Tacitus

For other uses, see Tacitus (disambiguation).

Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (/tsts/; Classical Latin: [takts]; c. AD 56 after 117) was a senator
and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving
portions of his two major worksthe Annals and the
Historiesexamine the reigns of the Roman Emperors
Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the
Year of the Four Emperors (AD 69). These two works
span the history of the Roman Empire from the death
of Augustus in AD 14 to the years of the First Jewish
Roman War in AD 70. There are substantial lacunae in
the surviving texts, including a gap in the Annals that is
four books long.

Tacitus was probably born in Gallia Narbonensis.

Tacitus other writings discuss oratory (in dialogue format, see Dialogus de oratoribus), Germania (in De origine et situ Germanorum), and the life of his father-in-law,
and Tacitus makes it clear that he owed his rank to the
Agricola, the Roman general responsible for much of the
Flavian emperors (Hist. 1.1). The claim that he deRoman conquest of Britain, mainly focusing on his camscended from a freedman derives from a speech in his
paign in Britannia (De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae).
writings that asserts that many senators and knights were
Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman descended from freedmen (Ann. 13.27), but this is genhistorians.[1][2] He lived in what has been called the Silver erally disputed.[7]
Age of Latin literature. He is known for the brevity and
His father may have been the Cornelius Tacitus who
compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his peneserved as procurator of Belgica and Germania; Pliny the
trating insights into the psychology of power politics.
Elder mentions that Cornelius had a son who aged rapidly
(N.H. 7.76), which implies an early death. If Cornelius
was his father, and since there is no mention of Tacitus
suering such a condition, it is possible that this refers to
1 Life
a brother.[8] The friendship between the younger Pliny
Details about his personal life are scarce. What little is and Tacitus leads some scholars to conclude that they
[9]
known comes from scattered hints throughout his work, were both the ospring of wealthy provincial families.
the letters of his friend and admirer Pliny the Younger, Although the province of his birth remains unknown (varand an inscription found at Mylasa in Caria.[3]
iously conjectures suggest Gallia Belgica, Gallia Narbo[10]
his marriage to the daugh[4] nensis, or northern Italy)
Tacitus was born in 56 or 57 to an equestrian family;
ter
of
the
Narbonensian
senator
Gnaeus Julius Agricola
like many Latin authors of both the Golden and Silver
implies
that
he
came
from
Gallia
Narbonensis. Tacitus
Ages, he was from the provinces, probably northern Italy
dedication
to
Fabius
Iustus
in
the
Dialogus
may indicate
or Gallia Narbonensis. The exact place and date of his
a
connection
with
Spain,
and
his
friendship
with Pliny
birth are not known, and his praenomen (rst name) is
[11]
No
evidence
exists,
suggests
origins
in
northern
Italy.
also unknown; in the letters of Sidonius Apollinaris his
however,
that
Plinys
friends
from
northern
Italy
knew
name is Gaius, but in the major surviving manuscript of
Tacitus,
nor
do
Plinys
letters
hint
that
the
two
men
had a
[5]
his work his name is given as Publius. One scholars
[12]
common
background.
Pliny
Book
9,
Letter
23
reports
[6]
suggestion of Sextus has gained no approval.
that when he was asked if he was Italian or provincial,
he gave an unclear answer, and so was asked if he was
Tacitus or Pliny. Since Pliny was from Italy, some in1.1 Family and early life
fer that Tacitus was from the provinces, probably Gallia
[13]
Most of the older aristocratic families failed to survive the Narbonensis.
proscriptions which took place at the end of the Republic, His ancestry, his skill in oratory, and his sympathetic de1

2 WORKS

piction of barbarians who resisted Roman rule (e.g., Ann.

2.9), have led some to suggest that he was a Celt. This belief stems from the fact that the Celts who had occupied
Gaul prior to the Roman invasion were famous for their
skill in oratory, and had been subjugated by Rome.[14]

1.2

Public life, marriage, and literary career

Pliny the Younger, prosecuted Marius Priscus (proconsul

of Africa) for corruption. Priscus was found guilty and
sent into exile; Pliny wrote a few days later that Tacitus
had spoken with all the majesty which characterizes his
usual style of oratory.[26]
A lengthy absence from politics and law followed while
he wrote the Histories and the Annals. In 112 or 113 he
held the highest civilian governorship, that of the Roman
province of Asia in Western Anatolia, recorded in the inscription found at Mylasa mentioned above. A passage
in the Annals xes 116 as the terminus post quem of his
death, which may have been as late as 125 or even 130.
It seems that he survived both Pliny (died ca. 113) and
Trajan (died 117).[27] It remains unknown whether Tacitus had any children: although the Augustan History reports that the emperor Marcus Claudius Tacitus (reigned
275-276) claimed him for an ancestor and provided for
the preservation of his works, like much of the Augustan
History, this story may be fraudulent.[28]

As a young man, Tacitus studied rhetoric in Rome to

prepare for a career in law and politics; like Pliny, he
may have studied under Quintilian[15] (c. 35 c. 100
CE). In 77 or 78 he married Julia Agricola, daughter of the famous general Agricola.[16] Little is known
of their domestic life, save that Tacitus loved hunting
and the outdoors.[17] He started his career (probably the
latus clavus, mark of the senator)[18] under Vespasian[19]
(reigned 69-79), but entered political life, as a quaestor,
in 81 or 82, under Titus.[20] He advanced steadily through
the cursus honorum, becoming praetor in 88 and a
quindecimvir, a member of the priestly college in charge
of the Sibylline Books and the Secular games.[21] He 2 Works
gained acclaim as a lawyer and as an orator; his skill in
public speaking ironically counterpoints his cognomen: See also : Persons mentioned in the works of Tacitus
Tacitus (silent).
He served in the provinces from ca. 89 to ca. 93 - either in
command of a legion or in a civilian post.[22] He (and his
property) survived Domitian's reign of terror (8196), but
the experience left him jaded and perhaps ashamed at his
own complicity, giving him the hatred of tyranny evident
in his works.[23] The Agricola, chs. 4445, is illustrative:
Agricola was spared those later years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval
or breathing space of time, but, as it were, with
one continuous blow, drained the life-blood of
the Commonwealth... It was not long before
our hands dragged Helvidius to prison, before
we gazed on the dying looks of Manricus and
Rusticus, before we were steeped in Senecio's
innocent blood. Even Nero turned his eyes
away, and did not gaze upon the atrocities
which he ordered; with Domitian it was the
chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen,
to know that our sighs were being recorded...
From his seat in the Senate he became suect consul in
97 during the reign of Nerva, being the rst of his family
to do so. During his tenure he reached the height of his
fame as an orator when he delivered the funeral oration
for the famous veteran soldier Lucius Verginius Rufus.[24]

In the following year he wrote and published the Agricola and Germania, foreshadowing the literary endeavors that would occupy him until his death.[25] Afterwards The title page of Justus Lipsius's 1598 edition of the complete
he absented himself from public life, but returned during works of Tacitus, bearing the stamps of the Bibliotheca ComuTrajan's reign (98-117). In 100, he, along with his friend nale in Empoli, Italy.

2.2

Monographs

Five works ascribed to Tacitus are known to have survived (albeit with some lacunae), the most substantial of
which are the Annals and the Histories. The dates are approximate:
(98) De vita Iulii Agricolae (The Life of Agricola)
(98) De origine et situ Germanorum (Germania)
(102) Dialogus de oratoribus (Dialogue on Oratory)
(105) Historiae (Histories)
(117) Ab excessu divi Augusti (Annals)

2.1

3
least sixteen books, but books 710 and parts of books 5,
6, 11 and 16 are missing. Book 6 ends with the death of
Tiberius and books 712 presumably covered the reigns
of Caligula and Claudius. The remaining books cover
the reign of Nero, perhaps until his death in June 68 or
until the end of that year to connect with the Histories.
The second half of book 16 is missing, ending with the
events of 66. We do not know whether Tacitus completed
the work; he died before he could complete his planned
histories of Nerva and Trajan and no record survives of
the work on Augustus Caesar and the beginnings of the
Roman Empire, with which he had planned to nish his
work. The Annals is one of the earliest secular historical
records to mention Christ, which Tacitus does in connection with Neros persecution of the Christians.

History of the Roman Empire from the

death of Augustus

The Annals and the Histories, published separately, were

meant to form a single edition of thirty books.[29] Although Tacitus wrote the Histories before the Annals, the
events in the Annals precede the Histories; together they
form a continuous narrative from the death of Augustus
(14) to the death of Domitian (96). Though most has
been lost, what remains is an invaluable record of the era.
The rst half of the Annals survived in a single copy of
a manuscript from Corvey Abbey, and the second half
from a single copy of a manuscript from Monte Cassino,
and so it is remarkable that they survived at all.
2.1.1

The Histories

Main article: Histories (Tacitus)

In an early chapter of the Agricola, Tacitus asserts that he
wishes to speak about the years of Domitian, Nerva, and
Trajan. In the Histories the scope has changed; Tacitus
says that he will deal with the age of Nerva and Trajan
at a later time. Instead, he will cover the period from the
civil wars of the Year of Four Emperors and end with
the despotism of the Flavians. Only the rst four books
and twenty-six chapters of the fth book survive, covering the year 69 and the rst part of 70. The work is believed to have continued up to the death of Domitian on
September 18, 96. The fth book containsas a prelude
to the account of Tituss suppression of the Great Jewish
Revolta short ethnographic survey of the ancient Jews,
and it is an invaluable record of Roman attitudes towards
them.

Tacitus wrote three works with a more limited scope.

Agricola, a biography of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius
Agricola; the Germania, a monograph on the lands and
tribes of barbarian Germania; and the Dialogus, a dialogue on the art of rhetoric.

2.1.2

2.2.1

The Annals

Main article: Annals (Tacitus)

Annals 15.44, in the second Medicean manuscript

2.2 Monographs

Germania

Main article: Germania (book)

The Annals is Tacitus nal work, covering the period The Germania (Latin title: De Origine et situ Germanofrom the death of Augustus Caesar in 14 AD. He wrote at rum) is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes out-

LITERARY STYLE

side the Roman Empire. The Germania ts within a classical ethnographic tradition which includes authors such
as Herodotus and Julius Caesar. The book begins (chapters 127) with a description of the lands, laws, and customs of the various tribes. Later chapters focus on descriptions of particular tribes, beginning with those who
lived closest to the Roman empire, and ending with a description of those who lived on the shores of the Baltic
Sea, such as the Fenni. Tacitus had written a similar, albeit shorter, piece in his Agricola (chapters 1013).
2.2.2

Agricola (De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae)

Main article: Agricola (book)

The Agricola (written ca. 98) recounts the life of Gnaeus
Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general and Tacitus father-in-law; it also covers, briey, the geography
and ethnography of ancient Britain. As in the Germania, Tacitus favorably contrasts the liberty of the native Britons with the tyranny and corruption of the Empire; the book also contains eloquent polemics against the
greed of Rome, one of which, that Tacitus claims is from
a speech by Calgacus, ends by asserting that Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant. (To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where The style of the Dialogus follows Ciceros models for Latin
they make a desert, they call it peace. Oxford Revised rhetoric.
Translation).
due to Tacitus dying before he had nished (and therefore
proof-read) his work.
2.2.3 Dialogus
Tacitus cites some of his sources directly, among them
Cluvius Rufus, Fabius Rusticus and Pliny the Elder, who
Main article: Dialogus
had written Bella Germaniae and a historical work which
was the continuation of that of Audius Bassus. TaciThere is uncertainty about when Tacitus wrote Dialogus
tus also uses collections of letters (epistolarium). He also
de oratoribus. Many characteristics set it apart from the
took information from exitus illustrium virorum. These
other works of Tacitus, so that its authenticity has been
were a collection of books by those who were antithetical
questioned. In style it seems closer to Cicero; it lacks for
to the emperors. They tell of sacrices by martyrs to freeexample the incongruities that are typical of his historical
dom, especially the men who committed suicide. While
works. It may however be an early work. It is dedicated
he placed no value on the Stoic theory of suicide and
to Fabius Iustus, a consul in AD 102. Its style may be exviews suicides as ostentatious and politically useless, Tacplained by the fact it deals with rhetoric. In Latin rhetoric
itus often gives prominence to speeches made by those
the structure, language, and the style of Cicero was the
about to commit suicide, for example Cremutius Cordus'
usual model.
speech in Ann. IV, 34-35.

Sources

Tacitus makes use of the ocial sources of the Roman

state: the acta senatus (the minutes of the session of the
Senate) and the acta diurna populi Romani (a collection
of the acts of the government and news of the court and
capital). He also read collections of emperors speeches,
such as Tiberius and Claudius. He is generally seen as
a scrupulous historian who paid careful attention to his
sources. The minor inaccuracies in the Annals may be

4 Literary style
Tacituss writings are known for their dense prose that
seldom glosses the facts, in contrast to the style of some
of his contemporaries, such as Plutarch. When he writes
about a near-defeat of the Roman army in Ann. I, 63 he
does so with brevity of description rather than embellishment.
In most of his writings he keeps to a chronological nar-

4.2

Prose style

rative order, only seldom outlining the bigger picture,

leaving the reader to construct that picture for himself.
Nonetheless, where he does use broad strokes, for example, in the opening paragraphs of the Annals, he uses a
few condensed phrases which take the reader to the heart
of the story.

4.1

Approach to history

Tacituss historical style owes some debt to Sallust. His

historiography oers penetratingoften pessimistic
insights into the psychology of power politics, blending
straightforward descriptions of events, moral lessons, and
tightly focused dramatic accounts. Tacituss own declaration regarding his approach to history (Ann. I,1) is well
known:

5
and predominantly negative after the intrigues of Sejanus.
The entrance of Tiberius in the rst chapters of the rst
book is dominated by the hypocrisy of the new emperor
and his courtiers. In the later books, some respect is evident for the cleverness of the old emperor in securing his
position.
In general, Tacitus does not fear to praise and to criticize
the same person, often noting what he takes to be their
more-admirable and less-admirable properties. One of
Tacituss hallmarks is refraining from conclusively taking
sides for or against persons he describes, which has led
some to interpret his works as both supporting and rejecting the imperial system (see Tacitean studies, Black
vs. Red Tacitists).

4.2 Prose style

His Latin style is highly praised.[30] His style, although it has a grandeur and eloquence (thanks to Tacituss education in rhetoric), is extremely concise, even
epigrammaticthe sentences are rarely owing or beautiful, but their point is always clear. The style has
been both derided as harsh, unpleasant, and thorny and
praised as grave, concise, and pithily eloquent.

There has been much scholarly discussion about Tacitus

neutrality. Throughout his writing, he is preoccupied
with the balance of power between the Senate and the
Emperors, and the increasing corruption of the governing classes of Rome as they adjusted to the ever-growing
wealth and power of the empire. In Tacituss view, Sen- A passage of Annals 1.1, where Tacitus laments the state
ators squandered their cultural inheritancethat of free of the historiography regarding the four last emperors of
speechto placate their (rarely benign) emperor.
the Julio-Claudian dynasty, illustrates his style: The hisTacitus noted the increasing dependence of the emperor tories of Tiberius, Gaius, Claudius, and Nero, while they
on the goodwill of his armies. The Julio-Claudians even- were in power, were falsied through terror, and after
tually gave way to generals, who followed Julius Cae- their death were written under the irritation of a recent
sar (and Sulla and Pompey) in recognizing that mil- hatred,[31] or in a word-by-word translation:
itary might could secure them the political power in
Rome.(Hist.1.4)
Welcome as the death of Nero had been in
the rst burst of joy, yet it had not only roused
various emotions in Rome, among the Senators, the people, or the soldiery of the capital,
it had also excited all the legions and their generals; for now had been divulged that secret of
the empire, that emperors could be made elsewhere than at Rome.

Compared to the Ciceronian period, where sentences

were usually the length of a paragraph and artfully constructed with nested pairs of carefully matched sonorous
phrases, this is short and to the point. But it is also very
individual. Note the three dierent ways of saying and
in the rst line (-que, et, ac), and especially the matched
second and third lines. They are parallel in sense but not
in sound; the pairs of words ending "...-entibus ...-is are
crossed over in a way that deliberately breaks the Ciceronian conventions which one would however need to be
acquainted with to see the novelty of Tacitus style. Some
readers, then and now, nd this teasing of their expectations merely irritating. Others nd the deliberate discord,
playing against the evident parallelism of the two lines,
stimulating and intriguing.[32]

Tacituss political career was largely lived out under the

emperor Domitian. His experience of the tyranny, corruption, and decadence of that era (8196) may explain
the bitterness and irony of his political analysis. He draws
our attention to the dangers of power without accountability, love of power untempered by principle, and the
apathy and corruption engendered by the concentration His historical works focus on the inner motivations of
of wealth generated through trade and conquest by the the characters, often with penetrating insightthough it
empire.
is questionable how much of his insight is correct, and
Nonetheless, the image he builds of Tiberius through- how much is convincing only because of his rhetorical
out the rst six books of the Annals is neither exclu- skill.[33] He is at his best when exposing hypocrisy and
sively bleak nor approving: most scholars view the image dissimulation; for example, he follows a narrative reof Tiberius as predominantly positive in the rst books, counting Tiberius' refusal of the title pater patriae by

7 NOTES

recalling the institution of a law forbidding any treasonous speech or writingsand the frivolous prosecutions which resulted (Annals, 1.72). Elsewhere (Annals
4.6466) he compares Tiberiuss public distribution of
re relief to his failure to stop the perversions and abuses
of justice which he had begun. Although this kind of insight has earned him praise, he has also been criticised
for ignoring the larger context.
Tacitus owes most, both in language and in method, to
Sallust, and Ammianus Marcellinus is the later historian
whose work most closely approaches him in style.

Studies and reception history

Main article: Tacitean studies

From Pliny the Younger's 7th Letter (to Tacitus), 33:

6 See also
Republic (Plato): Tacitus critique of model state
philosophies.
Tacitus on Christ: a well-known passage from the
Annals mentions the death of Christ (Ann., xv 44).
National Law Enforcement Ocers Memorial: Inscribed on the national memorial for US law enforcement ocers is the Tacitus quote: In valor
there is hope.[39]

7 Notes
[1] Van Voorst, Robert E (2000). Jesus Outside the New Testament: An Introduction to the Ancient Evidence Eerdmans
Publishing ISBN 0-8028-4368-9 pages 39-42
[2] Backgrounds of early Christianity by Everett Ferguson
2003 ISBN 0-8028-2221-5 page 116
[3] OGIS 487, rst brought to light in Bulletin de correspondance hellnique, 1890, pp. 621623

The historian was not much read in late antiquity, and

even less in the Middle Ages. Only a third of his known
work has survived; we depend on a single manuscript
for books I-VI of the Annales and on another one for
the other surviving half (books XI-XVI) and for the ve
books extant of the Historiae.[34] His antipathy towards
the Jews and Christians of his time he records with
unemotional contempt the suerings of the Christians at
Rome during Neros persecution made him unpopular
in the Middle Ages. He was rediscovered, however, by
the Renaissance, whose writers were impressed with his
dramatic presentation of the Imperial age.

[4] Since he was appointed to the quaestorship during Tituss

short rule (see note below) and twenty-ve was the minimum age for the position, the date of his birth can be xed
with some accuracy
[5] See Oliver, 1951, for an analysis of the manuscript
from which the name Publius is taken; see also Oliver,
1977, which examines the evidence for each suggested
praenomen (the well-known Gaius and Publius, the lesserknown suggestions of Sextus and Quintus) before settling
on Publius as the most likely.
[6] Oliver, 1977, cites an article by Harold Mattingly in Rivista storica dell'Antichit, 2 (1972) 169185

Tacitus has been described as the greatest historian that

the Roman world produced.[35] Encyclopdia Britannica [7] Syme, 1958, pp. 612613; Gordon, 1936, pp. 145146
opines that he ranks beyond dispute in the highest place
among men of letters of all ages. His work has been read [8] Syme, 1958, p. 60, 613; Gordon, 1936, p. 149; Martin,
1981, p. 26
for its moral instruction, for its dramatic narrative, and
for its prose style.[36] Outside the eld of history, Taci- [9] Syme, 1958, p. 63
tus inuence is most prominent in the area of political
theory.[36] The political lessons taken from his work fall [10] Michael Grant in Introduction to Tacitus, The Annals of
Imperial Rome, p. xvii; Herbert W. Benario in Introducroughly into two camps, as identied by Giuseppe Toftion to Tacitus, Germany, p. 1.
fanin: the red Tacitists use him to support republican
ideals, and the black Tacitists read him as a lesson in [11] Syme, 1958, pp. 614616
Machiavellian realpolitik.[37]
Although his work is our most reliable source for the
history of his era, its factual accuracy is occasionally
questioned. The Annals are based in part on secondary
sources, and there are some obvious mistakes, for instance the confusion of the two daughters of Mark Antony
and Octavia Minor, who are both called Antonia.[38] The
Histories, however, are written from primary documents
and intimate knowledge of the Flavian period, and are
therefore thought to be more accurate.

[12] Syme, 1958, pp. 616619

[13] Syme, 1958, p. 619; Gordon, 1936, p. 145
[14] Gordon, 1936, pp. 150151; Syme, 1958, pp. 621624
[15] That he studied rhetoric and law is known from the Dialogus, ch. 2; see also Martin, 1981, p. 26; Syme, 1958,
pp. 114115
[16] Agricola, 9

[17] Pliny, Letters 1.6, 9.10; Benario, 1975, pp. 15, 17; Syme,
1958, pp. 541542
[18] Syme, 1958, p. 63; Martin, 1981, pp. 2627
[19] (1.1)
[20] He states his debt to Titus in his Histories (1.1); since Titus
ruled only briey, these are the only years possible.
[21] In the Annals (11.11) he mentions that, as praetor, he assisted in the Secular Games held by Domitian, which can
be precisely dated to 88. See Syme, 1958, p. 65; Martin, 1981, p. 27; Benario in his Introduction to Tacitus,
Germany, p. 1.
[22] The Agricola (45.5) indicates that Tacitus and his wife
were absent at the time of Julius Agricolas death in 93.
For his occupation during this time see Syme, 1958, p.
68; Benario, 1975, p. 13; Dudley, 1968, pp. 1516; Martin, 1981, p. 28; Mellor, 1993, p. 8
[23] For the eects on Tacitus of this experience see Dudley,
1968, p. 14; Mellor, 1993, pp. 89
[24] Pliny, Letters, 2.1 (English); Benario in his Introduction to
Tacitus, Germany, pp. 1-2.
[25] In the Agricola (3) he announces what was probably his
rst major project: the Histories. See Dudley, 1968, p. 16
[26] Pliny, Letters 2.11
[27] Grant in his Introduction to Tacitus, Annals, p. xvii; Benario in his Introduction to Tacitus, Germania, p. 2. Annals, 2.61, says that the Roman Empire now extends to
the Red Sea". If by mare rubrum he means the Persian
Gulf, the passage must have been written after Trajans
eastern conquests in 116, but before Hadrian abandoned
the new territories in 117. But this may only indicate the
date of publication for the rst books of the Annals; Tacitus could have lived well into Hadrians reign, and there is
no reason to suppose that he did not. See Dudley, 1968,
p. 17; Mellor, 1993, p. 9; Mendell, 1957, p. 7; Syme,
1958, p. 473; against this traditional interpretation, e.g.,
Goodyear, 1981, pp. 387-393.
[28] Augustan History, Tacitus X. Scholarly opinion on this
story is that it is either a confused and worthless rumor
(Mendell, 1957, p. 4) or pure ction (Syme, 1958, p.
796). Sidonius Apollinaris reports (Letters, 4.14; cited
in Syme, 1958, p. 796) that Polemius, a 5th-century
Gallo-Roman aristocrat is descended from Tacitusbut
this claim, says Syme (ibid.) is of little value.

[32] Ostler 2007, pp. 989 where the quoted example is used;
Further quotes from the book: "... some writers notably the perverse genius Tacitus delighted in disappointing the expectations raised by periodic theory.
this monkeying with hard-won stylistic norms ... only
makes sense if readers knew the rules that Tacitus was
breaking.
[33] John Taylor. Tacitus and the Boudican Revolt. Dublin:
Camvlos, 1998. p. 1
[34] Grant, Michael, Latin Literature: an anthology, Penguin
Classics, London, 1978 p.378f
[35] Mellor 2010, p. 3
[36] Mellor, 1995, p. xvii
[37] Burke, 1969, pp. 162163
[38] Suetonius makes an occasional slip as well.
[39]

8 References
Benario, Herbert W. An Introduction to Tacitus.
(Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press, 1975)
ISBN 0-8203-0361-5
Burke, P. Tacitism in Dorey, T.A., 1969, pp.
149171
Dudley, Donald R. The World of Tacitus (London:
Secker and Warburg, 1968) ISBN 0-436-13900-6
Goodyear, F.R.D. The Annals of Tacitus, vol. 2
(Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).
Commentary on Annals 1.55-81 and Annals 2.
Gordon, Mary L. The Patria of Tacitus. The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 26, Part 2 (1936), pp.
145151.
Martin, Ronald. Tacitus (London: Batsford, 1981)
Mellor, Ronald.
Tacitus (New York / London: Routledge, 1993) ISBN 0-415-90665-2 ISBN
0415910021 ISBN 9780415910026

[29] Jerome's commentary on the Book of Zechariah (14.1, 2;

quoted in Mendell, 1957, p. 228) says that Tacituss history was extant triginta voluminibus, 'in thirty volumes.

Mellor, Ronald. Tacitus Annals (Oxford/New

York: Oxford University Press, 2010) (Oxford Approaches to Classical Literature) ISBN 0198034679
ISBN 9780198034674

[30] Donald R. Dudley. Introduction to: The Annals of Tacitus. NY: Mentor Book, 1966. p. xiv: No other writer of
Latin prose not even Cicero deploys so eectively
the full resources of the language.

Mellor, Ronald (ed.). Tacitus: The Classical Heritage (New York: Garland Publishing, 1995) ISBN
0-8153-0933-3 ISBN 9780815309338

[31] The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#1 Translation based on Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1876).
Wikisource, 15 April 2012.

Mendell, Clarence. Tacitus: The Man and His Work.

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957) ISBN 0208-00818-7

9
Oliver, Revilo P. The First Medicean MS of Tacitus and the Titulature of Ancient Books. Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological
Association, Vol. 82 (1951), pp. 232261.
Oliver, Revilo P. The Praenomen of Tacitus. The
American Journal of Philology, Vol. 98, No. 1
(Spring, 1977), pp. 6470.
Ostler, Nicholas. Ad Innitum: A Biography of
Latin. HarperCollins in the UK, and Walker &
Co. in the USA: London and New York, 2007.
ISBN 978-0-00-734306-5; 2009 edition: ISBN
080271840X ISBN 9780802718402 2010 ebook: ISBN 0007364881 ISBN 9780007364886
Syme, Ronald. Tacitus, Volumes 1 and 2. (Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 1958) (reprinted in 1985
by the same publisher, with the ISBN 0-19-8143273) is the denitive study of his life and works.
Tacitus, The Annals of Imperial Rome. Translated
by Michael Grant and rst published in this form in
1956. (London: The Folio Society, 2006)
Tacitus, Germany. Translated by Herbert W. Benario. (Warminster, UK: Aris & Phillips Ltd., 1999.
ISBN 0-85668-716-2)
Taylor, John W. Tacitus and the Boudican Revolt.
(Dublin, Ireland: Camuvlos, 1998)

External links
Quotations related to Tacitus at Wikiquote
Works written by or about Tacitus at Wikisource
Media related to Gaius Cornelius Tacitus at Wikimedia Commons

Works by Tacitus
Works by Tacitus at Project Gutenberg
Works by or about Tacitus at Internet Archive
Works by Tacitus at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
Comprehensive links to Latin text and translations
in various languages at ForumRomanum
Complete works, Latin and English translation at
The Internet Sacred Text Archive (not listed
above)

EXTERNAL LINKS

10
10.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Tacitus Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitus?oldid=670915115 Contributors: Magnus Manske, Kpjas, MichaelTinkler, JHK, Eloquence, Zundark, The Anome, Koyaanis Qatsi, Clasqm, BenBaker, Christopher Mahan, Ktsquare, Panairjdde~enwiki, Booyabazooka,
Llywrch, Lquilter, Cyde, Delirium, Lindsay G H Hall, Paul A, Looxix~enwiki, Urbanus~enwiki, Muriel Gottrop~enwiki, ILVI, TUFKAT, Jniemenmaa, Djmutex, Djnjwd, Andres, John K, Kweto, Alex S, Charles Matthews, EALacey, Wilmer T, Thue, Wetman, Dimadick, Robbot, PBS, Chris 73, Jmabel, Romanm, Mirv, Ojigiri~enwiki, GreatWhiteNortherner, Marnanel, Wiglaf, Everyking, Deus Ex,
Drottin, Andycjp, Gdr, Slowking Man, Antandrus, The Singing Badger, Vina, Mozzerati, Klemen Kocjancic, Johannes.Richter, Darker
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Mcsnail11, Dexbot, Lugia2453, VIAFbot, Krakkos, CorinneSD, SteepLearningCurve, Fuckaroo123, Davidajensen, Ethanlang121, TropicAces, Iamterryfc1, MarcusPriscusCato, Whalestate, KasparBot and Anonymous: 259

10.2

Images

File:CiceroBust.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/23/CiceroBust.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?

File:Lipsius_manuscript.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/12/Lipsius_manuscript.jpg License: Public
domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:MII.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/MII.png License: Public domain Contributors: Harald
Fuchs, Tacitus ber die Christen, Vigiliae Christianae, 1950, p. 65. A reprint from a photographic facsimile: Tacitus. Codex Laurentianus Mediceus 68 I. (II.) [comprising Bks. 1-5, and 11-16 of the Annals; and Bks. 1-5 of the Histories]; phototypice editus. Praefatus est
Henricus Rostagno (Enrico Rostagno); in Du Rieu (W. N.) Codices Graeci et Latini phototypice editi, etc. tom. 7. Leiden, 1902. Original
artist: Tacitus (text copied by a monk in the 11th century). Photographic facsimile by Henricus Rostagno, 1902.
File:REmpire-04_Gallia_Narbonensis.png Source:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/REmpire-04_Gallia_
Narbonensis.png License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:SPQRomani.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/SPQRomani.svg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Piotr Micha Jaworski (<a href='//pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedysta:Piom' class='extiw' title='pl:
Wikipedysta:Piom'>PioM</a> EN DE PL)
File:Speaker_Icon.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/21/Speaker_Icon.svg License: Public domain Contributors: ? Original artist: ?
File:Wien-_Parlament-Tacitus.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Wien-_Parlament-Tacitus.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Pe-Jo

10.3

Content license

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