A Reflection on the Annals of Imperial Rome by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

The story changes when it is read again. The casual reader, unlike the historian, always reads history with an eye to the present: there is always a comparison at work whenever we reflect on events that we suppose to be faithfully recorded in the past. And this past is not itself fixed, since our appreciation of it has already formed as an amalgamation of contemporary interpretations. By rereading Tacitus, therefore, the reader is also feeding on the lasting impressions formed by Cecil B DeMille, Gladiator, I Claudius. Julius Caesar, Lindsay Davis, Spartacus and Caligula, at least.

But Tacitus set himself a different task from that appreciated by the contemporary reader, in that he saw himself as a mere recorder, year after year, of the important events that affected the public life of the empire. Tacitus seems largely unconcerned about ordinary people, except when collective opinion swayed towards those with power or influence or indeed to record where ordinary people unlucky enough to stay home in the end were being summarily massacred. of a siege. Nor, in general, do slaves figure, except when they are paid or cajoled into acting above their pay grade.

Tacitus is interested in emperors, consuls, politicians in general, military leaders, armies, wealthy socialites, and influential foreigners, especially enemies. The Annals of Imperial Rome catalogs internal intrigues and external wars and records how both affected a society that, despite much of the evidence, we continue to label as “civilized.”

It was not a time when prisoners were taken, unless they could be sold. There’s a lot of bloodshed in these pages, a lot of warfare, and some fascinating details about the myriad ways that human beings can start killing each other. Today’s horror genres could learn a lot from Tacitus, as the mix of gore and drama is relentless. This was also a time of ceremonies, where the gods had to be pacified, the oracles consulted and the diviners believed. Of course, if you choose not to believe the fortunetellers, you can always have them killed. It served them well, it is assumed. Never submit a story that you think might not be received with gratitude. There will always be consequences.

But within these pages, the ceremony was often the determining factor. It couldn’t be ignored. And of course, being civilized, the Romans maintained respect for the law. Murder, for example, was always guilty, but when committed by bovver-boy emperors, no doubt tattooed on their booties, the crime often went unpunished. The cities in which only the old, the women and the young remained after the siege were, of course, subject to mass slaughter, because none of those who remained could defend themselves. The importance of constitutional means to these living gods is illustrated by a fall from grace resulting in the elimination of the offender’s entire family, just in case… In one particular case this also meant the elimination of a couple of young daughters. , but at the last moment an official pointed out that the law prohibited the execution of virgins. Not wanting to stop at the ceremony, he invited the executioner to rape them first and then do his duty. He must do things correctly… When presented with a rival’s severed head, offered as proof that instructions had been duly carried out, Nero calmly observed that the fellow had begun to turn grey.

But what must also be kept in mind is that Tacitus himself was not a contemporary observer. His productive life was more than a generation after any of the events described in The Annals, whose stories begin half a century earlier. So it’s possible that the reported public sex acts, the gratuitous and almost communal use of prostitutes, and the general contempt for almost everything below elite status is just hype. It could be that contemporary mores required a vilification of the past, and that Tacitus was willing to provide it. Pigs apparently fly.

A striking juxtaposition comes in a comparison of two reported cases. A poor chronicler historian had the nerve to suggest that Brutus and Cassius might not have been all bad, despite murdering an emperor. The author, of course, signed his own death warrant. A gaming promoter, on the other hand, built a stadium that in the event collapsed, killing and maiming thousands. His punishment was a limited exile, the doubt of judgment influenced by the fact that only the mob suffered.

During The Annals, we may begin to wonder why we read history and, indeed, why it is written. By the time we have finished this account, we will surely know. The modern country appears to be a feeble invention compared to the more enduring empire, which itself can be remarkably transitory. Empires exist to seek conflict with other empires, usually on the periphery, but with the goal of maintaining stability in the center, where there is a constant struggle for power. So while the conspirators were being discovered and eliminated in Rome, the great external threat at the end of this era came from the Parthian Empire. If anyone doesn’t remember the location of the Parthian Empire, please take a look. And then read the story again.