youreyes.28
"Some practiseofArithmetike,
whichsportingly
youmayexer-
cise" - echoed in Harvey's "To be read withdiligentstudie,but
sportingly,as [Sidney] termedit" in his copy of Sacrobosco -
indicatesthatHarveysaw thisletter(it is evenpossiblehe wroteit).29
It seemsclearto us thatwe do indeedhaveherean agreed"reading"
of history,forthe "tradeof our lives" - politicsand "souldiery".
And thesourceofthatreading,since,as we shallsee, thecopiousness
and consistencyof Harvey's annotationsmustestablishhim as its
originatinginfluence,is that"armchair"politician(as he used to be
GabrielHarvey.
characterized)
We beginherebecausetheDennyletter/Harvey connec-
marginalia
tionestablishesat the outsetsome real-lifeeventsand outcomesfor
27
Osborn, YoungPhilipSidney,appendix5, pp. 535-40,at p. 537.
28
Ibid., p. 539.
29 OrSpenser,
withDennyinIreland,
sawit.Atanyrate,there
isa direct
connection
between Harveyandtheletter.
Harvey's readingofLivy.Itwillbeanimportant partofourargument

to maintain thatRenaissance readers(and annotators) persistently
envisageactionas theoutcome ofreading - notsimplyreadingas
active,butreadingas triggerforaction.Herewemaynotehowthe
chanceopportunity to collatethemarginal notesof an individual
knownonlyas a reader(andthuslabelledpolitically non-participant
bylaterscholars)witha "letterofadvice"from an individual
known
anddiplomatically
tobe politically activeseemstosharpen up "read-
ing"intopotential"advice",andprovide a linkbetween theabsorp-
tionof information(as we would tend to judgereading)andpublic
practice.
IV
"I RAN OVER THIS DECADE ON HANNIBALIN A WEEK": THE
COLONEL THOMAS SMITH READING
At thebottom ofpage428 oftheLivyHarveyrecordsa debatehe
in at Hill House,TheydonMount,homeofhispatron
participated
SirThomasSmith, inwhichLivy'shistorical
commentarystimulated
of
a livelytopicaldiscussion Elizabethan
military
strategy:
Thomas Smith andSirHumphrey
junior Gilbert forMarcellus,
[debated]
ThomasSmithseniorand DoctorWalterHaddonforFabiusMaximus,
before anaudienceatHillHallconsisting
atthatverytimeofmyself, John
Wood,and severalothersof gentlebirth.At lengththe son and Sir
Humphrey yieldedto the distinguished
secretary:perhapsMarcellus
yieldedtoFabius.Bothofthemworthy men,andjudicious. Marcellus the
morepowerful; Fabiusthemorecunning. Neither wasthelatterunpre-
pared[weak],northeformer imprudent: as theother
eachas indispensible
in his place.Thereare timeswhenI wouldratherbe Marcellus, times
whenFabius.
Wecandatetheeventtowhichthisnoterefers withsomeaccuracy.
Between1566and 1570SirHumphrey wasonactiveservice
Gilbert
He wasknighted
inIreland.30 forhisservices
on 1 January1570,and
returnedtoEnglandat theendofthatmonth, remainingthereuntil
July1572,whenhewassenttotheNetherlands theSpanish.3'
against
Fromsummer 1571hewascertainly withSirThomasSmith
involved
ina speculative
projecttoobtaina monopolyona supposedprocedure
fortransmutingironintocopper.32SirThomasSmithwasinFrance
30D. B. Quinn, The Voyagesand Colonising
Enterprises Gilbert,2
ofSir Humphrey
vols.(London,1940),i, p. 12.
31Ibid., i, pp. 17-18,22-3.
in Office(London, 1964), pp.
32 M. Dewar, Sir ThomasSmith:A TudorIntellectual
149-55;Quinn, Voyagesand Colonising ofSir Humphrey
Enterprises Gilbert,i, pp. 20-
1.
fromDecember 1571.33 HarveyknewJohnWood in 1569,whenhe
noted in his copy of Smith'sDe rectaet emendatalinguaeanglicae
scriptionedialogus(London, 1567), that the book was a giftfrom
Smith'snephew,his "specialfriend".34 The Hill House debate,then,
tookplace some timein 1570, or early1571.
In 1571 threeof thefourparticipants in the debatewereactively
involvedin military and diplomaticaffairs.Specifically, Sir Thomas
Smith,his son and Sir HumphreyGilbertwereall activelyengaged
in the Elizabethanconquestand settlement of Ireland.Gilbert(the
ruthlesssuppressorby forceoftheFitzmauricerebellion)and Smith
junior(shortlyto head the militarycampaignforthe Smithfamily
settlement venturein theArds) arguethecase forMarcellus,whose
unscrupulousness and ruthlessnessLivycontrasts withFabius' meas-
ured strategy.Sir Thomas Smithand the elderlydiplomatHaddon
winthedebatewiththeircase fortheruleoflaw and policy.35 These
distinguished Elizabethansused Livy- and Harvey- to workout
anewin debatetheRomanrelationship betweenmoralsand action-
law and militaryengagement.
At the bottomof page 518 Harveywritesin themargin:
I ranoverthisdecadeonHannibalina week,nolessspeedily thaneagerly
andsharply,withThomasSmith, sonofThomasSmith theroyalsecretary,
whowas[Smith afterwards
shortly
junior] royaldeputy intheIrishArds-
a youngmanas prudentas spirited and vigorous.We werefreerand
sometimes sharper oftheCarthaginians
critics andtheRomansthanwas
formenof ourfortune,
fitting virtueor evenlearning, and at leastwe
learntnottotrustanyoftheancientsorthemoderns sycophantically,and
to examinethedeedsofothers,ifnotwithsolidjudgement, at leastwith
ourwholeattention. We putmuchtrustin Aristotle's and Xenophon's
inVegetius'
politics, bookOfMilitary AffairsandFrontinus' Stratagems.
Andwe chosenotalwaystoagreewitheitherHannibal,orMarcellus, or
FabiusMaximus;norevenwithScipiohimself.
Evidentlythe Hill House debate emergedfromor accompanieda
full-scalereadingof the text.This can be dated: the letterspatent
33See below,p. 42.

Gabriel
34 Stern, Harvey,pp. 14-15.The bookis nowin theWilmerdingdeposit,
Princeton;another identifies
inscription it as "JohnWood'sbook,a giftfromthe
authorhimself'(Johannis Woddiliberex ipsoAuthoris
dono).
3 Haddon(1516-72)wroteElizabeth's answerto Osoriusin 1563,publishedin
Paris"through the agencyof Sir ThomasSmith,theEnglishambassador": s.v.
WalterHaddon,Dictionary
ofNationalBiography D.N.B.). In 1567Thomas
(hereafter
Hatcherpublished
a collection
ofHaddon'sworks,Lucubrationes
passimcollectae
et
editae: studioet laboreThomaeHatcheriCantabrigiensis;Hatcheralso publishedIn
Commendation ofCarrand Wilson'sDemonsthenes
(s.v. Hatcher,D.N.B.). Hatcherand
Harveywereapparently
friends,and Harvey'scopyofDemonsthenes'
Gnomologiae
hadpreviously
belongedto Hatcher;Harveyacquireditin 1570.
authorizingtheSmithsto embarkon a privateventure to colonize

theArdsregionofIrelandwereissuedon 16 November1571;Sir
ThomasSmithwas appointed principal secretary in July1572,but
"longbefore that"(anytimeafter spring 1571) Burghley andothers
werereferring to him as "secretary"; he leftforFranceon an
ambassadorial assignment on 15 December1571.36 ThomasSmith
junior,SirThomas'snatural andonlyson,wasrecruiting volunteers
in Liverpoolearlyin 1572,and was killedin Ireland,duringthe
unsuccessfulfirstattempt toestablishtheSmithventure, in October
1573.37So the readingreferred to alsotook place some time earlyin
1571. This date is corroborated by a remarkin Harvey'sFoure
(London,1592),in whichhe records
Letters thattheearlofOxford
"bestowed AngelsuponmeeinChristes ColledgeinCambridge, and
otherwise voutsafed me manygratiousfavoursat theaffectionate
commendation ofmyCosen,M. ThomasSmith,thesonneof Sir
Thomas,shortly afterColoneloftheArdsinIreland".38 Harveywas
electedto a fellowship at Pembroke Hall at theend of 1570,and
presumably leftChrist's(thecollegeat whichhe tookhis B.A.)
shortlythereafter- thatis, earlyin 1571.
So whileThomasSmithprepared himself forhiscrucialmilitary
expeditionto Ireland(theexpedition whichwas supposedto make
as wellas hisownandhisfather's
hiscareerpolitically, fortunes),he
readLivy with his intellectual
companion and closefriend("cosen")
GabrielHarvey.Weshallseelaterwhatform thatreadingtook(using
thecopiousnotesto bookthreeand theirrepeatedreferences to
ThomasSmith'sopinionsas ourguide).
V
"OWR SPECIAL NOTES & PARTICULAROBSERVATIONSWEE
COMMITTED TO WRITING": THE THOMAS PRESTON READING
Harveyreadthefirst
In 1584(probably), decadeintensivelyagain,
moreacademic
withapparently ThistimehereadwithThomas
intent.
Preston,
newly master
appointed ofTrinity
Hall(a postwhichHarvey
Thatthisreadingwas a "theoretical"
had hopedto winhimself).39
Dewar, Sir ThomasSmith,pp. 123, 131.
6
37D. B. Quinn,"Sir ThomasSmith(1513-1577) and theBeginnings ofEnglish

(1945),pp. 543-60,atpp. 548-9.
Proc.Amer.Philos.Soc.,lxxxix
ColonialTheory",
38 Cited in Stern,GabrielHarvey,pp. 65-6.
39But,as throughout thispiece,themarginal theconventional
notescontradict
account toachieve
ofthisfailure office
leaving a broken
Harvey man
anddisappointed
on Nashe).
(basedlargely
one is made explicitby the factthatits key textwas Machiavelli's
commentary/discourse on the same decade:
I hadreasontotakethegreater painesin reading thefirstdecadofLiuie,
bie meanesofmiedailie& almosthowerlie conference withM. Thomas
Prestona finediscourser,& theQueenesonliepensionar when
scholler:40
in owrechambers in Trinitie
hallwithmutchdelight, & moreprofit wee
readtogitherin Italian,whichtheFlorentine secretarie
writeth withan
elegant& sweetgrace:Discorsidi NiccoloMachiauelli, soprala prima
decadiTitoLiuio.Whichpolitique discourses weethorowghly redd-ouer:
withdiligent& curiousobseruationsofthenotable actionsoftheRomans,
accomplished at home,& abrode,bie publique,& priuatecounsell:at
homein thefirst booke:abrodein the2; bothbie publiquecounsell:at
home& abrodebiepriuate inthe3. WhichMethodinMachiauels
counsell,
discourseswee soonediscouered:& themoreeaselydistinguished his
positions.
politique Supposing hisCouncelsofstate,veryfitttobeannexed
to owrprincipallcouncels,& soueraindecisions in Lawe.Wee thenhad
studiedHotomans Lawe-booke Quaestionum illustrium.Andwereinhand
withMarantas tendisputationsQuaestionum legalium.41
Harveymakesthisnoteat theend of thefirstdecade. At thetop of
thesamepage, he writes"Prestons,and Harueysfamiliar conference
concerningthe firstdecad of Liuie: & of Machiauelspolitiquedis-
courses upon this decad. Owre cheifeautoursfor directionand
resolution,were not manie, but essentiall,& for the most part
iudicious". To whichhe had added, at some othertime:
EspeciallyAristotle
& Bodineforgroundesof pollicie:Sansauino&
Danaeusforaphorismes: Patritius
& Plutarchfordiscourse: Hotoman&
Marantaforlawe:sumtime & excellent
Vigelius Hopperus. Thowgh other-
whilesweehadtheCensures ofDanaeus& Hotoman insuspicion:theone
forsumirregularrules,ratherEphorismes, thenAphorismes: theother
forhisperamptorie& almostseditious
Francogallia. Dangerous [thenote
continuesdowntherightmargin]panflets in a monarchie or politique
kingdom;& flatoppositeto the imperiall ciuil lawe of the prudent,
& reputed
valorous, iustRomans.Suchwereowrresolutions vponLiuie,&
Machiauel.Owr specialnotes& particular obseruations, bothmoral,
militarie,
politique, & otherofanieworth
stratagematical, orimportance,
weecommitted to writing.
At theclose ofthetextofthefirstdecade, on thepage facingtheone
on which the above remarksare inscribed,Harveyadds a further
noteon his and Preston'sreadingof Danaeus:
We havecomethisfarwithDaneau'sAphorisms andMachiavelli's
Dis-
courseson Livy.Butoneshouldnotethat:"Theaphorisms thatcouldbe
drawnfromthethirddecadeweremoreorlesscopiedfromPolybius and
40 TheDictionary
ofNational tellsus thatin 1564,inCambridge,
Biography Preston
"addressed
thequeenina Latinoration
onherdeparture,
when sheinvited
himto
kissherhand,andgavehima pension
of201.a year,
with
thetitle
of'herscholar'
":
s.v. Preston.
Livy,p. 266.
41 Harvey's
canbefoundtheretoo:thosethatcouldhavebeenselected fromthefourth
decadeclearlyagreewiththeearlier
ones".Therefore Daneauthoughthe
had satisfied
his readersfullywhenhe finished
his aphorismcollection
withthefirstdecade.Machiavelliusesmuchthesamemethod, savein a
fewdetails.42
We shallreturnto thesecommentson Livy/Danaeus/Machiavelli.
For now the pointto noteis thattheseremarksspecifya close and
informedreading,witha diplomaticor politicalend in mind,evi-
dentlywiththeappropriatebooksopen on thetablebeforethem(as
was the case when Harvey workedon his dialecticbooks in this
intellectually
probingway).43
VI
AUGUSTINEON LIVY: WHATIS EXEMPLARY READING?
Around1590HarveyleftCambridgepermanently in ordertopractice
as a lawyerin theLondon (ecclesiastical)CourtofArches.44 And in
1590 HarveyreadLivyfromstillanotherpointofview- one which
forthefirsttimeheavilyfocusedon themorality oftheLivy. "I haue
seene", he wrote,
few,ornonefitter orpithier
obseruations, upondiuersnotable
discoursers
in Liuie,thensumspecialchapters
particulars in Augustines excellent
bookesDe CiuitateDei. Wherehe examines, & resoluesmaniefamous
actionsoftheRomans,withas sharpwitt,deepiudgment, & pregnant
as anie of thosepoliticians,
application, or othernotaries,
discoursers,
whichI hauereadvponLivie.45
As this quotationcontinues,it is evidentthatHarveynow has in
mind the forensicpleadingof cases, and the problemof grafting
theologyand morality on to thepatently paganheroismofhis text-
a taskforwhichAugustine'scommentson Livyarepeculiarlyhelpful:
"ThereforeI stillsaye: [In Latin]Hand me Augustinein thosecases
which Augustinediscussesand settlesperceptively and reliably.I
knowno theologianor dialecticianor philosopheror politician,nor
evenscholar,philologianor criticwhois moreacutethanhe". Here,
finally,Harvey's engagementwith Livy ends, with a rejectionof
pagan values, and the pagan exemplaryfigureswho go withthem,
in favourof the Christianethic:
Certainlyhereforobservations on LivyI preferAugustineto anyother
42 Ibid., p. 267.
43SeeL. Jardine,
"Gabriel
Harvey: Ramist
Exemplary andPragmatic
Humanist",
Revuedes sciences
philosophiques lxx (1986), pp. 36-48.
et thdologiques,
44Stern,GabrielHarvey,pp. 80-1.
5 Harvey'sLivy, sig. Z5r, after"finisindicis".
HOW GABRIELHARVEYREAD HIS LIVY 45
theologianofthehighest
quality.Thisis onereader'sopinion,
thatthere
is hardly
a competent
judgeofRomanhistory whodidnotpreviously have
knowledge wisedoctrine
ofAugustine's ontheCityofGod.I amdelighted
thatI haveaddedthisat lastto thepolitical ofAristotle
philosophy and
Plato.AndI confessthattheidealstateofphilosophersorheroesis as a
shadowbycomparison withtheCityofGod.
GabrielHarvey.1590.
Harveydid notread TheCityofGod on itsown, buttogether with

its almostequallyvast Renaissancecompanion,thecommentary by
JuanLuis Vives, famousforits learning,penetrating inquiriesinto
Augustine'slostsources,and exuberantexcursuses.In thecourseof
thisreadingHarveyoftenfoundthatsubjectstouchedon byAugust-
inehad beenstudied"a littlemoreprecisely"bythemodernscholar.46
At the end of twentyor moreyearsof politicalreading,hereat last
we finda kind of readingwhichthe modernstudentof humanism
would recognize:thepersonal,moralized,ruminative readingto be
adduced tellinglyto defend a course of action, or to enhance a
Anglicanpointof view.
specifically
VII
THE SETTING FOR READING
Harvey's marginalannotationsenable us to build up a pictureof
consecutive,detailedreadingsof Livy,givenpointand directionby
a specifiedoccasion forreadingand (sometimes)companionwith
whomto read. At thispoint,as partofour historicalreconstruction,
we need a digressionon equipment.For it shouldbe apparentfrom
the examplesof "readings"of Livy cited,thatHarveydid not give
his attentionto one book at a time,even whenreadingin company.
Even fromamongthecomparatively smallnumberof his annotated
books whichsurvive(or have been traced)his marginalnotesmake
it clear that he annotatedgroups of books togetheron any one
occasion,alwaysin thesameregularhand,withan evenpen-pressure
whichdoes not suggestany awkwardnessin writingor reading(he
rarelyblotsor erasesa singleword). In thecase oftheLivy,thereis
at least the sense thatthe Livy textis, so to speak,central- thatit
sitsat thecentreofthereading.In othercases,suchas theannotations
ofgroupsofdialecticbooks,and associatedclassicalworks(Cicero's
Topica,Quintilian'sInstitutiones oratoriae,Demosthenes'Gnomolog-
I
Ibid.,p. 310;see below,pp. 53-4,fora fuller
treatment.
iae), itis byno meansclearwhichtextsitsat thecentreofthereader's

fieldof visionand attention.47
How did Harveyread a largenumberof volumessystematically?
The sheerpracticalproblemsof keepingfromfiveto fifteen parallel
textsand reference worksconstantly at handseemdaunting.So does
thatofenteringnotesin all ofthem,as Harveydid, in a handwriting
moreelaboratethanthatof "manya copyholderor magistralscribe
thatholdsall his livingby settingschoolboyscopies" (as Nashe, his
enemy, described it).48How did he musterthe vast amount of
unclutteredflatsurfacethatthisexercisein close readingand fine
penmanshiprequired?
Roger Chartierhas recentlycalled attentionto themanychanges
thatour devicesforstoringbookshaveundergone.He illustrates one
of themoststrikingly alien of theseto be producedin earlymodern
Europe: the book-wheel.(See Plate.) This splendidcombinationof
cabinetryand cog-wheelswas new in the sixteenthcentury.As
Ramelli's illustrationshows, it enabled its user to lay out on flat
surfacesas many books as he mightchoose, to move themas he
needed themwithoutlosinghis places, and to stop at any selected
text- thankstothecog-wheels.49 JacopoCorbinellisaw sucha wheel
in the libraryof thegreatjuristCujas at Valence. It could hold
60 or70 portionsoutoflargevolumes, open,notcountingthetinyones.
You sitand withyourhandyoubringportions oftheselargevolumes
before youthreeat a time.To putitina nutshell,youcanmakea whole
studyrevolve, andso easilythatitis a delightful
exercise.50
Harvey's methodof readingrequiressomethinglike the book-
wheel to be physicallyfeasible.And the book-wheel,when seen in
the new light cast on it by Harvey's practices,is more than a
47 It wasRobert Darnton whofirstaskedus whywebelieved thatina readingofa

groupoftextsanysingletextnecessarily hadtobe at thecentreofthereading. We
expressourgratitude to himforlaunching us on a trainofthoughtwhichled us
eventually,after amount
a certain ofdetective work,tothebook-wheel.
48T. Nashe,Selected ed. S. Wells(Cambridge,
Writings, Mass.,1965),p. 285.
49BillSaslawhas brought toourattention a modern version
oftherotating desk,
in whichtheouterand centralsections ofa circular
deskrotated independently,
horizontally:it was ownedby HarlowShapley,director of theHarvardCollege
Observatory inthe1930s,andremained intheoffice
hehadoccupied untilthe1960s.
For a photograph,see H. Shapley,Ad astraper aspera: Through
RuggedWaysto the
Stars(NewYork,1969).
50oR. Calderinide Marchi,Jacopo etlesjruditsfrangais
Corbinelli d'aprs la correspond-
(1566-1587)(Milan, 1914), p. 176. Ramelli'splate had
ance iniditeCorbinelli-Pinelli
alreadybeenreproduced,togetherwitha photograph
ofa surviving
book-wheel in
andusefulremarks,
Wolfenbiittel inA. Hobson,GreatLibraries
(London,1970),pp.
206-7.Anotherworking
example is tobe foundintheBibliotheca Leiden.
Thysiana,
k
'd
111 )'I Ea
Ir
~
AAAY I~
34
Thebook-wheel
fromTheVariousandIngenious
MachinesofAgostino
Ramelli,ed. M.
TeachGnudiandE. S. Ferguson
(NewYorkandAldershot, 1987),p. 509.
Photo:bypermission
ofDoverPublications
deviceforneatstorage ofmomentarily interesting texts.It belongsto

Harvey's cultural moment, in which collation and parallelcitation
werean essential, constructivepart particular ofreading;
of a kind it
allowedthe imbedding of textin context, afterthe fashionthat
Harveyand (we wouldargue)manyof his professional academic
contemporaries practised.The book-wheel and the centrifugal mode
ofreadingit madepossibleamounted to an effective
formofinfor-
mationretrieval - and thatin a society wherebookswereseenas
offering powerful knowledge, and the reader whocouldfocusthe
largest number of books on a problem or an opportunity would
therefore appearto havetheadvantage."
We suggestthatit waspeoplewhodid accumulate volumeswho
conceivedof themselves as "readers"in the sensein whichwe
are excavating thetermand providedthemselves withthemodern
machinery for making such reading possible. In other words,the
book-wheel suggestsa socialperception of certainindividuals as
skilledreaders,as othermenmight beskilled woodworkers orleather-
workers.52 We imagineHarveyusingthebook-wheel - or a rival
device- in London,duringtheperiodsin whichwe knowhe was
employed forhisreadingskills,in somekindofadvisory, secretarial
position (notably 1577-8,1580and1590;datedreadings insurviving
volumesclustercloselyroundthesedates).
The readerat thebook-wheel is an unfamiliar type:thereaderas
The reader,himself
facilitator. immobile andattentive tohisbooks,
is theagenttoanother's action,employed in theactivity ofreading
insucha waythathisownselfhood as a reader isnotatissue.Ramelli,
describing his "artfulmachine",suggests thatitmightwellservea
and painful- and
man withgout- who foundmovementdifficult
thiscaptures qualityofthebook-wheel
theintermediary reading.It
whoacts,butitis hewhofacilitates
is notthescholar-reader action."
Weproposethebook-wheel as a kindofemblem- it(orsomething
and annotation
likeit, allowingconsultation of multiplevolumes
simultaneously) the
represents professional readeror facilitator's
"toolsof his trade".Andwe suggestthatin spiteofthefactthat
"5 We suggestthatthisadds pointtoChartier's evidencethatremarkablyfewreaders

owned quantitiesof books (ratherthanone or twoculturally keytextslike theBible
and the Golden Legend): Chartier,CulturalUsesofPrint.
52 Categoriesof personswho Chartiershowsto have been familiar withprint,but
who were not "expert" readers.
" See, forinstance,
RogerAscham's1541lettertoArchbishopEdwardLee, offering
him his servicesas just such a reader,in The WholeWorksof RogerAscham,ed.
J. A. Giles, 3 vols. (London, 1865), i, pp. 17-19,at p. 19.
historyhas apparently leftlittletraceof thisactivity

outsidethe
as yetunder-explored marginal notesin contemporary volumes,
Harvey'swasnotan unusualactivity fora sixteenth-century
intellec-
tual,but was consistentwith the kindof service
professional that
Henry Cuffe performed for the earl of Essex,and John Dee for
EdwardDyer."4As Harveywroteto Leicester in 1579:"I speakeit
withoutvanity thata poorelitleschollarwoulddo yourLordshippe
morehonourin hisspeciallrespects thensumofyourgallants and
courtlyest
servants"."
VIII
SOME BOOKS ON THE WHEEL IN 1580
InAugust1580EdmundSpenser, inLeicester's
secretary left
service,
forIrelandwithLordGrey,andGabrielHarveyentered Leicester's
employment A striking
inhisplace."6 groupofhistorical
andpolitical
textsbelongingtoHarveyareinscribed withthedate"1580",either
on theirtitle-page,
or somewhere in themarginalia.
We maytake
theseas a sampleofwhatwas "on thewheel"duringHarvey'sfirst
knownperiodofpublicservice.The worksareas follows:
T. LiviiPatavini,Romanaehistoriae decadestres,cumdimidia...
principis,
(Basle, 1555);57
TheArteofWarre:Written inItalian byNicholasMachiuel:AndSet Foorth
in English by Peter Withorne. .. (London, 1573);58
FloriohisFirstFruites:A Perfect totheItalianand EnglishTongues
Induction
(London, 1578);59
54 See above,pp. 31, 33-4.As Nicholas
Cluleesuggests,
Dee's involvementin the
variousprojectsoftheSidney/Dyer groupwasnotthatofan initiator,
buta seeker of
documentary precedents forpolicy- in ourtermsa facilitator.
See N. H. Clulee,
JohnDee's NaturalPhilosophy:
BetweenScienceand Religion(London, 1988), p. 188:
"In summary, Dee's majorrolein theseprojects
forexploration
wasinthedefinition
oftheideological
contextofideasofa British Empirein whichtheytookplaceand
notthatofa technical letalonethatofa leaderinthemovement".
advisor LindaLevy
Peck givesan accountof Sir RobertCotton'sworkas an advisorto theearlof
Northampton between 1603and1614whichclosely matchesourmodelofreadingfor
PatronageandPolicyat theCourtofJames
L. LevyPeck,Northampton:
policy-making:
I (London,1982),pp. 103-4.
" HistoricalManuscriptsCommission,MarquessofBath MSS., 5 vols. (London,
1904-80),v, Talbot,Dudleyand DevereuxPapers, 1533-1659,p. 199. We owe this
reference
toPaul Hammer.
56 Stern,GabrielHarvey,p. 68.
57 "G.H. 1580"at endoffirst longnote.
58 "1580.Cd"'on thetitle-page.
Nowin Princeton Univ.Lib., LuciusWilmerding
Jr.deposit.Forlocationoftheothervolumes in thislist,see Stern,Gabriel
Harvey.
5 Dated1580atendoftext, justabove"finis".Atendoftext,above"finis", attop
offo.Eeiv,Harveywrites:"Florio,& EliotmienewLondonCompanions forItalian,
&
French[e?].Twoofthebestforboth".Andlowerdownthepage(later):"Nowtothe
(cont.on p. 50)
WilliamThomas, TheHistorieofItalie (London, 1561);60
TheStrategemes, Sleyghtes,and PoliciesofWarre,GatheredTogyther, byS.
Julius Frontinus,and Translatedinto Englyshe,by Richard Morysine
(London, 1539);61
Paulus Jovius,Libellusde legatione Basilii magniprincipisMoschoviaead
Clementem VII: pontificem max. in quo situsregionisantiquisincognitus,
religiogentis,mores,& causae legationis fidelissime
referuntur . .. (Basle,
1527);
T. Livii Patavini conciones,cum argumentis et annotationibus loachimi
Perionij. .. (Paris, 1532);63
PolitiqueDiscourses,Treating oftheDifferences andInequalitiesofVocations,
as wellPublique,as Priuate:WiththeScopesorEndes Wherevnto Theyare
Directed:Translated outofFrenchbyAegremont RatcliffeEsquire(London,
1578);64
Ioannes de Sacrobosco,Textusde sphaera . . introductoria additione
ad utilitatemstudentium Parisiensis ...
Academiae
commentarioque, philosophiae
illustratus
... (Paris, 1527);65
P. Du Ploiche,A Treatisein Englisheand Frenche,RightNecessarieand
Profitableforall YoungChildren... (London, 1578);66
Detti et fattipiacevoli,et gravi: di diversiprincipi,filosofi,
et cortigiani:
raccoltidal Guicciardini:et ridottia moralita(Venice, 1571);67
Lucae Gaurici geophonensis, episcopicivitatensis,tractatusastrologicus
(Venice, 1552);6
(n.59cont.)
4. booksofGuazzo[1581],thesweetest & daintiestofItalianDialogues.ThentoEliots
FrenchDialogues:as fine,as thoseItalian,& morepleasant.. .". Harvey's copyof
JohnEliot,Ortho-epia Gallica:EliotsFirstFruitsfortheFrench(London,1593),
survives:Stern,Gabriel Harvey, p. 211.
6 Title-page missing, no date.Butmarginal annotations contemporary withother
1580volumes,forexample(citedin Stern,GabrielHarvey,p. 237): "Excellent
Histories, & notableDiscoursesforeveriepolitician, pragmatician, negotiatour,or
man.A necessarie
anieskillfull IntroductiontoMachiavel, Guicciardin,Jovius". And
complete passagesofThomasaretranscribed in themargins ofHarvey's Florio.
61(Hereafter Harvey'sFrontinus). Dated1580on first blankpage.
62Title-page missing, butannotations contemporary with1580volumes.
63Dated1578ontitle-page andlastpage,butcontains marginal notescontemporary
withHarvey'sLivy.In assembling thislistwe notedthata goodnumber ofthese
works(and someothers)wereacquiredand/or readthoroughly forthefirst timein
1578.Another largesetofbookscanbe identified for1590.
64"GabrielHarvey, etamicorum". Notdated,butnotescontemporary with1580
volumes.
65 Notyetseen."gabrielis harvejus","Plusin recessu, quamin fronte", "Arteet
virtute.1580"on title-page: Stern,Gabriel Harvey, pp. 233-4.
6 Notseen.Ibid.,p. 210.
67Notseen.Ibid.,p. 218: "gabrielharvejo.Ratione, etdiligentia.
1580".
68 Notseen."gabriel harvejus. 1580"ontitle-page; harveij,
"gabrielis etamicorum.
1580"atend.Discussion ofHarvey's useofastrology mustwaitforanother timeand
place.We haveomitted a couplemore"1580"volumes whosetopicsarenotrelevant
tothediscussion as currentlyframed:Pindar(seeibid.,p. 230),Rowlands, ThePost
oftheWorld (seeibid.,p. 233),andTusser,FiveHundred PointesofGoodHusbandrie
(see ibid.,pp. 237-8).
HOWGABRIELHARVEYREAD HIS LIVY 51
IoachimHopperus,In veramiurisprudentiam Isagogesad filiumlibriocto
. (Cologne,1580);69
luriscivilis absolutissima
totius inqua,bonelector,
methodus: nonsolum omnes
totiusiurisciuilistitulos,
sed& singulassingulorumtitulorumleges,singulos
singularum legum paragraphos,miroordinead suoslocoshabesredactos &
opusmultis
dispositos: retroannis,a multis
doctissimis
uirisexoptatum, a
multis tentatum,tandem autoris autore
sumptibusperfectum: Nicolao Vigelio
(Basle,J.Oporinus,1561).7
iurisconsulto
Thesevolumesand theirannotations givea vivid,concrete
sense
ofwhatitmeantto engagein theactivity ofreadingas Harveydid,
thispaperwe havehadtheannotations
in 1580(inpreparing forthe
eightvolumeson thislistbeforeus, andsixvolumesbeforeus
first
eitherphysically- thefirsttwoon thelist- or in
simultaneously,
photographic - the nextfour).In additionto the
reproduction
richnessanddensityofannotation
throughoutthem,thereis persist-
entechoing ofsentiments
from onebooktoanother;cross-referencing
of one of theseauthorsin the marginsof another;recognizable
continuityofhandwriting,totheextentthatwe can sometimes
hazard
a guess as to whichbook succeededwhichotherin the circulating
processofreading
andannotation;narrative
notesaboutcontempor-
aryornearcontemporary affairs
continuedfromthemarginsofone
volumeto another fromthebackoftheFrontinus
(notably, to the
marginsoftheFlorio;andfromtheThomastothemarginsofFlorio).
Cumulatively, - a sense
theeffectis one of unexpectedcohesiveness
of thegroupedvolumesas coheringarounda projectwhichHarvey
(the reader)keeps constantlybeforehim.7
IX
POSITIONINGTHE READING:CHOOSINGYOUROCCASION
TheSidney,Smithjunior,Prestonand"Arches"readings byHarvey
of his Livy(to whichwe can assignfairlyprecisedates)giveus
distinctive forreading
contexts weshallargue,distinc-
(andtherefore,
tive"waysofreading",whichneedhavelittlein common withone
another). The first with
(chronologically, Smith junior)we, like
Harvey,might term"pragmatic"- or "militarie,
stratagematical".
Thisreadingis addressedbytheprioragreementofthereaderstoa
69
"Gabrielis
Harveij,1580"on title-page:
MooreSmith,
Gabriel
Harvey's
Margin-
alia, pp. 175-87; Stern,GabrielHarvey,p. 221.
70GonvilleandCaiusCollege,Cambridge, H.6.12.Title-page:
"GabrielisHarueij.
1580.MenseAprile.","Arte,etVirtute".
(Notin Stern).
71Unexpected, becausea twentieth-century
readerwouldnotanticipate
volumes
withthisrangeoftopicsandsubject-matter on anything.
converging
specificElizabethan politicalcontext, and in particular, to thede-

mandsof impending military campaigns. The versionof strategy
whichityieldedturned outin theeventtobe oflimited relevance
to
thetaskinhand,andwemight wanttoarguethatthisis intrinsic to
thesources:Livywas neververystrong on campaigns.72 Thiswas
also, one mightadd, Harvey'searliestengagement with"politics"
via history,and thereforearguably themostambitious in termsof
thepay-off he hopedfor.
The second reading(with Sidney)we mightterm"moral,
politique".This, we wouldargue,is a careerist reading- one
to
designed promote thecareer of a courtier, and at the sametimeto
the
bring hopeful facilitator
to the notice of a court circle.Thisside
ofHarvey(andofhisreading) hasbeenrepeatedly invoked bythose
who have encountered his marginalia, but needsto be lookedat
again,as we shalldo here.The appropriate context is provided by
theclosingpassagesofa familiar letterfrom to
Harvey JohnWood.73
The salientpointis thatHarveytreatstherelationship between
universitypoliticaltheoryand court political as
practice reciprocal:
"youmustneedesacknowledge usyourMasters inallgenerallpoyntes
ofGouernment, andyegreate Archepollycyes ofallaoulde,andnewe
Commo[n]welthes"."Particular matters ofcounsell,and pollicye,
besidesdaylyefreshenewes,and A thousande bothordinary, and
extraordinaryoccurrents,andaccidents in yeworlde"areprovided
bythoseactively engagedin lawandpolitics:butthesenevertheless
mustbe assessedagainstthegeneral theory thatonlyuniversity men
can provide.74
The thirdreadingwithPrestonis theone whichhistorians of
political
thoughtmight wanttotakemostseriously. It solidlyexemp-
lifiesthe aspirationgenerally statedin the letterto Wood: that
universitymenshouldbe able to providepoliticaltheory to match
72 See Jardine, theUncouth".
"Mastering
73We haveusedWalterColman'stranscription,
whichwegratefully
acknowledge.
74 Onemight thatthesomewhat
wanttoobserve insistent
noteinHarvey's
remarks
abouttheusefulness mentothecourthaslesstodo withpushiness
ofuniversity than
withtheneedtoearna living.Therearea number ofpointsin Harvey'sbiography,
startingwiththePembroke quarrelwithNeville,whereit is obviousthatHarvey's
careeris suffering
fromhisnotbeinga manofmeans,andtherefore self-
financially
sufficientbefore
anyearningsfrom thevariouspostshe sought. See,forexample,the
tothemaster
letter ofPembroke, JohnYoung,on thedisputed in
Greeklectureship
1574:"Forthebestowing ofthelecture,
do initas youshalthink bestforthebehoof
oftheCollidg.FormipartI amthemoredesirusofit,I mustneedsconfes, bicaus
ofthestipend, is notgreat":Brit.Lib., SloaneMS. 93,fos.
whichnotwithstanding
27r-34v,cited in Stern, GabrielHarvey, pp. 26-7. ContrastSir Thomas Smith's
earnings,as itemizedin theDictionary
ofNationalBiography.
contemporary politicalrequirements."It is a readingwhichthe

marginalnotes "position" rather As wehaveseen,Harvey
carefully.
and PrestontookcaretonotethatwhileHotman'sFrancogallia was
relevantto theirdiscussion,itsTaciteanargument thattheking's
righttoruledependeduponthefavour ofthepeoplerather thanon
rightofinheritance was seditious.76
Harvey'sreading ofLivywithAugustine, though perhapssolitary
in execution,had at leasttwodistinct
purposes.On theone hand,
Augustine was himself a richsourcefortheearlyhistory ofRome.
As Vivespointedout,hehadreadthelostbooksofLivyandthelost
worksofthegreatRomanscholarVarro;accordingly, evenin his
oppositionto Romanvalues,he filledin manydetailstantalizingly
omitted or leftvaguein Livy.Read withVives'scommentary -
whichtriedtouseallavailableinformation todotevery i offact,date
or place-namethatAugustinehad leftincomplete- TheCityofGod
book.AnditwasthusthatHarveyused
madea splendidreference
hereferred
itwhen,forexample, toAugustine's
"extremely
important
chapter"(caputvaldWnotabile- v.22) on the durationof Rome's
warswiththeCarthaginians,
Mithridates
andthepirates,
andremark-
ed "see also Vives'scommentary" etiamL. Vivisanimad-
(observandis
versionibus).
Augustine's chapterliststhedurationsof thesewars
to showthattheydependon God's decision;Vives'scommentary
historical
emphasizes ofbattles
details,locations andalternate
values
foundin otherclassicalsources.77
forthedurations
On theotherhand,Harveyalso makesmanyreferences, direct
toAugustine's
andimplicit, historical
doctrines.
UnlikeAugustine's
contemporary,Orosius,and manyof his owncontemporaries, he
view
graspedAugustine's of Roman virtueand the moraluse of
5 The letterto FulkeGrevillewhichwe citedearliertakesan almostidentical
position(evendowntothe"tags"used):"The ... hardest pointis ye Choiceofthe
Notesthemselues: wchmustbe naturall,morall,Politick, orMilitary. Of the2 first
yourGatherers mayhauegoodIudgment; butyoushallhauelittle use:ofthe2 later,
yoruseis greatest,andtheirludgement least.I doubtnot,butintheUniversitie you
shallfindChoiceofmanyexcellent Witts,andin things, wherein theyhauewaded,
manieofgoodUnderstanding. ButtheythathauethebestEyes,arenotalwaiesthe
bestLapidaries andaccording to theProverb, The greatestClarksarenoteuerthe
wisestmen.A meerScholarin State,orMilitary Matters willno moresatisfieyou,
thenPhormio did Han[n]ibal":BodleianLib., TannerMS. 79, fos.29r-30v, at fos.
30r-v.
76 On Hotman's "redTacitism",see P. Burke,"Tacitism", in T. A. Dorey(ed.),
Tacitus(London,1969).
77 Harvey's De civitate
Livy,p. 268;Augustine, XXII, ed. L. Vives(Lyons,
Dei libri
1580),pp. 325-6;onAugustine's useoflostsources,seeibid.,pp.208-9,whereVives
comments on iv.1.
examplesfromRoman history.He pickedout key chapters- like

i. 15, thelongtreatment oftheRomanheroRegulus- forrecording
in his margins.And he made clear thathe understoodAugustine's
fundamentalinsistence,in this and similarpassages,thateven in
sharedvirtues- likethosethatanimatedRegulusto sacrifice hislife
forRome - the Christiansoutdidthe pagans.78This readingwas
genuinelyAugustinianin toneand content- and we are currently
undecidedas to how Harveyreconciledit withhis otherreadings.79
At the end of the Livy are two Harveynoteswhichwe maytake
as our own "positioning".Both relate the readingof historyto
Harvey'sown mentorsand patrons,and thusto theimmediatesocial
and politicalcontextofhis studyofLivy.The first(afterthe"Finis")
relatesto SirThomas Smith,Harvey'sheroon atleastthreegrounds:
for his personal supportof Harvey's own universitystudies and
encouragement ofhis politicalcareeraspirations;forhisownexemp-
laryprogressviapoliticaltheoryanduniversity officetothediplomatic
serviceand high governmentoffice;and forhis uncompromising
intellectualand publishingcareer:
Sir ThomasSmyth, theQueenesprincipal in his trauailsin
secretarie;
Fraunce,Italie,Spaine,& Germanie; butespeciallyin hisambassages in
Scotland, Fraunce,& Netherlande; foundno sutchuseofanieautours, as
I heardhimself say,as ofLiuie,Plutarch,& lustinian.He mutchcom-
mendedSallust,Suetonius, Tacitus,& sumotherof thebest:buthis
classicaland statarie
historianswereLiuie,Plutarch, Halicarnasseus; &
veriefeweother.Of thenew,Cominaeus, Guicciardine,Jouius,Paulus
AEmilius,Egnatius, & butfeweother.Notthemost,buttheBest;was
hisrule.AndI amforGeometrical, notArithmeticalProportion.Another
ofowrecunningest, & shrewdest ambassadoursin Fraunce,SirNicholas
Throgmarton, was altogitherforCesar,& Liuie; Liuie & Cesar.Nota
moreresolute manin Ingland:& fewdeeperheds:as Mie LordBurgley
willstillsaye.80
The second note,at the end of the elenchus
of Glareanus,setsup
betweenthevariousreadingcontextsjustdescribed,
therelationship
and the Livy:
78Harvey'sLivy, p. 268.
79Harveymanages LivyandAugustine
toreconcile atleastonce,inan interesting
noteon thebeginning of bookthirty-one
(ibid.,p. 519),wherehe has Livyand
Augustine agreeunproblematicallyabouttheforcesthatpropelled Rometo world
empire.Butwe stillcannotreconcile theseremarks withtheothersquotedin our
exposition. Ourthanks toJillKrayeforcomment on thisandotherpoints.
80 Ibid., p. 829. This seemsto be theonlyreference to Throckmortonin the
marginalia. Throckmorton andSmithwereambassadors togetherinFrancein 1562-
ofNationalBiography(s.v. Sir Thomas Smith),Smith
4: accordingto theDictionary
junior- agedfifteen
- wasinFrancewithhisfather
onthisembassy.
Throckmorton
diedin February1571.
HOWGABRIELHARVEYREAD HIS LIVY 55
The notablest men,thatfirst commended theoften& aduisedreading of
Liuie vntomee, weretheiseflue,DoctorHenrieHaruey,M. Roger
Ascham,SirThomasSmyth, SirWalterMildmay, SirPhilipSidney:all
learned,expert,& verieiudiciousin thegreatest matters ofpriuate,or
publiquequalitie.Once I heardM. Secretarie Wilson,& DoctorBinge
preferrtheRomanehistorie before theGreek,orother:andLiuiebefore
anieotherRomanehistorie. Butofall otherSir PhilipSidney,Colonel
Smyth [i.e. Smithjunior],andMonsieur Bodinwunnemiehartto Liuie.
SirPhilipSidneyesteemes no generalHistorie, likelustinesabridgment
ofTrogus:noraniespecialRomanhistorie likeLiuie:noranieparticular
Roman,orother,
historie, likethesingular life,& actions ofCesar:Whome
he valuesaboueall other,& reputesthegreatest actour,thateuerthe
Worlddid afforde. And therefore makesexceeding accountof Sallust,
Velleius,Suetoniusin Latin;Plutarch, Dion, lulianin Greek:Who as
as briefly
effectually, displayhiminhisliueliecolours.Butofnonemakes
so highreckoning as ofCesarsowneCommentaries, peerles& inualuable
works.Wherehisfrends, & enimies beholdea mostworthie man;modest
inprofession;pithieindiscourse; discreet
iniudgment; soundinresolution;
quietinexpedition; constant inindustrie;mostuigorous inmostdaunger;
surmounting thewisestin pollicie,thebrauest in valour,theterriblestin
execution, thecunningest in hugeartificial works;allwaiesinuincible,
oftenincomparable, sumtime admirable in theaccomplishment of the
weightiestaffaires, dowtiest exploits,& finestdesignes,thatcouldbe
plottedbie himselfin theprofunditie ofhissurprising conceit.The onlie
Mirrourof mostexcellent valour,& moreexcellent Witt:to thisday
vnmatchable, inso maniereuolutions ofhigh,& deepespirits; aspiringto
thegreatest thingsvponEarth;& leauingno possibilitie vnextended. Yet
amongstso manievalorousminds,& euenamongst so manypuissant
Cesars,stillbutone Cesar.He, thatbrauely gaueit owtforhisresolute
word,AutCaesar,autnihil:howsoeuer exceedingly beholdento Mach-
iauel,was indeednihilin comparison ofCesar."8
On the one hand we have Henry Harvey, Roger Ascham, Sir
Thomas Smithand SirWalterMildmay,"all learned,expert,& verie
iudiciousin thegreatestmattersofpriuate,or publiquequalitie"-
significantmen withone footin the university world,the otherin
diplomacy.On theotherwe have Smithjuniorand Bodin (ofwhom
more shortly),distinctively in the world of politics,strategyand
opportunity. In themiddlewe have Sir PhilipSidney,symbol,even
beforehisdeath,ofbothcamps- themanofcultivation andlearning,
court figureand literarydarling, but whose achievementswere
cementedby his exemplaryperformances in activemilitary engage-
ment(and in the firstplace, in Ireland).82
81 Harvey'sLivy,sig. P 1'. This notecan be datedbefore1586,sinceSidney'sviews
are recordedin the presenttense.
82 See theverseswrittenbyHarveyfortheCambridgevolumeAcademiaeCantabrigi-
ensislachrymae tumulonobilissimiequitis:d. PhilippiSidneij(1587). The secondpoem
is headed, "De subito& praematurointeritunobilisviri,PhilippiSydneij,utriusque
militiae,tamarmatae,quam togatae,clarissimiequitis" (Concerningthesuddenand
prematuredeathofthatnoble man,PhilipSidney,themostcelebratedknightofboth
kindsof office,as much of armsas of civil affairs).
x
IF THIS IS READING, WHAT WAS POLITICAL THOUGHT?
Thereseemsno reasonnotto takeseriously Harvey'saspiration to
readRomanhistory in a waydirectly to
applicable contemporary
affairsofstate.We takeBodin,Machiavelli, Daneauand Hotman
seriouslybecausetheypublished(thusdemonstrating a persisting
academicpreference forthetreatiseas "authentic" intellectual
his-
tory).It might,however, be arguedthatHarveyis a bettersource
forunderstanding ofElizabethanpolitical
thought, because
precisely
his observations are juxtaposedwiththe textof Livyitself,and
because,as heindicates,contemporary valuedthereadings
politicians
he gave. As to whetherHarvey'sclaimsto have the ear of the
influential
politically aregenuine:theclaimsofindividuals areoften,
in intellectual
history,ouronlyguidetocontact andinfluence. And
althoughthe pamphleteering Nashe has seen to it thatposterity
disparages GabrielHarvey'sachievements, it is interesting
to note
howoftenNashe'sjibesmayequallybe readas confirming Harvey's
ownclaims.83
Harvey'smethodsand concerns wereclearlysharedwiththose
members ofthepoliticalelitewithwhomhe claimedconnections.
ThomasSmith,hispatron - andan eminently respectable in
figure
modernhistories ofpoliticalthought- livedin a worldas steeped
in classicaltextsand moderntechnical writers as Harvey'sown.
Smith'sfriendWalterHaddononcewroteto ask his opinionofa
recentdinner-table conversationwheretheFrenchambassador had
deniedthatCicerowasa competent lawyer(anargument that"became
so heatedthatitwasveryhardtofinda waytoendit"). Smithreplied
83 See, forexample,Nashe's remarksabout Harvey'slegalpracticein theCourtof

Arches,citedbyStern,GabrielHarvey,pp. 81-2.Or we maychoosetoacceptHarvey's
own word(as set out in a 1598 letterto Sir RobertCecil) thatgiventheopportunity,
in the formof reliablefinancialsupportand secure employment,he would have
published:"manieothermie Traicts& Discourses,sumin Latin,sumin Inglish,sum
in verseaccordingto thecircumstance oftheoccasion,but muchmorein prose;sum
in Humanitie,Historie,Pollicy,Lawe, & the sowle of the whole Boddie of Law,
Reason; sum in Mathematiques,in Cosmographie,in theArtof Navigation,in the
Artof Warr,in the truChymiquewithoutimposture(whichI learnedof yourmost
learnedpredecessour,Sir Thomas Smith,notto contemne)& othereffectual practible
knowlage,in parthethertounrevealed,in partunskilfully handeledforthematter,or
obscurelyforthe forme;withmore speculativeconceit,thenindustriouspractis,or
Method, the two discoveringeies of this age". For, says Harvey: "I had ever an
earnest& curiouscareofsoundknowledg,& esteemedno reading,or writing without
matterof effectualuse in esse: as I hope shooldsoone appeare,if I were setledin a
place of competentmaintenance,or had but a foundationto build upon": ibid., p.
125.
at lengthfromParis, wherehe was servingas Englishambassador,
withappropriatediplomatictact,thatCicero had been a splendid
lawyer,giventhecondition ofthelaw ofhisday.The scholar-diplomat's
maturegraspon suchissues,whichenabledhimto replyso deftlyto
a difficult question, came fromthe circle of "facilitators"he fre-
quentedin Paris. He had been discussingsuch issues- thoughless
frequently thanhe wouldhaveliked- withPetrusRamusand Louis
le Roy, as he had discussedthemyearsbeforewiththeirpredecessor
at the CollkgeRoyal, JeanStrazel.84And he would soon producea
spectacularlysuccessfuladaptationof his own of an ancientmodel
for politicalwriting:a brilliantaccountof England's institutions,
modelled on his "conjecturalreconstruction of the formused by
Aristotlein his lostbookson manyoftheGreekstates"."8Verylikely
it was Smithwho introducedHarvey to the thoughtof Bodin -
whose innovativeideas on inflationSmithaccepted.86
In at least one case we can watchHarveyand the Smiths,father
and son, respondingto a singlesupplementary readingof a sharply
"political" kind. Harvey remarks on his readingofthethirddecade
that:
M. ThomasSmith,& I reading thisdecadeofLiuietogither, foundverie
goodvse of M. AntonieCopes Inglishhistorie of thetwomostnoble
Captaines oftheWorld,Annibal, & Scipio.Whichsumtime giuesa notable
lightto Liuie;& wasworthie tobe dedicated toKingHenrietheVIII. in
theopinionofSirThomasSmith, whomuchcommended ittohissonne.
[In Latin]However, itis sweetertodrinkthewaters from theverysource.
AndI amoneofthosewhowillneverhavehadtheir fillofLivy'swiseand
livelystyle.87
The introductionto Cope's Historyeof the Two Most Noble Cap-
taynesoftheWorld,Anniballand Scipio(London, 1548), specifiesin
an introductory letter(to whichHarveyhererefers)thatCope writes
as a scholar(he was chamberlainto Queen KatherineParr),to make
his own scholarlycontribution to knowledgeusefulforwarfareand
conquest.Amongthe militaryachievements whichCope maintains
contribute toHenryVIII's international politicalstandinghe includes
"the wyseand woorthyconquestof therealmeof Irelande,wherof
atthispresentyourmaiesteeweareththeDiademe".88An appropriate
84 W. Haddon, Lucubrationes (London, 1567), pp. 280-1,284-7. See also above, p.
42.
85Haddon, Lucubrationes, p. 306.
86 See Thomas Smith,A Discourse oftheCommonweal ofthisRealmofEngland,ed.
M. Dewar (Charlottesville, 1969), pp. xv n. 14, xxvi.
88 A. Cope, Historyeof theTwo Most Noble Captaynesof theWorld,Anniballand
Scipio (London, 1548), sig. aiv'.
volumeforSir Thomas Smithto drawto theattention of his son as

partof his "political"preparationfortheArds campaign.Harvey's
racilypragmaticannotationsin English to this decade do indeed
appear to taketheirtonefromtheCope. For example,at thetop of
the page followingthe inscriptionabove: "Annibal,a laborious&
hardie;a valiant& a terribleYouth. A ventrous& redowtedCaptain
in the Primeof his age. [In Latin] He acted accordingly".89And at
the top of the next: "The Romanesneuerso matched& tamed,as
bie Annibala longtime.And therefore his Historiethemorenotable
in manieweightierespects".90 In his copyofFrontinus- whichwe
have on our book-wheel;and whichelsewherein the Livy Harvey
noteshe and Smithincludedin theirreading- Harveyheads the
discussionof Hannibal's tactics"in AphrikeagaynsteScipio": ,ye
orderofAnnibal,& Scipio,in thatmostfamousbattelbetwenethem.
These orders,more particularly analyzedin ye InglishHistoryof
&
Annibal, Scipio: owt of Liuy, &c".91
Observationssuch as these(whichin Harvey'sLivy forma series
ofrunningheadstothethirddecade)represent Hannibalas a freeboot-
ing buccaneer. They culminatein a marginalnote to the speechof
Hannibal's whichcloses the decade. In thisspeech Hannibal,who
has been recalledto Carthageaftersixteenyears'sustainedcombat
againsttheRomans,philosophically comestotermswithhissituation,
sues forpeace as instructed,and warnsScipionotto trustin fortune,
but onlyin reason. At the top of the page HarveyrecordsThomas
Smith'senthusiasmforsuch loftythoughtsfromthegreatcaptainof
the world:
M. Smith,ColoneloftheArdesin Ireland,didmaruell more
at nothing
in all Liuie,thenat thisdiscreete, oration
& respectiue ofAnnibal,after
so maniebraueresolutions, & mainebattels.
aduentures,
impetuous
[In Latin]A wiseoration ofHannibal's.
Fullofsagacity, triedandtested,andmaturelyreflected
upon.92
These lasttwosentencesarefroman earlierreading,possiblyactually

contemporary withthe Smithreading,as opposed to retrospective
(the firstnote). At the bottomof thepage Harveywrites:
thana fierce
Hereat lastwe see Hannibalas morea cautiouscounsellor
anda
thatHannibalmadeFabiusa politician
general.It is notsurprising
89 Harvey'sLivy, p. 270.
90Ibid., p. 271.
9" Harvey'sFrontinus,sig. E iv'-E vr. See above, p. 50.
forScipiomakesHannibalhimself
pragmatic:93 oratorandphilosopher.
The spiritof youthfulcourageis one thing;thatof matureprudence,
thatofoldage'stemperance,
another; yetanother.
Eachhasitsowndiction,
itsownstyle,moreor lesstemperate and,as itwere,bridled.94
XI
AFFECTIVESTYLE:AN EFFECTIVEFORCEFOR ACTION
Thereseemsto be an interesting tensionhere,betweentheaspiration
tofindadviceon tacticsand strategems insuchepisodes,and Harvey's
very evident attractionto the stylistic affective
and in such a speech.
Once again, this contributesto our sense of the reader,Harvey,
as intermediary betweentextand its effectin practice:styleand
affectiveness are textualcatalysts;the occasionsfortheirrecallmay
be thoseon whichoratorydoes indeedprovoke,and altersthecourse
of events.There is clearlya strongsense in whichHarveysees the
cut and thrustof politicaldebate - particularlyin the pointed
exchangebetweenmilitary adversaries- as a seriousand important
of
part "gaining the upper hand" in politicaland militaryaffairs.
Near thebeginningoftheLivyhe has a longnoteon Livy'sstyleand
its importance:
Livy'sstyle, inthespeeches.
especially No LatinorGreekspeeches deserve
morecareful ormeticulous
reading selectionthanLivy's;Perionassembled
themintoa sortoftechnical order.Hence,whenI havetimeto read,or
to imitate,or evento emulatespeeches,I prefer no othersto these,or
others ofLivy's,whicharebothsharpinsenseandpolished inexpression.
Nothing,in general,is eithermoretoughly concise,or morevividly
expressed. Atticismitselfseemsto be outdonehere.[Later]The styleis
meticulously polishedhere:nowsplendidly ample,nowbrilliantly concise,
nowexpertly modulated, oftenadamantine.Itis alwaysbudding orflower-
ing.Had henotknownCaesar,Sallust,Virgilintimately, I wouldfindhis
method ofcomposition amazing.It is atonceso brilliantandso solid;no
morebrilliant thangrave,nolesssubtlethanornate.[Later]Certain well-
rounded andcleversayings - likeSpartan apophthegms - arealsomost
delightful.His varietyalmostneverfails,and his strength almostnever
flags.This judgement is stillmine;nor couldI be easilyinducedor
desperatelycoercedto adoptanother view.95
93We translate as "pragmatic"

Harvey's"pragmaticus" forwantofa
throughout,
moreappropriate word.HarveytakesthetermdirectlyfromCicero,De oratore, where
Antoniusadvisestheoratornotto fillhisheadwithlegaldetail,buttoemploysomeone
to get it up for him: "This is why, in the lawcourts,those who are the most
accomplishedpractitioners retainadvisorswho areexpertin thelaw (eventhoughthey
are veryexpertthemselves),and who are called 'pragmatics'" (Itaque illi disertissimi
hominesministroshabentin causis iurisperitos,cum ipsi sintperitissimi, et qui ...
pragmaticivocantur).See also Quintilian,Institutiones
oratoriae, xii.3.4.
9 Ibid., leaffacingp. 1, recto.
When we turnto Harvey'scopy of Livy's Concioneswe do indeed
findthemannotatedconfidently as politicallyeffective(not simply
exercisesin speech-making):
Anyonemustbe delighted bythatvividly variedstyle.Relevant hereare
thepolitical
lettersofMehmet II topopes,emperors, kings,princes,states,
withtheanswers. Alsosomeveryprudent andsharpopinions intheletters
of therulersof theworld.Whatis morespirited, moreskilful, more
concise,morepenetrating thaneither ofthese?Whatis moreappropriate
toa judiciousorator, anambassador
especially ora royalcounsellor?Every
excellentpragmatic mustbecomethoroughly conversantwiththem.96
These notesgivea vividsenseofhow Harveytreatsvirtuosooratory
as an integralpartofstrategy, comparablewithmilitary tacticsin its
abilitytoinfluence the outcome ofpoliticalconfrontation (eventhough
elsewhere,as we shallsee, he made seriousefforts to masterRoman
writings on warfaretacticsand battleformation). We shouldnotfind
this surprising.Livy and Machiavellihad both stressedthe vital
importanceof effective rhetoricto generalsas well as to statesmen;
and Harveyhad givenmuchof his careerto the studyof oratory.
Betweenthesetwo extremes,Harveyappearsultimately to settle
foraphoristic history,as cruciallypolicy-forming forthe politician;
andthisis consistent withhiscommitment toBodin,Daneau, Hotman
and others,associatedwithcontemporary movesto reformthelegal
systemsand political structuresof modern states using ancient
models. It is in a book of aphoristicsayingsfromDemosthenesthat
Harveyquotes Bodin on history;and it is at the end of thatwork
thathe cross-refers (evidentlyforsomethinglike the firsttime) to
"Daneau's very new aphorisms",as appropriatereadingat this
point.97Annotating theintroductory letter(addressedto HenryVIII)
inhiscopyofMorysine'stranslation ofFrontinus'Stratagems, Harvey
writes:"Aphorismsand exampleswill speedilymakeyou greatand
admirable.Of longerdiscoursesand historiesthereis no end. They
tire the body and confusethe intellectand the memory".98 The
passage againstwhich thisis writtenis also markedwithHarvey's
byWalterColman.Copyin Worcester
9 Transcription College,Oxford.See also
R. Simpson,Sir
Sir ThomasSmith'slibrarylist,Queen'sCollege,Cambridge:
ThomasSmith'sBooklists,1566 and 1576 (WarburgInstituteSurveysand Texts,xv,
forthcoming).ThiscopyofLivy'sConciones hasThomasSmith's onitstitle-
signature
page("ThomasSmyth"), thatis, Smithjunior.Whichsuggeststhatthetwomight
wellhavehadthetwoLivytextstogether (on thebook-wheel!)
during theirreading.
9 TranscriptionbyWalterColman;Harvey's copyofDemosthenes,Gnomologiae,
sig.03' (nowin Brit.Lib.).
98 Harvey'sFrontinus, at presentin the HoughtonLib., Harvard,sig. a vi'.
Another notehererefers
marginal thereader toAphthonius'
Progymnasmataforsimilar
aphorisms.
"martial"sign (C), and the "aphorisms"in questionare pointedly

triggering to action(and peculiarlyappropriateas usual to the "war
party"amongwhomHarveysoughthis patrons):
Whantymebyddeth spende,sparynge is greatwaste.Loueis lewdenesse,
whantymebiddeth hate.Peaceis tobe refused, wha[n]tymeforceth men
towarre.Wherefore, I hauebesydesthismytra[n]slation [ofFrontinus],
in an othertryfle ofmyn,exhorted al mycontrey me[n],peacelaidaside,
to prepareforwarre.
At the bottomof page 271 of the Livy, on a page whichHarvey
heads in his "military"vein, "The Romanes neuer so matched&
tamed,as bie Annibala long time",we finda marginalnotein his
diplomaticmode: "No reposeor delayhere.No notescan equal the
authorhimself,noteventhesharpestdiscoursesor aphorisms.He is
still sharperhimself,and deeper". Over the page this allusion to
Daneau and Machiavelliis filledout as follows:
Onewhowantspolitical axiomshereshouldreadDaneau'spolitical axioms
fromPolybius,or rather shouldhimself collectmoreprudent ones,and
moreappropriate tocivilandmilitary discipline,from political
principles.
For example:Justinian's rulesoflaw,Vegetius'rulesofwar,Isocrates'
rulesofcivilizedlife.Or likethepolitical principlesofAristotle,which
comefrom Herodotus, Thucydides, Xenophon, Homerandothers. There
is no specialistin political,
or economic, or ethicalaxiomsdrawnfrom
andpoemstomatch
histories AristotleinhisPolitics,Oeconomics, Ethics.
Buthowmuchgreater wouldhe havebeenhadhe knownhistories that
wereso muchgreater - especially Romanhistory? Machiavelli certainly
outdidAristotle in observationofthisaboveall,though he hada weaker
foundation in technical rulesandphilosophical principles.HenceI gener-
allypreferAristotle's rules,Machiavelli's examples.9
Harvey'ssearchforfirstprinciplesof politics- at once derived
fromtheAristotelian beliefthatthehighestformof scienceconsists
in theprovisionof such principles,and connectedwiththeeffort of
so manyofhis contemporaries to crystallize themostpowerfulideas
theyhad about law, moralityand politicsintoadages,emblemsand
regulaeiuris- is notsurprising.100Whatmaysurpriseus, though-
and heretheneed to studythehabitsofactualreadersemerges- is
thenatureof the sourcewherehe looks forthem.Harveyboastsof
his knowledgeof Aristotleand Machiavelli. But he findsactual
guidancein formulating aphorismsin themuchhumblerlittlecollec-
tionofpoliticalaxiomsbytheCalvinistpastorandtheologianLambert
Daneau.
The politicalaphorismsin Daneau appropriateto thisepisode in
Livy (the fallof Saguntumand the subsequentRoman embassyto
99Harvey'sLivy,p. 273.
100 See P. Stein,Regulaeiuris(Edinburgh,1966).
Carthage)are indeedto be foundamongthosedrawnfromPolybius

(sincewe recallthatDaneau onlycollectsaphorismsfromLivy'sfirst
decade). There we find aphorismslike the following,succinctly
drawingthelessonsfromtheevents:
Those who mustwage a greatwar at a longdistancemustleaveno
thatthreatens
hostileposition themtotherear(thatis whyHannibaltook
Saguntum)
Thosewhobreakpublictreaties firstarestarting warsin a hateful way
(thatis whyPolybiuscondemns theCarthaginians)
In anempire ofseveral
consisting diverse peoplesandprovinces itiswisest
toentrust thedefenceofoneprovince to soldiersfromanother province,
andviceversa.Thustheymaybelinkedtooneanother bytheperformance
of thesereciprocalduties(thusHannibalsentSpaniards to Africa,and
movedAfricans acrossto Spain).'0'
The focusof Harvey's(and presumablyPreston's)interestin this
episode,however,is theconductofthelegationsentby theRomans
to Carthageafterthe fallof Saguntum,ostensiblyto ask "whether
Hannibal had attackedSaguntumwiththeauthority of the govern-
ment",butactuallyauthorizedformally todeclarewaron theCarthag-
inians. At the top and bottomof the page in which the Roman
ambassadorsand theirCarthaginian hostsexchangespeeches,Harvey
writes:
The firstbloomandvigourofRomanhistory, in theopinionofa couple
ofreaders.Virtue strength
regains after beingwounded; itistheadamantine
basisforgenerous andexcellence.
rivalry Had Carthage notbeenRome's
bitterenemy,Romewouldneverhavebecomethepowerful of
mistress
theworld.The harsher theill fortune, thegreater thefavourable fortune
intheend,whereunvanquished virtue, thesplendid contestant
forvictory,
serves.
[Bottomof page] I wanta politician who fixesthe adamantine basis
on deeperfoundations, and illustrates thebestprecepts withthebest
examples - and thusoutdoesAristotle himself in weightofprinciples,
Machiavelliin choiceofhistories.I would liketo beginwhereMachiavelli
and Daneau leave off,and use thelatercounsels,laws,arms,judgements,
magistracies, industriesand public directivesof the Romans
enterprises,
to correctthe earlierones skilfullyand enlargethemdiligently.Also to
add themostsupremelyexcellentones fromtheothersuccessfulempires,
kingdoms,republicsof theworld.Then to leave nothingunexaminedor
unexplainedin thesubtlestschooldoctorsor deepestworldlypragmatics,
whichcould improveor enlargethe principles.'
In the middleof thispage appears a virtuosoexchangebetween
Quintus Fabius and the Carthaginians.The Carthaginianspeaker
elegantlyfindsRoman precedentforCarthage'sand Hannibal's ac-
101Lambert
Daneau, Politicorum aphorismorum silua,exoptimis. . . scriptoribus
.
collecta(Leiden, 1620; firstpubd. 1591), pp. 132-3.
102
Harvey'sLivy,p. 275.
tions.Fabius' replyis blunt. He gathershis togainto a pouch and

says,"Here we have foryou eitherwaror peace; takewhicheveryou
wish".
To thisthesenateshoutedangrily thathe might givethemwhichever he
wished.Droppingthepouchofhistogaas iftopouroutitscontents, he
saidthathegavethemwar.To thistheyanswered thattheyaccepted,and
wouldwageitwiththesamecourageas theyhadacceptedit.
Thisstraightforward ofwarseemed
declaration morebefittingthedignity
oftheRomanpeoplethanwrangling aboutthevalidityofthetwotreaties.
In themarginHarveyhas written:"The extraordinarily honourable
embassiesof the Romans: to the Carthaginians,Spaniards,Gauls.
No historianplaystheambassadoror jurisconsult so vividlyas Livy,
here,above, below. It is most useful to a pragmaticto examineall
theselegationsthoroughly".104And on thefollowingpage: "Roman
ambassadorsare grave and decisive; also more readyor prepared
thanthe Spartans".105
This emphasison ambassadorialvirtuosity is supportedbyanother
group of notes,which link performances by protagonistsin theLivy
withreal-lifestoriesof Elizabethanambassadors"winningtheday"
withtheirfeatsofwords.106By juxtaposingthevividrecentexample
withhis printedtext,Harveystressesthe "relevance"of the Livy
readingto courtdiplomacy.The mostvividexamplecomes in two
marginalnotesconcerning"Doctor Dale".10' On page 813 we find
the storyof Popilius' legationto Antiochus:
WhenAntiochus wasfourmilesfrom Alexandria hewasmetbytheRoman
commissioners. He salutedthemandheldhishandouttoPopilius.Popilius
askedhimfirst toreada document whichhehandedhim.He didso,and
said he wouldcall and consulthis ministers, whereupon Popiliuswith
customary directnessdrewa circlearoundthekingwiththestaff in his
handandsaid:"Givemeyouranswertothesenatebefore youstepoutof
thiscircle".The kingwas stunnedbythisperemptory order,butafter
a moment
hesitating replied,"I willdo as thesenatebids".Popiliusthen
deignedto givehimhisrighthand,as a friend andally.
Antiochus evacuatedEgyptby theprescribed date,and theRomans
sailedto Cyprus.Fromthisbase theyexpelledAntiochus' fleet,which
alreadyhadconquered theEgyptian shipsinbattle.Thisembassy became
renowned throughout theworld.For it was obviously responsiblefor
Antiochus' withdrawal fromEgyptafterthecountry alreadywas in his
power.
103Livy, xxi.
lo5Ibid., p. 276.
106Thereference
toHarvey's
discussions
ofdiplomatic
andpolitical
issueswiththe
courtiers
EdwardDyerandEdwardDenny(quotedabove,p. 38) comesonthepage
thisdiscussion
following ofRomandiplomacy.
107See D.N.B.
This storyhas all therightingredients: a crucialpointin thewarand
a vital legation.Events turnon "customarydirectness"incisively
masteringthe situationand gainingthe requiredresponse.It even
has an unlikelyoutcomein military terms- gainingtheverbalupper
handwhenin factyouradversaryhad theupperhandin termsofthe
battle,and thusbeatinghim. In the rightmarginHarveywrites:
"Popilius was an earnestand effective ambassador:havingcompar-
able authority even withtherulinghouse. [Laterin English]One of
doctorDales greatExamples: when he was Lord Ambassadourin
Fraunce, & in Netherland".'08At the bottomof the page Harvey
relates Dale's preferencefor this storyto his own success as an
ambassador(also dealingwithan adversarywith"customarydirect-
ness"):
DoctorDale, LordAmbassadour in Fraunce,& theLoweCountries, was
as resoluteafterhis fashion,as Popiliushimself:and stoodupon as
peremptorie termes withtheFrenchKinge,thedukeofParma,& other
mightie as thestowtest
Princes, Romaneeuerdidinthelikecases.When
theEarleofDarbie,& otherAmbassadours quailed,he was
respectiuely
allwaiesin harte,absolute,& inuincible.The Princeof Parmawas neuer
so berdedto hisface,bie anieAmbassadour.109
At the veryend of the Livy (after"finisindicis") we findout more
aboutthisbeardingoftheprinceofParmaon theeve oftheArmada:
DoctorDale - thegreatpragmatic,andthemostjudicious I
ambassador
haveknown- usedto say"Giveme no. 1" whenhe wantedJustinian;
"Give me no. 2" whenhe wantedhis Speculumiuris;1"0 "Give me no. 3"
when he wantedLivy. For he made moreof thesethreeauthorsthanof
all therest,and he suppliedhimselfwitha manuscript notebookofsecrets.
William Spite [Speight?],procuratorof the Court of Arches,and Dr.
Dale's secretaryin the Belgianlegationto the duke of Parma,oftentold
me thisamongothermemorabledoingsof his. When the well-equipped
Spanishfleet,commandedbythedukeofMedina,was preparingtoinvade
Englandin the near future,Dale was the onlyambassadorwho daredto
claim precedenceover the duke of Parma when out walking,as the
representativeof a higherprince,his mistress;and wantedto precede,or
refusedto follow.WhenthedukeofParmafiercely utteredterriblethreats,
as thoughalreadythinkingof the invasionof England,he laughed,and
contemptuously repliedwitha non-verbalnoise, as of lips smacking[!].
No otherlegateventuredanythinglike thisagainstthe brave Parma, in
themidstofhis fiercearmy.But thefearlessdoctornevershoweddismay.
In facthe showedopen contemptforthevastarmy,mindfulbothofLivy's
examplesand of his kingdom,his fatherland, his rank.I have knownfew
suchreadersofLivy,but therarer,themoreremarkable.DoctorHaddon
andDoctorWilsonpreferred
CiceroandCaesar.Butas ambassadors
they
weremoreelegantthaneffective;
theywerestiff
in carrying
outorders,
lo8Harvey'sLivy,p. 813.
'09 Ibid.
0oSee Stern,
Gabriel pp. 266-7.
Harvey,
ingravetransactions
andflaccid - compared
thequeen'sinterest
involving
withthosetwosharppragmatics,DoctorSmith,theknight, andDoctor
Wotton,thequeen'scounsellor.Theyappliedthemselves to Livyand
Tacitus.
Hereindeedis Livy'slessonofthehighly wrought speechas crux
andfulcrum onwhich events turn, inaction.
Harvey's viewofLivy'sstyle- andhisbeliefin itspeculiar
transparency - emerges
as narrative mostclearlyfrom hisnote
onthecommentator Velcurio'sefforttodefine thehistorical
style.
Velcurio writes forstudents learningtoimitate.He explainsLivy's
styleas "copious"and "grave",andemphasizes Livy'strickof
weaving a specialformof"period" "from several
clausesormembers,
in sucha waythatitbothexpresses a givenmatter copiouslyand
embraces andconnects severalmatters inthesamesentence"."111
This
qualitysetsLivyofffrom other historianslikeSallust
andCaesar.
Velcurioadvises thestudent tocutLivy's"periods intotheir
constitu-
entparts"to see thehistorical stylein detail,andgivesrulesfor
producing itin one'sownprose(forexample, "Veryoften in the
historicalperiod several
nominatives andother casesarereferredto
a singleverb,as ifpredicated"). Andhe makesclearthatLivy's
periodic prosemakeshimsecondonlytoCiceroas a teacher and
modelofeloquent Latin."112
Harvey disagrees.Hiscomment reads:
SecondtoCicero.Yetheisoften
aheadofhimintheforce ofhisaphorisms.
too,hedescribes
Often, places,actions
persons, andthingsofgreatbeauty
morevividly.
I haveoftenfoundQuintiliana sortofcomposite
ofCicero
andLivy.NordidanylaterRomanhavea moreflorid moresplendid
style,
ora more
aphorisms, profound ora freer
intellect, orfinally
judgment,
more inhisownintellect.
faith Hadthere beennoLivythere
wouldhave
beennoFabius[Quintilian];
andhadtherebeennoFabius,there
would
havebeennoLorenzo
Valla,whom I have
felt
tobetheleader
ofsomany
moderncritics.113
HarveyseesLivyas a master in a different
sensethanVelcurio
does.Livy'sprosepresentspeopleandevents in three
concretely,
dimensions, an experience
offering morecinematic
thanliterary
in
ourterms.Yetatthesametimeheoffers thesortoftuition
exactly
onewouldexpect ina master
tofind ofrhetoric:
invention,
judgement
andelocution,
thebasicpartsofrhetoric,
appearinthelessexplicit
categories
Harvey Livyoffers
applies."114 bothexplicit
andimplicit
"' Harvey'sLivy, sig. H 6v.
112Ibid.,sig.IF.
"113Ibid.
114
See Harvey'sannotationsin his copy of Livy, Conciones.
lessons:boththeimmediatevisionofwarin actuand theconsidered

formulationsneeded by the statesmaninpotentia.
XII
"NO ONE DEPICTS SO GRAPHICALLY": SHARPENING THE IMAGES
BY REPEATED READINGS
The best way to enhance our sense of how Harvey made Livy
meaningful is to proceedfromprinciplesto applications.As Harvey
notesapprovingly: "Livyis certainly
thebestin Romanhistory.Each
book is outstanding,in its kind. The varietyof appealingfactsis
amazing. No historianeitherobservesmore seriouslyor depicts
so graphically"."' But the graphic descriptionrequiresinsistent
excavation:forhow are the lessonsof theancientRoman Republic
to be made applicableto a sixteenth-century monarchy?
thesayings
In histories, anddeedsofthoseconsidered wisest,strongest,
mostjustbytheirfellows arepraised.Butwhatsortofpolitician speaks
andacts,andtowhatend,andin whatsortofstate,andinwhatspecific
circumstances - theseare vitaltoo. Each actsin accordance withhis
andno onebindshisownhands.Manythings
estate,publicor private,
weresaidanddonewiththegreatest prudence in theRomanRepublic,
whichitwouldbe absurdto do in a kingdom andnowadays. Nothing is
goodthatlacksthesaltofjudgement. Whatever is praiseworthyshould
also be appropriate."6
How did Livy'searlyRome changecontours,shadowsand colours
as Harvey inspectedits cruciallyvivid narrativeon successiveoc-
casions? Tackling the dense body of notes, with theirpersistent
challengingofand intervention intothetextpresentsa dauntingand
unmanageabletask.But twoselectiveanalysesofhiswaysofreading
will give some idea of how thereadingalteredaccordingto thetype
of analysishe was using.
Towardsthemiddleofbook one LivytellsthestoryoftheHoratii
and the Curiatii. Romans and Albans, both descendantsof the
Trojans, have both stolenone another'scattle,refusedrestitution,
and levelledultimatums. Theyconfront one anotherin orderofbattle
but decide,giventhedangerposed by theEtruscansto bothparties,
to avoid a full-scalecombatand arrangea trialby battlein its place.
Each armyhas a set of triplets,the Roman Horatiiand the Alban
"'
Harvey'sLivy, sig. a3' (at end of preface).
This is partof a longnoteon thefirstblankpage of thevolume.The noteends
116
(immediately afterthepassagequoted): "G.H. 1580". We maythereforetakethisto

be the sentimentbehind the "reading" of Livy which Harvey undertookat the
beginningof his period of serious politicalemployment(when he was publicly
appointedto serveLeicester,whateverhis statusthereafter).
Curiatii,thatcanrepresent it.A treaty is madeandsolemnized with

elaborate ritual.The brothers TwoRomansfall,butthethird,
fight.
unhurt, runsaway,separates thethreeAlbansandkillsthemoneby
one.Horatius, returningintriumph tothecity,meetshissister, who
had beenengagedto one oftheCuriatii.She criesoutwithsorrow
onlearning ofherlover'sdeath.Horatius promptly killsher,isfound
guiltyoftreason - andis thenfreedbecauseofhispopularity and
hissister'slackofpatriotism.Peaceismade;butitdoesnotlastlong.
The storyhaseverything. Livygivesthedetailsofdisagreements
among ancient scholars(overwhichset oftriplets, theRomanor
theAlban,had whichfamily He
name). lovingly describes Roman
institutions, the
showing "fetial" (priest)pluck and use the holyherb
neededformaking treaties
anddescribing howthekingandduumvirs
declaredandstageda trialfortreason. Horatius provides an example
ofcourage,patriotism andathleticprowess - but also oftheerrors
to whichtoo muchzeal and couragecan lead. MettiustheAlban
provides anexampleofstatesmanlike prudence andeloquent oratory.
AndHoratius'namelesssistermakesa finesubjectfora cautionary
taleabouttheeternalfemaleconflict between loveandduty.
had
Harvey ampleexegetical resources on hand as heattacked this
passage. The commentators in his Livy, Glareanus and Velcurio,
bothdiscussed bookone,andthough Glareanus lefttheHoratii alone,
Velcuriotreatedthemat length.He paraphrased everyphraseor
sentencethatcould possiblypose a difficulty. Afterthefirsttwo
Horatiidie,Livydescribes thesituation ofthethird:"Forteisinteger
solusnequaquampar, sicadversus
fuit,ut universis ferox"(The
singulos
youngman, thoughalone,was unhurt.No matchforhis three
opponents together,he wasyetconfident ofhisabilitytofacethem
Velcuriofounda surprising
singly).117 amountofgristforhismill
here,andgrounditslowandsmall:"Is) thatis Horace.Integer) that
is, notwounded.Vniversis)
thatis,bythethreetogether".1"1 Andhe
wentintotechnicaldetailofa morerefined sortas wellwhenitcame
to thelegalaspectsofHoratius'murdercase,explaining at length
whythetakingof privaterevengeamounted to treasonas wellas
"He punishedhissisterbyprivate
parricide: vengeance,whenshe
shouldhavebeenpunishedbythemagistrate".
Harvey'snoteson thepassageshowno interest whatevereitherin
elementary problemsof construing or in deeperones of law and
Instead,he drawsa political
antiquities. lesson:
117Livy, i.25.7.
"8 Harvey's Livy, sig. K
1'.
A splendidexampleofsinglecombat.Butthiswasa rashrather thana
prudent
politically wayto reacha decision.It is in factnotpolitically
prudent to entrust
thegeneralwelfareto thevirtueor fortune
ofso few.
Butthiscustom derivedfrom theheroicvirtueofa fewoftheancients,
by
which,it seemed,all greatquestions
shouldbe decided.g19
Harveywas hardlyeccentricto suggestthatthistrialby combathad

been imprudentand was not an exampleto emulate.Daneau also
deriveda similaraxiomfromthesamepassage: "It is alwaysdanger-
ous and oftenuselessto entrustthegeneralwelfare(summarerum) to
a duel oftwoor morein a war. For thevanquisheddo notkeepfaith,
and theydo notsuffer a greatlossbecauseofit".120 AndMachiavelli-
who no doubt lurks, here as elsewhere,behind Daneau - had
devotedthreechaptersofhisDiscorsisoprala primadecadi TitoLivio
to thestory.He made it thepretextfora longand generalargument
that "one must never risk one's entirefortunewithpartof one's
forces"(i.22). He drewfromit thespecificrecommendation thatone
shouldnottryto stopan enemyat one's borderby confronting him
witha small force(i.23). And he foundin it foodforreflection on
thecorruption ofrepublics,arguingthatwhilegoodcitizensmustbe
rewarded,it had been wrongsimplyto let Horatiusgo freeafterhe
had been fairlycondemnedforkillinghis sister(i.24).
Harveybeginsfromtheprudential,"political"readingofDaneau
and Machiavelli. Like them- and like his contemporary Justus
Lipsius,whomhe muchadmired- he wantedto extractand shrink
to durable,concise,axiomaticformthepragmaticlessonsofthetext.
But unlikethem,he wantedto speculateaboutothermattersas well.
What captivatedhis imaginationwas less the imprudenceof the
customLivy describedthanthe reasonswhyit had been practised.
He locatesthesein theancients'beliefin individualheroism,which
made themthinksingle combatan appropriateway to solve such
problems.He may deplorethe earlyRomans' heedlessness,but he
applauds theirchivalry.And his othernotesshow thatwhathe -
and Sidney - most appreciatedin Livy was less the pragmatic
maximshe could inspirethan the heroicfeatsof arms thathe so
vividlydescribed.Harvey'sfurther noteson the passage includea
Mars symbol;the exclamation"Vnicus Horatius" (PeerlessHora-
tius); and, mostrevealingof all, a reflection
on thefeignedflightby
whichHoratiustrickedhis opponentsintoseparating:"A strategic
119Ibid., p. 13.
120Daneau, Politicorum silua, p. 234.
aphorismorum
flight.Not evenHerculescould handlethree,or eventwoofthemost

outstandingopponentsin a fight".121
Here we see Harvey makingclear what Livy meant to him: a
treasuryof militarydevices to be imitatedand heroicbattlesto be
savoured.This was whatHarveyfoundin Roman historyas he read
about it elsewhereas well: forexample,in his copyofMachiavelli's
Arteof Warre(also now in Princeton)whereone battlescene more
thana page longis decoratedwitha Mars symbolat theend ofevery
line. Harveyread not simplyto reflect,boil down and imitate,but
also to savour,speculateand admire.No wonderthatthe pleasures
of the naked textoutweighedthe more refinedrewardsof learned
commentary when he and Sidneydid theirreading.And theywere
not alone in theirdesireto view theRoman past as highlycoloured
and in threedimensions.122
A further note on the slayingof Horatius'sister,however,takes
quite a differenttack:
See Augustine, Cityof God, iii.14,on theimpiety ofthewarthatthe
RomanswagedagainsttheAlbans,and thevictory thatresultedfrom
desireto rule;therehe skilfullytreatstheHoratiiand theCuriatii.[In
darker ink]Cf.thebiblicalduelofDavidandGoliath. Alsotheheroicones
ofHerculesandCygnus inHesiod,Achilles andHectorinHomer,Aeneas
andTurnusin Virgil.123
Here Harvey, readingby himselfand later in life, refersto the
eloquent chapter(iii.14) of The City of God in which Augustine
ponderstheHoratiiand theCuriatii,condemnsthemurderof Hor-
atius' sisterand insiststhatthe war itselfdeservednot honourbut
condemnation, likea gladiatorialcombat.HarveyknewthatAugust-
ine's account amountedto an attackon the whole Roman heroic
schemeof values: "See how, and how often,the divinewisdomof
Augustinerefutesthe humanprudenceof Livy", he wroteearlyin
book one.124 He concludedthatwhileeach cityhad its virtues,the
122 GeorgeGascoyne,in the fourthdumb show of his Iocasta- a play performed
at the InnerTemple - givesa re-enactment of theepisode. In his version,Horatius
is a "politique" of his own day; and by treatinghis retreatas tactical,Gascoyne
producesa vividand convincingversionofthesceneas a whole:"The thirdperceiuing,
thathe only remaynedto withstandthe forceof iii. enimies,did politiquelyrunne
aside: wherewithimmediatlyone of the iii. followedafterhim, and when he had
drawenhis enimiethusfromhis companie,hee turnedagainstand slewe him" (We
are gratefulto Mac Pigmanforthisreference).Harveyowneda copyofIocasta,now
in the Bodleian Library;he does not commenton the interlude.
124 Ibid., p. 6: "Ecce quoties et quomodo humanamLivij
prudentiam,divina
redarguitAugustiniSapientia".
divineone was both "more securelybuilt" and "more fortunate".
The applicationof Augustinein the 1590s seemsto underminethe
"heroic"readingofLivywithSidneyin themid-1570s,as iftheolder
and wiserHarvey- his careerexpectations curtailedby thedeaths
offirstSidneyand thenLeicester,and thedownfalloftheaggressive
Protestantism Sidneysymbolized- had repented.Yet thissimple
(and sentimental) accountdoes violenceto theformand contentof
Harvey'snote. He does not stopwithAugustine.His finallineson
thepassagelistheroicduels fromHesiod, Homer,Virgil- and the
Old Testament- offering David and Goliath,perhaps,as an example
of a vividheroismthateven Augustinecould notcondemn.
A secondspecificformofreadingis exemplified inthethirddecade.
WhenVelcuriotriestoexplaintheuse ofhistory as thestudentshould
studyit in Livy, he emphasizesthe traditional virtueof providing
workedexamplesof ethicaland unethicalconduct:
Examples ofvirtueandprobitytobe imitated,andofvicestobe avoided,
can easilybe derivedfromLivyandfrom otherhistorians.
Thushypoth-
eses- thatis, good,or bad,or intermediate examples -
ofindividuals
canproperly bedrawnfrom thesearethenconsidered
history; andassigned
totheses,thatis,totheircommonplaces(locicommunes),andtothegeneral
principlesofmorality andotherthings.125
Harvey,by contrast,annotating thispassage,sticksto practicalities.
Livyoffers lawsbeingmadeand institutions beingcreated,notmoral
principlesbeingtested:
No historian toa jurisconsult,
is as appropriate orpragmatic,orlegate,or
royalcounsellor, or finally
a politician,as Livy,especiallywhenac-
companiedby Tacitus,Suetonius,Frontinus; notto mention Valerius
Maximus... WhenreadingLivy,I oftenfeelthatI am readingthe
jurisconsultsthemselves - especially theScaevolas,Sulpitii,Trebatii,
Papiniani,thatsortofveryprudent ones.126
Harvey'ssummary referencesthrough thethirddecadetoHannibal

and theRomansconsistently revealtheseinterests.They are single-
mindedin theirconcentration on leadership:
FabiusMax[imus] bieWarie,& cautelousproceding, sumwhatcooledhis
[Hannibal's]heate:butlikerslieSaturne, thengallantJupiter,
or braue
Mars.OnlieMarcellus, & Scipiobeathimathandstrokes theOneinItalie,
theotherin Afrique.127
Braue& redowted youngScipio:fullofmightie courage,& valour.'28
[In Latin]Flavius,a shrewdpragmatic.129
125Ibid., sig. I r'.
126Ibid.
127 Ibid.,p. 294; Livy,xxiiad int.
128
Harvey'sLivy, p. 318; Livy,xxii.53.
129 Harvey'sLivy,p. 379; Livy,xxv.16.
Martius, a mostbraue& terrible
knight,ata pinch.WhichoftheHeroical
Worthyes cowldhauedunmorein thetime?130
[In Latin]Fabius,moreadeptin war;Martiusin combat;Martiusin
action;Neroinforced marches;Scipiothemostoutstanding
inallglorious
militaryenterprises.
131
braue:a Mirrour
[Scipio]As peerlesfine,as matchles ofsweetest courte-
sie, & terriblest
valour.132
The purpose of these check-listsof heroicvirtueis plain. Harvey
saw - and no doubt took part in - debates about Carthaginian
and Roman leaders. These lists of deeds and adjectiveswere the
substantive preparation forsuchdebate.Much as Erasmuscompiled
as his distinctiveaid to eloquence a matchlesslist of two hundred
and fiftyways to say "Thank you forthe letter"in classicalLatin,
Harvey and Smithjunior devoted much of theirprivateeffortto
assemblingmaterialto be used in public.
Butthethirddecade has a strongnarrative lineas wellas individual
storiesof heroism.At the outsetHannibal'smarchon Rome seems
his victoryinevitable.By theend his armyis in disarray
irresistible,
and Hannibal himselfin despair,while Scipio returnsto Rome in
triumph.Harvey's marginalnotes show how eagerlyhe followed
Hannibal's progressand appreciatedtheCarthaginian general's"in-
dustry,and appallingvigilance".133 Hannibal stalksonward,appar-
entlyimplacableand unbeatable.But Harveyfoundmorethanvirtue
in Hannibal'sfeatsofarms.He saw theseedsofHannibal'seventual
failureplantedearlyin his campaign.In book twenty-two he failsto
take theopportunity affordedby Cannae and attackRome at once;
in book twenty-three Hannibal wintersin Capua, lettinghis army
lose cohesion and morale; in book thirtyhe has become pitiable.
Harveyremorselessly trackseach errorofjudgement.At book thirty
he reflects:"Hannibal was beaten firstin spirit;it is no surprise,
then, thathe was immediatelybeaten in the fleshas well. One's
fortunecorrespondsto one's strength of mindand body".134
Harvey findsa simple explanationforHannibal's many related
failures.He lackedtheindomitablewill neededto makethemostof
each opportunity as it occurred."Occasion is onlya point:now or
never"."The sole essentialfora greatmanis to seize theinstantwith
greatpossibilitiesforcefully, withshockingpower,and to play the
o30Harvey'sLivy, p. 391; Livy, xxv.37-9.

131Harvey'sLivy, p. 404; Livy,xxvi.20.
132Harvey'sLivy, p. 460; Livy, xxviii.18.
134Ibid.,p. 510.
leader,whenit is important
powerful to do so, withterrifying
power".135Indecision,Machiavellihad longago shown,was themost
destructiveofall errors in a ruler.NowHarveyreadindecision into
Livy'sHannibal.
The motives forthisreadingarenotfartoseek.In a senseitwas
over-determined, sinceitwasinspired atleastin partbyLivy'sown
cluesas wellas byHarvey'simmediate needs.ButHarveyreadthe
Carthaginian and Roman past above all in thetermsoftheEnglish
A
present. rising member of the war
rising party, heachedforaction,
likehispatrons.In hiscopyofWithorne's ofMachiavelli's
translation
TheArteofWarre (alsoannotated in 1580),against passageinwhich
a
Machiavelli advisesthemilitary leadernotto makewarin winter
because
Alltheindustriethatis vsedinthediscipline ofwarre,is vsedfortobee
preparedto fightea fielde withthyenemie, becausethisis theende,
whereuntoa Capitayne oughte togoorendeuour himselfe:Forthat the
foughtenfield,
geueth theethewarre wonne orloste.i;3b6
Harveyhas markedtheword"ende",and writesexasperatedly in
themargin: "ThisEnde,allmost atan ende,nowa dais".Byfinding
thereasonforHannibal'sfailurenotin wantof resources butin
ofwill,hetaught
failure exactlythehistorical
lessonthat
Walsingham
andLeicesterwouldhavemostlikedElizabeth - anxiousalwaysto
avoid"thefoughten field",and"thewarre"(whether wonorlost)-
to learn.The alchemyof presentneedsturnedHannibalfroma
determined intoa wavering
Fortinbras Hamlet,inthemargins ifnot
in thetext.
Harvey'stransformationofHannibalinvolved notonlytheexpla-
butthedevelopment
nationofa failure, ofsympathy forit. Harvey
seems,as thethirddecadeproceeds,tofeelincreasingly
sorry forthe
factthatHannibaldid notcarryouthisaims.If he hadonlyacted
whenhe shouldhave . . . "Maharbal'sexcellentadvice[tomarchon
Romeimmediately Cannae]couldhavemadeHannibalas great
after
as Alexander.But Hannibal,intenton lessergoods,losthis one
chanceforthegreatestsuccess.Nowornever".137
To findthemoral
he neededin thethirddecade,Harveyhadtofeelsympathy forthe
of Romethepossibility
devil;to findin Livy'sglorification of a
"s Ibid., p. 317. On Harvey'sobsessionwithaction,see N. Orsini,Studiisul

Rinascimento italiano
inInghilterra 1937),pp. 101-20;M. Praz,TheFlaming
(Florence,
Heart(NewYork,1958),pp. 101-2.
136Harvey's ArteofWarre,
copyofMachiavelli, fo.xciij'.Underlinings
Harvey's.
"'7Harvey'sLivy, p. 317.
thatglorified
counter-history Thishe didwithan easeand
Carthage.
dexterity
thatonemightnotexpectfroma humanist.
XIII
HOW WELL DID HARVEY READ?
Harvey'sreadingof Livywouldnotearntheadmiration of most
modernclassicists. He acceptsLivy'saccountsevenwhentheyare
certainlyerroneous - as in thecaseofHannibal'sdisastrous delay
at Capua,whichtheparallelaccountin Polybiusshowstobe Livy's
ownmoralizing invention. ButhealsoreadLivyas Livymeanttobe
readas a master rhetoricianoffering thehistory Cicerohadcalled
forinDe oratore, a "workfororators" - andindoingso hepraised
exactlythosequalitiesin Livythathadimpressed hisownclassical
modelofthegoodrhetorician, Quintilian. Often he didpickup and
workwithsmallbutimportant cluesin Livy'stext,cluesthatreveal
Livy'sown ambivalent assumptions. At one point,forexample,
reading Velcurio's comment on Romulus' and Numa'sefforts to
establisha religionat Rome,Harveyremarks that"Therearemany
things thatI thinkin passingas I read,whichI hardlydaretowrite
down".3"Surelyhereferred heretoLivy'sownsensethattheancient
Romanreligion wasliterally falsebutsocially useful,a tooltocreate
- a sensethatconflicts
socialdiscipline clearly,most modern readers
wouldthink,withLivy'sefforts to proclaimhis piety.Here and
elsewhere Harvey'ssheerskilland penetration areimpressive.139
WasHarveydeludedtothinkthatflexible reading couldtakehim
to the top?Not necessarily. Anothersurviving piece of political
"ephemera" suggestshowmucha partofa contemporary agendahis
aspirationstoannotate themargins ofcontemporary political
practice
mayhavebeen.A memorandum prepared byRobertBealein 1592
fortheprivate useofEdwardWotton, itexplains inseverely practical
terms"The Office ofa Councellor andPrincipall Secretarieto Her
Majestie".Itofferssageadviceabouthowtodefine theprivy council's
agenda,avoidcabinetcouncil"whichdoes butcauseiealousieand
envie",andabbreviate theletterssubmitted tothecouncilso thatits
memberswill at leasthave read a summary of thematters they
mustdecideon. It also offers readings ofmanyancienthistorians:
"RememberwhatArriansaithinthelifeofAlexander... So likewise
138Ibid.,sig.I 3'.
39ForLivy'sintentions
andreception
inantiquity,
seeP. Walsh,Livy(Cambridge,
1970).
towardsyourfellowcouncellorsbehaveyourself as Maecenascounsel-
led Augustus... Be diligent.RememberthesayingofSalust". Beale
is quite unapologeticin his provisionof these humanistaxioms.
Indeed he stressesin his conclusionthata good principalsecretary
mustbe a good readeroftheclassics:"By thereadingeofhistories you
mayobservetheexamplesoftimespast,judgingoftheirsuccesse".140
In his copy of TheArteofWarreHarveysummarizestheauthors
he would wish to have to hand in designinghis own spursto action
in thefieldofwar,includingcontemporary advisersafterthemanner
of Beale's to Wotton:
Mieprincipal AutorsforWarr,after
muchreading, & longconsideration:
Caesar,& Vegetius: & Gandino:
Machiauel, Ranzouius, & Tetti:withowr
Sutcliff,Sir Roger Williams,& Digges Stratioticos:all sharp,& sound
mastersof Warr. For y' Art,Vegetius,Machiauel, & Sutcliff:forStrat-
agems,Gandino,& Ranzouius: forFortification, Pyrotechnie, & engins,
Tetti,& Digges:fory' old Romanmostworthie Discipline& Action,
Caesar:fory' newSpanish,& Inglishexcellent
Discipline& Action,Sir
Ro: Williams.Autorsenowgh;withyemostcunning, & valorouspractis
in Esse. [Another
time]Owr InglishmilitarDiscipline,vnderGeneral
Norris,inyeDialogue,intitulid,
The CastleofPollicy:VnderyeEarleof
Leicester,In his owne Lawes, & Ordinances.The Spanish Discipline,
vnderyeDuke d'Alua,& yePrinceofParma,yebestDiscipline nowin
Esse,newlydiscooueridbySirRogerWilliams.141
We suggestthatHarveyhoped his skillscould win him a position
exactlylike Beale's, as a valued politicaladviser who combined
practicalexperienceand legal expertisewithdetailedstudyof the
ancients.Harvey'smode of reading,in fact,was preciselythe sort
of seriouspoliticaldiscoursethathis authoritative contemporaries
esteemed(and employeduniversity men for).And we suggestthat
thoughHarvey did not succeed as completelyas he hoped, his
humanismwas not at fault.142 Harvey'sabilityto read was perhaps
140ConyersRead, MrSecretary and thePolicyofQueenElizabeth,3 vols.
Walsingham
(Cambridge, Mass.andOxford, pp. 423-43.Wotton
1925),i, appendix, alsofailedto
achievetheoffice heexpected, eitherin 1592orthree whenthematter
yearslater, was
broached again:ibid.,i, p. 423.
141 Harvey'sArteofWarre, fo.Cixr.The"newly discooueridbySirRogerWilliams"
datesthisto 1590-1.
142 In spiteofNashe'sexuberant fantasies
aboutHarvey'sbeingchasedbackto
Cambridge afteran ignominiously briefemployment withLeicester,thesemarginalia
suggest a muchmorecontinuous on Harvey'spartbetween
toing-and-froing Cam-
bridge andLondon,andconstant contactwiththepolitical
circleheclaimedtoadvise
inLondon.Spenser praisesHarveyas a "looker-on" who"Ne fawnest forthefauour
ofthegreat... Butfreely doest",in a 1586sonnet,written fromhisownminor-
officialpost in Dublin: Moore Smith,GabrielHarvey'sMarginalia,p. 57, which
confirmsthatHarveyheldno official
post,butnevertheless
suggeststhatHarveyis
ina desirably
active,
intellectually unconstrained inthecircles
fashion, of"onlookers"
outsidetheimmediatecourtcircle.
hisone uncontestedasset;it tookhimfarand yieldedfascinating and
contradictory visionsof the Roman past.143
IfHarveywasultimately provedwrong,and thefashionforemploy-
ing thistypeof eruditefacilitator in policy-making was short-lived,
thismayhavemoretodo withpoliticaleventsthanwiththeindividual
practitioners. Isaac Casaubon came to Englandin 1610. Althoughhe
shared Harvey's intenseinterestin readinghistory,and even his
beliefthatthelessonsofhistorycould be reducedusefullyto succinct
axioms, he had no patiencewith learnedadvisorsin the political
arena.
Note[hewrotein onemiscellany] thatjustas the"book-trained doctor"
whomwe readaboutin GalenandAristotle andthe"book-trained ship's
pilot"areverydangerous, so absolutely is the"book-trained politician"
e libro).The countof Essex'scase is a tragicexampleofthis.
(politicus
Whenthisman,noblein otherrespects, wasat a loss,a scholarwhowas
laterhangedgavehimadviceinLucan'swords.Thetagwastothiseffect:
youwhohavefoundnofriends as a privateindividualwillfindmanyonce
youtakearms.ThatversedoomedEssex.144
So muchforHenryCuffe,one ofthelearnedreaderswithwhomwe
began.To Casaubon- who translated and commentedon Polybius,
butnourishedno personalhopeofadvancement in courtand political
circles- theworldofthelateElizabethanfacilitator alreadybelonged
to a lostpastwhichseemedalienand a littleabsurd,as wellas tragic.
XIV
"READ WHAT YOU CAN THEN RIGHTLY CALL YOUR OWN":
HARVEY'S PROGRAMME
Harvey'sLivyand itscompanionson thewheelseemto show,when
consideredtogether,a coherentprogrammeto masterthe whole
worldof learningand makeit readilyusable in politicalaction.This
is no coincidenceor aberration;Harvey'sintellectualambitionsin
factembracedthemappingofthewholeintellectual landscapeofhis
143Possiblyby 1590 the more"topical"workson thetechnology of war and
tactics
military weremaking Harvey's humanistic approachappeara little
dated.See
G. Parker's
citation
ofSirRogerWilliams, alsowriting
in1590,sayingthatAlexander,
Caesar,ScipioandHannibalweredoubtless "theworthiest
andfamoust warriorsthat
everwere",butthattheirexample hadlittlerelevance
tothemodern age:G. Parker,
TheMilitary Revolution:Military Innovation and theRise oftheWest,1500-1800
(Cambridge, 1988).
'4 BodleianLib., MS. Casaubon28, fo. 127'. For Casaubon'sinstructions on
derivingaxiomsfrom classicalhistorians Tacitus),seeMS. Casaubon24,
(specifically
fo.125r".ForCasaubonandPolybius, seeA. Momigliano, "Polybius' Reappearance
in Western Europe",in hisEssaysinAncient andModern Historiography(Oxford,
1977),pp. 79-98.
time.No singlebookoffered moredata betweentwocoversthanthat
great information-retrieval tool of the sixteenthcentury,Simler's
epitomeof Conrad Gesner'sBibliotheca.This vast, alphabetically
orderedcompendiumgave briefnotices,bibliographies and judge-
mentsofthewritings ofall seriousauthors,ancientand modernalike,
fromAaronBatalaeustoZyzymus.Harveyreaditwithcare,marking
themarginscontinuously withsignesderenvoiandoccasionallycalling
attentionto his special favourites amongtheauthorslisted:notably
RudolphAgricola and Lorenzo Valla. Aftertheprefacehe entereda
programmatic note thatreveals as explicitlyas anything he everwrote
thecontoursof his intellectualenterprise as a whole:
One needs Gesner'sgreatBibliotheca, especiallyforsummaries and
critiquesofdifferentauthors. Thesearemostimportant inreading classic
andmanyotherauthors thoroughly andwiththeproper attentiveness and
utility.Certainly anyphilologist mustfindit helpfulto haveat hand
succinctsummaries andintelligent ofalloutstanding
critiques writers,and
especiallythosewhoare classicsor of outstanding importance in their
field.Thisis themostimportant skillofmodern criticism,andthehighest
vocation oftheknowledgeable discourser. Thisis howimportant itis to
be a suggestive summarizer anda sharpcritic.Butnote,I use Hesiod's
distinction:
"halfismorethanthewhole".Onemustselectthebestmaterial
from thebestwriters; themostappropriate materialfrom individuals; the
mostactive,fromthebestand mostappropriate writers... Readwhat
youcanthenrightly callyourown.The sumofSocrates's wisdom is this:
"Thinkandact"."Experience outdoes inexperience". Everythingrestson
artand virtue.
GabrielHarvey.1584.145
Thus criticalreading,skilfulannotationand active appropriation
emergeas thecentralskills,notjustofthestudentofhistory,butof
theintellectual toutcourt.Readingalwaysleads to action- butonly
properreading,methodicalreading- readingin the mannerof a
GabrielHarvey.
And here we must emphasize again that Harvey's ideals and
methodswere not idiosyncraticor whimsical.No text by Philip
Sidneyhas provokedmoredebatethanhis letterto his brotherof 15
October 1580 on the readingof history.Some have seen thisas a
manifestoof Sidney'scommitment to themodern,continental style
ofreadinghistory - a reasonableinference givenhispraiseofTacitus
and emphasison the technicalstudyof chronology.Othershave
takenit as a criticismof contemporary over-emphasis on thetheory
ofhistoriography - also a reasonableinference given remarkthat
his
"For the methodof writingHistorie,Bodin hathwrittenat large,
145 Moore Smith,GabrielHarvey'sMarginalia,pp. 125-6;ourthanksto theHough-
tonLibrary, forletting
Harvard, theGesner(nowin thatcollection).
us inspect
yow may reade him and gatherout of manywordessome matter".

In fact,however,a comparisonbetweenthisdocumentand Harvey's
Livy makes clear thatSidneywas purveying,not his own wit, but
Harvey'smethod,to his brother.As Harveyhad insistedin practice,
Sidneyinsistedin theoryon thevariety ofroleseach historian plays-
and in whichhe mustbe appreciatedby thecompetentreader:"An
Oratorin makingexcellentorationsoutofthesubstance ofthematter
[e re nata] which are to be marked, but marked with the note of
rhetoricallremembrances;a Poet in paintingforththe effects,the
motions,the whisperingsof the people". Like Harvey,Sidneysaw
thechieftaskof theintellectual, ancientor modern,as servingas "a
Discourser, which name I give who soeverspeakesnotjustconcern-
to
ing what happened, but about thequalitiesand circumstances of what
happened[nonsimpliciter de facto, sed de qualitatibus et circumstan-
tiisfacti]"'46- a definition thatembracesbothwhatHarveysaw in
Livy and whathe hoped himselfto become. And even in takingan
independentattitudetowardsBodin, Sidneydid not deviatefrom,
but continued,Harvey's brand of humanistscholarship.Harvey's
tacticsas a reader,in short,yieldus a generalinsightintotheways
in whichsome late sixteenth-century intellectualstriedto cope with
thefloodof information thatthe pressespouredoverthem.
Just occasionally,the carefully-weighed political inferencesin
whichHarveytooksuch prideare interrupted by a moreemotional
responseof the kind we tend to like now - thougheven thenthe
emotionwas directednotat thebookhe read,butat theactofreading
it. "Why am I delayingso?" he exclaimsat the beginningof book
six, wherehe thoughtthatLivy's detailedaccountof antiquitiesleft
offand a more strictly politicalnarrativebegan. He urgedhimself
simplyto read, and not to writeanythingdown:
Thisvulgarbad habitofwriting oftenmakesreaders dilatoryandusually
makesactors cowardly.Thefollowers ofSocrates werewiser:they preferred
teachingsthatwereunwritten, spoken, preserved bymemorization. "Take
yourhandfromthepicture",runstheold saying."Take thepenfrom
yourhand",so runsmysayingnow.147
Here, foronce,Harvey,as reader,offers a responseoftheintensity
themodernreaderhopesfor.Our challengein thepresentexploration
sucha concern
'46See above,p. 36, forHarvey'srecordofprecisely on Sidney's
partwhenreadingLivy'sthirddecade:"[In reading,]ourconsideration
waschiefly
directed
attheforms theconditions
ofstates, ofpersons,
andthequalities
ofactions".
On Sidney'sletter,see E. StoryDonno,"Old Mouse-Eaten Records:Historyin
Sidney'sApology",Studiesin Philology,lxxii(1975), pp. 275-98.
147Harvey's
Livy,p. 149.
ofRenaissancereadinghas beentofinda positionwhichwillallow
us notto prefersuchoccasionalexclamations
to Harvey'sself-con-
measured
sciously aphorisms, buttomakebothtogether
a partofthe
ofan entirely
reconstruction unfamiliarbrandofengagement with
experienceand intellectual
history.148
QueenMaryand Westfield
College, Lisa Jardine
London
Princeton
University Anthony
Grafton
148 Hereas in other

areasthemethodsusedbyearlymodern historians
aremore
primitivethanthosethathavelongbeenusedbystudentsofearlier Theneed
periods.
to studyliterature, themakingofbooksandtheinterpretation
reading, oftextsin
conjunctionwasunderstoodbybiblical
andclassical oftheeighteenth
scholars century;
to Homer[1795], trans.A. Graftonet al. (Princeton,
see F. A. Wolf,Prolegomena
thesamelessonwithout
haveassimilated
1985).Medievalists or
unduedifficulty
resistance; B. Stock,TheImplications
see,forexample, (Princeton,
ofLiteracy 1983),
subtitle:Written
withitssignificant intheEleventh
LanguageandModelsofInterpretation
and Twelfth Eventhebest-informed
Centuries. historiansofthebookin theearly
modernperiodhavetakena narrowerviewoftheir
task;seeR. Chartier,
"Intellectual
Historyor Sociocultural The FrenchTrajectories",
History? in D. LaCapraand
S. L. Kaplan (eds.), ModernEuropeanIntellectualHistory:Reappraisalsand New
(Ithacaand London,1982),pp. 38-9,fora programmatic
Perspectives statement
in bothitsstrengths
exemplary anditslimitations.

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The Past and Present Society

"Studied for Action": How Gabriel Harvey Read His Livy

and techniques) designedforefficient absorptionand processing of

3 See, forexample,a suggestivepassagein HenryWotton's commonplace-book:

ingdiscipline, aboveall RobertDarntonand RogerChartier, have

politicsand scholarshiphereparticularly excitingforthelightit can

13BodleianLib.,TannerMS. 79,fos.29'-30'.We aregrateful

aspiringmenofactionlikehimselfand Dennyhavea gooddeal oftime

Harvey's readingofLivy.Itwillbeanimportant partofourargument

33See below,p. 42.

authorizingtheSmithsto embarkon a privateventure to colonize

37D. B. Quinn,"Sir ThomasSmith(1513-1577) and theBeginnings ofEnglish

Harveydid notread TheCityofGod on itsown, buttogether with

iae), itis byno meansclearwhichtextsitsat thecentreofthereader's

47 It wasRobert Darnton whofirstaskedus whywebelieved thatina readingofa

deviceforneatstorage ofmomentarily interesting texts.It belongsto

"5 We suggestthatthisadds pointtoChartier's evidencethatremarkablyfewreaders

historyhas apparently leftlittletraceof thisactivity

specificElizabethan politicalcontext, and in particular, to thede-

contemporary politicalrequirements."It is a readingwhichthe

examplesfromRoman history.He pickedout key chapters- like

83 See, forexample,Nashe's remarksabout Harvey'slegalpracticein theCourtof

volumeforSir Thomas Smithto drawto theattention of his son as

These lasttwosentencesarefroman earlierreading,possiblyactually

93We translate as "pragmatic"

"martial"sign (C), and the "aphorisms"in questionare pointedly

Carthage)are indeedto be foundamongthosedrawnfromPolybius

tions.Fabius' replyis blunt. He gathershis togainto a pouch and

lessons:boththeimmediatevisionofwarin actuand theconsidered

(immediately afterthepassagequoted): "G.H. 1580". We maythereforetakethisto

Curiatii,thatcanrepresent it.A treaty is madeandsolemnized with

Harveywas hardlyeccentricto suggestthatthistrialby combathad

flight.Not evenHerculescould handlethree,or eventwoofthemost

Harvey'ssummary referencesthrough thethirddecadetoHannibal

o30Harvey'sLivy, p. 391; Livy, xxv.37-9.

"s Ibid., p. 317. On Harvey'sobsessionwithaction,see N. Orsini,Studiisul

yow may reade him and gatherout of manywordessome matter".

148 Hereas in other

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