In the introduction to the (Agricola,' Taci tus announced his intention of composing memoriam prtoris servitutis ac testimonium prasentium honor:dm. The first part of this plan was realized in the years 104-10 by the publication of the 'Historix,, consisting orig ina.11y of 14 books, or possibly only of 12, cov ering the period from the death of Nero in 68 to that of Domitian in 96. But, instead of add ing the reigns of Nerva and Trajan, he then wrote the 'Annales,' in 16, or possibly 18 books, from the death of Augustus in 14 CAI) excessu Divi Augusti, is the actual title of the work) to the point at which the (Historiz' begin. Of this remarkable achievement, the continuous history of the empire for 82 years, there is ex tant about one-half. Of the 'Annales' we have books I-IV with the beginning of V and the greater part of VI, and, with a gap at the be ginning and also at the end, books XI-XVI, that is, we have lost almost entirely the years 29-31 of the reign of Tiberius, the whole of the reign of Caligula, the first six years of Claudius, and the last two of Nero. The extant portion of the 'Historiz' ends in the middle nf book V and describes the eventful year 69 and part of 70. The treatment is obviously much more minute in the 'Histories' than in the 'Annals,' and this is due to the fact that Tacitus is here dealing with occurrences which carne well within his own lifetime. The loss of the reign of Domitian is especially to be regretted.
Interesting as are the minor works, it is in the 'Histories' and the 'Annals' that the real genius and literary art of Tacitus are revealed. His methods are essentially scientific, though he does not use archives and original sources as much as would a modern historian. But he strives conscientiously to ascertain the facts and to determine the sequence of cause and effect.
A thorough aristocrat and lover of the old re public, he yet bows to the inevitableness of the empire and appreciates the enlightened rule of a Trajan. But the reign of Domitian perma nently embittered his soul. He was gifted by nature with a marvelous power to trace the hidden springs of thought and action and ex perience of life bred distrust apd made him an expert in. the analysis of human weakness and guilt. His portrayal of Tiberius, for instance, though certainly prejudiced and unjust, is ex traordinarily subtle and brilliant. The style, which we may see in process of formation in the 'Agricola' and 'Germania,' is characterized by pregnant brevity, leading sometimes to ob scurity', by deliberate avoidance of balance in the structure of the sentences and by poetic phraseology. The influence of Virgil is marked.
See GERM A NIA.
Bibliography.— The standard text is that of Halm (Leipzig 1907). The 'Dialogus' has been admirably edited by Peterson (Oxford 1893) and by Gudeman (Boston 1894) ; the 'Agricola' (Oxford 1896), and also the 'Ger mania' by Furneaux (ib. 1894); the 'Historim) by Spooner (London 1891); the (Annales' by Furneaux (2 vols., Oxford 1891, 1896). There is a fine special lexicon by Gerber and Greef (Leipzig 1903). There is an excellent transla tion of all the works by Church and Brodribb (London 1905) ; of (Annales,) I-VI .by Ram say (London 1904); of the 'Histories' by Fyfe (Oxford 1912); of the Wialogus,' 'Agri cola> and 'Germania' by Fyfe (Oxford 1908) and by Peterson and Hutton (Loeb Classical Series, New York 1914). Consult also Bois sier, 'Tacitus and Other Roman Studies' (New York 1906).