Gracchi from Westminster Wisdom: "Livy was a textual historian- his understanding was based on written materials because, as he says here, they were 'the only reliable' means for preserving the past. Therefore Livy's historical abilities were limited- by the fact that his hindsight went back as far as the history of literacy and the extant record. That is true of historians today: history is tied to writing." Lintott's book on the Roman Constitution concentrates on the constitution of the late republic for the same reason.