The Annals History Of The Julio Claudian Emperors

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Tacitus was born in 56ad and died in 115ad. His book the Annals is a history of the Julio Claudian emperors. The book starts with Augustus and ends with Nero. The way that Tacitus describes Tiberius 's reign is rather different from how that emperor is remembered. When people think of Tiberius they usually think of an old man on Capri ignoring the needs of the empire while enjoying himself with perverse entertainment. The way Tacitus describes his reign it 's almost as if he is describing a completely different person.
When writing the Annals Tacitus was attempting to be as objective as possible. He even said that "[his] plan [was] to report a few final things about Augustus, then Tiberius ' principate and the rest, without anger or favor, from whose causes I consider myself distant." However he also seems to have an agenda. He asserts that "the affairs of Tiberius and Gaius, Claudius and Nero, in their prosperity, were falsified through fear and after their fall were written with hatreds still fresh." Was this a conclusion he came to after his research or did he determine this beforehand and seek any information to support it? Tacitus in his work focuses on the big picture and doesn 't spend any time on the lives of ordinary people. "He is interested in military power, political ties between centre and periphery, laws and revenue. A big problem with his work on Tiberius is that Tacitus is very interested in the military campaigns of the Roman empire. This is a problem because Tiberius didn 't lead the Roman army while he was emperor and so Tacitus often focuses more on generals like Germanicus and Drusus rather than Tiberius. Another problem is that throughout the book Tacitus quotes speeches. However although he is referencin...

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...icus and was therefore suspect. Tacitus was writing about Tiberius after the emperor had died and probably believed that since he was most likely killed by his nephew Caligula that Tiberius was probably justified in suspecting his relatives.
Tiberius is remembered as a tightfisted and paranoid emperor. Tacitus goes against this view of Tiberius by giving examples of extreme generosity. However Tacitus doesn 't present Tiberius as a perfect emperor and his portrayal of Tiberius isn 't just propaganda. When it comes to military affairs Tacitus paints a very unflattering picture of Tiberius turning his back on the frontier while Romans are killed. Tacitus stated that his accounts on the Julio Claudian emperors was made without prejudice and the fact that he highlights both positive and negative aspects of Tiberius ' rule indicates that he was probably telling the truth.

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