Introduction

to Tacitus,
Annals IV.
Ms Glueck, Transitus, 8 Sept 2022
Jot down an answer and share with the
person next to you.

What is the purpose of

writing history?
Quod praecipuum munus annalium reor ne
virtutes sileantur utque pravis dictis
factisque ex posteritate et infamia metus sit.

…this I think is the principal duty of

history: that virtues not be silenced and that
there may be dread and infamy from
posterity for evil words and deeds – Tacitus,
Annals III.65.1

What does Tacitus think is the main

purpose of writing history?
 • Annotate alongside me when we’re going over
the Annals – try to make your annotations
mostly match up with mine.
• Your booklets have sheets of lined paper – use
those for longer notes, answers to reading qs,
How to take discussion of context (like this powerpoint!)
notes for this • Title today’s notes ‘Intro to Tacitus’ and put
class the date next to it
• Don’t copy out every word on the slide
• Do try and get down the gist – think: what’s
the main point of this slide?
• Do use abbreviations
 Work describes the events from the death of Augustus in AD
14 to that of Nero in 68.

Tacitus’ What we have of this work comprises two ‘hexads’ (groups of

Annals: six chapters): One about Tiberius and one about

Caligula/Claudius. We’re reading Annals 4, from the first
hexad.
history as a Tacitus witnessed the atrocities committed by the emperor

form of
Domitian, possibly even Domitian’s attempts to dispatch his
opponent, Tacitus’ father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agrippa

protest This made him skeptical of the emperors in general, devoted

to portraying their abuses of power
 Wh
at’s
hap
p eni
ng
h ere
Annals IV
?

• Annals IV tells the story of the rise

and fall of a man called Lucius Aelius
Sejanus (20 BC – AD 31)
• Sejanus got very close to the emperor
Tiberius and used this closeness to
consolidate power
• For instance, Sejanus suggested to
the Emperor that all the Roman
armies which had been scattered
through the countryside be gathered
in Rome. Sejanus himself was captain
of the guard, so this move gave him
access to huge numbers of military
forces.
Sex & murder: Sejanus gains power
• Sejanus seduced Tiberius’ daughter in law, Livilla, at that time
married to Drusus, Tiberius’ son. (AD 23)
• Also supposedly poisoned Drusus.
• He asked Tiberius for permission to marry Livilla after Drusus’ death.
The emperor at first said no, but later granted permission.
• Sejanus supposedly spearheaded attacks on friends of Agrippina’s
- she being Julia the Elder’s daughter and Augustus’
granddaughter. He would have seen these people as standing in
the way of his gaining…?
Sejanus also
saved Tiberius
from falling rocks
in a cave in
Sperlonga, Italy…
When I visited Sperlonga in 2016,
I obviously had to re-enact this
moment with my friend.
But dark times were coming for Sejanus…
• Sejanus had encouraged the aging emperor Tiberius to retire to Capri.
Thus by AD 30, Sejanus was almost a de facto emperor at Rome.
• In AD 31, Tiberius sent a letter from Capri, condemning Sejanus.
• Sejanus and all his family were summarily executed.
• We still don’t know why Tiberius changed his mind about Sejanus. It’s
possible he learned about some earlier plots against e.g. Drusus and
Agrippina – but really we don’t know.
• Sejanus’ life is a lesson in the dangers of seeking power under
empire – why?
Tacitus ipse
• Lived approximately 56 - 120 AD
• Rose through a series of political positions under the
emperors Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. Was suffect
consul (consul for just one year instead of the usual 2) in
AD 97
• (is there something ironic about Tacitus’ writing in the
way he does about the emperors, given his own
political career?)