Short answers, pulled from the story.
Livy, full name Titus Livius, was a Roman historian born in Patavium (modern Padua) in 59 BC who wrote Ab Urbe Condita, a monumental history of Rome from its earliest legends through the reign of Augustus. He died in AD 17 at his home city of Patavium. He was a friend of Augustus and encouraged the future emperor Claudius to take up the writing of history.
Ab Urbe Condita, meaning From the Founding of the City, is Livy's only surviving work and one of the main ancient accounts of the Second Punic War, alongside Polybius. The history covers Rome from its earliest legends before the traditional founding in 753 BC through to the end of Augustus's reign. Niccolo Machiavelli's Discourses on Livy used it as the foundation for a major work on republican theory.
Livy was born in Patavium, in the province of Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy, now modern Padua. At the time of his birth, Patavium was the second wealthiest city on the Italian peninsula and the largest in Cisalpine Gaul. The city was known for its conservative values in morality and politics.
Livy was personally acquainted with the emperor Augustus and the imperial family. Augustus reportedly called him "Pompeianus" because of how warmly Livy had written about Pompey, but this did not damage their friendship. The historian Tacitus later cited this relationship as evidence of Livy's reputation for eloquence and truthfulness.
Livy's fame was widespread even within his lifetime. Pliny the Younger reported that a man from Cadiz travelled to Rome and back for the sole purpose of meeting Livy. His History of Rome was in high demand from the time of its publication and served as a source for later historians including Aurelius Victor, Cassiodorus, Eutropius, Florus, and Orosius.
Large portions of Ab Urbe Condita were lost during the Middle Ages, when the work was too long and costly to copy in full and literate readers turned to summaries. During the Renaissance, Petrarch, Pope Nicholas V, and collectors including the poet Beccadelli, who sold a country home to fund one manuscript purchase, scrambled to recover what remained. Laurentius Valla published an amended text that founded the modern field of Livy scholarship.