TACITUS, Roman Historian

(Cornelius Tacitus), c.a.d. 55–c.a.d. 117, Roman historian. Little is known for certain of his life. He was a friend of Pliny the Younger and married the daughter of Cnaeus Julius Agricola. In a.d. 97 he was appointed substitute consul under Nerva, and later he was proconsul of Asia. The first of his works was the Dialogus [dialogue], a discussion of oratory in the style of Cicero, demonstrating to some degree why Tacitus was celebrated as an eloquent speaker; this work was long disputed, but his authorship is now generally accepted. Tacitus then wrote a biography of Agricola, expressing his admiration for his father-in-law as a good and able man. His small treatise De origine et situ Germanorum [concerning the origin and location of the Germans], commonly called the Germania or Germany, supplies (along with the earlier account of Julius Caesar) the principal written material on the Germanic tribes. Archaeology bears out the accuracy of Tacitus, but the work is not objective; it is a picture of the simple Germans glorified by comparison with the corruption and luxurious immorality of the Romans. This moral purpose and severe criticism of contemporary Rome, fallen from the virtuous vigor of the old republic, also underlies his two long works, commonly called in English the Histories (of which four books and part of a fifth survive) and the Annals (of which twelve books—Books I-VI, XI-XVI—survive). The extant books of the Histories cover only the reign of Galba (a.d. 68–69) and the beginning (to a.d. 70) of the reign of Vespasian but give a thorough view of Roman life—persons, places, and events. The surviving books of the Annals tell of the reign of Tiberius, of the last years of Claudius, and of the first years of Nero. The account contains incisive character sketches, ironic passages, and eloquent moral conclusions. The declamatory writing of the Dialogus is replaced in the historical works by a polished and highly individual style, a wide range of vocabulary, and an intricate and startling syntax.

See his complete works (tr. by M. Hadas, 1942); studies by C. W. Mendell (1957, repr. 1970), D. Dudley (1969), R. Syme (1958, 2 vol., 1980), and H. W. Benario (1983).

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The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright© 2004, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Lernout & Hauspie Speech Products N.V. All rights reserved.

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books on: Tacitus Roman Historian  - 886 results

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1.
Tacitus: And Other Roman Studies
Book by Gaston Boissier, W. G. Hutchison; G P Putnams Sons, 1906
Subjects: Martial, Rhetoric, Ancient, Tacitus, Cornelius
...HOW TACITUS BECAME A HISTORIAN, 1 II. THE CONCEPTION OF HISTORY IN TACITUS, 43 III. THE JUDGMENT OF TACITUS ON THE CAESARS, 87...POLITICAL OPINIONS OF TACITUS, ... 122 THE SCHOOLS...DECLAMATION AT ROME, 163 THE ROMAN JOURNAL, 195 THE POET...
2.
Tacitus Reviewed
Book by A. J. Woodman; Clarendon Press, 1998
Subjects: Rome--Historiography, Rome--History--The Five Julii, 30 B.C.-68 A.D, Tacitus, Cornelius--Annales
...and Alternative Histories Tacitus reputation as the greatest Roman historian rests chiefly on the Annals...to remind his readers that Tacitus was writing history in the...deal with the last third of Tacitus chosen period, they were...
3.
Irony and Misreading in the Annals of Tacitus
Book by Ellen O'Gorman; Cambridge University Press, 2000
Subjects: Irony, Rhetoric, Ancient, Rome--Historiography, Tacitus, Cornelius--Annales, Tacitus, Cornelius--Technique
...and its limits. Another reader of Tacitus, for example, may well respond...as windows into the world of the Roman army, since Tacitus neglects to supply important details which the military historian needs to make sense of the account...
4.
The History of Make-Believe: Tacitus on Imperial Rome
Book by Holly Haynes; University of California Press, 2003
Subjects: Rome--History--Civil War, 68-69--Historiography, Rome--History--Flavians, 69-96--Historiography, Tacitus, Cornelius--Historiae
...the economic life of the Roman world as a whole. 11 Tacitus therefore offers his reader...later in the Histories . Yet Tacitus diminishes its import by...the end, a narrative that Tacitus as a historian can only reinforce. LOOKING...
5.
The Roman Historians
Book by Ronald Mellor; Routledge, 1999
Subjects: Historians--Rome--Biography, Rome--Historiography, Rome--History
...press is not far from Tacitus manipulation of his readers sensibilities. The historian knew that Tiberius was...the civil wars that saw Roman fighting Roman in the streets of the capital. Tacitus remained scrupulous about...Tertullians charge that Tacitus is a liar? Hardly...
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journal articles on: Tacitus Roman Historian  - 111 results

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1.
Turning to Tacitus
Journal article by James Bacchus; Vanderbilt Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 37, 2004
Subjects: Freedom--Analysis, Liberty--Analysis, Rule of law--Analysis, Tacitus--Evaluation
...and again, the Romans had chosen vice...result was a Roman world that preached...patricians for whom Tacitus recited his eloquent...the late Oxford historian Sir Ronald Syme...sovereignty--in the Roman Empire had been...In the view of Tacitus, as Syme expressed...37) The Romans of the early...that aggrieved Tacitus--the moralist...
2.
The Role of Accounting in Public Expenditure and Monetary Policy in the First Century AD Roman Empire
Journal article by David Oldroyd; The Accounting Historians Journal, Vol. 22, 1995
Subjects: Accounting, Government spending, History, Italy, Monetary policy, Roman civilization, Studies
...The Emperor in the Roman World, London: Duckworth...Academy of Accounting Historians (1979), pp. 22...on a Large Estate in Roman Egypt," Parker, R...Financial Control in the Roman World," Accounting...London: Methuen, 1951. Tacitus, Annals of Imperial...
3.
Matricide Revisited: Dramatic and Rhetorical Allusion in Tacitus, Suetonius and Cassius Dio
Journal article by Han Baltussen; Antichthon, Vol. 36, 2002
Subjects: Books, Historians
...connections between the historians accounts and...inspiration for Tacitus, Suetonius and...special emphasis on Tacitus, showing that...of Greek and Roman tradition.2...several Roman historians want to evoke...Cassius Dio (Roman History 61...the features of Tacitus and Dios version...
4.
The Role of Accounting in Public Expenditure and Monetary Policy in the First Century AD Roman Empire
Journal article by David Oldroyd; The Accounting Historians Journal, Vol. 22, 1995
...Policy in the First Century AD Roman Empire by David Oldroyd INTRODUCTION...accounts which surrounded the Roman monetary system. Although...be neglected by accounting historians and classicists alike. The...the economic implications of Roman monetary policy. DuncanJones...
5.
Spenser and the Historical Revolution: Briton Moniments and the Problem of Roman Britain
Journal article by John E. Curran Jr.; CLIO, Vol. 25, 1996
Subjects: Briton Moniments--Criticism, interpretation, etc., English literature--16th century, Historiography--Literature, Spenser, Edmund--Criticism, interpretation, etc., United Kingdom--History, 43-449 (Roman period)
...the problem of Roman Britain. by John...evidence of classical historians, the discovery...made vulnerable. Historian F. J. Levy...treated by Roman historians, were proven false...those of Caesar, Tacitus, Dio Cassius...great symbol of Roman culture and of...would think only of Romans in connection with...usurper. For these historians, the wall and...
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magazine articles on: Tacitus Roman Historian  - 64 results

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1.
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS: Why Historians Can Be Usefully Irritating
Magazine article by David De Leon; Negro History Bulletin, July 1998
Subjects: History--Study and teaching, Howard University--Curricula, Universities and colleges--Evaluation
ASKING THE RIGHT QUESTIONS: Why Historians Can Be Usefully Irritating by David De...educational system that focused on the Greek and Roman classics, both for knowledge and for...authors as Cicero, Homer, Virgil, and Tacitus. This may seem very conservative today...
2.
Jews as the Romans Saw Them
Magazine article by Robert Louis Wilken; First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life, May 2008
Subjects: Books--Book reviews, Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations (Book)--Book reviews
Jews as the Romans Saw Them. by Robert...the war with the Romans, the destruction...fortunes in the Roman Empire of old...essay. Goodman, a historian at Oxford, has...on one page and Tacitus the Roman historian...worked out with Roman authorities. Through...subjects in Palestine. Romans were puzzled as...
3.
Decline and Fall of Roman Empire
Magazine article by Stephen Goode; Insight on the News, Vol. 14, August 10, 1998
Subjects: Gibbon, Edward--Works, Liberty--Appreciation
...of a people than historian Edward Gibbon...was this fact of Roman history more than...In short, Romans had ceased to be...applied to the Roman historian Tacitus, whose history...rejection by the Romans of their most significant...
4.
The Ideal of Unity; Russell Chamberlin Examines the Origins and Development of Europe's Persistent Vision of Unity from the Birth of the Holy Roman Empire to Its Fall
Magazine article by Russell Chamberlin; History Today, Vol. 53, November 2003
Subjects: Europe--History, Europe--Political aspects, European federation--History, European federation--Political aspects, European federation--Social aspects
...Nero, Virgil and Tacitus--endured until 1453...James Bryce, the great historian of the Holy Roman Empire, agreed that...of the Fall of the Roman Empire as a Hollywood...elegant, toga-clad Romans, raping, murdering...wish to destroy the Roman name and erect in its...provide a means for historians to follow the thought...
5.
Unpeaceful Symbol: A Look at the History of the So-Called Peace Symbol Reveals That It Originated in Ancient Pagan Rituals, and That Its Use Has Been Primarily as a Token Not of Peace, but of Evil
Magazine article by Dennis Behreandt; The New American, Vol. 19, May 5, 2003
Subjects: Norse mythology, Peace movements--Analysis, Peace movements--History, Roman history, 509-30 BC (Republic), Runes, Signs and symbols--History, Signs and symbols--Religious aspects, Symbolism--Analysis, Symbolism--Religious aspects
...Germania, for instance, the Roman historian Tacitus described one such practice...augury is still required. The Romans often consulted with occult seers...necessary to turn to a modern historian, like Norman Davies, who does...
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newspaper articles on: Tacitus Roman Historian  - 44 results

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1.
Blood Brothers Obsessed with Their Mothers. Sexually depraved.And Convinced They Ere Artistic Geniuses. A New TV Documentary Reveals the Astonishing Links between Hitler and Nero - the Roman Emperor Who Matched Him Atrocity for Atrocity
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), September 16, 2006
Subjects: Hitler, Adolf
...Nero dressed as the Roman sun God, Sol. Nero...punishing them, as Tacitus wrote, with the utmost...according to the Roman historian Cassius Dio...with his mother. The historian Suetonius went further...Nero had caused the Roman Empire to revolt...death. The ordinary Romans had always liked Nero...Rightwing politicians and historians - shows little sign...
2.
LEGION OF THE DAMNED; They Were the Roman Empire's Most Fearsome Warriors, Sent to Smash Britain into Submission. Yet as Two Films Vie to Tell Their Story, a Haunting Mystery Remains: How Did the 6,000 Men of the Ninth Legion Vanish into Thin Air -- and Were They the Victims of Boudicca's Dying Curse?
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), April 25, 2009
...brutal and corrupt Roman official was to...fury, scorning the Romans under their Emperor...and comparing Roman rule of her Iceni...wrote the Roman historian Tacitus. In the groves...Anglesey, down the Roman road later known...one against? The Romans had faced far worse...
3.
LEGION OF THE AMNED; Theywere the Roman Empire's Most Fearsome Warriors, Sent to Smash Britain into Submission. Yet as Two Films Vie to Tell Their Story, a Haunting Mystery Remains: Howdid the 6,000 Men of the Ninth Legion Vanish into Thin Air -- and Were They the Victims of Boudicca's Dying Curse?
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), April 25, 2009
...legions in the entire Roman Empire. It was raised...A brutal and corrupt Roman official was to blame...fury, scorning the Romans under their Emperor...player, and comparing Roman rule of her Iceni tribe...crucify, wrote the Roman historian Tacitus. In the groves of their...
4.
LEGION OF THE DAMNED; They Were the Roman Empire's Most Fearsome Warriors, Sent Forth to Smash the Celts into Submission. Yet as Two Films Vie to Tell Their Story, a Haunting Mystery Remains: How Did the 6,000 Men of the Ninth Legion Vanish into Thin Air -- and Were They the Victims of a Dying Warrior Queen's Curse?
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), April 27, 2009
...brutal and corrupt Roman official was to...scorning the Romans under their Emperor...and comparing Roman rule of her Iceni...crucify, wrote the Roman historian Tacitus. In the groves...one against? The Romans had faced far worse...
5.
PALACE OF DEPRAVITY; Perched 300ft Up on a Clifftop,it's the Most Stunning Home in the Med - and Now Roman Abramovich Wants to Buy it.But Does He Know What the Previous Owner Got Up To?
Newspaper article; The Daily Mail (London, England), August 19, 2006
...in the Med - and Now Roman Abramovich Wants to...used as a brothel. Historians of the period note that...Next, according to the historian Tacitus, writing some 70 years...a boy and a girl. Tacitus quoted contemporary...Rome - according to Tacitus, in order to indulge...
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encyclopedia articles on: Tacitus Roman Historian  - 6 results

       More encyclopedia Results: 1-6 >>  
 
1.
Tacitus , Roman Historian
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
TACITUS , Roman historian (Cornelius Tacitus), c.a.d. 55 c.a.d. 117, Roman historian. Little is...demonstrating to some degree why Tacitus was celebrated as an...generally accepted. Tacitus then wrote a biography...luxurious immorality of the Romans. This moral purpose...
2.
London , City, England
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...prior to a.d. 61, when, according to the Roman historian Tacitus, the followers of Queen Boadicea rebelled and slaughtered the inhabitants of the Roman fort Londinium. Roman authority was soon restored, and the first city...
3.
Ammianus Marcellinus
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...MARCELLINUS amea n s marsili n s, c.330 c.400, Roman historian, b. Antioch. After retiring from a successful military career, he wrote a history of the Roman Empire as a sequel to that of Tacitus, his model. The history, in 31 books, covered...
4.
History
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
...Historiography Greek and Roman Historiography...considered the first historian, because in his...second great Greek historian, Thucydides...the great Greek historians, Xenophon , was...important Greek historians of the Roman period...master. The Roman historian Livy was more of...them was strong. Tacitus followed more or...
5.
Syme, Sir Ronald
Encyclopedia article; The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, 2009
SYME, SIR RONALD 1903 89, British historian. After studying and teaching at Oxford, he...Rome, he wrote the objective and controversial Roman Revolution (1939) and a biography of Tacitus (1958...
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