TACITUS

Tacitus

The historian of the silver age

Abstract

Tacitus was a famous philosopher, moralist, historian and rhetoric figure of the ancient Rome. He is known as the greatest historian, who wrote the incidents and events of the ancient Roman Empire in chronological order. His judgments are valuable as he had no sympathy with the characters of his story on religious and national grounds that most of the writers of that age would have. Agricola, The Annals, and The Histories are the famous literature work of the historian Tacitus. Agricola is actually biography of General Agricola, a military leader and father-in-law of the historian Tacitus. In this book, the historian throws light on the life of General Agricola. The Annals and The Histories entail the political conditions of the ancient Rome, which this essay briefly describes.

Table of Contents

Abstract3

Introduction5

Literature5

A Moralist7

Conclusion7

Tacitus, the Historian of the Silver Age

Introduction

Tacitus was a rhetoric figure and famous historian of Roman Empire. Neither birthplace nor the accurate date of his birth is in the knowledge of the historians, however, historians believe that his date of birth is either AD 56 or 57 (Martin, 1981).

His father was a wealthy aristocratic bureaucrat. In AD 77, he married Julia Agricola, daughter of a military general. The early political life of Tacitus is not known to the historians, but it is learnt that he becomes magistrate in AD 88. Meanwhile, he also became a member of a theological college (Tacitus, 2004).

For the duration of four years, he held a post of a province outside Rome, the details of which are unknown. In 97, he made it for the consulship, a rank that was seen important and significant at those times. Some historians argue that he was not having any of this post, and instead the officials send him to Asia for governorship. In this period, Tacitus started studying and law and oratory as he was passionate about public speaking. He became a famous orator of his times. Besides political and legal career, he also started writing by this time (Tacitus, 2004).

Most of the incidents and part of his life is unknown to the historians. Whatever historians have the information from the books, writings and the letters, especially the book 'Agricola' (Mellor, 1994).

Literature

Tacitus lived in an age of dictatorship, where the emperors would allow little political freedom. This was the age of tyranny and oppression. Tacitus expressed his views on the political situation of the monarchical rule. Two of his books usually describe the history of the Roman Empire: 'The Histories' and 'The Annal'.

Although Tacitus was not a good military analyst so the judgments in his books regarding war events may not be accurate enough, but he has a scholarly understanding of human nature. He thoroughly analyzed the political conditions of his generation. In his writings, he would prefer to remain polite, impartial and would have control on his annoyance despite the fact that he was against the oppression (Tacitus, 2004). He writes against tyranny and ...