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P. Cornelius Tacitus
P. Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman historian who wrote the Annales. His work provides a detailed look at the political history of the Roman Empire.
-- Annales
Synopsis
Tacitus's 'Annales' offers a detailed historical account of the Roman Empire during the Julio-Claudian dynasty, from the death of Augustus in 14 AD to the reign of Nero in 68 AD. This work explores the political machinations, military campaigns, and personal lives of emperors like Tiberius and Nero, as well as figures such as Germanicus. It provides a critical perspective on the corruption and power struggles that defined this tumultuous period in Roman history.
Genres
Frequently asked questions
Is the text of the Annales complete as Tacitus wrote it?
The work is significantly fragmented, with large portions including the entirety of books seven through ten and parts of others lost to history. Modern scholars rely on only two primary medieval manuscripts to reconstruct the surviving sections of the text.
Does this work connect to the author's other historical writings?
The Annales was originally part of a larger, thirty-book historical project that included the Historiae. These works were intended to form a continuous narrative of the Roman Empire, though they are now frequently studied as separate entities due to their incomplete state.