Tacitus: Histories Book I

by Tacitus , Edited by Cynthia Damon

• ISBN13: 9780521578226
• ISBN10: 0521578221
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2003-01-20
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

The first historical work by Rome's greatest historian, Tacitus' Histories hold a crucial place in the history of Latin literature. Book I covers the beginning of the infamous 'Year of the Four Emperors' (69 CE), which brought imperial Rome to the brink of destruction after the demise of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Galba, Otho, and Vitellius ride the currents of senatorial politics and military sedition to power, while the survivor Vespasian waits just off-stage. After a distinguished public career during the principates of Vespasian and his sons, Tacitus, in middle age, embarked on a historical narrative recording the seering events of the Rome of his youth. This edition provides a Latin text of Book I, a commentary accessible to students of intermediate level and above, and an introduction discussing historical, literary, and stylistic issues. The chance survival of three parallel accounts permits detailed analysis of Tacitus' selection and stylization of material.

Table of Contents

Preface	vii
List of abbreviations	ix
Maps	xi
Rome	xi
The Roman forum	xii
The Vitellian invasion	xiii
Introduction	1	(1)
The senator	1	(1)
The orator	2	(1)
The writer: Agricola, Germania, Dialogus	2	(2)
The historian	4	(1)
Cura posteritatis	5	(1)
Ratio causaeque	6	(5)
Exempla	11	(1)
Chronology	11	(1)
Deinosis	12	(1)
Elevation	12	(1)
Diction	13	(1)
Metaphor	14	(1)
Sententiae	15	(1)
Appendix sentences	16	(3)
Variatio	19	(1)
Histories I	20	(2)
The sources	22	(2)
The parallel tradition	24	(6)
The text	30	(3)
CORNELI TACITI HISTORIARVM LIBER PRIMVS	33	(44)
Commentary	77	(214)
Appendices	291	(16)
1 Parallel passages showing strong verbal similarities	291	(11)
2 Epigrams and sententiae	302	(2)
3 Notes pertaining to parallel incidents reported under two or more principes	304	(1)
4 Notes illustrating differences between Histories I and the parallel tradition	305	(2)
Select bibliography	307	(12)
Indexes	319	(1)
Latin words	319	(1)
General	320