Histories (Tacitus) in the context of "Tacitus"

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman historian and politician active around AD 56-120, authored both the *Annals* and the *Histories*. These works were originally intended as a single, continuous historical account spanning from the death of Augustus in 14 AD to the end of Domitian’s reign in 96 AD, though portions have been lost to time.

⭐ In the context of Tacitus’s historical writing, what was the original scope of his *Annals* and *Histories*?

This trivia question was curated and created using the Wikipedia/wiki/Histories (Tacitus) page under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (opens in new tab)

⭐ Core Definition: Histories (Tacitus)

Histories (Latin: Historiae) is a Roman historical chronicle by Tacitus. Written c. 100–110, its complete form covered c. 69–96, a period which includes the Year of Four Emperors following the downfall of Nero, as well as the period between the rise of the Flavian dynasty under Vespasian and the death of Domitian. However, the surviving portion of the work only reaches the year 70 and the very beginning of the reign of Vespasian.

Together, the Histories and the Annals amounted to 30 books. Saint Jerome refers to these books explicitly, and about half of them have survived. Although scholars disagree on how to assign the books to each work, traditionally, fourteen are assigned to Histories and sixteen to the Annals. Tacitus' friend Pliny the Younger referred to "your histories" when writing to Tacitus about the earlier work.

↓ Menu
HINT: Tacitus’s *Annals* and *Histories* were initially conceived as a unified work covering the period from the death of Augustus (14 AD) through the end of Domitian’s rule (96 AD), aiming for a comprehensive account of the Roman Empire during that era.

👉 Histories (Tacitus) in the context of Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus (/ˈtæsɪtəs/ TAS-it-əs, Latin: [ˈtakɪtʊs]; c. AD 56 – c. 120), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.

Tacitus's two major historical works, Annals (Latin: Annales) and the Histories (Latin: Historiae), originally formed a continuous narrative of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus (14 AD) to the end of Domitian's reign (96 AD). The surviving portions of the Annals focus on the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD).

↓ Explore More Topics
In this Dossier