The Histories

The Histories examines the early imperial period of Roman history. To fully understand Tacitus’s narrative, it is useful to know the events that preceded and succeeded the Year of the Four Emperors.

Rome was historically governed as a republic in which most policy decisions were made by a senate composed of the aristocracy. However, the republic underwent a crisis following the Roman conquest across the Mediterranean. A number of factors influenced the crisis, but the upshot was that generals began commanding armies personally loyal to them instead of the state. A protracted series of civil wars followed that lasted from the second century BCE until the victory of Octavian in 31 BCE. Octavian assumed the title of Augustus and consolidated power in his hands. His reign marks the beginning of the Principate (the rule of one emperor). His dynasty, the Julio-Claudians, ruled for nearly a century, which Tacitus describes much of in his Annals. This dynasty was overthrown in the reign of Nero, whose unpopularity and offensiveness led to a successful revolt against his rule in 68 CE. The success of this revolt is notable, as just over 20 years before, a provincial governor rebelled against the emperor Claudius and was promptly deposed by troops who were loyal to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. In his reign, Nero managed to first erode the Julio-Claudian dynasty’s hold on legitimacy and then expose the possibility of successfully deposing a sitting emperor. The Year of the Four Emperors followed.

The events that occurred in the 27-year long Flavian dynasty, which emerged from the civil wars, were also originally included in The Histories, but most of this has since been lost. Tacitus’s career began during the Flavian era, and he seems to have profited during the reign of Domitian especially. The consensus on the Flavians is that while Vespasian and Titus were broadly successful emperors, Domitian’s tyranny led to his assassination. Following Domitian’s death, the aged Senator Nerva became emperor. He adopted the military leader Trajan, in whose reign Tacitus writes.

The Histories examines this turbulent era, in which the newly made imperial system struggled to maintain itself but was eventually solidified. Tacitus wrote in the aftermath of what he describes. He was temporally separated from events but still personally connected to several key figures, meaning that he had an emotional investment in his subject.