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Tacitus (Classics)

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  1.  
  2. Introduction
  3. Publius Cornelius Tacitus (the name Publius is likely, but not certain) was born around 56 CE, probably in Narbonese or Cisalpine Gaul. By 75 CE he would have moved to Rome, and in the years that followed he enjoyed a successful political career under each of the Flavian emperors in turn. Probably in 81 he held the quaestorship; if a fragmentary inscription thought to be part of Tacitus's epitaph has been correctly identified, he was one of the two quaestors marked out by the emperor for special honor (the quaestores Augusti). He held the office of praetor in 88, and by then had also been made a priest on the Board of Fifteen for Sacrifices. He held a suffect consulship in 97 CE, during which year he also delivered the funeral oration of the distinguished consular L. Verginius Rufus. His next official duty of which we know was the governorship of the province of Asia in 112/3 CE. The date of his death is contested, but the balance of scholarly opinion sees him dying after 117 CE. His five preserved literary works are known as Agricola, Germania, Dialogus, Histories, and Annals.
  4.  
  5. Biography
  6. On Tacitus's life and career, see Syme 1958 and Birley 2000.
  7.  
  8. Birley, A. R. 2000. The life and death of Cornelius Tacitus. Historia 49:230–247.
  9.  
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  11.  
  12. An excellent overview of our data regarding Tacitus's life. Exploits the information offered by the inscription recently shown likely to be part of his epitaph.
  13.  
  14. Find this resource:
  15.  
  16. Syme, Ronald. 1958. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  17.  
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  19.  
  20. Reprinted in 1997. The essential work, brimming with insights on nearly every imaginable aspect of Tacitus, his times, and his work.
  21.  
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  23.  
  24. General Overviews
  25. The modern study of Tacitus has been dominated by Syme 1958, and it remains the starting point for serious consideration of any aspect of that author. Readers seeking a less monumental but still scholarly overview should consult Martin 1981. Ash 2006 and Mellor 1993 aim at the undergraduate or general reader. Of the works below that are written in languages other than English, only Borszák 1968 is essential to the scholar.
  26.  
  27. Ash, Rhiannon. 2006. Tacitus. London: Bristol Classical Press.
  28.  
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  30.  
  31. A short introduction for undergraduates or a general audience.
  32.  
  33. Find this resource:
  34.  
  35. Borszák, Stephan. 1968. P. Cornelius Tacitus. Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft: neue Bearbeitung. Edited by A. Pauly, G. Wissowa, W. Kroll, K. Witte, K. Mittelhaus, and K. Ziegler, Supplement 11, 373–512. Stuttgart, Germany: J. B. Metzler.
  36.  
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  38.  
  39. Important German study.
  40.  
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  42.  
  43. Grimal, Pierre. 1990. Tacite. Paris: Fayard.
  44.  
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  46.  
  47. Aimed at a French general audience.
  48.  
  49. Find this resource:
  50.  
  51. Martin, Ronald. 1981. Tacitus. London: Batsford.
  52.  
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  54.  
  55. Reprinted in 1994 (London: Bristol Classical Press). The best one-volume overview of Tacitus's work.
  56.  
  57. Find this resource:
  58.  
  59. Mellor, Ronald. 1993. Tacitus. New York: Routledge.
  60.  
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  62.  
  63. An accessible work on salient aspects of Tacitus's writing, pitched to a general audience.
  64.  
  65. Find this resource:
  66.  
  67. Paratore, Ettore. 1962. Tacito. 2d ed. Rome: Edizioni dell'Ateneo.
  68.  
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  70.  
  71. A massive and eccentric work.
  72.  
  73. Find this resource:
  74.  
  75. Sage, M. M. 1990. Tacitus' historical works: a survey and appraisal. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.33.2. Edited by Hildegarde Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 851–1030. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  76.  
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  78.  
  79. An overview of Histories and Annals, with special attention to the value of those works as historical sources.
  80.  
  81. Find this resource:
  82.  
  83. Schmal, Stephan. 2005. Tacitus. Studienbücher Antike 14. Hildesheim, Germany: Olms.
  84.  
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  86.  
  87. Overview for a German general audience.
  88.  
  89. Find this resource:
  90.  
  91. Syme, Ronald. 1958. Tacitus. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  92.  
  93. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  94.  
  95. Reprinted in 1997. The essential work, brimming with insights on nearly every imaginable aspect of Tacitus, his times, and his work.
  96.  
  97. Find this resource:
  98.  
  99. Bibliographies
  100. Tacitean studies was very fortunate to benefit from the dogged labor of Herbert Benario, who for forty years hunted down, read, and registered with brief comment everything he could find on Tacitus; the last installment of his reports appeared in Classical World for 2005. For work before 1954 and after 2003, and for generally fuller and more useful descriptions of the content of individual papers and books, consult L'Année philologique.
  101.  
  102. L'Année philologique. Series. Paris: Société d'édition “Les Belles Lettres.”
  103.  
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  105.  
  106. A bibliography covering all aspects of classical studies. Print version 1924–2005; online 1949–2005, and continually updated.
  107.  
  108. Find this resource:
  109.  
  110. Benario, H. W. 1964. Recent work on Tacitus (1954–63). Classical World 58:69–83.
  111.  
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  113.  
  114. Annotated bibliography of work on Tacitus published during the years indicated.
  115.  
  116. Find this resource:
  117.  
  118. Benario, H. W. 1970. Recent work on Tacitus (1964–68). Classical World 63:253–267.
  119.  
  120. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  121.  
  122. Annotated bibliography of work on Tacitus published during the years indicated.
  123.  
  124. Find this resource:
  125.  
  126. Benario, H. W. 1977. Recent work on Tacitus: 1969–1973. Classical World 71:1–32.
  127.  
  128. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  129.  
  130. Annotated bibliography of work on Tacitus published during the years indicated.
  131.  
  132. Find this resource:
  133.  
  134. Benario, H. W. 1986. Recent work on Tacitus: 1974–1983. Classical World 80:73–147.
  135.  
  136. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  137.  
  138. Annotated bibliography of work on Tacitus published during the years indicated.
  139.  
  140. Find this resource:
  141.  
  142. Benario, H. W. 1995. Recent work on Tacitus: 1984–1993. Classical World 89:91–162.
  143.  
  144. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  145.  
  146. Annotated bibliography of work on Tacitus published during the years indicated.
  147.  
  148. Find this resource:
  149.  
  150. Benario, H. W. 2005. Recent work on Tacitus: 1994–2003. Classical World 98:251–336.
  151.  
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  153.  
  154. Annotated bibliography of work on Tacitus published during the years indicated.
  155.  
  156. Find this resource:
  157.  
  158. Lund, A. A. 1991. Kritischer Forschungsbericht zur “Germania” des Tacitus. In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II 33.3. Edited by Hildegarde Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 1989–2222, 2341–2344, 2347–2382. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  159.  
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  161.  
  162. An exhaustive review of the scholarly literature on the Germania.
  163.  
  164. Find this resource:
  165.  
  166. Suerbaum, W. 1990. Zweiundvierzig Jahre Tacitus–Forschung: Systematische Gesamtbibliographie zu Tacitus' Annalen 1939–1980. In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.33.2. Edited by Hildegarde Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 1032–1476. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  167.  
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  169.  
  170. A bibliography on Annals for the years indicated. German is not required to take advantage of the references.
  171.  
  172. Find this resource:
  173.  
  174. Collections of Papers
  175. Combined under this rubric are multi-author collections of papers as well as assemblages of papers by a single scholar. Ash and Malamud 2006 and Luce and Woodman 1993 contain helpful papers in English on a variety of topics. Polyglot collections are Giua 2007 and the several volumes of Temporini 1972–, while Radke 1972 and Pöschl 1986 contain only papers in German. Syme 1970 and Woodman 1998 collect in a handy single volume some of those two scholars' important papers on Tacitus.
  176.  
  177. Ash, Rhiannon, and Martha Malamud, eds. 2006. Ingens eloquentiae materia: Rhetoric and empire in Tacitus. Special issue of Arethusa 39.2.
  178.  
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  180.  
  181. Many good papers by distinguished Taciteans.
  182.  
  183. Find this resource:
  184.  
  185. Giua, Maria Antonietta, ed. 2007. Ripensando Tacito (e Ronald Syme): Storia e storiografia: Atti del Convegno Internazionale (Firenze, 30 novembre – 1 dicembre 2006). Memorie e atti di convegni 41. Pisa: Edizioni ETS.
  186.  
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  188.  
  189. Nine papers in Italian, three in French, by a number of noted Continental scholars; overall, the quality is uneven.
  190.  
  191. Find this resource:
  192.  
  193. Luce, T. James, and A. J. Woodman, eds. 1993. Tacitus and the Tacitean tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  194.  
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  196.  
  197. A strong collection of papers on Tacitus's works and on their modern reception.
  198.  
  199. Find this resource:
  200.  
  201. Pöschl, Viktor, ed. 1986. Tacitus. 2d ed. Wege der Forschung 97. Darmstadt, Germany: Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
  202.  
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  204.  
  205. A collection of reprinted papers by various authors, written in or translated into German. Some of the papers remain important.
  206.  
  207. Find this resource:
  208.  
  209. Radke, Gerhard, ed. 1972. Politik und literarische Kunst im Werk des Tacitus. Der Altsprachliche Unterricht Beiheft 1, Reihe 14. Stuttgart, Germany: Klett.
  210.  
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  212.  
  213. This volume contains several important papers, especially those of Steinmetz (on Agricola) and Suerbaum (on Tacitus's discussion in Annals of the trial of Cremutius Cordus).
  214.  
  215. Find this resource:
  216.  
  217. Syme, Ronald. 1970. Ten studies in Tacitus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  218.  
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  220.  
  221. Assorted papers that provide a useful supplement to Syme 1958.
  222.  
  223. Find this resource:
  224.  
  225. Temporini, Hildegarde, ed. 1972–. Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Speigel der neueren Forschung, II 33.2–33.5. Berlin and New York: de Gruyter.
  226.  
  227. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  228.  
  229. A massive collection of papers in English, French, German, and Italian; the quality and interest of the papers are variable.
  230.  
  231. Find this resource:
  232.  
  233. Woodman, A. J. 1998. Tacitus reviewed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  234.  
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  236.  
  237. A collection of mostly previously published pieces on Tacitus, several of them truly path-breaking.
  238.  
  239. Find this resource:
  240.  
  241. Specialized Studies of Multiple Works
  242. While many scholarly books on Tacitus have focused on one of his works, or even on one part of one of them, a few have attempted arguments that cross the corpus of his work, or at least some large subset of it. The works indicated below aim to understand Tacitus's work within literary and intellectual history (Häussler 1965, Flach 1973), explore the outlook of Tacitus's work (Vielberg 1987, Plass 1988, Sailor 2008), or evaluate its usefulness as a historical source (Walser 1951).
  243.  
  244. Flach, Dieter. 1973. Tacitus in der Tradition der antiken Geschichtsschreibung. Hypomnemata 39. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
  245.  
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  247.  
  248. An effort to locate Tacitus in the broader tradition of ancient historical writing; sees significant continuities between his work and Hellenistic historiography.
  249.  
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  251.  
  252. Häussler, Reinhard. 1965. Tacitus und das historische Bewusstsein. Bibliothek der klassischen Altertumswissenschaften, n. F. 2, 2 Reihe, Bd. 8. Heidelberg, Germany: Karl Winter.
  253.  
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  255.  
  256. A dense volume placing Tacitus's historical thought within prior and subsequent intellectual history; requires strong knowledge of German.
  257.  
  258. Find this resource:
  259.  
  260. Plass, Paul. 1988. Wit and the writing of history: The rhetoric of historiography in Imperial Rome. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
  261.  
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  263.  
  264. Despite the title, the book is principally about Tacitus, and explores how wit serves to express as well as unmask the character of the Principate.
  265.  
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  267.  
  268. Sailor, Dylan. 2008. Writing and empire in Tacitus. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  269.  
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  271.  
  272. An extended discussion of the ways in which Agricola, Histories, and Annals serve to represent Tacitus and his political and literary careers.
  273.  
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  275.  
  276. Vielberg, Meinolf. 1987. Pflichten, Werte, Ideale: Eine Untersuchung zu den Wertvorstellungen des Tacitus. Hermes Einzelschriften 52. Stuttgart, Germany: Steiner.
  277.  
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  279.  
  280. An analysis of Tacitus's ethical vocabulary and an attempt to define the moral outlook that emerges from his writings.
  281.  
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  283.  
  284. Walser, Gerold. 1951. Rom, das Reich und die fremden Völker in der Geschichtsschreibung der frühen Kaiserzeit: Studien zur Glaubwürdigkeit des Tacitus. Baden-Baden, Germany: Verlag für Kunst und Wissenschaft.
  285.  
  286. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  287.  
  288. A short discussion in relatively easy German; its task is to point out discrepancies between historical reality and Tacitus's representation, and its conclusions for his credibility are mainly negative. Old, but holds up well.
  289.  
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  291.  
  292. Rhetorical and Stylistic Aspects
  293. Tacitus's challenging and striking style is one of the historian's most memorable characteristics. Hellegouarc'h 1991 is probably the closest thing to a general treatment and so forms the best starting point; there have been many discussions of specific aspects of his style. For style at the level of the sentence, see Sörbom 1935 and Voss 1963; for rhetorical aspects, see Aubrion 1985; for the structure of Tacitus's accounts, see Wille 1983.
  294.  
  295. Aubrion, Etienne. 1985. Rhétorique et histoire chez Tacite. Metz, France: Centre de recherche Littérature et spiritualité.
  296.  
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  298.  
  299. A long discussion of Tacitus's rhetorical techniques, with extensive incidental comment on many questions.
  300.  
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  302.  
  303. Hellegouarc'h, Joseph. 1991. Le style de Tacite: Bilan et perspectives. In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.33.4. Edited by Hildegarde Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 2385–2453. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  304.  
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  306.  
  307. A helpful survey article.
  308.  
  309. Find this resource:
  310.  
  311. Sörbom, Gunnar. 1935. Variatio sermonis tacitei aliaeque apud eundem quaestiones selectae. Uppsala, Sweden: Almqvist and Wiksell.
  312.  
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  314.  
  315. Detailed and fundamental study of a key element of Tacitus's style.
  316.  
  317. Find this resource:
  318.  
  319. Voss, B.-R. 1963. Der pointierte Stil des Tacitus. Münster, Germany: Aschendorff.
  320.  
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  322.  
  323. A short book focusing on types of “pointed” expression (zeugma, oxymoron, antithesis, sententia) that figure prominently in Tacitus's writing.
  324.  
  325. Find this resource:
  326.  
  327. Wille, Günther. 1983. Der Aufbau der Werke des Tacitus. Amsterdam: B. R. Gruner.
  328.  
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  330.  
  331. A long and detailed accounting of the structure of each of Tacitus's works.
  332.  
  333. Find this resource:
  334.  
  335. Texts
  336. The following subsections cover, respectively, the minor works (Agricola, Dialogus, Germania), the Histories, and the Annals.
  337.  
  338. Minor Works
  339. Here the Oxford Classical Text (Winterbottom and Ogilvie, Tacitus 1975) is the best single-volume choice; Mayer (Tacitus 2001) offers a text of Dialogus as well as a commentary.
  340.  
  341. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1970. Agricola, Germania, Dialogus. Edited and translated by Maurice Hutton and William Peterson; revised by R. M. Ogilvie, E. H. Warmington, and M. Winterbottom. Loeb Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  342.  
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  344.  
  345. Latin text and facing English translation. A revision of an original 1914 edition by Hutton and Peterson.
  346.  
  347. Find this resource:
  348.  
  349. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1975. Corneli Taciti Opera minora. Edited by Michael Winterbottom and R. M. Ogilvie. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  350.  
  351. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  352.  
  353. The standard critical text of Agricola, Germania, and Dialogus.
  354.  
  355. Find this resource:
  356.  
  357. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2001. Dialogus de oratoribus. Edited by Roland Mayer. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  358.  
  359. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  360.  
  361. Contains both text and commentary.
  362.  
  363. Find this resource:
  364.  
  365. Histories
  366. Fisher (Tacitus 1911) is still used, although it leaves much to be desired. Heubner (Tacitus 1978) is the best available option, although Wellesley (Tacitus 1989) is also good.
  367.  
  368. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1911. Cornelii Taciti Historiarum libri. Edited by C. D. Fisher. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  369.  
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  371.  
  372. Still often used, for no good reason.
  373.  
  374. Find this resource:
  375.  
  376. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1925. Histories Books I–III. Edited and translated by C. H. Moore. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  377.  
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  379.  
  380. Reprinted in 1992. Latin text and facing English translation.
  381.  
  382. Find this resource:
  383.  
  384. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1931. Histories Books IV–V, Annals, Books I–III. Edited and translated by C. H. Moore and John Jackson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  385.  
  386. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  387.  
  388. Reprinted in 1992. Latin text and facing English translation.
  389.  
  390. Find this resource:
  391.  
  392. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1978. P. Cornelii Taciti Libri qui supersunt. Tom. II fasc. I: Historiarum libri. Edited by Heinz Heubner. Stuttgart and Leipzig, Germany: Teubner.
  393.  
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  395.  
  396. The best text of Histories.
  397.  
  398. Find this resource:
  399.  
  400. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1989. Cornelii Taciti Libri qui supersunt: Tomus II pars secunda: Historiarum libri. Edited by Kenneth Wellesley. Stuttgart and Leipzig, Germany: Teubner.
  401.  
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  403.  
  404. Valuable especially for its apparatus criticus and bibliography.
  405.  
  406. Find this resource:
  407.  
  408. Annals
  409. Fisher (Tacitus 1906) is dated and contains some poor editorial decisions. The best single volume option is Heubner (Tacitus 1994), although one would do fine to use a combination of Borszák (Tacitus 1992) and Wellesley (Tacitus 1986) as one's text of Annals.
  410.  
  411. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1906. Cornelii Taciti Annalium ab excessu divi Augusti libri. Edited by C. D. Fisher. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  412.  
  413. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  414.  
  415. Still often used, for no good reason.
  416.  
  417. Find this resource:
  418.  
  419. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1931. Histories Books IV–V, Annals, Books I–III. Edited and translated by C. H. Moore and John Jackson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  420.  
  421. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  422.  
  423. Reprinted in 1980. Latin text and facing English translation. Inadequate as a critical text, but fine for other purposes.
  424.  
  425. Find this resource:
  426.  
  427. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1937a. Annals, Books IV–VI, XI–XII. Edited and translated by John Jackson. Leob Classical Library. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  428.  
  429. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  430.  
  431. Latin text and facing English translation. Inadequate as a critical text, but fine for other purposes.
  432.  
  433. Find this resource:
  434.  
  435. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1937b. Annals, Books XIII–XVI. Edited and translated by John Jackson. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  436.  
  437. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  438.  
  439. Latin text and facing English translation. Inadequate as a critical text, but fine for other purposes.
  440.  
  441. Find this resource:
  442.  
  443. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1986. Cornelii Taciti Libri qui supersunt: Tomus I pars secunda: Ab excessu divi Augusti Libri XI–XVI. Edited by Kenneth Wellesley. Stuttgart and Leipzig, Germany: Teubner.
  444.  
  445. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  446.  
  447. Good, recent text of the Claudian and Neronian books. Valuable especially for its apparatus criticus and bibliography.
  448.  
  449. Find this resource:
  450.  
  451. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1992. Cornelii Taciti Libri qui supersunt: Tomus I pars prima: Ab excessu divi Augusti libri I–VI. Edited by Stephan Borszák. Stuttgart and Leipzig, Germany: Teubner.
  452.  
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  454.  
  455. Recent, serviceable text of the Tiberian books.
  456.  
  457. Find this resource:
  458.  
  459. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1994. P. Cornelii Taciti Libri qui supersunt. Tom. I: Ab excessu divi Augusti. Edited by Heinz Heubner. 2d ed. Stuttgart and Leipzig, Germany: Teubner.
  460.  
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  462.  
  463. The best text of Annals
  464.  
  465. Find this resource:
  466.  
  467. Commentaries
  468. Tacitus's “minor works” are all blessed with good scholarly aids to understanding; the situation is much less good for Histories and especially Annals.
  469.  
  470. Agricola
  471. Both Heubner 1984 and Ogilvie and Richmond (Tacitus 1967) are helpful commentaries.
  472.  
  473. Heubner, Heinz. 1984. Kommentar zum Agricola des Tacitus. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
  474.  
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  476.  
  477. No text, but useful commentary.
  478.  
  479. Find this resource:
  480.  
  481. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1967. Corneli Taciti De vita Agricolae. Edited by R. M. Ogilvie and I. A. Richmond. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  482.  
  483. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  484.  
  485. Latin text; introduction, and notes. For now, the standard commentary, but it may soon be replaced by a commentary from Cambridge University Press by C. S. Kraus and A. J. Woodman.
  486.  
  487. Find this resource:
  488.  
  489. Germania
  490. Much (Tacitus 1967) was long the indispensable commentary on Germania, but Rives (Tacitus 1999) supersedes it on historical matters; because Rives is a historical commentary, however, Much will continue to be useful on literary and textual matters.
  491.  
  492. Lund, Allan A. 1988. P. Cornelius Tacitus: Germania. Heidelberg, Germany: Karl Winter.
  493.  
  494. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  495.  
  496. No text, commentary in German.
  497.  
  498. Find this resource:
  499.  
  500. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1967. Die Germania des Tacitus. Edited by Rudolf Much; revised by H. Jankuhn and W. Lange. 3d ed. Heidelberg, Germany: Karl Winter.
  501.  
  502. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  503.  
  504. Latin text, introduction, and notes. Remains useful from a philological standpoint.
  505.  
  506. Find this resource:
  507.  
  508. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1999. Germania. Edited by J. B. Rives. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  509.  
  510. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  511.  
  512. No Latin text, but provides English translation. Now the standard historical commentary on Germania.
  513.  
  514. Find this resource:
  515.  
  516. Dialogus de oratoribus
  517. Mayer (Tacitus 2001) is a reliable and helpful commentary that may be supplemented by Güngerich 1980; Flach (Tacitus 2005) is uneven.
  518.  
  519. Güngerich, Rudolf. 1980. Kommentar zum Dialogus des Tacitus. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
  520.  
  521. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  522.  
  523. Commentary only.
  524.  
  525. Find this resource:
  526.  
  527. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2001. Dialogus de oratoribus. Edited by Roland Mayer. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  528.  
  529. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  530.  
  531. Latin text; introduction, and notes.
  532.  
  533. Find this resource:
  534.  
  535. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2005. Dialogus de oratoribus: Streitgesprach über die Redner. Edited and translated by Dieter Flach. Stuttgart, Germany: Steiner.
  536.  
  537. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  538.  
  539. Latin text, German translation, and commentary. The commentary primarily concerns textual matters.
  540.  
  541. Find this resource:
  542.  
  543. Histories
  544. Heubner 1963–1982 is a solid German commentary, but unfortunately there is no English commentary on all of the preserved text of Histories, and thus one must collect commentaries on different books. In recent years, Histories has become much better served, with the arrival of Damon (Tacitus 2003) for Book I and Ash (Tacitus 2007) for Book II. For Book III we have Wellesley's commentary (Tacitus 1972), but for Books IV and V Chilver and Townend 1985 is inadequate, and must be supplemented with Heubner 1963–1982.
  545.  
  546. Chilver, G. E. F. 1979. A historical commentary on Tacitus' Histories I and II. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  547.  
  548. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  549.  
  550. No text. Both volumes of this mainly historical work ended up thinner and less helpful than might have been.
  551.  
  552. Find this resource:
  553.  
  554. Chilver, G. E. F., and G. Townend. 1985. A historical commentary on Tacitus' Histories IV and V. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  555.  
  556. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  557.  
  558. No text. Both volumes of this mainly historical work ended up thinner and less helpful than might have been.
  559.  
  560. Find this resource:
  561.  
  562. Heubner, Heinz. 1963–1982. P. Cornelius Tacitus, Die Historien: Kommentar. 5 vols. Heidelberg, Germany: Karl Winter.
  563.  
  564. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  565.  
  566. No text. The only modern commentary on all five books.
  567.  
  568. Find this resource:
  569.  
  570. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1972. The Histories Book III. Edited by Kenneth Wellesley. Sydney: Sydney University Press.
  571.  
  572. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  573.  
  574. Latin text, commentary. Especially helpful on historical matters.
  575.  
  576. Find this resource:
  577.  
  578. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2003. Histories Book I. Edited by Cynthia Damon. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  579.  
  580. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  581.  
  582. Latin text, introduction, and notes. Now the standard English commentary on Book I.
  583.  
  584. Find this resource:
  585.  
  586. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2007. Histories Book 2. Edited by Rhiannon Ash. Cambridge. UK: Cambridge University Press.
  587.  
  588. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  589.  
  590. Latin text, introduction, and notes. Now standard on Book II.
  591.  
  592. Find this resource:
  593.  
  594. Annals
  595. As with Histories, for relatively up-to-date commentary on Annals we must rely on a variety of scholars: for Annals 1–2, Goodyear (Tacitus 1972–1981); for Annals 3, Woodman and Martin (Tacitus 1996); for Annals 4, the somewhat smaller-scale Martin and Woodman (Tacitus 1989); for Annals 5–6, Martin (Tacitus 2001) supplemented by Furneaux (Tacitus 1896); and for the rest of Annals, Furneaux (Tacitus 1896) combined with Koestermann 1963–1968. As of 2009, the Claudian and Neronian books of Annals are much in need of up-to-date scholarly commentaries.
  596.  
  597. Koestermann, Erich. 1963–1968. Cornelius Tacitus, Annalen: Erläutert und mit einer Einleitung. 4 vols. Heidelberg, Germany: Karl Winter.
  598.  
  599. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  600.  
  601. Introduction and notes. No text. Helpful on historical matters, somewhat less so on literary ones. The only 20th-century commentary on the whole of Annals.
  602.  
  603. Find this resource:
  604.  
  605. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1896. The Annals of Tacitus. Edited by H. Furneaux; revised by H. F. Pelham and C. D. Fisher. 2d ed. 2 vols. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  606.  
  607. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  608.  
  609. Latin text, introduction, and notes. Still the only English-language commentary that covers all of the preserved books of Annals.
  610.  
  611. Find this resource:
  612.  
  613. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1972–1981. The Annals of Tacitus: Books 1–6. Edited by F. R. D. Goodyear. 2 vols. Cambridge Classical Texts and Commentaries 15, 23. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  614.  
  615. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  616.  
  617. Death overtook the author before he could complete his plan; vol. 1 contains text and commentary for Annals 1.1–1.54, and vol. 2 text and commentary for Annals 1.55–1.81 and for the entirety of Annals 2. The standard commentary on those books.
  618.  
  619. Find this resource:
  620.  
  621. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1989. Annals Book IV. Edited by R. H. Martin and A. J. Woodman. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  622.  
  623. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  624.  
  625. Latin text, introduction, and notes. The standard English commentary.
  626.  
  627. Find this resource:
  628.  
  629. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1996. The Annals of Tacitus: Book 3. Edited by A. J. Woodman and R. H. Martin. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  630.  
  631. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  632.  
  633. Latin text; the standard English commentary.
  634.  
  635. Find this resource:
  636.  
  637. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2001. Annals V and VI. Edited and translated by Ronald H. Martin. Warminster, UK: Aris and Phillips.
  638.  
  639. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  640.  
  641. Latin text; translation, commentary.
  642.  
  643. Find this resource:
  644.  
  645. English Translations
  646. Although Tacitus's idiosyncratic Latin is unusually difficult to convey in translation, generally speaking, readers of English are well served for helpful, annotated translations of his works; the only exception is that for Dialogus one must turn to the Loeb edition of Hutton and Peterson (Tacitus 1970a, originally published in 1914). On balance, the most helpful translations are as follows: for Agricola and Germania, Birley (Tacitus 1999); for Histories, Fyfe (Tacitus 1997); for Annals, Woodman (Tacitus 2004). Michael Grant's Penguin edition (Tacitus 1989) remains popular but does not represent the original as faithfully as Woodman (Tacitus 2004) or Yardley (Tacitus 2008).
  647.  
  648. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1970a. Agricola, Germania, Dialogus. Edited and translated by Maurice Hutton and William Peterson; revised by R. M. Ogilvie, E. H. Warmington, and M. Winterbottom. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  649.  
  650. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  651.  
  652. Latin text and facing English translation. A revision of an original 1914 edition by Hutton and Peterson. Best source for an English translation of Dialogus.
  653.  
  654. Find this resource:
  655.  
  656. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1970b. The Agricola and the Germania. Translated by H. Mattingly; revised by S. A. Handford. New York: Penguin.
  657.  
  658. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  659.  
  660. Serviceable but feels old-fashioned; the notes are skimpy.
  661.  
  662. Find this resource:
  663.  
  664. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1986. The Histories. Translated by Kenneth Wellesley. New York: Penguin.
  665.  
  666. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  667.  
  668. Excellent translation by an expert on the year 69, but there are few explanatory notes. Includes a good bibliography.
  669.  
  670. Find this resource:
  671.  
  672. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1989. The annals of Imperial Rome. Translated by Michael Grant. New York: Penguin.
  673.  
  674. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  675.  
  676. Revised edition with new bibliography. Readable but somewhat free rendition; few notes.
  677.  
  678. Find this resource:
  679.  
  680. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1997. The Histories. Translated by W. H. Fyfe; edited and revised by D. S. Levene. New York: Oxford University Press.
  681.  
  682. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  683.  
  684. Good translation, helpful notes.
  685.  
  686. Find this resource:
  687.  
  688. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 1999. Agricola and Germany. Translated by Anthony R. Birley. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  689.  
  690. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  691.  
  692. Very full notes and other aids to understanding.
  693.  
  694. Find this resource:
  695.  
  696. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2004. The Annals. Translated by A. J. Woodman. Indianapolis, IN: Hackett.
  697.  
  698. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  699.  
  700. Perhaps the best effort at projecting the “feel” of Tacitus's Latin in English.
  701.  
  702. Find this resource:
  703.  
  704. Tacitus (P. Cornelius Tacitus). 2008. The Annals: The reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero. Translated by J. C. Yardley; introduction and commentary by A. A. Barrett. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  705.  
  706. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  707.  
  708. Very readable, with full notes.
  709.  
  710. Find this resource:
  711.  
  712. Studies of Individual Works
  713. Helpful discussion of each of these can also be found in the works listed under General Overviews.
  714.  
  715. Agricola
  716. His first known work, De vita et moribus Cn. Iuli Agricolae (the “Agricola”), a biography of his father-in-law, Cn. Julius Agricola, belongs to 98 CE. The biography is not only crucial to understanding Tacitus's political and literary careers but is also one of a handful of documents absolutely central to understanding the political culture of the Roman elite of the early Principate. All subsequent attempts at a unified interpretation owe much to Liebeschuetz 1966, which is still probably the closest thing to a “classic” discussion of the work; Braund 1996 and Whitmarsh 2006 are also helpful comprehensive treatments. Schwarte 1979 aims to situate the work within the politics of 97 CE; Sailor 2004 is interested in how the preface manages Tacitus's literary career.
  717.  
  718. Braund, David. 1996. Ruling Roman Britain: Kings, queens, governors and emperors from Julius Caesar to Agricola, 147–76. London: Routledge.
  719.  
  720. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  721.  
  722. A good general treatment of the work in the context of a larger and unorthodox account of Roman Britain.
  723.  
  724. Find this resource:
  725.  
  726. Clarke, Katherine. 2001. An island nation: Re-reading Tacitus' Agricola. Journal of Roman Studies 91:94–112.
  727.  
  728. DOI: 10.2307/3184772Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  729.  
  730. Looks at the ideological implications of Britain's “island-ness” in the work.
  731.  
  732. Find this resource:
  733.  
  734. Liebeschuetz, W. 1966. The theme of liberty in the Agricola of Tacitus. Classical Quarterly 16:126–139.
  735.  
  736. DOI: 10.1017/S0009838800003426Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  737.  
  738. Argues that what unifies the disparate parts of the work is the theme of lost liberty and its consequences.
  739.  
  740. Find this resource:
  741.  
  742. McGing, Brian C. 1982. Synkrisis in Tacitus' Agricola. Hermathena 132:15–25.
  743.  
  744. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  745.  
  746. Examines the role of explicit and implied comparisons of individuals.
  747.  
  748. Find this resource:
  749.  
  750. Sailor, Dylan. 2004. Becoming Tacitus: Significance and inconsequentiality in the prologue of Agricola. Classical Antiquity 23:139–177.
  751.  
  752. DOI: 10.1525/ca.2004.23.1.139Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  753.  
  754. Proposes that the prologue provides ways of reading the work either as an exercise of limited consequence or as the opening of an important literary career.
  755.  
  756. Find this resource:
  757.  
  758. Schwarte, K.-H. 1979. Trajans Regierungsbeginn und der “Agricola” des Tacitus. Bonner Jahrbücher des Rheinischen Landesmuseum in Bonn 179:139–175.
  759.  
  760. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  761.  
  762. Argues that the primary function of Agricola is its denigration of Domitian.
  763.  
  764. Find this resource:
  765.  
  766. Whitmarsh, Tim. 2006. “This in-between book”: Language, politics and genre in the Agricola. In The limits of ancient biography. Edited by Brian C. McGing and J. Mossman, 305–333. Swansea: Classical Press of Wales.
  767.  
  768. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  769.  
  770. Argues that it is in the nature of Agricola to admit of opposed interpretations.
  771.  
  772. Find this resource:
  773.  
  774. Germania
  775. Shortly after the publication of Agricola in 98 CE, perhaps even that year, came an ethnographic treatment of the peoples the Romans called the Germani: De origine et situ Germanorum (the “Germania”). The work is basic to our knowledge of ancient ethnography. Norden 1923 is foundational to modern interpretation of the work, and O'Gorman 1993 is perhaps the essential recent interpretation.
  776.  
  777. Dupont, F. 1995. ‘En Germanie c'est-à-dire nulle part’: Rhétorique de l'altérité et rhétorique de l'identité: l'aporie descriptive d'un territoire barbare dans la Germanie de Tacite. In Frontières terrestres, frontiers célestes dans l'antiquité. Edited by Aline Rousselle, 189–219. Paris: Boccard.
  778.  
  779. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  780.  
  781. Explores Tacitus's Germania as an ideological construct.
  782.  
  783. Find this resource:
  784.  
  785. Lund, Allan A. 1991. Versuch einer Gesamtinterpretation der “Germania” des Tacitus. In Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt II.33.2. Edited by Hildegarde Temporini and Wolfgang Haase, 1857–1988. Berlin: de Gruyter.
  786.  
  787. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  788.  
  789. A wide-ranging discussion of the Germania, with special emphasis on its ethnographic character.
  790.  
  791. Find this resource:
  792.  
  793. Norden, E. 1923. Die germanische Urgeschichte in Tacitus Germania. 3d ed. Leipzig, Germany: Teubner.
  794.  
  795. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  796.  
  797. Reprinted in 1998. Classic work establishing the place of the Germania in the ethnographic tradition.
  798.  
  799. Find this resource:
  800.  
  801. O'Gorman, Ellen. 1993. No place like Rome: Identity and difference in the Germania of Tacitus. Ramus 22:135–154.
  802.  
  803. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  804.  
  805. Treats Tacitus's account of the Germani as an exploration of the Roman self.
  806.  
  807. Find this resource:
  808.  
  809. Dialogus de oratoribus
  810. Perhaps in 101/2, Tacitus published a literary dialogue concerning the decline in oratory, the Dialogus de oratoribus (the “Dialogus”). Most contemporary discussion has aimed at accounting for a set of inconsistencies and odd features in the work—for example, Luce 1993, Bartsch 1994, and Levene 2004.
  811.  
  812. Barnes, T. D. 1986. The significance of Tacitus' Dialogus de oratoribus. Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 90:225–244.
  813.  
  814. DOI: 10.2307/311472Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  815.  
  816. Places the real subject of Dialogus in its discussion of the relative merits of various genres of literature, and suggests that Tacitus may have been considering becoming a tragic poet.
  817.  
  818. Find this resource:
  819.  
  820. Bartsch, Shadi. 1994. Actors in the audience: Theatricality and doublespeak from Nero to Hadrian, 98–147. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
  821.  
  822. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  823.  
  824. Reads the speeches of Maternus as a dramatization of the practice of “covert criticism” of emperors.
  825.  
  826. Find this resource:
  827.  
  828. Levene, D. S. 2004. Tacitus' Dialogus as literary history. Transactions of the American Philological Association 134:157–200.
  829.  
  830. DOI: 10.1353/apa.2004.0005Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  831.  
  832. Argues that the speeches in Dialogus combine to construct a single account of literary history.
  833.  
  834. Find this resource:
  835.  
  836. Luce, T. James. 1993. Reading and response in the Dialogus. In Tacitus and the Tacitean tradition. Edited by T. James Luce and A. J. Woodman, 11–38. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  837.  
  838. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  839.  
  840. Presses the case that the speeches in Dialogus must be understood from the perspective of Roman fascination with declamation.
  841.  
  842. Find this resource:
  843.  
  844. Williams, Gordon Willis. 1978. Change and decline: Roman literature in the early Empire, 26–51. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  845.  
  846. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  847.  
  848. Argues that Tacitus identifies a particularly political cause for the decline in oratory.
  849.  
  850. Find this resource:
  851.  
  852. Histories
  853. After publishing Agricola, Germania, and the Dialogus, which scholars refer to collectively as the “minor works” (none is more than 40 pages long in modern print), Tacitus undertook a full-scale narrative history of the period 69 CE to (we believe) 96 CE. This work, probably entitled Historiae, was produced during the first decade of the second century; Tacitus was collecting material for it in 105/6 CE, but we are uncertain when he completed it. Originally it would have spanned either twelve or fourteen books. Extant are the first four books and the beginning of the fifth, which together cover the “Year of Four Emperors” and the beginning of 70 CE.Relative to Annals, Histories is underserved by book-length studies. Until Ash 1999 and Haynes 2003, this work remained understudied, but both these studies represent real advances and present comprehensive arguments about the whole of the preserved section of Histories.
  854.  
  855. Ash, Rhiannon. 1999. Ordering anarchy: Armies and leaders in Tacitus' Histories. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
  856.  
  857. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  858.  
  859. Thorough study of Tacitus's literary presentation of the different participants in the events of 69 and 70 CE.
  860.  
  861. Find this resource:
  862.  
  863. Haynes, Holly. 2003. The history of make-believe: Tacitus on Imperial Rome. Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
  864.  
  865. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  866.  
  867. An insightful and challenging discussion of Histories, with an approach informed by Lacanian psychoanalysis and Slavoj Zizek.
  868.  
  869. Find this resource:
  870.  
  871. Scott, Russell T. 1968. Religion and philosophy in the Histories of Tacitus. Papers and Monographs of the American Academy in Rome 22. Rome: American Academy.
  872.  
  873. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  874.  
  875. A short discussion of the role played by religious themes and philosophical concepts in Histories.
  876.  
  877. Find this resource:
  878.  
  879. Annals
  880. Upon completing the Histories, Tacitus turned his attention back in time, embarking on a narrative history of Rome under the Julio-Claudian successors of Augustus. This work, probably entitled Ab excessu divi Augusti (“From the departure of the divine Augustus”), is conventionally referred to as the Annals. Of this last work are preserved Books I–IV, part of V, most of VI, part of XI, and all of XII–XV; Book XVI breaks off in mid-sentence in chapter 35. Depending on whether Histories spanned twelve or fourteen books, Annals will have occupied either eighteen or sixteen books (we know that the two together took up thirty books). Since the first six books of Annals narrate the rule of Tiberius (14–37 CE), the second six those of Caligula (37–41 CE; these books are lost) and of Claudius (41–54 CE), and the last four that of Nero (54–68 CE), many scholars have found appealing the idea that Tacitus planned the Annals by “hexad.” Even if that were so, however, it is not clear that Tacitus completed the Annals, whose implied telos is the fall of Nero (or, alternatively, the starting point of the Histories); sixteen books may simply be as many as he wrote before he died, or quit writing for other reasons. Scholarly effort has fallen disproportionately on the Tiberian “hexad” as a convenient unit (so Ginsburg 1981, Sinclair 1995, and most of O'Gorman 2000). Roberts 1988 and Moles 1998 are concerned in different ways with the place of libertas within the Annals.
  881.  
  882. Devillers, Olivier. 1994. L'art de la persuasion dans les Annales de Tacite. Collection Latomus 223. Brussels: Latomus.
  883.  
  884. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  885.  
  886. Examines ways in which Tacitus attempts to persuade the reader of the truth of the account rendered in the Annals.
  887.  
  888. Find this resource:
  889.  
  890. Ginsburg, Judith. 1981. Tradition and theme in the Annals of Tacitus. New York: Arno.
  891.  
  892. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  893.  
  894. Seminal work on Tacitus's exploitation of the annalistic form in Books I–VI.
  895.  
  896. Find this resource:
  897.  
  898. Moles, J. 1998. Cry freedom: Tacitus Annals 4.32–35. Histos 2.
  899.  
  900. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  901.  
  902. A long, indispensable discussion of the Cremutius Cordus episode in Book IV. Available online.
  903.  
  904. Find this resource:
  905.  
  906. O'Gorman, Ellen. 1995. On not writing about Augustus: Tacitus' Annals Book I. Materiali e discussioni per l'analisi dei testi classici 35:91–114.
  907.  
  908. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  909.  
  910. A subtle interpretation of the role played by the figure of Augustus in the preface and first book of Annals.
  911.  
  912. Find this resource:
  913.  
  914. O'Gorman, Ellen. 2000. Irony and misreading in the Annals of Tacitus. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
  915.  
  916. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  917.  
  918. Consistently interesting and provocative discussion of how Tacitus foregrounds the problems of representation and interpretation.
  919.  
  920. Find this resource:
  921.  
  922. Roberts, Michael. 1988. The revolt of Boudicca (Tacitus, Annals 14.29–39) and the assertion of libertas in Neronian Rome. American Journal of Philology 109:118–132.
  923.  
  924. DOI: 10.2307/294766Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  925.  
  926. Explores analogies between the freedom of the Britons and that of the Romans subject to Nero.
  927.  
  928. Find this resource:
  929.  
  930. Santoro L'hoir, Francesca. 2006. Tragedy, rhetoric, and the historiography of Tacitus' Annales. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
  931.  
  932. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  933.  
  934. Makes the case that in Annals Tacitus persistently alludes to Greek tragedy.
  935.  
  936. Find this resource:
  937.  
  938. Sinclair, Patrick. 1995. Tacitus the sententious historian: A sociology of rhetoric in Annales 1–6. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press.
  939.  
  940. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  941.  
  942. A study of the sententia as a structuring mode of thought and presentation in the Tiberian books of Annals.
  943.  
  944. Find this resource:
  945.  
  946. Walker, Bessie. 1952. The Annals of Tacitus: A study in the writing of history. Manchester, UK: Manchester University Press.
  947.  
  948. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  949.  
  950. An important early literary appreciation of Tacitean historiography.
  951.  
  952. Find this resource:
  953.  
  954. Sources
  955. As is the case with other ancient writers of history, scholars have concerned themselves with the questions “Of what previous writers did Tacitus avail himself in writing Histories and Annals?” and “How did he go about using those accounts?” Those seeking a more concise, English discussion of the source question should consult the chapter on sources in Martin 1981. The essential work on the topic is Questa 1967.
  956.  
  957. Devillers, Olivier. 2003. Tacite et les sources des Annales: Enquêtes sur la méthode historique. Bibliothèque d'études classiques 36. Louvain, Belgium: Peeters.
  958.  
  959. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  960.  
  961. Mainly a descriptive enumeration of the various sources Tacitus used or may have used; contains many helpful items.
  962.  
  963. Find this resource:
  964.  
  965. Martin, R. 1981. Tacitus. London: Batsford.
  966.  
  967. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  968.  
  969. Reprinted in 1994 (London: Bristol Classical Press). The best one-volume overview of Tacitus's work.
  970.  
  971. Find this resource:
  972.  
  973. Questa, Cesare. 1967. Studi sulle fonti degli Annales di Tacito. 2d ed. Rome: Edizioni dell'Ateneo.
  974.  
  975. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  976.  
  977. The fundamental discussion of Tacitus's sources in Annals.
  978.  
  979. Find this resource:
  980.  
  981. Later Reception
  982. Tacitus's writing has been consistently influential in Western literature and political thought since the Early Modern period. Mellor 1993 provides a helpful overview. Mellor 1995 collects a number of abstracts from later works that depend upon, involve, or are influenced by Tacitus's writing. Several useful discussions appear in Luce and Woodman 1993.
  983.  
  984. Krebs, Christopher B. 2005. Negotiatio Germaniae: Tacitus' Germania und Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Giannantonio Campano, Conrad Celtis und Heinrich Bebel. Hypomnemata 158. Göttingen, Germany: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht.
  985.  
  986. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  987.  
  988. A study of the image Tacitus projects of the Germani and of the reception history of that image in the work of the four humanists enumerated in the title.
  989.  
  990. Find this resource:
  991.  
  992. Luce, T. James, and A. J. Woodman, eds. 1993. Tacitus and the Tacitean tradition. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
  993.  
  994. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  995.  
  996. Contains a number of papers on Tacitus's modern reception.
  997.  
  998. Find this resource:
  999.  
  1000. Mellor, Ronald. 1993. Tacitus. New York: Routledge.
  1001.  
  1002. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1003.  
  1004. A good introduction to Tacitus's later influence.
  1005.  
  1006. Find this resource:
  1007.  
  1008. Mellor, Ronald. 1995. Tacitus: The classical heritage. New York and London: Garland.
  1009.  
  1010. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1011.  
  1012. A sourcebook for the study of Tacitus's influence.
  1013.  
  1014. Find this resource:
  1015.  
  1016. Schellhase, Kenneth C. 1976. Tacitus in Renaissance political thought. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  1017.  
  1018. Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »
  1019.  
  1020. A study of the reception of Tacitus in European political thought of the 15th to 17th centuries.
  1021.  
  1022. Find this resource:
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