Tacitus: The Annals of
Imperial Rome
Is writing history a dangerous task?
Timeline of Important Events
Augustus 31 BC to 14 AD
Vergil wrote the Aeneid before his death in 19
BC
Tiberius 14-37
Gaius (Caligula) 37-41
Claudius 41-54
Nero 54-68
Tacitus was born c. 55 AD
Life of Tacitus
 75/6 studied oratory at
Rome
 77 marries daughter of
Gn. Iulius Agricola
 Agricola is a military
commander
 88 praetor (on the fast track to gov’t career)
 Military affairs and
foreign relations
 Agricola (story of his
father-in-law) (98)
 Germania (non-Roman
as noble savage) (98)
 Dialogus (oratory in
decline) (c. 102)
 Histories (year of 4
emperors, (110)
 Annals (Augustus to
Nero) (c. 117)
Themes in Tacitus
Admired old
Senatorial System
Zealous Roman
patriot
Good part of ruling
elite gives its best to
leading armies and
governing foreign
provinces
Is role of Senate
under the empire
compatible with the
image of the upper
strata of society as
noble servants of
the people?
Themes in Tacitus
The need for power causes the biggest
fights
No one is exempt from envy, hypocracy
or arrogance
Vanity is key
Tacitus’s Sources
Wrote after the
events in question
Had access to state
records
Security vs. Freedom
How much freedom
should a person
have?
How much control
should the gov’t
have over people’s
lives?
Contrasts in Tacitus
Noble ideals of the
Republic vs. Corrupt
decadence of the
Empire
Dislike of absolute
rule and power of
autocracy vs. dislike
of less privileged
classes
Tacitus vs. Livy
Contemporary
History
History is dictated
by political
circumstances
Lives of legendary
ancestors
How did Rome first
acquire power?
Livy’s Goals as an historian
“best medicine for a
sick mind”
Review ancestral
morals and virtues
“find examples and
warnings”
Get power and
success by learning
from example
Tacitus’s Goals as an Historian
Tell about
contemporary
events
Show the causes of
things
Can learn right from
wrong through
looking at
experience of others
N.B. Tacitus tries to
free himself from
bias while Livy
recognizes his bias
“I shall write without
indignation or
partisanship: in my
case customary
incentives to these
are lacking”
Augustus’ Reign
 31 BC to 14 AD
 “Practically no one had
ever seen truly
Republican gov’t”
 “Political equality was a
thing of the past; all
eyes watched for
imperial commands”
Triumphator
Pater Patriae
In my thirteenth consulship, the Senate, the
equestrian order and the
people of Rome granted to me the title of
Father of my Country, and determined that
this ought to be inscribed in the entrance of
my house and
in the Curia Julia and in the Forum Augustum
under the chariot, which had been set there
on my behalf by the Senate’s resolution.
Use of Visual Imagery
Augustus’ Mausoleum
The Results
 It is astonishing how every kind of visual
communication came to reflect the new order, how
every theme and slogan became interwoven. . . . For
generations the ills of state and society had been
proclaimed, described, and lamented as incurable
evils. The surprising thing, for many people virtually
a miracle, was that the new ruler actually took the
lament seriously and decided to do something about
it.[1]

[1] Zanker 1990, 101-2.
Vergil on Augustus
This man, this is the one whom you often
hear is promised to you,

Augustus Caesar, son of a god, who shall
again craft a Golden Age in Latium,

through fields once reigned over by
Saturn, and he shall extend his command

beyond the Garamantes and the Indians.
Augustus on Augustus
 On behalf of my service, I was called Augustus by
the senate’s decree and
 the door-posts of my residence were publicly dressed
with laurels and the civic crown was installed on my
door. A golden shield was placed in the Curia Julia,
granted to me by the Senate and the Roman people
on behalf of my virtue, mercy, justice and pity, as
witnessed by the inscription of the shield. From this
time on, I surpassed all in influence, although I held
no more power than the others who were also
colleagues in my magistracy.
Summary
 The return of the Golden Age theme was more than
hyperbolical praise. . . . . it belongs to a complex of
ideas the effect of which was to provide Augustus
with a role that made him essential for the
preservation of Roman society. . . . The public
political disorder of civil war and the private
wrongdoing of the individual are inextricably
intertwined and the emperor as a second Saturn is
assigned the role of keeping both at bay.[1]

[1] Wallace-Hadrill, 1982, 29-32
Questions to Consider
Why couldn’t historians write
objectively about the emperors during
their reigns?
Why does Tacitus think he can?
Tiberius
How does Tacitus characterize Tiberius?
Does the Senate approve of Tiberius?
What kind of relationship does Tiberius
have with the Senate?
Germanicus
What kind of military leader is
Germanicus?
Why does Tiberius send for him?
How does Germanicus die?