Tacitus and Tiberius

Not available to IIB candidates.

The reign of Tiberius, covered in Books I-VI of Tacitus’ Annales, has had a grim reputation since antiquity, and its darker aspects are unforgettably handled in these books, the historian’s masterpiece. You are expected to study Books I and III in Latin and to know the rest in English. For Mods IC and IIA the prescription is reduced. Questions which need consideration are Tacitus’ sources, motives and ‘bias’ - or is that the wrong term entirely?; the political conditions at Rome and the wider picture of the empire; the role of the armies; the power of the senate and the handling of the laws of maiestas. Crucial too is the question how far Tacitus’ conception of historical writing resembled that of modern scholars (themselves far from united in approach). This is a challenging but rewarding paper.

In the examination you are asked to translate one passage, comment on three short extracts, and answer two essay questions.