Tacitus

The Agricola and The Germania (eBook, ePUB)

• Format: ePub

Produktbeschreibung

"The Agricola" and "The Germania" are two important historical works by Cornelius Tacitus, an ancient Roman Senator and historian who lived from 56 AD to 120 AD. Tacitus lived in what historians call the Silver Age of Latin literature and his contributions to the histories of these tumultuous times are considered significant and illuminating. "The Agricola" is a biography of the Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who was Tacitus's father-in-law. It is also a geographic and ethnographic history of Ancient Britain. Tacitus draws an unfavorable comparison between the liberty enjoyed by the Britons to the corruption and cruelty of Rome and offers a biting and insightful commentary on the Roman greed that justified the oppression and exploitation of the British people. "The Germania" is an ethnographic study of the peoples believed by Tacitus to be part of the ancient Germanic tribes, including their laws, lands and customs. While these works are not as well-known as Tacitus' other classics, such as the "Annals", or the "Histories", "The Agricola" and "The Germania" remain important first-hand documents of ancient history and people lost to time.

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Neeland Media LLC
• Erscheinungstermin: 11. November 2019
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781420964783
• Artikelnr.: 58566211

Autorenporträt

Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c.¿AD 56 - c.¿120) was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. Tacitus is considered to be one of the greatest Roman historians. He lived in what has been called the Silver Age of Latin literature, and is known for the brevity and compactness of his Latin prose, as well as for his penetrating insights into the psychology of power politics. As a young man, Tacitus studied rhetoric in Rome to prepare for a career in law and politics; like Pliny, he may have studied under Quintilian (c.¿35 AD - c.¿ 100). In 77 or 78, he married Julia Agricola, daughter of the famous general Agricola. Little is known of their domestic life, save that Tacitus loved hunting and the outdoors. He started his career under Vespasian (69-79), but entered political life as a quaestor in 81 or 82 under Titus. He advanced steadily through the cursus honorum, becoming praetor in 88 and a quindecimvir, a member of the priestly college in charge of the Sibylline Books and the Secular games. He gained acclaim as a lawyer and as an orator. From his seat in the Senate, Titus became suffect consul in 97 during the reign of Nerva, being the first of his family to do so. During his tenure, he reached the height of his fame as an orator when he delivered the funeral oration for the famous veteran soldier Lucius Verginius Rufus. In the following year, he wrote and published the Agricola and Germania, foreshadowing the literary endeavors that would occupy him until his death. Afterwards, he absented himself from public life, but returned during Trajan's reign (98-117). In 100, he and his friend Pliny the Younger prosecuted Marius Priscus (proconsul of Africa) for corruption. Priscus was found guilty and sent into exile; Pliny wrote a few days later that Tacitus had spoken "with all the majesty which characterizes his usual style of oratory."