Justus Lipsius's 1598 edition of the complete works of Tacitus.

Tacitus is remembered first and foremost on his place as Rome's greatest historian, the equal—if not the superior—of Thucydides, the ancient Greeks' foremost historian. Tacitean studies, however, extend far beyond the field of history. His work has been read for its moral instruction, its gripping and dramatic narrative, and its inimitable prose style; it is as a political theorist, though, that he has been (and still is) most influential outside the field of history.^{[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_remembrance)} The political lessons taken from his work fall roughly into two camps (as identified by Giuseppe Toffanin): the "red Tacitists", who used him to support republican ideals, and the "black Tacitists", those who read his accounts as a lesson in Machiavellian realpolitik.^{[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_redandblack)} Download high resolution version (823x1324, 376 KB)Front page of Justus Lipsiuss 1598 edition of the complete works of Tacitus, held by the Bibliotheca Comunale of Empoli. ... Download high resolution version (823x1324, 376 KB)Front page of Justus Lipsiuss 1598 edition of the complete works of Tacitus, held by the Bibliotheca Comunale of Empoli. ... Justus Lipsius, Joost Lips or Josse Lips (October 18, 1547 — March 23, 1606), was a Flemish philologian and humanist. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... Thucydides (between 460 and 455 BC–circa 400 BC) was an ancient Greek historian, and the author of the History of the Peloponnesian War, which recounts the 5th century BC war between Sparta and Athens. ... This article is on the political theory of republicanism. ... Detail of the portrait of Machiavelli, ca 1500, in the robes of a Florentine public official Niccolò Machiavelli (May 3, 1469—June 21, 1527) was an Italian political philosopher during the Renaissance. ... Realpolitik (German for politics of reality) is foreign politics based on practical concerns rather than theory or ethics. ...

Though his work is the most reliable source for the history of his era, its factual accuracy is occasionally questioned: the Annals are based in part on secondary sources of unknown reliability, and there are some obvious minor mistakes (for instance confusing the two daughters of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, both named Antonia). The Histories, written from primary documents and intimate knowledge of the Flavian period, is thought to be more accurate, though Tacitus' hatred of Domitian seemingly colored its tone and interpretations. The Annals, or, in Latin, Annales, is a history book by Tacitus covering the reign of the 4 Roman Emperors succeeding to Caesar Augustus. ... Bust of Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (Latin: M·ANTONIVS·M·F·M·N¹) (c. ... Octavia was the name of three women of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty of ancient Rome: two were sisters of Augustus Caesar, and the younger was the daughter of Claudius and wife of Nero. ... Antonia can refer to: Roman Antiquity The name of any women of the Antonius family in Ancient Rome, according to the Roman naming convention. ... The Histories ( Latin: Historiae) is a book by Tacitus, written c. ...

Antiquity and Middle Ages

Tacitus's contemporaries were well-acquainted with his work; Pliny the Younger, one of his first admirers, congratulated him for his better-than-usual precision and predicted, correctly, that his histories would be immortal. His books are clearly among the sources of 2nd-century classical works such as Dio Cassius's report on Agricola's exploration of Britain, and Hegesippus may have borrowed from his account of the Great Jewish Revolt.^{[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_dio)} His difficult historical methods and literary style, however, went unimitated except by Ammianus Marcellinus, who consciously set out to write a continuation of his works.^{[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_ammianus)} His popularity waned with time: his unfavorable portrayals of the early emperors could not have earned him favor with Rome's increasingly autocratic rulers, and his obvious contempt for Judaism and Christianity (both troublesome foreign cults in the eyes of a first-century Roman aristocrat) made him unpopular among the early Church Fathers.^{[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_patres)} The 3rd-century writer Tertullian, for example, blames him (incorrectly—see history of anti-Semitism) for originating the story that the Jews worshipped a donkey's head in the Holy of Holies and calls him "ille mendaciorum loquacissimus", 'the most loquacious of liars'.^{[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_tertullian)} (1st century - 2nd century - 3rd century - other centuries) Events Roman Empire governed by the Five Good Emperors (96–180) – Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius. ... Dio Cassius Cocceianus ( 155–after 229), known in English as Dio Cassius or Cassius Dio, was a noted Roman historian and public servant. ... Hegesippus (ca 110 A.D. - ca 180), was a Christian chronicler of the early Christian church and writer countering heresies. ... The Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), sometimes called The first Jewish-Roman War, was the first of two major rebellions by the Jews of Judea against the Roman Empire (the second was Bar Kokhbas revolt in 132-135). ... The Star of David, a common symbol of Jews and Judaism Judaism is the religion and culture of the Jewish people and one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths. ... Christianity is an Abrahamic religion based on the life, teachings, death by crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth as described in the New Testament. ... The Church Fathers or Fathers of the Church are the early and influential theologians and writers in the Christian church, particularly those of the first five centuries of Christian history. ... (2nd century - 3rd century - 4th century - other centuries) Events The Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east. ... Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullian (b. ... This is a partial chronology of hostilities towards or discrimination against the Jews as a religious or ethnic group. ... The Tabernacle in the Wilderness The Most Holy Place also known as the Holiest of Holies is a location within the inner tabernacle of Moses. ...

Monks like Einhard were the only readers of Tacitus for most of the Middle Ages.

In the 4th century there are scattered references to his life and work. Flavius Vopiscus, one of the supposed Scriptores Historiae Augustae, mentions him twice (Aurelian 2 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Aurelian/1*.html), Probus 2 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Probus*.html)) and names him among the disertissimos viros, the most eloquent men. Ammianus Marcellinus, as mentioned, started his history where Tacitus had finished. Jerome knew of him, and Sulpicius Severus used him as a source for passages on Nero.^{[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_4thcentury)} By the 5th century only a few authors seem aware of him: Sidonius Apollinaris, who admires him, and Orosius, who alternately derides him as a fool and borrows passages (including many that are otherwise lost) from his works.^{[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_5thcentury)} Cassiodorus and his disciple Jordanes (middle of the 6th century) make the last known antique references; Cassiodorus draws on parts of the Germania and Jordanes cites the Agricola, but both know the author only as Cornelius.^{[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_Cassiodorus)} Einhard (born about 775 in the valley of the River Main, died March 14, 840, at Seligenstadt, Germany). ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... (3rd century - 4th century - 5th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 4th century was that century which lasted from 301 to 400. ... The Augustan History (Lat. ... For other uses see: Jerome (disambiguation) Jerome (about 340 - September 30, 420), (full name Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus) is best known as the translator of the Bible from Greek and Hebrew into Latin. ... Saint Sulpicius Severus (born around 360, died between 420 and 425), wrote the earliest biography of Saint Martin of Tours. ... Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (15 December 37–9 June 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called (50 - 54 AD) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ... (4th century - 5th century - 6th century - other centuries) Events Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410. ... Gaius Sollius Modestus Sidonius Apollinaris (ca 430 - after 489), poet, diplomat, bishop, is the single most important surviving author from fifth-century Gaul according to Eric Goldberg (see link). ... Paulus Orosius (c. ... Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (ca 484/490 - ca585), commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Italy, of a family that was apparently of Syrian origin. ... (5th century — 6th century — 7th century — other centuries) Events The first academy of the east the Academy of Gundeshapur founded in Persia by the Persian Shah Khosrau I. Irish colonists and invaders, the Scots, began migrating to Caledonia (later known as Scotland) Glendalough monastery, Wicklow Ireland founded by St. ...

After Jordanes, Tacitus disappeared from literature for the better part of two centuries, and only four certain references appear until 1360. Two come from Frankish monks of the Carolingian Renaissance: the Annales Fuldenses from the monastery of Fulda used Tacitus's Annals, and Rudolf of Fulda borrowed from the Germania for his Translatio Sancti Alexandri.^{[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_fulda)} Some of Tacitus's works were known at Monte Cassino by 1100, where the other two certain references appear: Peter the Deacon's Vita Sancti Severi used the Agricola, and Paulinus Venetus, Bishop of Pozzuoli, plagiarized passages from the Annals in his mappa mundi.^{[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_montecassino)} Hints and reminiscences of Tacitus appear in French and English literature, as well as German and Italian, from the 12th to the 14th century, but none of them are at all certain.^{[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_hints)} It was not until Giovanni Boccaccio brought the manuscript out of Monte Cassino to Florence, in the 1360s or 1370s, that Tacitus began to regain some of his old literary importance. Statue of Charlemagne (also called Karl der Große, Charles the Great) in Frankfurt, Germany. ... The Carolingian Renaissance refers to the often-rejected but just as frequently resuscitated idea that a flowering of literature, the arts, architecture, jurisprudence, liturgical and scriptural studies occurred during and shortly after the reign of Charlemagne, that this flowering was consciously nurtured by the court, and that this flowering was... Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the Fulda River and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district. ... The restored Abbey Monte Cassino is a rocky hill about eighty miles (130 km) south of Rome, Italy, a mile to the west of the town of Cassino (the Roman Cassinum having been on the hill) and about 1700 ft (520 m) altitude. ... For alternate uses, see Number 1100. ... Pozzuoli (pop. ... A mappa mundi is a world map, with the additional restrictions that it dates to the Middle Ages, and was produced as part of the European map-making tradition (e. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... (13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ... Giovanni Boccaccio (June 16, 1313 – December 21, 1375) was a Italian author and poet, the greatest of Petrarchs disciples, an important Renaissance humanist in his own right and author of a number of notable works including On Famous Women, the Decameron and his poems in the vernacular. ... Location within Italy Giglio di Firenze - symbol of the city Florence (Italian, Firenze) is a city in the center of Tuscany, in central Italy at 43°46′ N 11°15′ E. The city on the Arno River has a population of around 400,000, plus a suburban population in excess... Events Treaty of Brétigny King Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark seizes Scania (from 1658 a Swedish province). ... Events Beginning of the rule of Poland by Capet-Anjou family. ...

Italian Renaissance

Leonardo Bruni was the first to use Tacitus as a source for political philosophy.

Boccaccio's efforts brought the works of Tacitus back into public circulation—where they were largely passed over by the Humanists of the 14th and 15th centuries, who preferred the smooth style of Cicero and the patriotic history of Livy, who was by far their favorite historian.^{[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_livy)} The first to read his works—they were four: Boccacio, Benvenuto Rambaldi, Domenico Bandini, and Coluccio Salutati—read them solely for their historical information and their literary style. On the merits of these they were divided.^{[14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_humanists)} Bandini called him "[a] most eloquent orator and historian"^{[15] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_bandini)}, while Salutati commented: This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... This image has been released into the public domain by the copyright holder, its copyright has expired, or it is ineligible for copyright. ... An important element in school. ... (13th century - 14th century - 15th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 14th century was that century which lasted from 1301 to 1400. ... (14th century - 15th century - 16th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 15th century was that century which lasted from 1401 to 1500. ... Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ... Coluccio Salutati (1331-1406) was one of the most important political and cultural leaders of Renaissance Florence. ...

For what shall I say about Cornelius Tacitus? Although a very learned man, he wasn't able to equal those closest [to Cicero]. But he was even way behind Livy—whom he proposed to follow—not only in historical series but in imitation of eloquence.^{[16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_salutati)}

The use of Tacitus as a source for political philosophy, however, began in this era, triggered by the Florentine Republic's struggle against the imperial ambitions of Giangaleazzo Visconti. Visconti's death from an illness did more than lift his siege of Florence; it sparked Leonardo Bruni to write his Panegyric to the City of Florence (c. 1403), in which he quoted Tacitus (Histories, 1.1 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Hist.+1.1)) to buttress his republican theory that monarchy was inimical to virtue, nobility, and (especially) genius.^{[17] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_bruni)} The inspiration was novel—Bruni had probably learned of Tacitus from Salutati. The thesis likewise: Tacitus himself had acknowledged that the good emperors Nerva and Trajan posed no threat to his endeavors.^{[18] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_bruni_thesis)} Political philosophy is the study of the fundamental questions about the state, government, politics, property, law and the enforcement of a legal code by authority: what they are, why they are needed, what makes a government legitimate, what rights and freedoms it should protect and why, what form it should... Florence (Italian, Firenze) is a city in the center of Tuscany, in central Italy, on the Arno River, with a population of around 400,000, plus a suburban population in excess of 200,000. ... Giangaleazzo Visconti (1351-1406) was the first Duke of Milan and he ruled the city for much of the early Renaissance. ... Leonardo Bruni (1374 - 1444) was a leading humanist, historian and a chancellor of Florence. ... Events July 21 - Battle of Shrewsbury. ... This article is on the political theory of republicanism. ...

Tacitus, and the theory which Bruni based on him, played a vital role in the spirited debate between the republicans of Florence and the proponents of monarchy and aristocracy elsewhere. Guarino da Verona, in 1435, used the literary flowering of Augustus's era—which included Livy, Horace, Virgil, and Seneca the Elder—to argue against Bruni's contention; Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini countered with the argument that all the authors had been born during the waning years of the Roman Republic. Pier Candido Decembrio, a Milanese courtier, addressed the same argument to Bruni in the following year, which Bruni did not bother to rebut, the best counterargument having been made already.^{[19] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_15thc_political)} The rule of Cosimo de Medici, however, saw the end of these political readings of Tacitus, though his works were now readily available in the public library of Florence. Instead, scholars such as Leone Battista Alberti and Flavio Biondo used him in academic works on the history and architecture of 1st-century Rome. His laconic style and bleak outlook remained unpopular. ^{[20] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_15thc_academic)} Guarino da Verona (1370 - December 14, 1460) was an early figure in the Italian Renaissance. ... For other uses, see number 1435. ... Bust of Augustus Caesar Caesar Augustus (Latin: IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS)¹ (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), known earlier in his life as Gaius Octavius or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was the first Roman Emperor and is traditionally considered the greatest. ... Quintus Horatius Flaccus, (December 8, 65 BC - November 27, 8 BC), known in the English world as Horace, was the leading lyric poet in Latin. ... For other uses see Virgil (disambiguation). ... Lucius, or Marcus, Annaeus Seneca, known as Seneca the Elder and Seneca the Rhetorician (c. ... This article or section should include material from Gianfrancesco Poggio Bracciolini Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini (February 11, 1380 - October 30, 1459), Italian scholar of the Renaissance, was born at Terranuova, a village in the territory of Florence. ... See also Roman Republic (18th century) and Roman Republic (19th century). ... Location within Italy Piazza della Scala Milan (Italian: Milano; Milanese dialect: Milán) is the main city in northern Italy, and is located in the plains of Lombardy, the most populated and developed of Italian regions. ... Cosimo di Giovanni de Medici (April 10, 1389 - August 1, 1464), was the first of the Medici political dynasty, effective rulers of Florence during most of the Italian Renaissance; also know as Cosimo the Elder and Cosimo Pater Patriae. ... Statue of Leon Battista Alberti. ... Flavio Biondo (Latin Flavius Blondus) (b. ...

Niccolò Machiavelli occasionally resembles Tacitus in his pessimistic realism, but he himself preferred Livy.

At the beginning of the 15th century, following the expulsion of the Medici from Florence, their return, and the foreign invasions of Italy, Tacitus returned to prominence among the theorists of classical republicanism. Niccolò Machiavelli was the first to revive him, but not (at first) in the republican model which Bruni and others had followed. One quotation from the Annals (13.19 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+13.19)) appears in The Prince (ch. 13 (http://www.constitution.org/mac/prince13.htm)), advising the ruler that "it has always been the opinion and judgment of wise men that nothing can be so uncertain or unstable as fame or power not founded on its own strength".^{[21] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_principe)} The idealized Prince bears some resemblance to Tacitus's Tiberius; a few (most notably Giuseppe Toffanin) have argued that Machiavelli had made more use of Tacitus than he let on. In fact, though, Machiavelli had probably not read the first books of the Annals at that time—they were published after The Prince.^{[22] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_toffanin)} Niccolo Machiavelli - detail from a portrait by Santi di Tito. ... Niccolo Machiavelli - detail from a portrait by Santi di Tito. ... The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the 13th to 17th century. ... This is the history of Italy during foreign domination and the unification. ... Classical republicanism is the form of republicanism developed during the Renaissance inspired by the government systems and writings of classical antiquity. ... Detail of the portrait of Machiavelli, ca 1500, in the robes of a Florentine public official Niccolò Machiavelli ( May 3, 1469 – June 21, 1527) was a Florentine statesman and political philosopher. ... This article is about the book. ...

In his overtly republican Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy, Machiavelli returned to Bruni's republican perspective on Tacitus. Four overt references appear in the work. Chapter 1.10 (http://www.constitution.org/mac/disclivy1.htm#1:10) follows Tacitus (Histories 1.1), and Bruni, on the chilling effects of monarchy. Chapter 1.29 (http://www.constitution.org/mac/disclivy1.htm#1:29) quotes the Histories (4.3 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Hist.+4.3)) on the burden of gratitude and the pleasure of revenge. Chapter 3.6 (http://www.constitution.org/mac/disclivy3.htm#3:06) quotes Tacitus: "men have to honor things past but obey the present, and ought to desire good Princes, but tolerate the ones they have". 3.19 (http://www.constitution.org/mac/disclivy3.htm#3:19) twists a line from Tacitus (3.55 (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+3.55)) into something very similar to Machiavelli's famous maxim that it is better for a prince to be feared than loved. (The original made a very different point: that respect for the Emperor and a desire to conform, not fear and punishment, kept certain senators in line.) Many covert references appear: Machiavelli generally follows Tacitus's decidedly negative slant on the history of Rome under the Emperors. ^{[23] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_Machiavelli)} Niccolò Machiavelli is primarily known as the author of The Prince. ... Roman Emperor is the title historians use to refer to rulers of the Roman Empire, after the epoch conventionally named the Roman Republic. ...

Machiavelli had read Tacitus for instruction on forms of government, republican as well as autocratic, but after his books were placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum, writers on political philosophy (the so-called "black Tacitists"—see above) frequently used the Roman as a stand-in for the Florentine (that is the Machiavellian part of the Florentine), and the Emperor Tiberius as a mask for the ideal Prince. So, writers like Francesco Guicciardini considered Tacitus' work to be an instruction on how to build a despotic state. Following that line of thought (Catholics in appearence reading Tacitus instead of Machiavelli's still forbidden Prince), the thinkers of the Counter-Reformation and the age of absolute monarchies used his works as a set of rules and principles for political action. A form of government (also referred to as a system of government or a political system) is a system composed of various people, institutions and their relations in regard to the governance of a state. ... The Index Librorum Prohibitorum (Index of Prohibited Books)—also called Index Expurgatorius—is a list of publications which Roman Catholics were banned from reading, pernicious books, and also the rules of the Church relating to books. ... Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540), Florentine historian and statesman. ... The Counter-Reformation or the Catholic Reformation was a strong reaffirmation of the doctrine and structure of the Catholic Church, climaxing at the Council of Trent, partly in reaction to the growth of Protestantism. ...

Enlightenment and Revolutions

Early theoreticians of raison d'état used Tacitus to defend an ideal of Imperial rule. Other readers used him to construct a method for living under a despotic state, avoiding both servility and useless opposition. Diderot, for example, used Tacitus' works, in his apology for Seneca, to justify the collaboration of philosophers with the sovereign. Portrait of Diderot by Louis-Michel van Loo, 1767 Denis Diderot (October 5, 1713 – July 31, 1784) was a French writer and philosopher. ...

During the Enlightenment Tacitus was mostly admired for his opposition to despotism. In literature, some great tragedians such as Corneille, Jean Racine and Alfieri, took inspirations from Tacitus for their dramatic characters. For the period in European history, The Age of Enlightenment For the corresponding movement in the European Jewish community, see Haskalah. ... Corneille is the pseudonym of many artists. ... Jean Racine (December 22, 1639 - April 21, 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the big three of 17th century France (along with Molière and Corneille). ... Vittorio Alfieri painted by Davids pupil François-Xavier Fabre, in Florence 1793 Count Vittorio Alfieri (January 17, 1749-October 8, 1803), Italian dramatist, was born at Asti in Piedmont. ...

Edward Gibbon was strongly influenced by Tacitus' historical style in his History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon. ... The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a major literary achievement of Eighteenth Century, was written by the British historian, Edward Gibbon. ...

The French Revolutionaries, for whom Tacitus had been a central part of their early education, made much use of his criticisms of tyranny and love of the republic—he is one of the authors most often quoted (behind Cicero, Horace, and Plutarch) by the members of the National and Legislative Assemblies and by revolutionary authors such as Jacques Pierre Brissot. Later, during the Reign of Terror, Camille Desmoulins and the writers of the Actes des apôtres used him to denounce the excesses of the Jacobins.^{[24] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_frevolution)} The period of the French Revolution in the history of France covers the years between 1789 and 1799, in which democrats and republicans overthrew the absolute monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church was forced to undergo radical restructuring. ... In a broad definition a republic is a state or country that is led by people that dont found their political power on any principle beyond the control of the people living in that state or country. ... During the French Revolution, the National Assembly (French: Assemblée nationale) was a transitional body between the Estates-General and the National Constituent Assembly which existed from June 17 to July 9 of 1789. ... During the French Revolution, the Legislative Assembly was the legislature of France from 1 October 1791 to September 1792. ... In French history, Jacques Pierre Brissot (January 15, 1754 - October 31, 1793), who assumed the name of de Warville, was a leading member of the Girondist movement during the French Revolution. ... The Reign of Terror (June 1793 - July 1794) was a period in the French Revolution characterized by brutal repression. ... Camille Desmoulins Lucie Simplice Camille Benoist Desmoulins (March 2, 1760 - April 5, 1794) was a French journalist and politician who played an important part in the French Revolution. ... In the context of the French Revolution, a Jacobin originally meant a member of the Jacobin Club (1789-1794). ...

Napoleon, on the other hand, attacked his works furiously, both for style and contents. This would-be founder of an Imperial dynasty, praised by amongst others Goethe for his insight in literature, knew the danger that Tacitus's histories might pose to one who wished to go around grabbing for power. François de Chateaubriand, for one, had already compared the new emperor of France to the worst emperors of Rome, warning that a new Tacitus would someday do for Napoleon what Tacitus had done for Nero. The Emperor's reaction was vicious: to Goethe and Wieland he complained that "[Tacitus] finds criminal intention in the simplest acts; he makes complete scoundrels out of all the emperors to make us admire his genius in exposing them". To others he swore that Tacitus, ce pamphlétaire, had "slandered the emperors" whom, he averred, the Roman people had loved. ^{[25] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tacitean_studies#endnote_Napoleon)} Bonaparte as general Napoléon Bonaparte (15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821) was a general of the French Revolution and was the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from November 11, 1799 to May 18, 1804, then as Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français... Johann Wolfgang von Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (pronounced [gø tə]) (August 28, 1749–March 22, 1832) was a German writer, politician, humanist, scientist, and philosopher. ... François-René de Chateaubriand François-René, vicomte de Chateaubriand (September 4, 1768 – July 4, 1848) was a French writer and diplomat considered the founder of Romanticism in French literature. ... Christoph Martin Wieland (September 5, 1733 _ January 20, 1813), was a German poet and writer. ...

20th century

By the 20th century authenticity of the remaining texts ascribed to Tacitus was generally acknowledged, apart from some difference of opinion about the Dialogus. Tacitus became a stock part of any education in classical literature - usually, however, only after the study of Caesar, Livy, Cicero, etc while Tacitus' style requires a greater understanding of the Latin language, and is perceived as less "classical" than the authors of the Augustan age. The Dialogus de oratoribus is a short book by Tacitus, in dialogue form, on the art of rhetoric. ...

A remarkable feat was accomplished by Robert Graves: the major gap of text that had gone lost of the Annals regarded parts of the end of Tiberius' reign, the whole of Caligula's reign, and the major part of Claudius' reign (the remaining part of Tacitus' manuscript only took up again at this Emperor's death, for the transition to the reign of Nero). Robert Graves' 1934 I, Claudius, and the ensuing Claudius the God (1935) filled the gap perfectly: all the missing parts of the Annals, up to the latter part of the reign of Claudius himself, were covered by a coherent story. Of course part of it can be considered "mockumentary" in the Augustan History tradition (for example how Claudius really felt about republicanism, heavily elaborated by Graves sometimes based on "reconstructed" historical documents, will probably never be really established). Anyhow Graves borrowed much from Tacitus' style: apart from the "directness" of an Emperor pictured to write down his memoires for private use (linked to the "lost testament of Claudius" mentioned in Tacitus' Annals), the treatment is also on a year-by-year basis, with digressions not unlike Tacitus' "moralising" digressions, so that in the introduction of the second of these two volumes Graves saw fit to defend himself as follows: Portrait of Robert Graves (circa 1974) by Rab Shiell Robert von Ranke Graves (July 24, 1895–December 7, 1985) was an English scholar, best remembered for his work as a poet and novelist. ... The Emperor Tiberius enamelled terracotta bust at the Victoria and Albert Museum. ... Gaius Caesar Germanicus Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus (August 31, 12 – January 24, 41), also known as Gaius Caesar or Caligula, was the third Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from AD 37 to 41. ... Emperor Claudius Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Drusus (August 1, 10 BC - October 13, 54), originally known as Tiberius Claudius Drusus Nero Germanicus, was the fourth Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24th 41 to his death in 54. ... Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (15 December 37–9 June 68), born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called (50 - 54 AD) Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman Emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. ... 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... I, Claudius is a novel by Robert Graves, (ISBN 067972477X) first published in 1934, dealing sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesars assassination in 44 BC to Caligulas assassination in 41 AD... I, Claudius is a novel by Robert Graves, (ISBN 067972477X) first published in 1934, dealing sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesars assassination in 44 BC to Caligulas assassination in 41 AD... 1935 was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Augustan History (Lat. ... This article is on the political theory of republicanism. ...

Some reviewers of I, Claudius, the prefatory volume to Claudius the God, suggested that in writing it I had merely consulted Tacitus's Annals and Suetonius's Twelve Caesars, run them together, and expanded the result with my own "vigorous fancy." This was not so; nor is it the case here. Among the Classical writers who have been borrowed from in the composition of Claudius the God are Tacitus, Dio Cassius, Suetonius, Pliny, Varro, Valerius Maximus, Orosius, Frontinus, Strabo, Caesar, Columella, Plutarch, Josephus, Diodorus Siculus, Photius, Xiphilinus, Zonaras, Seneca, Petronius, Juvenal, Philo, Celsus, the authors of the Acts of the Apostles and of the pseudo-gospels of Nicodemus and St. James, and Claudius himself in his surviving letters and speeches.

...no doubt, Tacitus remains the first author mentioned in this list. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (75-160), commonly known simply as Suetonius, was a Roman writer. ... Dio Cassius Cocceianus ( 155–after 229), known in English as Dio Cassius or Cassius Dio, was a noted Roman historian and public servant. ... There are two famous persons named Pliny: Pliny the Elder, a Roman nobleman, scientist and historian who died in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD The great-nephew of the former, Pliny the Younger, a statesman, orator, and writer who lived between 62 AD and 113 AD. This... Varro was a Roman cognomen carried by: Caius Terentius Varro, the consul Marcus Terentius Varro (known as Varro Reatinus), the scholar Publius Terentius Varro (known as Varro Atacinus), the poet This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. ... Paulus Orosius (c. ... Sextus Julius Frontinus (c. ... Strabo (squinty) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. ... Painting of Gaius Julius Caesar Bust of Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (Latin: C·IVLIVS·C·F·C·N·CAESAR¹) (July 12 or July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader whose conquest of Gallia Comata extended the Roman world all the way... Lucius Iunius Moderatus Columella was a Roman author of the first century AD. He was born in 4 AD in Gades in Hispania Baetica. ... Mestrius Plutarch (c. ... Josephus, also known as Flavius Josephus (c. ... Diodorus Siculus was a Greek historian, born at Agyrium in Sicily (now called Agira, in the Province of Enna). ... Photius (b. ... Joannes (John) Zonaras, Byzantine chronicler and theologian, flourished at Constantinople in the 12th century. ... Seneca has several significant meanings: Seneca the Elder Seneca the Younger Seneca tribe Seneca crater Seneca (plant) Seneca College, Toronto, Ontario Places in the United States of America: Seneca, Pennsylvania Seneca, South Carolina Seneca, Wisconsin Seneca County, New York Seneca, New York Seneca Lake Seneca Falls (village), New York Senecaville... This article is about the Roman author Petronius. ... Note: This article is about the Roman poet, who is the most famous person by this name. ... Philo (20 BCE - 40 CE) was an Alexandrian Jewish philosopher born in Alexandria, Egypt. ... For other persons named Celsus, see Celsus (disambiguation). ... The Acts of the Apostles (Greek Praxeis Apostolon) is a book of the Bible, which now stands fifth in the New Testament. ... Nicodemus was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin, who showed favor to Jesus. ... Saint James can refer to the following: Several men mentioned in the New Testament, whose various epithets and euphemisms cause some uncertainties: James, son of Zebedee, an apostle, brother of John the Apostle; also called Saint James the Great. ...

Ubi solitudinem faciunt. . . (Baghdad in flames, 2 April 2003)

Graves' work reflected back on the perception of Tacitus' work: Graves curbed the "slandering of Emperors" by portraying Claudius as a good-humoured emperor, at heart a republican (...probably stretching some of Claudius' naivity to accomplish that effect) - resulting in the perception that if the "Claudius" part of Tacitus' annals had survived it wouldn't have been all slander towards the emperors of the first century. The more explicit defence of republicanism in Graves' work (that is: much more explicit than in Tacitus' work) also made any further defense of black Tacitism quite impossible (as far as Napoleon, by not advocating a black Tacitism line of thought hadn't already made such interpretation obsolete). Download high resolution version (889x1200, 258 KB)Public domain, from the USGS and NASA Landsat 7 program. ... Download high resolution version (889x1200, 258 KB)Public domain, from the USGS and NASA Landsat 7 program. ... A street map of Baghdad Average temperature (red) and precipitations (blue) in Baghdad Baghdad (بغداد) is the capital of Iraq and the Baghdad Province. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... 2003 is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, and also: The International Year of Freshwater The European Disability Year Events January January 1 - Luíz Inácio Lula Da Silva becomes the 37th President of Brazil. ...

21st century

One of Tacitus' polemics against the evils of empire, from his Agricola (ch. 30), was often quoted during the United States invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, by those who found its warnings as applicable to the modern era as to the ancient (see for example The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/Iraq/Story/0,2763,930843,00.html)). It reads, in part: The United States, with support from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and the Northern Alliance, invaded Afghanistan in October 2001 as part of its War on Terrorism campaign. ...

Raptores orbis, postquam cuncta vastantibus defuere terrae, iam mare scrutantur: si locuples hostis est, avari, si pauper, ambitiosi, quos non Oriens, non Occidens satiaverit [...] Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

Brigands of the world, after the earth has failed their all-devastating hands, they probe even the sea; if their enemy be wealthy, they are greedy; if he be poor, they are ambitious; neither the East nor the West has glutted them [...] They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal: this they falsely name Empire, and where they make a wasteland, they call it peace.

(Punctuation follows the Loeb Classical Library edition) The Loeb Classical Library is a series of books, today published by the Harvard University Press, which present important works of ancient Greek and Latin Literature in a way designed to make the text accessible to the broadest possible audience, by presenting the original Greek or Latin text on each...

See also

• Classical republicanism and Republicanism: Tacitus' view on the republican form of government
• Res publica, meanings of this "mixed bag" concept in Tacitus' writings

Classical republicanism is the form of republicanism developed during the Renaissance inspired by the government systems and writings of classical antiquity. ... This article is on the political theory of republicanism. ... For the Estonian political party, see Union for the Republic - Res Publica. ...

Notes

1. ^  Mellor, 1995, p. xvii
2. ^  Burke, 1969, pp. 162–163
3. ^  Dio, 66 (http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/66*.html).20; see Mendell, 1957, pp. 226, 228–229
4. ^  Mellor, 1995, p. xix; Mendell, 1957, p. 228
5. ^  Mendell, 1957, p. 226; Mellor, 1995, p. xix
6. ^  Tertullian, Apologeticus (http://www.tertullian.org/latin/apologeticus.htm) 16
7. ^  Mendell, 1957, pp. 228–229
8. ^  Mendell, 1957, pp. 229–232; Mellor, 1995, p. xix
9. ^  Jordanes, Getica 2.13 (http://www.northvegr.org/lore/jgoth/002.php); see Mendell, 1957, p. 232; Mellor, 1995, p. xix
10. ^  Mendell, 1957, pp. 234–235, confuses Rudolf with Einhard, in whose work some of the uncertain references appear; Haverfield, 1916, p. 200; Schellhase, 1976, p. 5, gives the four references listed here.
11. ^  Mendell, 1957, pp. 236–237; Schellhase, ibid.
12. ^  Mendell, 1957, pp. 234–238, and Schellhase, 1976, ibid., survey some of these; see also Haverfield, 1916, passim.
13. ^  Whitfield, 1976, passim
14. ^  Schellhase, 1976, pp. 19–21, 26–27; Mellor, 1995, p. xx
15. ^  Quoted in Schellhase, 1976, p. 20
16. ^  Salutati, Epistolario, a letter dated 1 August 1395 and addressed to Bartolommeo Oliari, quoted in Schellhase, 1976, p. 20.
17. ^  Mellor, 1995, pp. xx, 1–6 (selection from the Panegyric); Schellhase, 1976, pp. 17–18; Baron, 1966, pp. 58–60
18. ^  Baron, ibid.; Schellhase, p. 18
19. ^  Baron, 1966, pp. 66–70; Schellhase, 1976, pp. 22–23
20. ^  Schellhase, 1976, pp. 24–30
21. ^  Mellor, 1995, pp. xx–xxi, 6–7; Burke, 1969, pp. 164–166; Schellhase, 1976, pp. 67–68
22. ^  Whitfield, 1976, p. 286
23. ^  See Mellor, 1995, pp. xx–xxi, 6–7; Burke, 1969, pp. 164–166; Schellhase, 1976, pp. 70–82
24. ^  Parker, 1937, pp. 16–20, 148–149; Mellor, 1995, pp. xlvii–xlviii
25. ^  Mellor, pp. xlviii–xlix, 194–199. Tacitus couldn't be worried less (Ann. IV,35): "quo magis socordiam eorum inridere libet qui praesenti potentia credunt extingui posse etiam sequentis aevi memoriam. nam contra punitis ingeniis gliscit auctoritas, neque aliud externi reges aut qui eadem saevitia usi sunt nisi dedecus sibi atque illis gloriam peperere." - "And so one is all the more inclined to laugh at the stupidity of men who suppose that the despotism of the present can actually efface the remembrances of the next generation. On the contrary, the persecution of genius fosters its influence; foreign tyrants, and all who have imitated their oppression, have merely procured infamy for themselves and glory for their victims."

Einhard (born about 775 in the valley of the River Main, died March 14, 840, at Seligenstadt, Germany). ... August 1st is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ...

References

• Bolgar, R.R. Classical Influences on European Culture A.D. 1500–1700. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1976 ISBN 0521208408
• Burke, P. "Tacitism" in Dorey, T.A., 1969, pp. 149–171
• Dorey, T.A. (ed.). Tacitus (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1969) ISBN 0710064322
• Haverfield, F. "Tacitus during the Late Roman Period and the Middle Ages". The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 6. (1916), pp. 196–201.
• Mellor, Ronald (ed.). Tacitus: The Classical Heritage (NY: Garland Publishing, 1995) ISBN 0815309333
• Mendell, Clarence. Tacitus: The Man and His Work. (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1957) ISBN 0208008187
• Parker, Harold Talbot. The Cult of Antiquity and the French Revolutionaries: A Study in the Development of the Revolutionary Spirit. (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1937)
• Schellhase, Kenneth C. Tacitus in Renaissance Political Thought (Chicago, University of Chicago Press, 1976) ISBN 0226737004
• Whitfield, J.H. "Livy > Tacitus", in Bolgar, 1976; pp. 281–293

External links

• Tacitus and Bracciolini, The Annals Forged in the XVth Century (http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/9098), by John Wilson Ross (part of the 19th century defamation attempts, see above)