Note 4 — Chapter VI · REPUBLICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND LIVY

Cato’s first three books of Origines similarly recorded the legends of other Italian cities without pretending to judge their historical value, but in his history of his own day he proved himself a very accurate observer. However, he seems to have treated only episodes that interested him. Piso, the last of the early annalists, introduced the unwise method of rationalizing the early myths in order to make them more plausible.