Gaius Cornelius Tacitus
Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, the first historian, was born in 55 A.D. At this time, Nero was emperor of Rome. One can deduce the date of his birth from the time it took for the people of Rome to promote him consul, based on a system known as the cursus honorum, or the course of honor. (http://www.umd.edu/, Online) Tacitus’s family claimed membership to the equestrian, or wealthy, class, and they resided in Gaul (modern-day France), a decidedly wealthy province of Rome. In 77 A.D, Tacitus married the daughter of Cornelius Iulius Agricola; Tacitus would later write about her father in one of his famous works, Agricola. Tacitus acquired the rank of praetor, or treasurer, in 88 A.D, at the age of 33. In 97 A.D, the Roman citizens elected Tacitus to the position of consul, the highest elected office in the Roman Empire. In 100 A.D, Tacitus prosecuted Marius Priscus with the help of Pliny the Younger, another noted literary figure of ancient Rome. From the year 112 A.D. to 113 A.D, Tacitus served as proconsul (governor) of a province in Asia. Historians believe Tacitus died in 117 A.D. Although many historians and scholars praise Tacitus as one of the greatest literary figures of the ancient world, many of the authors around his time pe
Tacitus likely composed The Histories around 100-110 A.D. Although only four complete books and twenty-six chapters of the fifth book have survived, scholars believe that the scope of this masterpiece may have rivaled that of The Annals, which it complemented. (http://www.umd.edu/, Online) The Histories began in 69 A.D, where The Annals left off, and continues (hypothetically, as the rest of the work disappeared over time) through the reign of Domitian, ending with his death on September 18th, 96 A.D. The Histories served as a springboard of sorts to Tacitus’s greatest work, The Annals, which, even though Tacitus wrote The Histories first, took place before The Histories. riod did not brand him as such, save for his friend, Pliny the Younger (Complete Works of Tacitus, Hadas). Over the course of his life, Tacitus wrote four major works: The Histories, The Annals, Germania, and Agricola. The Annals, known in Latin as "ab excessu Divi Augusti," tells of the reign of Tiberius, the last years of Claudius, and the first years of Nero. (http://www.encyclopedia.com/, Online) Parts of books five, six, eleven and sixteen disappeared, while books seven through ten went missing. Books one through six cover the entire reign of Emperor Tiberius, books seven through twelve cover the reigns of Emperor Gaius and Emperor Claudius, and books thirteen and on cover the early reign of
Some topics in this essay:
Germania Latin,
Histories Annals,
Online Annals,
Online Tacitus,
Agricola Tacitus,
Online Tacitus’s,
Asia Historians,
Claudius Nero,
AD Nero,
Tacitus Roman,
http//wwwumdedu/ online,
tacitus wrote,
ad tacitus,
agricola tacitus,
http//wwwumdedu/ online tacitus,
reign emperor,
iulius agricola,
online tacitus’s,
name de,
people tacitus,
believe tacitus,
latin name de,
historians believe tacitus,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 929
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
Example Essays Home
