Cornelius Tacitus brilliantly chronicles the moral decline and rampant civil unrest in the Roman Empire in a period when the earliest foundations of modern Europe were being laid. The Annals commence in a.d. 14, at the death of Augustus, recounting the reigns of Tiberius, Gaius (Caligula), Claudius, and Nero, and conclude in a.d. 68, the year of Nero’s suicide. The Histories document the tumultuous year a.d. 69, when Emperors Galba, Otho, and Vitellius all perished in quick succession, ushering in Vespasian’s ten-year reign. According to historian Will Durant, “[We must] rank Tacitus among the greatest. . . . The portraits he draws stand out more clearly, stride the stage more livingly than any others in historical literature.” This Modern Library Paperback Classic includes newly commissioned endnotes.
- ISBN10 0812966996
- ISBN13 9780812966992
- Publish Date 8 April 2003
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country US
- Publisher Random House USA Inc
- Imprint Modern Library Inc
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 640
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780812966992