Roman historian, born ca. 56 c.e., probably of a Gallic or N Italian family. He received his rhetorical education under Marcus Aper and Julius Secundus, 306the most distinguished orators of his time. In 77 c.e., Tacitus married the daughter of Agricola, the consul, shortly before the latter’s departure for Britain.

Tacitus began his political career as quaestor in 81/2 c.e., and praetor in 88 c.e. during the reign of Domitian (Agr. 9.6; Hist. 1.1; and Ann. 11.11). He left Rome on an official commission in 90 c.e. and returned in 93 c.e. shortly after his father-in-law’s death. In Rome, Tacitus witnessed the final years of Domitian’s criminal atrocities (Agr. lff.; 3.2, and 44ff.; and Hist. 1.1). In 97 c.e., Tacitus was made consul suffectus under Nerva and as Rome’s leading orator, gave the eulogy for Verginius Rufus. In 100 c.e. with his friend Pliny (the future governor of Bithynia), he prosecuted Marius Priscus for extortion (Pliny Ep. 2.12.2). He may have governed a military province and later served as proconsul of Asia in 112/13 c.e. If a sentence in Ann. 2.61 was written after 115 c.e., Tacitus may have survived to the accession of Hadrian in 117 c.e.

Concerning Tacitus’ writings, the Dialogus, once considered his earliest work, was dedicated to a consul of 102 c.e. and was likely published then or shortly thereafter. On the basis of style, some scholars reject its Tacitean authorship. Dialogus is a nonhistorical work which discusses the decline of Roman oratory. In the Dialogus, two lawyers and two literary men discuss the claims of oratory against those of literature and why eloquence had declined since the days of Cicero. Most notable, great oratory had declined because it was dependent on the free life and institutions fostered under the Republic.

In 98 c.e., Tacitus published De vita Iulii Agricolae, describing the life of his father-in-law, particularly his achievements in Britain. The work is at the same time a laudatio of the dead man and an apologia for Agricola’s passive toleration of the tyranny of Domitian. This work is similar to earlier Greek semi-biographical moral eulogies. Although historical and descriptive material about Britain is included in this monograph, a more thorough narrative of Roman activity in Britain can be found in his Histories.

In the same year, Tacitus published De origine et situ Germanorum, an ethnographic study of the tribes N of the Rhine and Danube. While its purpose is somewhat uncertain, the work contains recurrent moral contrasts between the “noble savage” and the decadence of Rome and warns about the threat of the Germanic tribes on the N frontier.

Tacitus also wrote two longer monographs which survey Roman imperial history from 14–96 c.e. The first of the two historical works is usually called the Histories and covers the period from the death of Nero (68 c.e.) to the assassination of Domitian (96 c.e.). The Histories probably consisted of 14 books (see Jerome Comm. in Zach. 3.14 and below on the Annales). Only books 1–4 and the first half of book 5 are extant, describing the turbulent years of civil war that begin the era (from 69–70 c.e.).

Tacitus’ last and greatest work was the so-called Annales, recording the history of the Julio-Claudian emperors, from the death of Augustus (14 c.e.) to the death of Nero (68 c.e.). The Annales consists of sixteen books, which have also not survived in their entirety. Existing mss lack two years from the reign of Tiberius, the entire reign of Gaius (Caligula), half of the reign of Claudius, and the last two years of Nero’s rule.

Although tainted by his strong anti-imperial bias, the works of Tacitus are the earliest extant account of Roman history in the 1st Century c.e. SUETONIUS, the Imperial biographer and Tacitus’ Contemporary, as a court secretary, amassed invaluable material but often without a criticai discretion. Likewise, Dio Cassius, a later historian of this period, lived close to the court but was unable to grasp the affairs of the early empire. Supplemented by archaeological, numismatic, papyrological, and artistic evidence, Tacitus is by far the chief witness for this significant historical period.

Tacitus is also the most significant Roman historical source on the Jews in the 1st Century c.e. In his Histories, Tacitus describes the early stages of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, the end of which unfortunately has not survived. In this context, Tacitus records traditions about the origin of the Jewish nation, the nature of their religion, and a description of their land and history until the outbreak of the Great Revolt (Hist. 5.1–13).

Among the versions of the origins of the Jews found in Tacitus, some are neutral, one is favorable, and one is derogatory. One version is derived from the etymological association of Iudaei with Mt. Ida on Crete. Tacitus writes that the Jews, according to some, were refugees from Crete, leaving the island when Jupiter expelled Saturn. Other versions, recorded by Tacitus, assert that the Jews came from an overspill of the Egyptian population, some maintaining that the Egyptian Jews had originated in Assyria (suspiciously similar to the biblical tradition), and others that they came first out of Ethiopia (certainly not the region of modern-day Ethiopia). Tacitus also reports that some assign a very distinguished origin to the Jews, associating them with the Solymi (from which was derived Jerusalem) celebrated in Homer.

Finally Tacitus records the version which reflects what he calls the majority opinion (identical with the Greco-Egyptian tradition about the Jews). The Jews, hated by the gods and disease-striken, were led by Moses through the wilderness with the help of wild asses, which directed them to water. Moses taught the people profane religious notions and established a sabbatical for idleness. Tacitus criticizes Jewish proselytism, misanthropy, separatism, and their refusal to worship the emperor. Because of Tacitus’ fame, his account had a tremendous influence from the Renaissance onwards.

Other interesting points about Jewish history are scattered throughout both historical works (see esp. Hist. 2.81; Ann. 2.42, 85; and 12.54). There is some uncertainty about what sources Tacitus relied on for his information but suggestions include Apion, Pliny the eider, and Antonius Julianus, Mucianus for geography, and, though unlikely, Josephus for the siege.

Tacitus also referred to Christians in his account of the burning of Rome under Nero (Ann. 15.44). The passage was intended to illustrate the magnitude of Nero’s crimes and not to provide an in-depth description of a religious “superstition” that otherwise is of no interest to Tacitus. He relates that the movement was named after a certain Christus, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate during the reign of Tiberius. Tacitus also states that Christianity had spread to Rome, where it was growing in popularity (compare Suet. Claud. 25). Nero made the Christians scapegoats for the burning of Rome and used the occasion 307to cruelly execute Roman Christians, not so much for the crime of incendiarism, however, as for their antisocial tendencies (compare Suet. Ner. 16). Tacitus’ account became a springboard for a later Christian tradition which painted a fantastic picture of persecution under Nero. Tacitus’ account reveals Roman attitudes toward Christians in the early 2d Century c.e. and is of particular interest when compared with the near Contemporary letters exchanged between Pliny the Younger and Trajan.