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Public spectacle - from the mourning rituals of the Roman noble to triumphs and the shows of the Arena - formed a crucial component of the language of power in ancient Rome. The historian Livy (C. 60 BCE-17 CE), who provides a full description of Rome's early history, presents his account of the growth of the Roman state itself as something to be seen - a visual monument and public spectacle. Through analysis of several episodes in Livy's "History", Andrew Fedherr demonstrates the ways in which Livy uses specific visual imagery to make the reader not only an observer of certain key events in Roman history but also a participant in those events. This study incorporates literary and cultural theory with historical analysis to put an ancient text into dialogue with contemporary discussions of visual culture.