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Publius Cornelius Tacitus (0056–0117)

Autor(a) de The Annals of Tacitus

418+ Works 12,459 Membros 104 Críticas 22 Favorited

About the Author

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 mostrar mais Tiberius to the assassination of Domitian, are an 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) mostrar menos
Disambiguation Notice:

(eng) full name either Publius Cornelius Tacitus or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus.

(dut) De klassieke Romein, niet de striptekenaar Franck Tacito (toewijzing 2)

(ger) Vollständiger Name entweder Publius Cornelius Tacitus oder Gaius Cornelius Tacitus.

Obras por Publius Cornelius Tacitus

The Annals of Tacitus (0117) — Autor — 3,807 exemplares
Agricola and Germania (0098) — Autor — 2,059 exemplares
The Histories (0100) — Autor — 1,457 exemplares
The Annals / The Histories (0098) — Autor — 824 exemplares
Complete Works of Tacitus (0098) 695 exemplares
Germania (0098) — Autor — 434 exemplares
Agricola (1898) 215 exemplares
Annales {Latin} (1908) 168 exemplares
Tacitus: Dialogus de oratoribus (1936) — Autor — 122 exemplares
Opera Minora (1938) 96 exemplares
Nero and the Burning of Rome (1996) 94 exemplares
Annals. Books 1-6 (1890) 93 exemplares
Tacitus: Annals Book IV (1989) 68 exemplares
Tacitus: Annals I (1959) 66 exemplares
Anales. Libros XI-XVI (1980) 65 exemplares
Germania (1972) — Autor — 54 exemplares
Tacitus: Histories Book I (2002) 51 exemplares
Cornelii Taciti libri qui supersunt (1893) — Autor — 46 exemplares
Annals XIV (1939) 43 exemplares
Tacitus: Annals XV (Tacitus) (1973) 39 exemplares
The Histories I-II (1964) 29 exemplares
Annalium ab excessu divi Augusti libri XI-XVI (1884) — Autor — 26 exemplares
Annales, libri 1-4 {Latin} (1928) 26 exemplares
Annales libri 1-6 {Latin} (1890) 25 exemplares
The Reign of Nero (1952) 20 exemplares
Tacitus, in five volumes (2004) 16 exemplares
Tacitus 13 exemplares
Tacitus Selections From His Works (1936) 12 exemplares
Dialog über die Redner: Lateinisch/Deutsch (1981) — Autor — 10 exemplares
De opstand van de Bataven (2005) 9 exemplares
Gli annali: La vita di Giulio Agricola (1974) — Autor — 8 exemplares
Annales ab excessu divi Augusti (1936) 7 exemplares
Los Anales (1949) 7 exemplares
Germania / Die Annalen. (1979) 6 exemplares
Gli annali. Libro 14. (1927) 6 exemplares
Historiae (Latin) 5 exemplares
Tacito - Germania (2019) 5 exemplares
Historien (2002) 5 exemplares
Le drame d'un empire (1990) 5 exemplares
Annali : volume secondo (2007) 4 exemplares
Anales I (2007) 4 exemplares
Annali: libro 16 4 exemplares
Obres menors (1926) 3 exemplares
Annales 1-3 3 exemplares
Cornelii Taciti libri quae supersunt — Autor — 3 exemplares
Anales II (2017) — Autor — 3 exemplares
The Histories (1972) 3 exemplares
Annals: Bks.11-16 3 exemplares
The Complete Tacitus Collection (2013) 3 exemplares
Histoires. Tome I : Livre I (1987) 3 exemplares
ANNALI. VOLUME SECONDO. (1951) 2 exemplares
Uitgelezen teksten 2 exemplares
Los Anales : Augusto-Tiberio (1948) 2 exemplares
Tacitus' Germania (2023) 2 exemplares
Anales II (2008) 2 exemplares
Annals, vol. 1 2 exemplares
Tacite: Oeuvres Choisies (1923) 2 exemplares
Arte de la biografía — Contribuidor — 2 exemplares
On Germany (2018) 2 exemplares
Libri Qui Supersunt, Tom. I Pb (1994) 2 exemplares
Histoires, tome 3 : Livres IV-V (2002) 2 exemplares
Die Römer in England (2014) 2 exemplares
Volumes I and II 1 exemplar
Opera minora (1970) 1 exemplar
Tibère de Tacite (1966) 1 exemplar
Tacitus' Germania (2018) 1 exemplar
Tacitus. Annalen. (1964) 1 exemplar
Annals. Book XV 1 exemplar
The Histories Volume II (2016) 1 exemplar
Annalen in Auswahl 1 exemplar
Opera minora 1 exemplar
Da Nerone ai Germani (2002) 1 exemplar
Tacito (2007) 1 exemplar
Tacite 1 exemplar
Annali. Vol. I 1 exemplar
Annali 3 volumi 1 exemplar
Principato e libertà (1970) 1 exemplar
A tirania de Nero 1 exemplar
Annali : 2 (1970) 1 exemplar
Storie (Italian Edition) (2019) 1 exemplar
Annali. Volume 3 1 exemplar
Tácito (1975) 1 exemplar
Libri Historiarum 1 exemplar
Libri Annalium 1 exemplar
Annali. Libro XI (2011) 1 exemplar
Històries, vol. 4 1 exemplar
Historias (1944) 1 exemplar
Anales II 1 exemplar
Roczniki (2021) 1 exemplar
Nowele Rzymskie — Contribuidor — 1 exemplar
Històries, vol. 1 1 exemplar
Històries, vol. 2 1 exemplar
Històries, vol. 3 1 exemplar
Extraits 1 exemplar
Pensieri 1 exemplar
Buch 1 - 3 1 exemplar
Annaler [1] I-VI 1 exemplar
Annali. Libro 1. 1 exemplar
Annals Book 14 1 exemplar
Obres menors 1 exemplar
Histoires et Opuscules (1959) 1 exemplar
Tutte le opere (1993) 1 exemplar
Libro 3., Libro 4., Libro 5 (1990) 1 exemplar
Annali. Vol 2 1 exemplar
Néron de tacite (1948) 1 exemplar
Histoire 1 exemplar
Agrippine et Néron — Autor — 1 exemplar
Tacitus: Roman History (2015) — Autor — 1 exemplar
Great Books 15 1 exemplar
Los anales, Tomo I 1 exemplar
The Complete Work of Tacitus (1942) 1 exemplar
Tacito Annali 1 exemplar
Opera minora 1 exemplar
Die historischen Versuche (1955) 1 exemplar
The Reign of Tiberius (2018) 1 exemplar
The Histories & The Annals (2018) 1 exemplar
La Germani 1 exemplar
Le storie (2019) 1 exemplar
Annals (I) (1930) 1 exemplar
Històries, I 1 exemplar
Històries, II 1 exemplar
Històries, III 1 exemplar
Annals, vol. 2 1 exemplar
Annals, vol. 4 1 exemplar
Annals, vol. 5 1 exemplar
Obres menors 1 exemplar

Associated Works

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Nome legal
Tacitus, Publius Cornelius
Tacitus, Gajus Cornelius
Data de nascimento
0056
Data de falecimento
0117
Sexo
male
Nacionalidade
Romeinse Rijk
País (no mapa)
Italy
France
Local de nascimento
Galla Narboniensis, Roman Empire (now France)
Locais de residência
Rome, Romeinse Rijk
Ocupações
public official
orator
geschiedschrijver
Relações
Pliny the Younger (friend)
Organizações
Equestrian Order
Roman Senate
SPQR
Nota de desambiguação
De klassieke Romein, niet de striptekenaar Franck Tacito (toewijzing 2)

Membros

Discussions

Tacitus Annals and History em Ancient History (Fevereiro 2023)
How did Tacitus really feel? em Ancient History (Julho 2009)

Críticas

How could I not like it? It gave me background information on my father's mother's family in Germany. They live (there are still some there in the Minden area) in the ancient territory of the Angrivarii. These people were eventually absorbed into the Saxons and were neatly placed to forge west and take over Britain. Perhaps this explains why I have DNA hanging around England and Wales.
The version I read of this had almost more footnotes than text. But it was such a slim volume that I went on to read his biography of his father-in-law, Agricola. A bit of that was about Agricola, but much of it about the history of Britain under Roman occupation, also interesting.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
marfita | 16 outras críticas | Dec 24, 2023 |
It’s not for nothing that Tacitus is considered both the greatest historian as well as one of the greatest prose stylists to write in Latin, and even reading him in translation (I read Mattingly's) it’s easy to understand why. I really liked his dry, terse style of writing. My main reason for picking up this book was that it included Germania, but Agricola proved to be a very positive surprise, and both of these works have their unique qualities. In Agricola, the juxtaposition of the speech by Calgacus (a chieftain) to the Caledonian army, with that of Agricola to the Roman troops before the battle of Mons Graupius works really well as a literary device, and had the effect of almost transporting me back in time. In his biography of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, his father-in-law, Tacitus focuses on his achievements in Britain, and contrasts this to the politically oppressive climate back in Rome - in an age "so savage and hostile to merit" (Ch. 1.) "We have indeed set up a record of subservience. Rome of old explored the utmost limits of freedom; we have plumbed the depths of slavery, robbed as we are by informers even the right to exchange ideas in conversation." (Ch. 2.)

Both Agricola and Germania are short works, and both were written in 98 CE, which is a good reason to combine them in one volume. They also both take us to the frontiers of the Roman empire, and far beyond that in the case of Germania. And of course, they both contain criticism of the decline of Roman moral values, against which the virtus of Julius Agricola and the “noble savages” of Germania is contrasted. - "No one in Germany finds vice amusing, or calls it 'up-to-date' to seduce and be seduced. (...) Good morality is more effective in Germany than good laws are elsewhere." (Ch. 19.)

I was struck by the similarities of the Assemblies of the Germanic tribes as they are described by Tacitus, and the Things of the Norse societies: "When the assembled crowd thinks fit, they take their seats fully armed. Silence is then commanded by the priests, who on such occasions have power to enforce obedience. (...) If a proposal displeases them, the people shout their dissent; if they approve, they clash their spears. To express approbation with their weapons is their most complimentary way of showing agreement." (Ch. 11.) And likewise in his description of the customs of Germanic hospitality – and not to forget their feasting: "The Germans are not cunning or sophisticated enough to refrain from blurting out their inmost thoughts in the freedom of festive surroundings, so that every man's soul is laid completely bare. On the following day the subject is reconsidered, and thus due account is taken of both occasions. They debate when they are incapable of pretence, but reserve their decision for a time when they cannot well make a mistake." Tacitus’ comments are often remarkably astute, and adds a lot to his vivid descriptions of the Germanic people and their ways.

The original title of Germania is "De origine et situ Germanorum (On the Origin and Geography of the Germans)", and from Ch. 28 onwards, Tacitus turns from describing the character and customs of the Germanic people to that of the various Germanic tribes and their locations. He also gives due attention to their respective religious practices, and, as well, their military strengths and weaknesses and their tactics. Tacitus laments the fact that it is taking so long to conquer Germany ("a total of two hundred and ten years. (...) In this long period much punishment has been given and taken." (Ch. 37.) And he goes on to state that: "The freedom of Germany is capable of more energetic action than the Arsacid despotism."

It is a fascinating journey that ends with the Fenni, who are described as "astonishingly savage and disgustingly poor", although as well: "Unafraid of anything that man or god can do to them, they have reached a state that few human beings can attain: for these men are so well content that they do not even need to pray for anything." (Ch. 46.) Tacitus is unsure of whether to class them with the Germans or the Sarmatians, but under any circumstance, their degree of freedom nevertheless wins them a nod of approval. We may at this point be far from the virtus, the qualities of bravery, found in e.g. Agricola, Calgalus and the different Germanic tribes, but, even at the very end of this book, and having reached the sea "that is believed to be the boundary that girdles the earth", Tacitus still finds barbarian virtue (or virtue in the barbarian) - and he avoids speculation: "What comes after them is the stuff of fables... On such unverifiable stories I shall express no opinion."

We know little of Tacitus’ sources for Germania, but clearly he must have reflected on their veracity. I can’t help wondering how he might have commented about Scandinavia had he had better access to information about the lands and tribes so far north. It is likely that his Suiones "right out in the sea" were inhabiting present-day southern Sweden. He states that "They are powerful not only in arms and men but also in fleets. The shape of their ships differs from the normal in having a prow at each end, so that they are always facing the right way to put in to shore", but then goes on to say that they don’t use sails, which might just as well be another of Tacitus’ attempts at generalization - as he admits to when describing the physical characteristics of the Germans: "always the same: fierce-looking blue eyes, reddish hair, and big frames" (Ch. 4), and that's not the only example I can think of. Maybe he did get "the stuff of fables" mixed up with his facts in a few instances in Germania; and likewise e.g. the speech of Calgalus in Agricola is most certainly Tacitus’ own invention, but those instances of inaccuracy and/or 'author's license' need not be held against him. For a large part, Tacitus is confirmed by archaeology and other literary sources. Add to that his own literary genius. Both works are thoroughly engaging on several levels, and gives a unique glimpse into the Roman mind - of course that of Tacitus especially - as well as the British and Germanic tribes at the end of the 1st century CE.




This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
saltr | 16 outras críticas | Feb 15, 2023 |
Fascinating exploration of the early Empire. The books on Agricola and Germany were quite interesting examinations of pre-Europe Europe.
 
Assinalado
wahoo8895 | 7 outras críticas | Nov 20, 2022 |
The Annals of Tacitus covers the years 14–68 CE. Why these dates? Well, Augustus, a colossal figure in Roman history, died in 14 CE, and this is when Tiberius began his rule. 68 CE marks the year of the death of Nero, which would lead to the year of four rival emperors. Here, we see the end of the Julio-Claudian line.
Unfortunately there are gaps in this chronology. As one can imagine, not all books of the complete Annals survived the passage of time. Several books are missing and some others are incomplete. While it is disappointing that the entire reign of Caligula is missing there is much that is interesting in what remains.

The status of this book as a classic cannot be denied. But what is it that makes that true? Tacitus covers a time in Roman history when, as the result of the consolidation and planning of Augustus (originally Octavian) the beginnings of the Roman empire take shape. More significantly, what he started in 14 CE suggests that he wanted to show two pictures of the empire. On the one hand, he does not question the need for an emperor. Augustus established peace, which was desperately needed, in light of many civil wars and civil conflicts following the death of Tiberius Gracchus in 133 BCE. On the other hand, there is a dark side to all empires. Tacitus portrays this point, especially in the life of Tiberius. He paints a picture of tyranny. We read, for example, of Tiberius’s reign of terror, and we can say the same for Nero.

Some of the most fascinating aspects for this reader included the machinations and politics of the day which were both personal and brutal. In spite of the wealth of the Emperors and their immediate families, the plans of some, starting with Augustus, for an orderly succession were derailed, often by accidents and illness that, due to the primitive state of medicine, led to unexpected deaths. That, of course, was in addition to the deaths plotted by such angels as Tiberius and Nero's mother Agrippina. Tacitus narrates the rise of potential rulers like Sejanus alongside the unlikely rise to power of Claudius. There are many fascinating and exciting moments in this narrative including the infamous fire that devastated Rome during Nero's reign.

Earlier in the narrative, during the reign of Tiberius, Tacitus comments in an aside about his project:
"That much of what I have recorded, and of what I shall record, seems perhaps insignificant and trivial to recall I am not unaware; but no one should compare my annals with the writing of those who compiled the affairs of the Roman people of old." He notes that mighty events had occurred in centuries past, while "my work, on the other hand, is confined and inglorious: peace was immovable or only modestly challenged, affairs in the City were sorrowful, and the princeps indifferent to extending the empire." (4.32)

Here we read instead about villains, such as Sejanus, and darlings of the people, such as Germanicus, and so much more. Ultimately the history was one that was filled with brutality and death that seemed unending leading Tacitus to rail about the "anger of the divinities against Roman affairs" near the end of the book (16.6). In spite of this the remnants of his original tome still make a fascinating and exciting read - truly a great book.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
jwhenderson | 29 outras críticas | Jan 9, 2022 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
418
Also by
10
Membros
12,459
Popularidade
#1,881
Avaliação
3.8
Críticas
104
ISBN
577
Línguas
24
Marcado como favorito
22

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