The Annals / The Histories

by P. Cornelius Tacitus

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"Tacitus' account of Nero's principate is an extraordinary piece of historical writing. His graphic narrative (including Annals XV) is one of the highlights of the greatest surviving historian of the Roman Empire. It describes how the imperial system survived Nero's flamboyant and hedonistic tenure as emperor, and includes many famous passages, from the Great Fire of Rome in AD 64 to the city-wide party organised by Nero's praetorian prefect, Tigellinus, in Rome. This edition unlocks the show more difficulties and complexities of this challenging yet popular text for students and instructors alike. It elucidates the historical context of the work and the literary artistry of the author, as well as explaining grammatical difficulties of the Latin for students. It also includes a comprehensive introduction discussing historical, literary and stylistic issues."--Page 4 of cover. show less

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11 reviews
The Histories and the Annals, together cover the history of the empire from the time of the Julio-Claudians to the reign of Domitian in a total of 30 books. But only one-third of them are extant. The Histories covers the political unrest that followed the death of Nero, the year of the four emperors, Galba (r. 68-69 CE), Otho (r. 69 CE), Vitellius (r. 69 CE), and Vespasian (r. 69-79 CE), ending with the rise of Domitian. While he had little respect for the first three of the four emperors, Tacitus believed that the rise of Vespasian presented a sign of a good future.

The Annals begins with the death of Augustus and ends prior to the death of Nero; lost, however, are two years of Tiberius (r. 14-37 CE), all of Caligula (r. 37-41 CE), show more one-half of Claudius (r. 43-54 CE), and the final two years of Nero.

He wrote during an important time as the Empire was establishing itself as the dominant power on the Mediterranean Sea, but he repeated his warning that Germania and Asia could present future problems. Although he seemed to admire the first emperor, Augustus, Tacitus believed that beginning with him, the Roman Senate became a diminished body.

Throughout his works, Tacitus regrets the loss of the Republic and speaks of the decline of the empire which he attributes to the decay of the city's ever-growing decency - something his beloved Cicero saw in his own time.
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Edition: // Descr: viii, 421 p. : maps 17 cm. // Series: The Loeb Classical Library Call No. { 878 T11-L 2 vol I. } Series Edited by T.E Page The Histories Translated by Clifford H. Moore and The Annals Translated by John Jackson Contains Latin and English Versions and Table of Dates Annals: Books IV-VI, XI,-XII Volume I. // //
i actually have this book in a much older version from the 40's and it is very well indexed.
I was disappointed to discover this book has no index.
Printed by A.J. Valpy, M.A. and sold by all booksellers (1830), Fine binding, leatherbound. Each volume includes one engraving as a frontispiece.
Edition: // Descr: v, 423 p. : maps 17 cm. // Series: The Loeb Classical Library Call No. { 878 T11-L 2 vol II. } Series Edited by T.E.Page Translation of The Histories by Clifford H. Moore and Translation of The Annals by John Jackson Contains Latin and English Versions and Index Annals: Books XIII-XVI Volume IV. // //
Edition: // Descr: xviii, 479 p. : maps 17 cm. // Series: The Loeb Classical Library Call No. { 878 T11-L 1 vol I. } Series Edited by T.E. Page The Histories Translated by Clifford Moore and The Annals Translated by John Jackson Contains Latin and English Version The Histories: Books I-III Volume I. // //

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544+ Works 14,157 Members
Tacitus was a Roman senator who survived the terror launched among the Roman aristocracy by the emperor Domitian to rise to prominence and become first suffect consul and later proconsul of Asia. His historical works, which originally covered the first century of the empire from the accession of Tiberius to the assassination of Domitian, are an show more indictment of the emperors and of the senatorial aristocracy under imperial autocracy. They remain the fundamental sources of imperial history in this period. The embarrasing paradox of Tacitus's success under a "bad" emperor appears to have had an effect on his works, whose tone may have struck contemporaries as a defense of his prominence under a despot. Tacitus is thus often thought to have nursed a nostalgia for the Republic and the free nobility of its senatorial order. However, his attitude is less genuinely backward-looking than occupied with the contemporary moral and political problems of aristocratic honor. In The Annals, which survives only in part, he examines palace politics under the Julio-Claudians. The unspoken questions that occupy this examination are those of the possibilities of uncompromised and dignified service under despotism, and the opportunities therein to mitigate its evil. These themes emerge into daylight in The Agricola, his laudatory biography of his father-in-law, the Roman general who conquered Britain. The work portrays Agricola as a straightforward military man who preserved his integrity and the admiration of his contemporaries under the emperor Domitian, even though his greatest achievements went unrewarded. Tacitus was a trained advocate, and fundamental to his outlook is his prosecutorial purpose. He states the case against the emperors and others who attract his unfavorable judgment. This bias can be difficult for the reader to overcome. But Tacitus also played by the rules of advocacy. He appears to bring to light facts unfavorable to his case in order to interpret them according to the necessities of his argument. His lawyerly honesty thereby allows the historian to dissect the facts from their matrix in order to use them in reconstructing a historical account of the first century of the empire which is more balanced, if inevitably less committed, than that of Tacitus. (Bowker Author Biography) show less

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Canonical title
The Annals / The Histories
Original title
Annales & Historiae
Alternate titles
Tacitus
Original publication date
ca. 110 (Histories) (Histories); ca. 116 (Annals) (Annals); ca. 98 (The Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola) (The Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola); ca. 98 (Germany and Its Tribes) (Germany and Its Tribes)
People/Characters
Tiberius Caesar, Roman Emperor; Germanicus; Claudius I, Emperor of Rome; Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus; Sejanus; Agrippina the Younger
Important places
Roman Empire
First words
Rome at the beginning was ruled by kings.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"I fought the same battle in Germany, as did Mucianus in Syria, Aponius in Moesia, Flavianus in Pannonia."

Classifications

Genres
History, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
DDC/MDS
937.07History & geographyHistory of ancient world (to ca. 499)Italian Peninsula to 476 and adjacent territories to 476Constitutional 31 B.C.-284 A.D.
LCC
AC1 .G72General WorksCollections. Series. Collected worksCollections. Series. Collected worksCollections of monographs, essays, etc.American and English
BISAC

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Members
1,001
Popularity
26,082
Reviews
8
Rating
(4.02)
Languages
English, Italian, Latin
Media
Paper, Ebook
ISBNs
10
ASINs
44