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The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero (Oxford World's Classics)
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About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
- ISBN-10019282421X
- ISBN-13978-0192824219
- PublisherOxford University Press
- Publication dateAugust 10, 2008
- LanguageEnglish
- Dimensions7.6 x 1.2 x 5 inches
- Print length592 pages
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About the Author
Anthony A. Barrett is the author of biographies of Livia, Agrippina, and Caligula.
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- Publisher : Oxford University Press (August 10, 2008)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 592 pages
- ISBN-10 : 019282421X
- ISBN-13 : 978-0192824219
- Item Weight : 2.31 pounds
- Dimensions : 7.6 x 1.2 x 5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #508,175 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #105 in Ancient History (Books)
- #835 in Ancient Roman History (Books)
- #15,772 in Unknown
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I have not read the book in its entirety (really I've only read sections pertaining to Nero, Agrippina, Octavia, Poppaea and so on), but it's an interesting bit of ancient Roman history. If you're a history buff, it may or may not be for you, depending on how "factual" you like your history. What I mean is that Tacitus' writing is in some, if not many cases unverifiable and sounds a little ridiculous. On other occasions, his information seems to generally agree with other historians who wrote about the same time periods. Always be suspicious of what he writes and always ask what his motives were.
I know, I know, everyone says that Tacitus can't be translated: his style was unique. The same thing's been said about Pushkin's Eugene Onegin, Dante's Divine Comedy, Ovid's Metamorphoses...in fact, most other classics. But some translations come far closer than others--and a few convey some of the magic that's said to get lost in translation.
A few pages into this new translation, one passage struck me because I remembered exactly how Michael Grant had rendered it in his own translation. Compare:
Yardley: 'Agrippa was caught off-guard and unarmed, but a determined centurion still had trouble dispatching him.'
Grant: 'He (Agrippa) was killed by a staff-officer--who found it a hard task, though he was a persevering murderer and the victim was taken by surprise unarmed.'
And one more:
Yardley: Tiberius feared Germanicus 'might prefer to hold power rather than wait for it.'
Grant: 'Tiberius was afraid Germanicus might prefer the throne to the prospect of it.'
Decide for yourself. But Grant's inspired 'persevering murderer' made the case for me.
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Politics and laws
In Rome, `the safety of the state depends entirely upon one man exercising power.' `Members of the Senate practicing, some openly, many covertly, the lowest form of delation.' As Tiberius said: `Ah, men ready to be slaves.'
A mighty political weapon was food: Germanicus lowered `the price of grain by opening up the granaries ... food shortages could hold back mighty armies with the flimsiest of forces.'
Concerning the laws, `there was little help to be had from the laws, which were constantly undermined by violence, political engineering, and, most importantly, by graft.' Indeed, `the public good comes second to private interests.'
Rome was infested by informers, denouncers and false accusers, because `Libo's goods were divided amongst his accusers.'
Of citizens (food or famine) and soldiers (a mighty lesson for today)
The social inequalities in Rome were enormous; on the one hand, `country houses of immense dimensions'; on the other hand, `the plebeians were complaining about the atrocious cost of food.'
`When war broke out innocent and guilty went down together.'
And what about those who did it ALL for their power-hungry generals: the soldiers? There was `the meagerness of their pay. And anyone surviving all the perils was still hauled off to remote lands where he would be given some boggy marsh or hilly desert, as so-called farmland.'
Power, fate cruelty
Nero's mother confirms the overwhelming importance of power by shouting loudly: `Let him kill me, as long as he comes to power.'
But as Tacitus states: `so capricious are the fortunes of the great. Ambitions have been the downfall of many men.'
A most terrible fate awaited the children of Tiberius' sycophant Sejanus: `the girl so naïve as to ask what she had done wrong and where they were dragging her. She would not repeat her offense, she said. Capital punishment for a virgin being unheard of, she was raped by the executioner with the noose lying beside her.'
Tacitus, the man
Tacitus was a patrician. As A.A. Barrett states in his excellent introduction: he was deeply opposed to the principate and committed to the republican system of senatorial government.' He was also ferociously opposed to power-sharing with the plebs: `the laws more often arose from class struggles and were carried by force with the aim of gaining office illegally. This gave use to rabble rousers like the Gracchi.'
Tacitus' Rome stands out as a mighty example of a naked, bloody fight for absolute power and of an infernal struggle to keep this power under the adage: `kill or be killed'. His book paints a very dark picture of human nature and affairs.
It is a must read for all those interested in human history and for all lovers of classical texts.