) The
Agricola
is
of T.
of T.
William Smith - 1844 - Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities - c
14 ; Macrob.
Sat.
j.
2, 7 : Hieron.
might have to resist the whole power of the Per-
Chron. Euseb. ad Olymp. clxxxiv. 2, comp. Ep. ad sian empire, and he therefore resolved to obtain
Laelam ; Jobann. Sarisb. viii. 14. ) [W. ] the aid of Greek mercenaries. He prevailed upon
Chabrias, the Athenian, to take the command of
his fleet, and sent an embassy to Sparta, soli-
T.
citing Agesilnus to undertake the supreme com-
mand of all his forces. The Spartan government
TA'BALUS (Tábados), a Persian, whom Cyrus, gave their consent, and Agesilaus readily complied
after he had taken Sardis, left there in command with the request; for, although he was now up-
of the garrison. Here Tabalus was soon after bewards of eighty, his vigour of mind and body
bieged by the rebel Pactyas, but was delivered by remained unimpaired, and he was anxious to escape
Mazares (Herod. i. 153, &c. ) (Mazares; Pac- from the control to which a Spartan king was
TYAS. )
(E. E. ) subject at home. Upon his arrival in Egypt, Age-
TABUS (Tábos), a hero in Lydia, from whom silaus was greatly disappointed in having only the
the town of Tabae in Lydia was believed to have command of the mercenaries entrusted to him,
derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Tába. . ) (L. S. ] Tachos reserving to himself the supreme command
TACFARINAS, a Numidian, who gave some of all his forces, both by sea and land. Neverthe-
trouble to the Romans in the reign of Tiberius. less he submitted to this affront, and accompanied
He had originally served among the auxiliary the Egyptian monarch into Syria, in B. c. 361,
troops in the Roman army, but he deserted ; and, along with Chabrias, and, according to Plutarch,
having collected a body of freebooters, among endured for some time in patience the insolence
whom he gradually introduced the Roman disci- and arrogance of Tachos. Meanwhile Nectanabis,
pline, he became at length the acknowledged leader probably the nephew of Tachos, and a certain
of the Musulamii, a powerful people in the interior Mendesian, disputed with Tachos for the crown.
of ' Numidia, bordering on Mauritania. Having Agesilaus forthwith espoused the cause of Necta
been joined by the Mauri under the command of nabis ; and Tachos, thus deserted by his own sub-
Mazippa, he ventured, in A. D. 18, to measure bis jects as well as by his mercenaries, took refuge in
strength with Furius Camillus, the proconsul of Sidon, and from thence fled to the Persian mon-
Africa, but was defeated with considerable loss. arch, by whom he was favourably received, and
In A. D. 20 Tacfarinas again attacked the Roman at whose court he died. By the help of Agesilaus,
province. He carried his devastations far and Nectanabis defeated the other competitor, who had
wide, and defeated a Roman cohort which was collected a large army, and became firmly esta-
stationed not far from the river Pagyda (perhaps blished on the throne. This is the account of
the modern Abeadh), but, after meeting with con- Xenophon and Plutarch, and is in accordance with
siderable success, he was defeated in his turn by incidental notices in other writers. The statement
Apronius, who had succeeded Camillus, and was of Diodorus, that Tachos returned from Persia, and
compelled to retire into the deserts. Nothing was again placed upon the throne by Agesilaus,
daunted by these defeats, Tacfarinas found means is undoubtedly an error. (Diod. xv. 92, 93, Xen.
to collect a fresh army, and in A. D. 22 had the Ages. ii. $S 23——31 ; Plut. Ages. 36—40; Corn.
impudence to send ambassadors to Tiberius, soli- Nep. Chabr. 2, 3, Ages. 8 ; Polyaen. ii. 1. $ 22;
citing abodes for himself and his troops, and me- Ath. xiv. p. 616, d. e. ; Aelian, V. H. v. 1. )
nacing the emperor, in case of refusal, with per- TA'CITA, “ the silent," one of the Camenae,
petual war. Tiberius was indignant at receiving whose worship was believed to have been intro-
such a message from a deserter and a robber, and duced at Rome by Numa. He is, moreover, said
gave strict injunctions to Junius Blaesus, who had
to have particularly recommended the worship of
been appointed governor of Africa, to use every Tacita, as the most important among the Camenae.
effort to obtain possession of the person of Tacfa- (Plut. Numa, 8. )
(L. S. )
rinas. In this, however, Blaesus was unable to TACITUS, M. CLAU'DIUS, Roman emperor
succeed, for although he defeated Tacfarinas, and from the 25th September, a. 1. 275, until April,
took his brother prisoner, Tacfarinas himself suc- A. D. 276. After the death of Aurelian, the army
ceeded in making his escape. At length, in A. D. in Thrace, filled with remorse on account of their
24, the Romans were delivered from this trouble fatal mistake [AURELIANUS), and eager to testify
some foe. In this year Tacfarinas, having again their penitence, instead of proclaiming a new
collected a large force, attacked the Roman pro emperor with tumultuous baste, despatched a sub-
vince, but P. Dolabella, more fortunate than his missive letter to the senate, requesting that as-
predecessors in the government, not only defeated sembly to nominate out of their own body a
but slew Tacfarinas in battle. Dolabella was as- successor to the vacant throne, and pledging
sisted in this campaign by Ptolemaeus, king of themselves to ratify the choice. The senate at
Mauritania, the son and successor of Juba 11. , first received this most unlooked-for communica-
who was rewarded by Tiberius, after the ancient tion with mingled surprise and distrust, and,
fashion, with the presents of a toga picta and fearing to take advantage of what might prove a
sceptre, as a sign of the friendship of the Roman very transient ebullition of feeling, courteously
people. (Tac. Ann. il. 52, iii. 20, 21, 73, 74, iv. declined to accede to the proposal. At the same
23-26. )
time, expressing their full confidence in the discre
TACHOS (Taxás), king of Egypt, succeeded tion of the soldiers, they referred the election to
Acoris, and maintained the independence of his the voice of the legions. The troops, however,
3 94
## p. 968 (#984) ############################################
068
TACITUS.
TACITUS.
1
CETTE
MC
闻
again urged the fathers to yield to their wishes ; | vastations across the peninsula to the confines of
and although again met with the same reply, still Cilicia
persisted in their original solicitation. This ex- But the advanced years and failing strength of
traordinary contest continued for upwards of six Tacitus were unable any longer to support the
months, “an amazing period,” says Gibbon, “ of cares and toils so suddenly imposed upon him, and
tranquil anarchy, during which the Roman world his anxieties were still farther increased by the
remained without a sovereign, without an usurper, mutinous spirit of the army, which soon ceased to
and without sedition. "
respect a leader whose bodily and mental energies
Such a state of things could not however long were fast hurrying to decay. After a short struggle,
endure. The barbarians on the frontiers, who he sunk under the attack of a fever, either at
had been quelled and daunted by the skill and Tarsus or at Tyane, about the 9th of April, A. D.
daring valour of Aurelian, were not slow to take 276 ; according Victor, exactly two hundred
advantage of the opportunity presented by this days after his accession. By one account, he fell
strange position of public affairs. The Germans a victim to the anger of the soldiers ; but the
had already crossed the Rhine: Persia, Syria, weight of evidence tends to prove that they were
Africa, Illyria and Egypt were in commotion, not the direct instruments, at least, of his de-
when the senate, at length convinced that the struction.
soldiers were sincere, joyfully prepared to dis- Our best authority is the biography of Vopiscus,
charge a duty so unexpectedly devolved upon who, if not actually an eyewitness of what he re-
them. At a meeting convoked on the 25th of counts, had an opportunity of consulting the rich
September, A. D. 275, by the consul Velius Corni- collection of state papers stored up in the Ulpian
ficius Gordianus, all with one voice declared that Library; and from these he gives several remark-
no one could be found so worthy of the throne as able extracts. He refers also to a more complete
M. Claudius Tacitus, an aged consular, a native of life of Tacitus by a certain Suetonius Optatianus,
Interamna (Vopisc. Florian. 2), who claimed de- but of this no fragment remains. See likewise
scent from the great historian whose name he bore, Eutrop. ix. 10; Aurel. Vict. de Caes. xxxvi. Epit.
who was celebrated for his devotion to literature, xxxvi. ; Zonar. xii. 28, who says that he was
for his vast wealth, for his pure and upright seventy-five years old, and in Campania, when
character, and who stood first on the roll. The proclaimed emperor.
(W. R. ]
real or feigned earnestness with which he declined
the proffered honour, on account of his advanced
age and infirmities, was encountered by the re-
iterated acclamations of his brethren, who over-
whelmed him with arguments and precedents,
until at length, yielding to their importunate zeal,
he consented to proceed to the Campus Martius,
and there received the greetings of the people, and
the praetorians assembled to do homage to their
new ruler. Quitting the city, he repaired to the
great army still quartered in Thrace, by whom, on
their being promised the arrears of pay and the
customary donative, he was favourably received.
One of his first acts was to seek out and put to
death all who had been concerned in the murder TA'CITUS, C. CORNE'LIUS, the historian.
of his predecessor, whose character he held in high The time and place of the birth of Tacitus are un-
honour, commanding statues of gold and silver to known. He was nearly of the same age as the
be erected to his memory in the most frequented younger Plinius (Plin. Ep. vii. 20) who was born
thorough fares of the metropolis. He likewise di- about A. D. 61 (C. PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS),
rected his attention to the improvement of public but a little older. His gentile name is not sufficient
morals by the enactment of various sumptuary evidence that he belonged to the Cornelia Gens ;
laws regulating the amusements, luxurious indul- nor is there proof of his having been born at
gences, and dress of the citizens, he himself setting Interamna (Terni), as it is sometimes affirmed.
an example to all around, by the abstemiousness, Some facts relative to his biography may be col-
simplicity, and frugality of his own habits. His lected from his own writings and from the letters
great object was to revive the authority of the of his friend, the younger Plinius.
senate, which now for a brief period asserted and Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman eques, is mentioned
maintained a semblance of its ancient dignity, and by Plinius (H. N. vii. 16, note, ed. Hardouin)
the private letters preserved by Vopiscus (Florian, as a procurator in Gallia Belgica Plinius died
6) exhibit an amusing picture of the sacrifices and A. D. 79, and the procurator cannot have been the
banquets by which the senators manifested their historian ; but he may have been his father. In
exultation at the prospect opening up before them an inscription of doubtful authority he is named
of a complete restoration of their ancient privileges. Cornelius Verus Tacitus. Tacitus was first pro-
The only military achievement of this reign was moted by the emperor Vespasian (Hist. i. 1), and
the defeat and expulsion from Asia Minor of a he received other favours from his sons Titus and
party of Goths, natives of the shores of the sea of Domitian. C. Julius Agricola, who was consul
Asof, who having been invited by Aurelian to co- A. D. 77, betrothed his daughter to Tacitus in that
operate in his meditated invasion of the East, and year, but the marriage did not take place until the
having been disappointed of their promised reward following year. In the reign of Domitian, and in
by the death of that prince, had turned their arms A. D. 88, Tacitus was praetor, and he assisted as
against the peaceful provinces on the southern one of the quindecemviri at the solemnity of the
coasts of the Euxine, and had carried their de Ludi Seculares which were celebrated in that year,
COOL Qorca
寫出IS
080
COIN OP M. CLAUDIUS TACITUS.
-
## p. 969 (#985) ############################################
TACITUS.
969
TACITUS.
SI
the fourteenth consulship of Domitian. (Annal. to the memory of a good man and an able com-
xi. 11. )
mander and administrator, by an affectionate son-
Agricola died at Rome A. D. 93, but neither in-law, who has portrayed in his peculiar manner and
Tacitus nor the daughter of Agricola was then with many masterly touches, the virtues of one of
with him. It is not known where Tacitus was the most illustrious of the Romans. To Englishmen
during the last illness of Agricola, for the assump. this life is peculiarly interesting, as Britain was the
tion that he ever visited either Britain or Germany scene of Agricola's great exploits, who carried the
cannot be proved. He appears to say that he was Roman eagles even to the base of the Grampian
himself a witness of some of the atrocities of Domi- mountains. It was during his invasion of Cale-
tian ( Agricola, c. 45). In the reign of Nerva, A. D. 97, donia that Britain was first circumnavigated by a
Tacitus was appointed consul suffectus, in the place Roman feet. (Agricola, c. 38.
) The Agricola is
of T. Virginius Rufus, who bad died in that year. not contained in the earliest edition of Tacitus ; and
Tacitus pronounced the funeral oration of Rufus, it was first edited by Putcolanus.
" and it was," says Plinius, “ the completion of the The llistoriae were written after the death of
felicity of Rufus to have his panegyric pronounced Nerva, a, n. 98, and before the Annales. They
by so eloquent a man. " (Plin. Ep. ii. 1. ) Tacitus comprehended the period from the second consul-
had attained oratorical distinction when Plinius ship of Galba, A. D. 68, to the death of Domitian,
was commencing his career. He and Tacitus were and the author designed to add the reigns of
appointed in the reign of Nerva (A. D. 99) to con- Nerva and Trajan (Hist. i. 1). The first four books
duct the prosecution of Marius, proconsul of Africa, alone are extant in a complete form, and they
who had grossly misconducted himself in his pro- comprehend only the events of about one year.
vince. . Salvius Liberalis, a man of great acuteness The fifth book is imperfect, and goes no further
and eloquence, was one of the advocates of Marius. than the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem
Tacitus made a most eloquent and dignified reply by Titus, and the war of Civilis in Germany. It
to Liberalis.
is not known how many books of the Histories
Tacitus and Plinius were most intimate friends. there were, but it must have been a large work, if
In the collection of the letters of Plinius, there are it was all written on the same scale as the first
eleven letters addressed to Tacitus. In a letter to five books.
his friend Maximus (ix. 23), Plinius shows that The Annales commence with the death of Au-
he considered his friendship with Tacitus a great gustus, A. D. 14, and comprise the period to the
distinction, and he tells the following anecdote : - death of Nero, A. D. 68, a space of four and fifty
On one occasion, when Tacitus was a spectator at years. The greater part of the fifth book is lost;
the Ludi Circenses, he fell into conversation with and also the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, the be-
a Roman eques, who, after they had discoursed on ginning of the eleventh, and the end of the six-
various literary subjects for some time, asked teenth, which is the last book. These lost parts
Tacitus if he was an Italian a provincial; to which comprised the whole of Caligula's reign, the first
Tacitus replied, “You are acquainted with me, five years of Claudius, and the two last of Nero.
and by my pursuits. " “ Are you,” rejoined the The imperfections of the Annals and the Histories
stranger, « Tacitus or Plinius ? ” The sixteenth are probably owing to the few copies which were
letter of the sixth book, in which Plinius describes made during the later empire ; for the care of the
the great eruption of Vesuvius and the death of his emperor Tacitus to have them copied seems to
uncle, is addressed to Tacitus ; and for the pur- imply that without it these works might have been
pose of enabling him to state the facts in his his- forgotten. If they had been as popular as some other
torical writings. Among other contemporaries of works, copies would have been multiplied to satisfy
Tacitus were Quintilian, Julius Florus, Maternus, the demand. The first five books of the Annals
M. Aper, and Vipsanius Messala.
were found, at the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
The time of the death of Tacitus is unknown, tury, in the Abbey of Corvey in Westphalia, and
but we may perhaps infer that he survived Trajan, they were first published at Rome, by Philippus
who died A. D. 117. (Hist. i. ). ) Nothing is re- Beroaldus, in 1515.
corded of any children of his, though the emperor The treatise entitled De Moribus et Populis Ger-
Tacitus claimed a descent from the historian, and maniae treats of the Germanic nations, or of those
ordered his works to be placed in all (public) whom Tacitus comprehended under that name, and
libraries ; and ten copies to be made every year at whose limits he defines by the Rhine and the
the public expense, and deposited in the Archeia. Danube on the west and south, the Sarmatae and
(Vopiscus, Tacitus Iinp. c. 10. ) Sidonius A polli. Daci on the east, and on the north-west and north
naris mentions the historian as an ancestor of Po by the sea. It is of no value as a geographical
lemius, who was a prefect of Gaul in the fifth description ; the first few chapters contain as much
century.
of the geography of Germany as Tacitus knew.
The extant works of Tacitus are, the Life of Julius The main matter is the description of the political
Agricola, a treatise on the Germans, Annals, His- institutions, the religion, and the habits, of the
tories, and a Dialogue on the Causes of the Decline various tribes included under the denomination of
of Eloquence. It is not certain if Tacitus left any Germani. The sources of the author's information
orations: no fragments are extant. (Meyer, Ora- are not stated, but as there is no reason to suppose
torum Roman. Fragm. p. 604, 2d ed. )
that he had seen Germany, all that he could know
The life of Agricola was written after the death must have been derived from the Roman expeditions
of Domitian, A. V. 96, as we may probably con- east of the Rhine and north of the Danube, and
clude from the introduction, which was certainly from the accounts of traders, who went at least as
written after Trajan's accession. This life is justly far as the Roman eagles, and perhaps farther. The
admired as a specimen of biography, though it is value of the information contained in this treatise
sometimes very obscure ; but this is partly owing has often been discussed, and its credibility at-
to the corruption of the text. It is a monument | tacked ; but we may estimate its true character by
. ;
## p. 970 (#986) ############################################
970
TACITUS.
TACITUS.
1
i
1
3
observing the precision of the writer as to those convey the political instruction that is derived from
Germans who were best known to the Romans the history of a free people. Tacitus claims the
from being near the Rhine. That the hearsay merit of impartiality (Annal. i. 1), because he lived
accounts of more remote tribes must partake of the after the events that he describes ; but a writer
defects of all such evidence, is obvious; and we who is not a contemporary may have passions or
cannot easily tell whether Tacitus embellished that prejudices as well as one who is. In his Histories
which he heard obscurely told. But to consider (i. 1) he states that neither to Galba, nor to Otho,
the Germany as a fiction, is one of those absurdities nor to Vitellius, did he owe obligations, por had he
which need only be recorded, not refuted. Much received from them any wrong. From Vespasian
has been written as to the special end that Tacitus and his sons, Titus and Domitian, he had received
had in view in writing this work ; but this discus- favours ; yet, in the commencement of his life of
sion is merely an offshoot of ill-directed labour ; a Agricola, he has recorded the horrors of Domitian's
sample of literary intemperance. (Seneca, p. 782. ) reign ; nor can we suppose that in the lost books
The dialogue entitled De Oratoribus, if it is the of the Histories, he allowed the tyrant to escape
work of Tacitus, and it probably is, must be his without merited chastisement.
earliest work, for it was written in the sixth year The history of the empire presents the spectacle
of Vespasian (c. 17). The style is more easy than of a state without any political organisation, by
that of the Annals, more diffuse, less condensed; which the tyranny of a ruler could be checked
but there is no obvious difference between the when it became insupportable. The only means
style of this Dialogue and the Histories, nothing were assassination ; and the only power that either
60 striking as to make us contend for a different the emperor could use to maintain himself, or a
authorship. Besides this, it is nothing unusual for conspirator could employ to seize the power or
works of the same author which are written at dif- secure it for another, was the soldiery. From this
ferent times to vary greatly in style, especially if alternate subjection to imperial tyranny and military
they treat of different matters. The old MSS. at- | violence, there were no means of escape, nor does
tribute this Dialogue to Tacitus. One of the Tacitus ever give even the most distant hint that
speakers in the dialogue attributes the decline of the restoration of the republic was either possible
eloquence at Rome to the neglect of the arduous or desirable ; or that there were any means of
study of the old Roman orators, to which Cicero public security, except in the accident of an able
has left his testimony ; but another speaker, Ma- emperor to whom a revolution might give the su-
ternus, has assigned a direct and immediate cause, preme power. Yet this empire, a prey to the vices
which was the change in the political constitution. of its rulers, and to intestine commotion, had its
Oratory is not the product of any system of favourable side. The civilised world obeyed a re-
government, except one in which the popular ele volution which was accepted in Rome, and the
ment is strong.
provinces were at peace with one another under
The Annals of Tacitus, the work of a mature this despotic yoke. France did not invade Italy
age, contain the chief events of the period which nor Spain ; Greece was not invaded by barbarians
they embrace, arranged under their several years from the north ; Asia Minor and Syria were
(Annal. iv. 71). There seems no peculiar pro- protected from the worse than Roman despotism,
priety in giving the name of Annales to this work, the despotism of Asia ; and Egypt and the north
simply because the events are arranged in the order of Africa enjoyed protection against invaders, even
of time. The work of Livy may just as well be though they sometimes felt the rapacity of a go-
called Annals. In the Annals of Tacitus the
The political condition of the Roman em-
Princeps or Emperor is the centre about which pire under the Caesars is a peculiar phase of Euro-
events are grouped, a mode of treating history pean history. Tacitus has furnished some materials
which cannot be entirely thrown aside in a mo- for it ; but his method excluded a large and compre-
narchical system, but which in feeble hands merges hensive view of the period which is comprised within
the history of a people in the personality of their bis Annals. The treatment in the Histories has a
ruler. Thus in Tacitus, the personal history of wider range. The general review of the condition
Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero, fill up a large space. of the empire at the time of Nero's death is a rapid,
Yet the most important public events, both in but comprehensive sketch (i. 1, &c. ).
Italy and the provinces, are not omitted, though The moral dignity of Tacitus is impressed upon
every thing is treated as subordinate to the exhi- his works ; the consciousness of a love of truth,
bition of imperial power. The Histories which of the integrity of his purpose.
His great power
were written before the Annals, are in a more is in the knowledge of the human mind, his insight
diffuse style, and the treatment of the extant part into the motives of human conduct ; and he found
is different from that of the Annals. Tacitus wrote materials for this study in the history of the em-
the Histories as a contemporary ; the Annals as perors, and particularly Tiberius, the arch-hypocrite,
not a contemporary. They are two distinct works, and perhaps balf madman. We know men's in-
not parts of one ; which is clearly shown by the tellectual powers, because they seek to display
very different proportions of the two works : the them: their moral character is veiled under silence
first four books of the Histories comprise about a and reserve, which are sometimes diffidence, but
year, and the first four books of the Annals com- more frequently dissimulation. But dissimulation
prise fourteen years.
alone is not a sufficient cloke ; it merely seeks to
It was his purpose in the Annals to show the hide and cover, and, as the attempt to conceal ex-
general condition of the empire of which Rome cites suspicion, it is necessary to divert the vigilance
was the centre, and the emperor the representative of this active inquisitor. The dissembler, therefore,
not only to show the course of events, but also their assumes the garb of goodness ; and thus he is hy-
anses (Hist. i. 4); for this remark, which is made pocrite complete. The hypocrite is a better citizen
in the Histories, may be applied also to the Annals. than the shameless man, because by his hypocrisy
But the history of despotism in any form does not he acknowledges the supremacy of goodness, while
vernor.
;
## p. 971 (#987) ############################################
TACITUS.
971
TACITUS.
the shameless man rebels against it. The hypothe great lawyers of Rome were among the best
critical is the common character, or society could men and the best citizens that she produced. As
not exist. In the Annals of Tacitus we have all to the mass of the people we learn little from Ta-
characters ; but the hypocritical prevails in a de- citus: they have only become nintter for history in
spotic government and a state of loose positive recent days. The superficial suppose, that when
morality. There may be great immorality and also rulers are vicious the people are 60 too ; but the
great shamelessness, but then society is near its dis- mass of the people in all ages are the most virtuous,
solution. Under the empire there was fear, for if not for other reasons, they are so because labour
the government was despotic ; but there was not is the condition of their existence. The Satires of
universal shamelessness, at least under Tiberius: Juvenal touch the wealthy and the great, whose
there was an outward respect paid to virtue. The vices are the result of idleness and the command
reign of Tiberius was the reign of hypocrisy in a! l of money.
its forms, and the emperor himself was the great Tacitus had not the belief in a moral govern-
adept in the science ; affectation in Tiberius of un- ment of the world which Aurelius had ; or if he
willingness to exerciso power, a lesson that he had this belief, he has not expressed it distinctly.
learned from Augustus, and a show of regard to He loved virtue, he abhorred vice ; but he has not
decency ; fattery and servility on the part of the shown that the constitution of things has an order
great, sometimes under the form of freedom of impressed upon it by the law of its existence, which
speech. To penetrate such a cloud of deception, implies a law-giver. His theology looks something
we must attend even to the most insignificant ex- like the Epicurean, as exhibited by Lucretius. A
ternal signs; for a man's nature will show itself, be belief in existence independent of a corporeal form,
he ever so cautious and cunning. In detecting these of a life after death, is rather a hope with him than
slight indications of character lies the great power a conviction. (Compare Agricold, c. 46, Annals,
of Tacitus: he penetrates to the hidden thoughts iii. 18, vi. 22, and the ambiguous or corrupt passage,
through the smallest avenue. But the possession Hist. i. 4. )
of such a power inplies soniething of a suspicious The style of Tacitus is peculiar, though it bears
temper, and also cherishes it; and thus Tacitus some resemblance to Sallust. In the Annals it is
sometimes discovers a hidden cause, where an open concise, vigorous, and pregnant with meaning ; la-
one seems to offer a sufficient explanation. Tacitus boured, but elaborated with art, and stripped of
employed this power in the history of Tiberius, every superfluity. A single word sometimes gives
Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Suetonius tells us effect to a sentence, and if the meaning of the word
of a man's vices simply and barely ; Tacitus dis- is missed, the sense of the writer is not reached.
covers what a man tries to conceal. His Annals He leaves something for the reader to fill up, and
are filled with dramatic scenes and striking cata- does not overpower him with words. The words
strophes. He laboured to produce effect by the that he does use are all intended to have a mean-
exhibition of great personages on the stage ; but ing. Such a work is probably the result of many
this is not the business of an historian. The real transcriptions by the author ; if it was produced at
matter of history is a whole people ; and their ac- once in its present form, the author must have
tivity or suffering, mainly as affected by systems practised himself till he could write in no other
of government, is that which the historian has to way. Those who have studied Tacitus much, end
contemplate. This is not the method of Tacitus in with admiring a form of expression which at first
his Annals ; his treatment is directly biographical, is harsh and almost repulsive. One might con-
only indirectly political. His method is inferior to jecture that Tacitus, when he wrote his Annals,
that of Thucydides, and even of Polybius, but it is had by much labour acquired the art of writing
a method almost necessitated by the existence of with difficulty.
political power in the hands of an individual, and The materials which Tacitus had for his his.
modern historians, except within the present cen- torical writings were abundant ; public docu-
tury, have generally followed in the same track ments; memoirs, as those of Agrippina ; histories,
from the same cause.
as those of Fabius Rusticus and Vipsanius Mes-
Tacitus knew nothing of Christianity, which, sala ; the Fasti, Orationes Principum, and the
says Montaigne, was his misfortune, not his fault. Acta of the Senate ; the conversation of his friends,
His practical morality was the Stoical, the only and his own experience. It is not his practice to
one that could give consolation in the age in which give authorities textually, a method which adds to
he lived. The highest example of Stoical morality the value of a history, but impairs its effect simply
among the Romans is the emperor Aurelius, whose as a work of art. He who would erect an historical
golden book is the noblest monument that a Roman monument to his own fame will follow the method
has left behind him. Great and good men were of Tacitus, compress his own researches into a par-
not wanting under the worst emperors, and Tacitus row compass, and give them a form which is
has immortalised their names. Germanicus Caesar, stamped with the individuality of the author.
a humane man, and his intrepid wife, lived under Time will confer on him the authority which the
Tiberius ; Corbulo, an honest and able soldier, fell rigid critic only allows to real evidence. That
a victim to his fidelity to Nero. The memory of Tacitus, in his Annals, purposely omitted every
Agricola, and his virtues, greater than his talents, thing that could impair the effect of his work as a
has been perpetuated by the affection of his son-in- composition, is evident. The Annals are not longer
law ; and his prediction that Agricola will survive than an epitome would be of a more diffuse history;
to future generations is accomplished. Thrasea but they differ altogether from those worthless
Paetus and Helvidius Priscus were models of virtue; literary labours. In the Annals Tacitus is generally
and Arria, the wife of Paetus, remembered the vir- brief and rapid in his sketches ; but he is some-
tues of her mother. The jurists of Rome under the times minute, and almost tedious, when he comes
empire never forgot the bright example of the to work out a dramatic scene. Nor does he alto-
Scaevolae of the republic : strange, though true, I gether neglect his rhetorical art when he has au
;
ܪ
;
:
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TACONIDES.
TALEIDES.
.
:
S.
opportunity for displaying it : a Roman historian | Vulci, and published by Gerhard, who gives the
could never forget that a Roman was an orator. name in the first of the above forms. (Rapporl.
The condensed style of Tacitus sometimes makes Vol. cont. p. 180. ) Raoul-Rochette, however, statis
him obscure, but it is a kind of obscurity that is that he has been informed by Gerhard himself that
dispelled by careful reading. Yet a man must the true reading of the name is SAKONIAES.
read carefully and often, in order to understand (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 60, 20
him; and we cannot suppose that Tacitus was ever ed. )
[P.
Chron. Euseb. ad Olymp. clxxxiv. 2, comp. Ep. ad sian empire, and he therefore resolved to obtain
Laelam ; Jobann. Sarisb. viii. 14. ) [W. ] the aid of Greek mercenaries. He prevailed upon
Chabrias, the Athenian, to take the command of
his fleet, and sent an embassy to Sparta, soli-
T.
citing Agesilnus to undertake the supreme com-
mand of all his forces. The Spartan government
TA'BALUS (Tábados), a Persian, whom Cyrus, gave their consent, and Agesilaus readily complied
after he had taken Sardis, left there in command with the request; for, although he was now up-
of the garrison. Here Tabalus was soon after bewards of eighty, his vigour of mind and body
bieged by the rebel Pactyas, but was delivered by remained unimpaired, and he was anxious to escape
Mazares (Herod. i. 153, &c. ) (Mazares; Pac- from the control to which a Spartan king was
TYAS. )
(E. E. ) subject at home. Upon his arrival in Egypt, Age-
TABUS (Tábos), a hero in Lydia, from whom silaus was greatly disappointed in having only the
the town of Tabae in Lydia was believed to have command of the mercenaries entrusted to him,
derived its name. (Steph. Byz. s. v. Tába. . ) (L. S. ] Tachos reserving to himself the supreme command
TACFARINAS, a Numidian, who gave some of all his forces, both by sea and land. Neverthe-
trouble to the Romans in the reign of Tiberius. less he submitted to this affront, and accompanied
He had originally served among the auxiliary the Egyptian monarch into Syria, in B. c. 361,
troops in the Roman army, but he deserted ; and, along with Chabrias, and, according to Plutarch,
having collected a body of freebooters, among endured for some time in patience the insolence
whom he gradually introduced the Roman disci- and arrogance of Tachos. Meanwhile Nectanabis,
pline, he became at length the acknowledged leader probably the nephew of Tachos, and a certain
of the Musulamii, a powerful people in the interior Mendesian, disputed with Tachos for the crown.
of ' Numidia, bordering on Mauritania. Having Agesilaus forthwith espoused the cause of Necta
been joined by the Mauri under the command of nabis ; and Tachos, thus deserted by his own sub-
Mazippa, he ventured, in A. D. 18, to measure bis jects as well as by his mercenaries, took refuge in
strength with Furius Camillus, the proconsul of Sidon, and from thence fled to the Persian mon-
Africa, but was defeated with considerable loss. arch, by whom he was favourably received, and
In A. D. 20 Tacfarinas again attacked the Roman at whose court he died. By the help of Agesilaus,
province. He carried his devastations far and Nectanabis defeated the other competitor, who had
wide, and defeated a Roman cohort which was collected a large army, and became firmly esta-
stationed not far from the river Pagyda (perhaps blished on the throne. This is the account of
the modern Abeadh), but, after meeting with con- Xenophon and Plutarch, and is in accordance with
siderable success, he was defeated in his turn by incidental notices in other writers. The statement
Apronius, who had succeeded Camillus, and was of Diodorus, that Tachos returned from Persia, and
compelled to retire into the deserts. Nothing was again placed upon the throne by Agesilaus,
daunted by these defeats, Tacfarinas found means is undoubtedly an error. (Diod. xv. 92, 93, Xen.
to collect a fresh army, and in A. D. 22 had the Ages. ii. $S 23——31 ; Plut. Ages. 36—40; Corn.
impudence to send ambassadors to Tiberius, soli- Nep. Chabr. 2, 3, Ages. 8 ; Polyaen. ii. 1. $ 22;
citing abodes for himself and his troops, and me- Ath. xiv. p. 616, d. e. ; Aelian, V. H. v. 1. )
nacing the emperor, in case of refusal, with per- TA'CITA, “ the silent," one of the Camenae,
petual war. Tiberius was indignant at receiving whose worship was believed to have been intro-
such a message from a deserter and a robber, and duced at Rome by Numa. He is, moreover, said
gave strict injunctions to Junius Blaesus, who had
to have particularly recommended the worship of
been appointed governor of Africa, to use every Tacita, as the most important among the Camenae.
effort to obtain possession of the person of Tacfa- (Plut. Numa, 8. )
(L. S. )
rinas. In this, however, Blaesus was unable to TACITUS, M. CLAU'DIUS, Roman emperor
succeed, for although he defeated Tacfarinas, and from the 25th September, a. 1. 275, until April,
took his brother prisoner, Tacfarinas himself suc- A. D. 276. After the death of Aurelian, the army
ceeded in making his escape. At length, in A. D. in Thrace, filled with remorse on account of their
24, the Romans were delivered from this trouble fatal mistake [AURELIANUS), and eager to testify
some foe. In this year Tacfarinas, having again their penitence, instead of proclaiming a new
collected a large force, attacked the Roman pro emperor with tumultuous baste, despatched a sub-
vince, but P. Dolabella, more fortunate than his missive letter to the senate, requesting that as-
predecessors in the government, not only defeated sembly to nominate out of their own body a
but slew Tacfarinas in battle. Dolabella was as- successor to the vacant throne, and pledging
sisted in this campaign by Ptolemaeus, king of themselves to ratify the choice. The senate at
Mauritania, the son and successor of Juba 11. , first received this most unlooked-for communica-
who was rewarded by Tiberius, after the ancient tion with mingled surprise and distrust, and,
fashion, with the presents of a toga picta and fearing to take advantage of what might prove a
sceptre, as a sign of the friendship of the Roman very transient ebullition of feeling, courteously
people. (Tac. Ann. il. 52, iii. 20, 21, 73, 74, iv. declined to accede to the proposal. At the same
23-26. )
time, expressing their full confidence in the discre
TACHOS (Taxás), king of Egypt, succeeded tion of the soldiers, they referred the election to
Acoris, and maintained the independence of his the voice of the legions. The troops, however,
3 94
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068
TACITUS.
TACITUS.
1
CETTE
MC
闻
again urged the fathers to yield to their wishes ; | vastations across the peninsula to the confines of
and although again met with the same reply, still Cilicia
persisted in their original solicitation. This ex- But the advanced years and failing strength of
traordinary contest continued for upwards of six Tacitus were unable any longer to support the
months, “an amazing period,” says Gibbon, “ of cares and toils so suddenly imposed upon him, and
tranquil anarchy, during which the Roman world his anxieties were still farther increased by the
remained without a sovereign, without an usurper, mutinous spirit of the army, which soon ceased to
and without sedition. "
respect a leader whose bodily and mental energies
Such a state of things could not however long were fast hurrying to decay. After a short struggle,
endure. The barbarians on the frontiers, who he sunk under the attack of a fever, either at
had been quelled and daunted by the skill and Tarsus or at Tyane, about the 9th of April, A. D.
daring valour of Aurelian, were not slow to take 276 ; according Victor, exactly two hundred
advantage of the opportunity presented by this days after his accession. By one account, he fell
strange position of public affairs. The Germans a victim to the anger of the soldiers ; but the
had already crossed the Rhine: Persia, Syria, weight of evidence tends to prove that they were
Africa, Illyria and Egypt were in commotion, not the direct instruments, at least, of his de-
when the senate, at length convinced that the struction.
soldiers were sincere, joyfully prepared to dis- Our best authority is the biography of Vopiscus,
charge a duty so unexpectedly devolved upon who, if not actually an eyewitness of what he re-
them. At a meeting convoked on the 25th of counts, had an opportunity of consulting the rich
September, A. D. 275, by the consul Velius Corni- collection of state papers stored up in the Ulpian
ficius Gordianus, all with one voice declared that Library; and from these he gives several remark-
no one could be found so worthy of the throne as able extracts. He refers also to a more complete
M. Claudius Tacitus, an aged consular, a native of life of Tacitus by a certain Suetonius Optatianus,
Interamna (Vopisc. Florian. 2), who claimed de- but of this no fragment remains. See likewise
scent from the great historian whose name he bore, Eutrop. ix. 10; Aurel. Vict. de Caes. xxxvi. Epit.
who was celebrated for his devotion to literature, xxxvi. ; Zonar. xii. 28, who says that he was
for his vast wealth, for his pure and upright seventy-five years old, and in Campania, when
character, and who stood first on the roll. The proclaimed emperor.
(W. R. ]
real or feigned earnestness with which he declined
the proffered honour, on account of his advanced
age and infirmities, was encountered by the re-
iterated acclamations of his brethren, who over-
whelmed him with arguments and precedents,
until at length, yielding to their importunate zeal,
he consented to proceed to the Campus Martius,
and there received the greetings of the people, and
the praetorians assembled to do homage to their
new ruler. Quitting the city, he repaired to the
great army still quartered in Thrace, by whom, on
their being promised the arrears of pay and the
customary donative, he was favourably received.
One of his first acts was to seek out and put to
death all who had been concerned in the murder TA'CITUS, C. CORNE'LIUS, the historian.
of his predecessor, whose character he held in high The time and place of the birth of Tacitus are un-
honour, commanding statues of gold and silver to known. He was nearly of the same age as the
be erected to his memory in the most frequented younger Plinius (Plin. Ep. vii. 20) who was born
thorough fares of the metropolis. He likewise di- about A. D. 61 (C. PLINIUS CAECILIUS SECUNDUS),
rected his attention to the improvement of public but a little older. His gentile name is not sufficient
morals by the enactment of various sumptuary evidence that he belonged to the Cornelia Gens ;
laws regulating the amusements, luxurious indul- nor is there proof of his having been born at
gences, and dress of the citizens, he himself setting Interamna (Terni), as it is sometimes affirmed.
an example to all around, by the abstemiousness, Some facts relative to his biography may be col-
simplicity, and frugality of his own habits. His lected from his own writings and from the letters
great object was to revive the authority of the of his friend, the younger Plinius.
senate, which now for a brief period asserted and Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman eques, is mentioned
maintained a semblance of its ancient dignity, and by Plinius (H. N. vii. 16, note, ed. Hardouin)
the private letters preserved by Vopiscus (Florian, as a procurator in Gallia Belgica Plinius died
6) exhibit an amusing picture of the sacrifices and A. D. 79, and the procurator cannot have been the
banquets by which the senators manifested their historian ; but he may have been his father. In
exultation at the prospect opening up before them an inscription of doubtful authority he is named
of a complete restoration of their ancient privileges. Cornelius Verus Tacitus. Tacitus was first pro-
The only military achievement of this reign was moted by the emperor Vespasian (Hist. i. 1), and
the defeat and expulsion from Asia Minor of a he received other favours from his sons Titus and
party of Goths, natives of the shores of the sea of Domitian. C. Julius Agricola, who was consul
Asof, who having been invited by Aurelian to co- A. D. 77, betrothed his daughter to Tacitus in that
operate in his meditated invasion of the East, and year, but the marriage did not take place until the
having been disappointed of their promised reward following year. In the reign of Domitian, and in
by the death of that prince, had turned their arms A. D. 88, Tacitus was praetor, and he assisted as
against the peaceful provinces on the southern one of the quindecemviri at the solemnity of the
coasts of the Euxine, and had carried their de Ludi Seculares which were celebrated in that year,
COOL Qorca
寫出IS
080
COIN OP M. CLAUDIUS TACITUS.
-
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TACITUS.
969
TACITUS.
SI
the fourteenth consulship of Domitian. (Annal. to the memory of a good man and an able com-
xi. 11. )
mander and administrator, by an affectionate son-
Agricola died at Rome A. D. 93, but neither in-law, who has portrayed in his peculiar manner and
Tacitus nor the daughter of Agricola was then with many masterly touches, the virtues of one of
with him. It is not known where Tacitus was the most illustrious of the Romans. To Englishmen
during the last illness of Agricola, for the assump. this life is peculiarly interesting, as Britain was the
tion that he ever visited either Britain or Germany scene of Agricola's great exploits, who carried the
cannot be proved. He appears to say that he was Roman eagles even to the base of the Grampian
himself a witness of some of the atrocities of Domi- mountains. It was during his invasion of Cale-
tian ( Agricola, c. 45). In the reign of Nerva, A. D. 97, donia that Britain was first circumnavigated by a
Tacitus was appointed consul suffectus, in the place Roman feet. (Agricola, c. 38.
) The Agricola is
of T. Virginius Rufus, who bad died in that year. not contained in the earliest edition of Tacitus ; and
Tacitus pronounced the funeral oration of Rufus, it was first edited by Putcolanus.
" and it was," says Plinius, “ the completion of the The llistoriae were written after the death of
felicity of Rufus to have his panegyric pronounced Nerva, a, n. 98, and before the Annales. They
by so eloquent a man. " (Plin. Ep. ii. 1. ) Tacitus comprehended the period from the second consul-
had attained oratorical distinction when Plinius ship of Galba, A. D. 68, to the death of Domitian,
was commencing his career. He and Tacitus were and the author designed to add the reigns of
appointed in the reign of Nerva (A. D. 99) to con- Nerva and Trajan (Hist. i. 1). The first four books
duct the prosecution of Marius, proconsul of Africa, alone are extant in a complete form, and they
who had grossly misconducted himself in his pro- comprehend only the events of about one year.
vince. . Salvius Liberalis, a man of great acuteness The fifth book is imperfect, and goes no further
and eloquence, was one of the advocates of Marius. than the commencement of the siege of Jerusalem
Tacitus made a most eloquent and dignified reply by Titus, and the war of Civilis in Germany. It
to Liberalis.
is not known how many books of the Histories
Tacitus and Plinius were most intimate friends. there were, but it must have been a large work, if
In the collection of the letters of Plinius, there are it was all written on the same scale as the first
eleven letters addressed to Tacitus. In a letter to five books.
his friend Maximus (ix. 23), Plinius shows that The Annales commence with the death of Au-
he considered his friendship with Tacitus a great gustus, A. D. 14, and comprise the period to the
distinction, and he tells the following anecdote : - death of Nero, A. D. 68, a space of four and fifty
On one occasion, when Tacitus was a spectator at years. The greater part of the fifth book is lost;
the Ludi Circenses, he fell into conversation with and also the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, the be-
a Roman eques, who, after they had discoursed on ginning of the eleventh, and the end of the six-
various literary subjects for some time, asked teenth, which is the last book. These lost parts
Tacitus if he was an Italian a provincial; to which comprised the whole of Caligula's reign, the first
Tacitus replied, “You are acquainted with me, five years of Claudius, and the two last of Nero.
and by my pursuits. " “ Are you,” rejoined the The imperfections of the Annals and the Histories
stranger, « Tacitus or Plinius ? ” The sixteenth are probably owing to the few copies which were
letter of the sixth book, in which Plinius describes made during the later empire ; for the care of the
the great eruption of Vesuvius and the death of his emperor Tacitus to have them copied seems to
uncle, is addressed to Tacitus ; and for the pur- imply that without it these works might have been
pose of enabling him to state the facts in his his- forgotten. If they had been as popular as some other
torical writings. Among other contemporaries of works, copies would have been multiplied to satisfy
Tacitus were Quintilian, Julius Florus, Maternus, the demand. The first five books of the Annals
M. Aper, and Vipsanius Messala.
were found, at the beginning of the sixteenth cen-
The time of the death of Tacitus is unknown, tury, in the Abbey of Corvey in Westphalia, and
but we may perhaps infer that he survived Trajan, they were first published at Rome, by Philippus
who died A. D. 117. (Hist. i. ). ) Nothing is re- Beroaldus, in 1515.
corded of any children of his, though the emperor The treatise entitled De Moribus et Populis Ger-
Tacitus claimed a descent from the historian, and maniae treats of the Germanic nations, or of those
ordered his works to be placed in all (public) whom Tacitus comprehended under that name, and
libraries ; and ten copies to be made every year at whose limits he defines by the Rhine and the
the public expense, and deposited in the Archeia. Danube on the west and south, the Sarmatae and
(Vopiscus, Tacitus Iinp. c. 10. ) Sidonius A polli. Daci on the east, and on the north-west and north
naris mentions the historian as an ancestor of Po by the sea. It is of no value as a geographical
lemius, who was a prefect of Gaul in the fifth description ; the first few chapters contain as much
century.
of the geography of Germany as Tacitus knew.
The extant works of Tacitus are, the Life of Julius The main matter is the description of the political
Agricola, a treatise on the Germans, Annals, His- institutions, the religion, and the habits, of the
tories, and a Dialogue on the Causes of the Decline various tribes included under the denomination of
of Eloquence. It is not certain if Tacitus left any Germani. The sources of the author's information
orations: no fragments are extant. (Meyer, Ora- are not stated, but as there is no reason to suppose
torum Roman. Fragm. p. 604, 2d ed. )
that he had seen Germany, all that he could know
The life of Agricola was written after the death must have been derived from the Roman expeditions
of Domitian, A. V. 96, as we may probably con- east of the Rhine and north of the Danube, and
clude from the introduction, which was certainly from the accounts of traders, who went at least as
written after Trajan's accession. This life is justly far as the Roman eagles, and perhaps farther. The
admired as a specimen of biography, though it is value of the information contained in this treatise
sometimes very obscure ; but this is partly owing has often been discussed, and its credibility at-
to the corruption of the text. It is a monument | tacked ; but we may estimate its true character by
. ;
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TACITUS.
TACITUS.
1
i
1
3
observing the precision of the writer as to those convey the political instruction that is derived from
Germans who were best known to the Romans the history of a free people. Tacitus claims the
from being near the Rhine. That the hearsay merit of impartiality (Annal. i. 1), because he lived
accounts of more remote tribes must partake of the after the events that he describes ; but a writer
defects of all such evidence, is obvious; and we who is not a contemporary may have passions or
cannot easily tell whether Tacitus embellished that prejudices as well as one who is. In his Histories
which he heard obscurely told. But to consider (i. 1) he states that neither to Galba, nor to Otho,
the Germany as a fiction, is one of those absurdities nor to Vitellius, did he owe obligations, por had he
which need only be recorded, not refuted. Much received from them any wrong. From Vespasian
has been written as to the special end that Tacitus and his sons, Titus and Domitian, he had received
had in view in writing this work ; but this discus- favours ; yet, in the commencement of his life of
sion is merely an offshoot of ill-directed labour ; a Agricola, he has recorded the horrors of Domitian's
sample of literary intemperance. (Seneca, p. 782. ) reign ; nor can we suppose that in the lost books
The dialogue entitled De Oratoribus, if it is the of the Histories, he allowed the tyrant to escape
work of Tacitus, and it probably is, must be his without merited chastisement.
earliest work, for it was written in the sixth year The history of the empire presents the spectacle
of Vespasian (c. 17). The style is more easy than of a state without any political organisation, by
that of the Annals, more diffuse, less condensed; which the tyranny of a ruler could be checked
but there is no obvious difference between the when it became insupportable. The only means
style of this Dialogue and the Histories, nothing were assassination ; and the only power that either
60 striking as to make us contend for a different the emperor could use to maintain himself, or a
authorship. Besides this, it is nothing unusual for conspirator could employ to seize the power or
works of the same author which are written at dif- secure it for another, was the soldiery. From this
ferent times to vary greatly in style, especially if alternate subjection to imperial tyranny and military
they treat of different matters. The old MSS. at- | violence, there were no means of escape, nor does
tribute this Dialogue to Tacitus. One of the Tacitus ever give even the most distant hint that
speakers in the dialogue attributes the decline of the restoration of the republic was either possible
eloquence at Rome to the neglect of the arduous or desirable ; or that there were any means of
study of the old Roman orators, to which Cicero public security, except in the accident of an able
has left his testimony ; but another speaker, Ma- emperor to whom a revolution might give the su-
ternus, has assigned a direct and immediate cause, preme power. Yet this empire, a prey to the vices
which was the change in the political constitution. of its rulers, and to intestine commotion, had its
Oratory is not the product of any system of favourable side. The civilised world obeyed a re-
government, except one in which the popular ele volution which was accepted in Rome, and the
ment is strong.
provinces were at peace with one another under
The Annals of Tacitus, the work of a mature this despotic yoke. France did not invade Italy
age, contain the chief events of the period which nor Spain ; Greece was not invaded by barbarians
they embrace, arranged under their several years from the north ; Asia Minor and Syria were
(Annal. iv. 71). There seems no peculiar pro- protected from the worse than Roman despotism,
priety in giving the name of Annales to this work, the despotism of Asia ; and Egypt and the north
simply because the events are arranged in the order of Africa enjoyed protection against invaders, even
of time. The work of Livy may just as well be though they sometimes felt the rapacity of a go-
called Annals. In the Annals of Tacitus the
The political condition of the Roman em-
Princeps or Emperor is the centre about which pire under the Caesars is a peculiar phase of Euro-
events are grouped, a mode of treating history pean history. Tacitus has furnished some materials
which cannot be entirely thrown aside in a mo- for it ; but his method excluded a large and compre-
narchical system, but which in feeble hands merges hensive view of the period which is comprised within
the history of a people in the personality of their bis Annals. The treatment in the Histories has a
ruler. Thus in Tacitus, the personal history of wider range. The general review of the condition
Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero, fill up a large space. of the empire at the time of Nero's death is a rapid,
Yet the most important public events, both in but comprehensive sketch (i. 1, &c. ).
Italy and the provinces, are not omitted, though The moral dignity of Tacitus is impressed upon
every thing is treated as subordinate to the exhi- his works ; the consciousness of a love of truth,
bition of imperial power. The Histories which of the integrity of his purpose.
His great power
were written before the Annals, are in a more is in the knowledge of the human mind, his insight
diffuse style, and the treatment of the extant part into the motives of human conduct ; and he found
is different from that of the Annals. Tacitus wrote materials for this study in the history of the em-
the Histories as a contemporary ; the Annals as perors, and particularly Tiberius, the arch-hypocrite,
not a contemporary. They are two distinct works, and perhaps balf madman. We know men's in-
not parts of one ; which is clearly shown by the tellectual powers, because they seek to display
very different proportions of the two works : the them: their moral character is veiled under silence
first four books of the Histories comprise about a and reserve, which are sometimes diffidence, but
year, and the first four books of the Annals com- more frequently dissimulation. But dissimulation
prise fourteen years.
alone is not a sufficient cloke ; it merely seeks to
It was his purpose in the Annals to show the hide and cover, and, as the attempt to conceal ex-
general condition of the empire of which Rome cites suspicion, it is necessary to divert the vigilance
was the centre, and the emperor the representative of this active inquisitor. The dissembler, therefore,
not only to show the course of events, but also their assumes the garb of goodness ; and thus he is hy-
anses (Hist. i. 4); for this remark, which is made pocrite complete. The hypocrite is a better citizen
in the Histories, may be applied also to the Annals. than the shameless man, because by his hypocrisy
But the history of despotism in any form does not he acknowledges the supremacy of goodness, while
vernor.
;
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TACITUS.
971
TACITUS.
the shameless man rebels against it. The hypothe great lawyers of Rome were among the best
critical is the common character, or society could men and the best citizens that she produced. As
not exist. In the Annals of Tacitus we have all to the mass of the people we learn little from Ta-
characters ; but the hypocritical prevails in a de- citus: they have only become nintter for history in
spotic government and a state of loose positive recent days. The superficial suppose, that when
morality. There may be great immorality and also rulers are vicious the people are 60 too ; but the
great shamelessness, but then society is near its dis- mass of the people in all ages are the most virtuous,
solution. Under the empire there was fear, for if not for other reasons, they are so because labour
the government was despotic ; but there was not is the condition of their existence. The Satires of
universal shamelessness, at least under Tiberius: Juvenal touch the wealthy and the great, whose
there was an outward respect paid to virtue. The vices are the result of idleness and the command
reign of Tiberius was the reign of hypocrisy in a! l of money.
its forms, and the emperor himself was the great Tacitus had not the belief in a moral govern-
adept in the science ; affectation in Tiberius of un- ment of the world which Aurelius had ; or if he
willingness to exerciso power, a lesson that he had this belief, he has not expressed it distinctly.
learned from Augustus, and a show of regard to He loved virtue, he abhorred vice ; but he has not
decency ; fattery and servility on the part of the shown that the constitution of things has an order
great, sometimes under the form of freedom of impressed upon it by the law of its existence, which
speech. To penetrate such a cloud of deception, implies a law-giver. His theology looks something
we must attend even to the most insignificant ex- like the Epicurean, as exhibited by Lucretius. A
ternal signs; for a man's nature will show itself, be belief in existence independent of a corporeal form,
he ever so cautious and cunning. In detecting these of a life after death, is rather a hope with him than
slight indications of character lies the great power a conviction. (Compare Agricold, c. 46, Annals,
of Tacitus: he penetrates to the hidden thoughts iii. 18, vi. 22, and the ambiguous or corrupt passage,
through the smallest avenue. But the possession Hist. i. 4. )
of such a power inplies soniething of a suspicious The style of Tacitus is peculiar, though it bears
temper, and also cherishes it; and thus Tacitus some resemblance to Sallust. In the Annals it is
sometimes discovers a hidden cause, where an open concise, vigorous, and pregnant with meaning ; la-
one seems to offer a sufficient explanation. Tacitus boured, but elaborated with art, and stripped of
employed this power in the history of Tiberius, every superfluity. A single word sometimes gives
Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. Suetonius tells us effect to a sentence, and if the meaning of the word
of a man's vices simply and barely ; Tacitus dis- is missed, the sense of the writer is not reached.
covers what a man tries to conceal. His Annals He leaves something for the reader to fill up, and
are filled with dramatic scenes and striking cata- does not overpower him with words. The words
strophes. He laboured to produce effect by the that he does use are all intended to have a mean-
exhibition of great personages on the stage ; but ing. Such a work is probably the result of many
this is not the business of an historian. The real transcriptions by the author ; if it was produced at
matter of history is a whole people ; and their ac- once in its present form, the author must have
tivity or suffering, mainly as affected by systems practised himself till he could write in no other
of government, is that which the historian has to way. Those who have studied Tacitus much, end
contemplate. This is not the method of Tacitus in with admiring a form of expression which at first
his Annals ; his treatment is directly biographical, is harsh and almost repulsive. One might con-
only indirectly political. His method is inferior to jecture that Tacitus, when he wrote his Annals,
that of Thucydides, and even of Polybius, but it is had by much labour acquired the art of writing
a method almost necessitated by the existence of with difficulty.
political power in the hands of an individual, and The materials which Tacitus had for his his.
modern historians, except within the present cen- torical writings were abundant ; public docu-
tury, have generally followed in the same track ments; memoirs, as those of Agrippina ; histories,
from the same cause.
as those of Fabius Rusticus and Vipsanius Mes-
Tacitus knew nothing of Christianity, which, sala ; the Fasti, Orationes Principum, and the
says Montaigne, was his misfortune, not his fault. Acta of the Senate ; the conversation of his friends,
His practical morality was the Stoical, the only and his own experience. It is not his practice to
one that could give consolation in the age in which give authorities textually, a method which adds to
he lived. The highest example of Stoical morality the value of a history, but impairs its effect simply
among the Romans is the emperor Aurelius, whose as a work of art. He who would erect an historical
golden book is the noblest monument that a Roman monument to his own fame will follow the method
has left behind him. Great and good men were of Tacitus, compress his own researches into a par-
not wanting under the worst emperors, and Tacitus row compass, and give them a form which is
has immortalised their names. Germanicus Caesar, stamped with the individuality of the author.
a humane man, and his intrepid wife, lived under Time will confer on him the authority which the
Tiberius ; Corbulo, an honest and able soldier, fell rigid critic only allows to real evidence. That
a victim to his fidelity to Nero. The memory of Tacitus, in his Annals, purposely omitted every
Agricola, and his virtues, greater than his talents, thing that could impair the effect of his work as a
has been perpetuated by the affection of his son-in- composition, is evident. The Annals are not longer
law ; and his prediction that Agricola will survive than an epitome would be of a more diffuse history;
to future generations is accomplished. Thrasea but they differ altogether from those worthless
Paetus and Helvidius Priscus were models of virtue; literary labours. In the Annals Tacitus is generally
and Arria, the wife of Paetus, remembered the vir- brief and rapid in his sketches ; but he is some-
tues of her mother. The jurists of Rome under the times minute, and almost tedious, when he comes
empire never forgot the bright example of the to work out a dramatic scene. Nor does he alto-
Scaevolae of the republic : strange, though true, I gether neglect his rhetorical art when he has au
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TACONIDES.
TALEIDES.
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:
S.
opportunity for displaying it : a Roman historian | Vulci, and published by Gerhard, who gives the
could never forget that a Roman was an orator. name in the first of the above forms. (Rapporl.
The condensed style of Tacitus sometimes makes Vol. cont. p. 180. ) Raoul-Rochette, however, statis
him obscure, but it is a kind of obscurity that is that he has been informed by Gerhard himself that
dispelled by careful reading. Yet a man must the true reading of the name is SAKONIAES.
read carefully and often, in order to understand (R. Rochette, Lettre à M. Schorn, p. 60, 20
him; and we cannot suppose that Tacitus was ever ed. )
[P.
