Book description
Tacitus' Annals of Imperial Rome recount the major historical events
from the years shortly before the death of Augustus up to the death of
Nero in AD 68. With clarity and vivid intensity he describes the reign
of terror under the corrupt Tiberius, the great fire of Rome during the
time of Nero, and the wars, poisonings, scandals, conspiracies and
murders that were part of imperial life. Despite his claim that the
Annals were written objectively, Tacitus' account is sharply critical of
the emperors' excesses and fearful for the future of Imperial Rome,
while also filled with a longing for its past glories. Tacitus studied
rhetoric in Rome and rose to eminence as a pleader at the Roman Bar. In
77 he married the daughter of Agricola, conqueror of Britain, of whom he
later wrote a biography. His other works includethe Germania and the
Historiae. Michael Grant's academic titles include Chancellor's
Medallist and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and President of the
Classical Association.
