Scholars often turn to Livy’s famous digression on Aulus Cossus and the spolia opima (4.17–20) to shed light on his larger political inclinations. These readings generally regard Livy as either an Augustan (or at least a patriotic Roman) or an apolitical skeptic. Yet neither view, I argue, fully explains the Cossus affair. What is needed is an interpretation that recognizes the political nature of the Cossus digression and its skepticism toward Augustus. Attending to Livy’s rhetorical strategy in the digression allows us to see it as an instance of oblique criticism of Augustus and his control over Roman life. The explanatory power of this reading extends to episodes from the life of Romulus as well. I argue Livy uses these stories to make a theoretical argument about the nature of despotism, namely, that it seeks to control narratives of the past just as much as it aims for political domination.

学者们经常转向李维关于 Aulus Cossus 和spolia opima的著名题外话(4.17–20) 以阐明他更大的政治倾向。这些解读通常将李维视为奥古斯都（或至少是爱国的罗马人）或非政治怀疑论者。然而，我认为，这两种观点都不能完全解释 Cossus 事件。我们需要的是一种解释，承认科苏斯离题的政治性质及其对奥古斯都的怀疑。注意李维在题外话中的修辞策略，使我们能够将其视为对奥古斯都及其对罗马生活的控制的间接批评的一个例子。这种阅读的解释力也延伸到罗穆卢斯生活中的情节。我认为李维利用这些故事对专制主义的本质进行了理论论证，即它试图控制对过去的叙述，就像它旨在实现政治统治一样。