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Biography of TacitusName: TacitusBirth Date: c. 56 Death Date: c. 125 Place of Birth: N/A Nationality: Roman Gender: Male Occupations: orator, historian Tacitus Tacitus (c. 56/57-ca. 125) was a Roman orator and historian. In a life that spanned the reigns of the Flavian emperors and of Trajan and Hadrian, he played a part in the public life of Rome and became its greatest historian.Tacitus was born into a wealthy family of equestrian status. It is not known for certain where his home was, but he probably came from one of the towns of Gallia Narbonensis (modern Provence). His father had been an imperial official, holding the important post of procurator (chief financial agent) for Gallia Belgica, and he was clearly able to give his son an excellent education.Official CareerIn 77 the young Tacitus was betrothed to, and soon after married, the only daughter of Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an able soldier and administrator. Although not himself of aristocratic birth, Tacitus was allowed by the emperor Vespasian to start on a political career. The early …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…is covered by Edward T. Salmon, A History of the Roman World from 30 B.C. to A.D. 138 (1944; 2d rev. ed. 1950), but the best account of the period of the Julio-Claudian emperors is in Howard H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68 (1959). There is an excellent brief introduction to imperial Rome in Martin P. Charlesworth, The Roman Empire (1951). There is a good introduction to the history of the Roman occupation of Britain in I. A. Richmond, Roman Britain (1947; rev. ed. 1964), and the events of Agricola's governorship are well discussed in the introduction to the edition of Tacitus's De vita Agricolae, edited by R. M. Ogilvie and I. A. Richmond (1967). For Roman oratory see Stanley F. Bonner, Roman Declamation (1949), and Martin L. Clarke, Rhetoric at Rome: A Historical Survey (1953).Benario, Herbert W., An introduction to Tacitus, Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1975. |