Read complete books and articles on: Cornelius Tacitus

Tacitus - (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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13 of the Best Books and Articles on: Cornelius Tacitus

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1.

Germania » Read Now
by Cornelius Tacitus, J. B. Rives. 348 pgs.

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The Germania of Tacitus is the most extensive account of the ancient Germans written during the Roman period, but has been relatively neglected in the scholarship of the English-speaking world: the last commentary appeared in 1938, and only a handful of studies have appeared since that time. In...
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The Germania of Tacitus is the most extensive account of the ancient Germans written during the Roman period, but has been relatively neglected in the scholarship of the English-speaking world: the last commentary appeared in 1938, and only a handful of studies have appeared since that time. In recent decades, however, there have been important scholarly developments that significantly affect our understanding of it. Ongoing archaeological work in western and central Europe has greatly increased our knowledge of the iron-age cultures in those regions, while new anthropological and literary approaches have called into question some of the traditional assumptions that shaped the use of this text as a historical source. This new commentary, together with the extensive introduction, provides a current and comprehensive guide to the relevant textual and archaeological evidence and also examines the methodological issues involved in the interpretation of this important work.
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2.

Agricola and Germany » Read Now
by Cornelius Tacitus, Anthony Richard Birley. 160 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Cornelius Tacitus, Rome's greatest historian and the last great writer of classical Latin prose, produced his first two books in AD 98, after the assination of the Emperor Domitian ended fifteen years of enforced silence. Much of Agricola, which is the biography of Tacitus' late father-in-law Julius...
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Cornelius Tacitus, Rome's greatest historian and the last great writer of classical Latin prose, produced his first two books in AD 98, after the assination of the Emperor Domitian ended fifteen years of enforced silence. Much of Agricola, which is the biography of Tacitus' late father-in-law Julius Agricola, is devoted to Britain and its people, since Agricola's claim to fame was that as governor for seven years he had completed the conquest of Britain, begun four decades earlier. Germany provides an account of Rome's most dangerous enemies, the Germans, and is the only surviving example of an ethnographic study from the ancient world. Each book in its way has had immense influence on our perception of Rome and the northern barbarians. This edition reflects recent research in Roman-British and Roman-German history and includes newly discovered evidence on Tacitus' early career.
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3.

The Annals of Imperial Rome » Read Now
by Cornelius Tacitus, Michael Grant. 447 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
4.

The Histories, Vol. II » Read Now
by Cornelius Tacitus, W. Hamilton Fyfe. 248 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library
5.

Tacitus Reviewed » Read Now
by A. J. Woodman. 255 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

Tacitus was Rome's greatest historian, and the Annals his greatest work. This book collects A.J. Woodman's writings on Tacitus over the past twenty-five years, focusing almost exclusively on the Annals. Woodman offers new or different interpretations of some of the most famous passages in the work...
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Tacitus was Rome's greatest historian, and the Annals his greatest work. This book collects A.J. Woodman's writings on Tacitus over the past twenty-five years, focusing almost exclusively on the Annals. Woodman offers new or different interpretations of some of the most famous passages in the work, and argues that, through familiarity, generations of scholars have misread significant passages, thereby gaining and perpetuating a distorted view of what Tacitus had to say, especially about Tiberius. His iconoclastic insights will have major implications for those who wish to use the Annals as a source for what happened in the first century AD.
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6.

The Germania of Tacitus » Read Now
by Rodney Potter Robinson. 390 pgs.

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7.

Irony and Misreading in the Annals of Tacitus » Read Now
by Ellen O'Gorman. 200 pgs.

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This book is a literary analysis of the language and style of Tacitus' Annals. The political context of first-second century AD Rome is also taken into consideration. In analysis of particular passages close attention is given to the structure of the Latin, which is fully translated. Issues relating...
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This book is a literary analysis of the language and style of Tacitus' Annals. The political context of first-second century AD Rome is also taken into consideration. In analysis of particular passages close attention is given to the structure of the Latin, which is fully translated. Issues relating to the study of narrative, Roman politics and theories of history are addressed in the course of the discussion.
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8.

The Roman Historians (Chap. 4 "Tacitus") » Read Now
by Ronald Mellor. 213 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

The Romans' devotion to their past pervades almost every aspect of their culture. But the clearest image of how the Romans wished to interpret their past is found in their historical writings. This book examines in detail the major Roman historians:* Sallust* Livy* Tacitus* Ammianusas well as the...
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The Romans' devotion to their past pervades almost every aspect of their culture. But the clearest image of how the Romans wished to interpret their past is found in their historical writings. This book examines in detail the major Roman historians:* Sallust* Livy* Tacitus* Ammianusas well as the biographies written by:* Nepos* Tacitus* Suetonius* the Augustan History* the autobiographies of Julius Caesar and the Emperor Augustus.Ronald Mellor demonstrates that Roman historical writing was regarded by its authors as a literary not a scholarly exercise, and how it must be evaluated in that context. He shows that history writing reflected the political structures of ancient Rome under the different regimes.
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9.

Rhetoric in Classical Historiography: Four Studies (Chap. 4 "History and Alternative Histories: Tacitus") » Read Now
by A. J. Woodman. 238 pgs.

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This radical study argues against the view that the historian's craft has remained largely unchanged since classical times. Includes detailed discussion of the work of Thucydides, Cicero, Sallust, Livy and Tacitus.
10.

Tacitus and Other Roman Studies » Read Now
by Gaston Boissier, W. G. Hutchison. 277 pgs.

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11.

The History of Make-Believe: Tacitus on Imperial Rome » Read Now
by Holly Haynes. 231 pgs.

Collections: History, Entire Library

"In "The History of Make-Believe, Holly Haynes acutely queries the relationship of historiography, historical reality, and symbolic representations of lived historical processes. This is a serious book, informed by wide reading, and full of startlingly original insights on some of the most prominent...
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"In "The History of Make-Believe, Holly Haynes acutely queries the relationship of historiography, historical reality, and symbolic representations of lived historical processes. This is a serious book, informed by wide reading, and full of startlingly original insights on some of the most prominent and significant themes in Tacitus's works. Indeed, it deserves close attention by anyone interested in the political and social strategies of high Imperial Rome."--T. Corey Brennan, author of "The Praetorship in the Roman Republic
"In Tacitus the historical truth is conveyed in literary truth-telling. Instead of leaving the two separated as we do, Holly Haynes shows that Tacitus put them together in what she calls the combination 'make-believe.' Her book shines with originality and intelligence while opening the way to Tacitus's canny wisdom."--Harvey Mansfield, author of "Machiavelli's Virtue
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12.

A Literary History of Rome in the Silver Age: From Tiberius to Hadrian ("Tacitus" begins on p. 559) » Read Now
by J. Wight Duff. 674 pgs.

Collections: Literature, Entire Library
13.

Irony and Misreading in the Annals of Tacitus » Read Now
by Ellen O'Gorman. 200 pgs.

Collections: Entire Library

This book is a literary analysis of the language and style of Tacitus' Annals. The political context of first-second century AD Rome is also taken into consideration. In analysis of particular passages close attention is given to the structure of the Latin, which is fully translated. Issues relating...
Read More

This book is a literary analysis of the language and style of Tacitus' Annals. The political context of first-second century AD Rome is also taken into consideration. In analysis of particular passages close attention is given to the structure of the Latin, which is fully translated. Issues relating to the study of narrative, Roman politics and theories of history are addressed in the course of the discussion.
Show less