You may have to Search all our reviewed books and magazines, click the sign up button below to create a free account.
Tacitus on Germany is a history work by Tacitus. It provides a detailed account of the state of culture among the tribes that are the ancestors of the modern Teutonic nations.
The greatest of Roman historians, Publius Cornelius Tacitus (56-117 CE) studied rhetoric in Rome. His rhetorical and oratorical gifts are evident throughout his most substantial works, the incomplete but still remarkable Annals and Histories. In concise and concentrated prose, marked by sometimes bitter and ironic reflections on the human capacity to misuse power, Tacitus charts the violent trajectory of the Roman Empire from Augustus' death in 14 CE to the end of Domitian's rule in 96. Victoria Emma Pagan looks at Tacitus from a range of perspectives: as a literary stylist, perhaps influenced by Sallust; his notion of time; his modes of discourse; his place in the historiography of the era; and the later reception of Tacitus in the Renaissance and early modern periods. Tacitus remains of major interest to students of the Bible, as well as classicists, by virtue of his reference to 'Christus' and Nero's persecution of the Christians after the great fire of Rome in 64 CE. This lively survey enables its readers fully to appreciate why, in holding a mirror up to venality and greed, the work of Tacitus remains eternal.
"The Histories" is a Roman historical chronicle and it covers the Year of Four Emperors following the downfall of Nero in 68 AD, a year in the history of the Roman Empire in which four emperors ruled in succession: Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian. The mode of their accession showed that because imperial power was based on the support of the legions, an emperor could now be chosen not only at Rome, but anywhere in the empire where sufficient legions were amassed. The style of narration is rapid, reflecting the speed of the events. The narrative rhythm leaves no space to slow down or digress. To write effectively in this style, Tacitus had to summarize substantial information from his sources. "The Annals" is a history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus to that of Nero, the years AD 14–68, covering the reigns of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero. As a senator, Tacitus had access to Acta Senatus, the Roman senate's records, thus providing a solid basis for his work. Along with The Histories, The Annals provide a key source for modern understanding of the history of the Roman Empire during the 1st century AD.
The Agricola and the Germania were written by the Roman historian Tacitus around 98 AD. The Germania describes the lands, laws, and customs of individual Germanic tribes. The Agricola, recounts the life of Tacitus' father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general and Governor of Britain. It also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain. As in the Germania, Tacitus favorably contrasts the liberty of the native Britons to the corruption and tyranny of the Empire; the book also contains eloquent and forceful polemics against the rapacity and greed of Rome. Tacitus's writings are known for their dense prose that seldom glosses the facts, in contrast to the ...