Tacitus Annals Quotes

The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws.

Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.

Reading list (1972 edition)[edit] 1. Homer – Iliad, Odyssey 2. The Old Testament 3. Aeschylus – Tragedies 4. Sophocles – Tragedies 5. Herodotus – Histories 6. Euripides – Tragedies 7. Thucydides – History of the Peloponnesian War 8. Hippocrates – Medical Writings 9. Aristophanes – Comedies 10. Plato – Dialogues 11. Aristotle – Works 12. Epicurus – Letter to Herodotus; Letter to Menoecus 13. Euclid – Elements 14. Archimedes – Works 15. Apollonius of Perga – Conic Sections 16. Cicero – Works 17. Lucretius – On the Nature of Things 18. Virgil – Works 19. Horace – Works 20. Livy – History of Rome 21. Ovid – Works 22. Plutarch – Parallel Lives; Moralia 23. Tacitus – Histories; Annals; Agricola Germania 24. Nicomachus of Gerasa – Introduction to Arithmetic 25. Epictetus – Discourses; Encheiridion 26. Ptolemy – Almagest 27. Lucian – Works 28. Marcus Aurelius – Meditations 29. Galen – On the Natural Faculties 30. The New Testament 31. Plotinus – The Enneads 32. St. Augustine – On the Teacher; Confessions; City of God; On Christian Doctrine 33. The Song of Roland 34. The Nibelungenlied 35. The Saga of Burnt Njál 36. St. Thomas Aquinas – Summa Theologica 37. Dante Alighieri – The Divine Comedy;The New Life; On Monarchy 38. Geoffrey Chaucer – Troilus and Criseyde; The Canterbury Tales 39. Leonardo da Vinci – Notebooks 40. Niccolò Machiavelli – The Prince; Discourses on the First Ten Books of Livy 41. Desiderius Erasmus – The Praise of Folly 42. Nicolaus Copernicus – On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres 43. Thomas More – Utopia 44. Martin Luther – Table Talk; Three Treatises 45. François Rabelais – Gargantua and Pantagruel 46. John Calvin – Institutes of the Christian Religion 47. Michel de Montaigne – Essays 48. William Gilbert – On the Loadstone and Magnetic Bodies 49. Miguel de Cervantes – Don Quixote 50. Edmund Spenser – Prothalamion; The Faerie Queene 51. Francis Bacon – Essays; Advancement of Learning; Novum Organum, New Atlantis 52. William Shakespeare – Poetry and Plays 53. Galileo Galilei – Starry Messenger; Dialogues Concerning Two New Sciences 54. Johannes Kepler – Epitome of Copernican Astronomy; Concerning the Harmonies of the World 55. William Harvey – On the Motion of the Heart and Blood in Animals; On the Circulation of the Blood; On the Generation of Animals 56. Thomas Hobbes – Leviathan 57. René Descartes – Rules for the Direction of the Mind; Discourse on the Method; Geometry; Meditations on First Philosophy 58. John Milton – Works 59. Molière – Comedies 60. Blaise Pascal – The Provincial Letters; Pensees; Scientific Treatises 61. Christiaan Huygens – Treatise on Light 62. Benedict de Spinoza – Ethics 63. John Locke – Letter Concerning Toleration; Of Civil Government; Essay Concerning Human Understanding;Thoughts Concerning Education 64. Jean Baptiste Racine – Tragedies 65. Isaac Newton – Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy; Optics 66. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz – Discourse on Metaphysics; New Essays Concerning Human Understanding;Monadology 67. Daniel Defoe – Robinson Crusoe 68. Jonathan Swift – A Tale of a Tub; Journal to Stella; Gulliver's Travels; A Modest Proposal 69. William Congreve – The Way of the World 70. George Berkeley – Principles of Human Knowledge 71. Alexander Pope – Essay on Criticism; Rape of the Lock; Essay on Man 72. Charles de Secondat, baron de Montesquieu – Persian Letters; Spirit of Laws 73. Voltaire – Letters on the English; Candide; Philosophical Dictionary 74. Henry Fielding – Joseph Andrews; Tom Jones 75. Samuel Johnson – The Vanity of Human Wishes; Dictionary; Rasselas; The Lives of the Poets

So obscure are the greatest events, as some take for granted any hearsay, whatever its source, others turn truth into falsehood, and both errors find encouragement with posterity.

The majority merely disagreed with other people's proposals, and, as so often happens in these disasters, the best course always seemed the one for which it was now too late.

But the more I reflect on events recent and past, the more I am struck by the element of the absurd in everything humans do.

in peace alone reason was heard and merit distinguished; but in the rage of war the blind steel spared the innocent no more than the guilty.

…that nothing is so weak and unstable as a reputation for power which is not based on one's own strength.

in disturbed times uncivilized communities trust and prefer leaders who take risks.

He was a strange mixture of good and bad, of luxury and industry, courtesy and arrogance. In leisure he was self-indulgent, but full of vigour on service. His outward behaviour was praiseworthy, though ill was spoken of his private life.

To be rich or well-born was a crime: men were prosecuted for holding or for refusing office: merit of any kind meant certain ruin. Nor were the Informers more hated for their crimes than for their prizes: some carried off a priesthood or the consulship as their spoil, others won offices and influence in the imperial household: the hatred and fear they inspired worked universal havoc. Slaves were bribed against their masters, freedmen against their patrons, and, if a man had no enemies, he was ruined by his friends.

[Asiaticus responds] Ask your sons, Suillius. They will testify to my masculinity.

For he would twist a word or a look into a crime and treasure it up in his memory.

It seems to me a historian’s foremost duty to ensure that merit is recorded, and to confront evil words and deeds with the fear of posterity’s denunciations.

Of all things human the most precarious and transitory is a reputation for power which has no strong support of its own

Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judæa, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular

Vitellius gave orders for depleting the strength of the legions and auxiliaries. Recruiting was forbidden, and discharges offered without restriction. This policy was disastrous for the country and unpopular among the soldiers, who found that their turn for work and danger came round all the more frequently, now that there were so few to share the duties. Besides, their efficiency was demoralized by luxury. Nothing was left of the old-fashioned discipline and the good rules of our ancestors, who preferred to base the security of Rome on character and not on money.

...Yıldızların ışığını bile karartmaya yeten gün batımının son parlaklığı, gün doğumuna kadar devam ettiğinden ötürü, dünyanın çevresinin burayla kuşatılıp kapandığı inanışı vardır. Suların üzerinden güneş yükselirken bir ses duyulur ve at şeklinde olup başında dairelerin göründüğüne inanılır.

Alles, versammelte Väter, was man jetzt für uralt betrachtet, ist einmal neu gewesen. Plebeische Beamte kamen nach den patrizische, latinische nach den plebeischen, die der übrigen Völker Italiens nach den latinischen. Auch dies wird veralten, und wofür wir heute unter Berufung auf Beispiele eintreten, das wird einmal selbst als Beispiel dienen.

The practices of the Jews are malevolent and despicable, and have entrenched themselves by their very degeneracy. Deviants of the most depraved kind who had no use for the religion of their predecessors, they took to collecting dues and contributions in order to swell the Jewish treasury; and other reasons for their increasing wealth may be found in their unrelenting loyalty and eager nepotism towards fellow Jews. But all the rest of the world they hold in contempt with the hatred reserved for enemies. They will not feed or intermarry with gentiles. Despite being overtly lustful as a race, the Jews shun carnal dealings with women foreign to their tribe. Among their own kind however, nothing is forbidden. They have adopted the practice of circumcision to show that they are different from others. Those seeking to convert to Judaism adopt the same practices, and the very first lesson they are taught is to despise the gods, shed all feelings of patriotism, and consider parents, children and brothers as readily expendable. However, the Jews make certain that their population increases.

A phrase caught Brunetti’s attention, and he went back and read it again, and then again. ‘I give only one example of the falsity of gossip and hearsay, and I urge my readers to beware of incredible tales, however widely they might be believed and instead to believe the unvarnished truth;’ Brunetti let the open book fall on to his stomach and stared out the window at rooftops and windows that reflected the setting sun. Two thousand years ago, the bulk of the population illiterate, most news was transmitted by word of mouth, and Tacitus was warning his readers to be careful about believing what they heard and to trust only unvarnished truth. ‘Whatever that is,’ a voice whispered to Brunetti’s inner ear. Had Tacitus been a prophet as well as an historian, Brunetti wondered, by so well anticipating the consequences of television and social media?

...Ili da navedemo još jedan primer, koji je utoliko instruktivniji što je tu junakinja obična žena iz naroda, koja kako kaže Tacit, "Dotada nije pokazivala nimalo sklonosti za čast i pravdu (15, 51). Prišavši Pisonovoj zaveri ova je žena, po imenu Epiharida, uhapšena i bačena na muke ne bi li priznala optužbe i odala zaverenike za koje je znala. "Ali ni bičevanje, ni vatra, ni bes dželata, utoliko žešći što su se plašili da će im se podsmehnuti jedna žena, nisu slomili Epiharidu: uporno je poricala sve optužbe. Prvi dan istrage ništa nije priznala. Sutradan, dok su je nosili ponovo na mučenje, u nosiljci, jer smrskani udovi nisu mogli da drže telo, otrgne povez sa grudi, načini omču, okači je o naslon od stolice, protne glavu, obesi se svom težinom i ispusti, već slabašnu dušu. Jedna žena, jedna oslobođenica, pružila je divan primer hrabrosti, na najvećim mukama, ne bi li zaštitila tuđe, gotovo nepoznate ljude, dok su slobodni ljudi i muškarci, vitezovi i senatori rimski, još ne okusivši muka, izdavali svoje najmilije i najdraže." Ovakvih i sličnih primera puni su "Anali". I svuda gde su ljudska hrabrost i dostojanstvo odnosili moralnu pobedu nad tiranijom, nasiljem i izopačenošću, imao je Tacit budna čula da to zapazi i istakne, a njegov pesnički talenat davao je ovim scenama tragičku uzvišenost.

The Germans, in the age of Tacitus, were unacquainted with the use of letters;716 and the use of letters is the principal circumstance that distinguishes a civilized people from a herd of savages incapable of knowledge or reflection. Without that artificial help, the human memory soon dissipates or corrupts the ideas intrusted to her charge; and the nobler faculties of the mind, no longer supplied with models or with materials, gradually forget their powers; the judgment becomes feeble and lethargic, the imagination languid or irregular. Fully to apprehend this important truth, let us attempt, in an improved society, to calculate the immense distance between the man of learning and the illiterate peasant. The former, by reading and reflection, multiplies his own experience, and lives in distant ages and remote countries; whilst the latter, rooted to a single spot, and confined to a few years of existence, surpasses but very little his fellow-laborer, the ox, in the exercise of his mental faculties. The same, and even a greater, difference will be found between nations than between individuals; and we may safely pronounce, that without some species of writing, no people has ever preserved the faithful annals of their history, ever made any considerable progress in the abstract sciences, or ever possessed, in any tolerable degree of perfection, the useful and agreeable arts of life. Of

süvarileri, onlar olmadan zafer kazanabileceklerine inanmaz oldular. Fransızların İsviçreliler karşısında yetersiz kalması ve İsviçreliler olmadan başkalarıyla çarpışmayı göze alamaması buradan kaynaklanıyor. Demek ki, Fransa'nın orduları karmaydı, kısmen paralı askerlerden, kısmen Fransız birliklerinden oluşuyordu; böyle bir ordu, salt yardımcı bir askerî güçten ya da salt paralı bir ordudan çok daha iyi, ama öz ordudan çok aşağıdır. Yukarıda verdiğimiz örnek yeterli olacaktır; çünkü Charles'ın kurdüğü düzen geliştirilmiş ya da korunmuş olsaydı, Fransa Krallığı yenilmez olurdu. Ama öngörüsü kıt insanlar, zamanındâ iyi gibi görünen bir işe girişir, onun altındaki zehri fark etmezler, tıpkı daha önce [III. bölümde] verem ateşiyle ilgili olarak söylediğim gibi. [7] Bu yüzden, bir prenslikte, illetleri belirdiği anda teşhis edemeyen kişi gerçekten bilge değildir; bilgelik çok az kişiye verilmiştir. Roma İmparatorluğu'nun çöküşünün ana nedeni araştırılacak olursa, bu çöküşün, Gotların paralı asker olarak tutulduğu an başladığı görülecektir; çünkü o başlangıçla birlikte, Roma İmparatorluğu'nun gücü zayıflamaya yüz tutmuştu; ondan alınan güç ötekilere [Gotlar] veriliyordu. Öyleyse, vardığım sonuç şu: Hiçbir prenslik, kendi ordusu olmadan güvende değildir; tersine, zor durumlarda onu inançla savunacak güçten yoksun olduğu için, tümüyle talihin buyruğu altındadır. Ve bilge kişilerin görüşü ve savsözü hep şu olmuştur: Quod nihil sit tam infirmum aut instabile quam fama potentjae non sua vi * (Lat.) Hiçbir şey; kendi gücüne dayanmayan bir iktidarın ünü kadar zayıf ve değişken değildir. [Tacitus,Annales, XIII, 19] (Ç.N.) Machiavelli - Prens sayfa 89

As Tacitus darkly observed in the second century CE, in the first words of his Annals, a history of the early emperors, ‘From the very beginning Rome has been ruled by kings’.

For the first hundred-odd years of Christianity’s existence, there are no mentions of Christianity in Roman writings. Then, around the turn of the second century, it started to appear, albeit in a piecemeal fashion, in the writings of non-Christians. In AD 111, there is a letter from Pliny, the Roman governor. Then a few years later come some tantalizingly brief references to it in Roman histories—a quick section in the historian Tacitus’s Annals and another mention in a history by Suetonius. And that was it.

It is not difficult to pretend that Jesus never lived. The attempt to prove it, however, invariably produces the opposite conclusion. In the Jewish literature of the first century the existence of Jesus is not attested to with any certainty, and in the Greek and Latin literature of the same period there is no evidence for it at all. Of the two passages in his Antiquities in which the Jewish writer Josephus makes incidental mention of Jesus, one was undoubtedly interpolated by Christian copyists. The first pagan witness to His existence is Tacitus, who, during the reign of Trajan in the second decade of the second century A.D., reports in his Annals (XV.44) that the founder of the “Christian” sect (which Nero accused of causing the great fire at Rome) was executed under the government of Tiberius by the procurator of Judea, Pontius Pilate. Since

IT’S A sad fact of modern life that if you drive long enough, sooner or later you must leave London behind. If you drive northeast up the A12 you eventually come to Colchester, Britain’s first Roman capital and the first city to be burned down by that redheaded chavette from Norfolk known as Boudicca. I knew all this because I’d been reading the Annals of Tacitus as part of my Latin training.