See also:

• CORNELIUS
• CORNELIUS, CARL AUGUST PETER (1824-1874)
• CORNELIUS, PETER VON (1784–1867)

CORNELIUS See also:

• CORNELIUS TACITUS (c. 55-120)
• TACITUS, MARCUS CLAUDIUS

TACITUS (c. 55-120)  , See also:

• ROMAN

Roman historian . See also:

• TACITUS, CORNELIUS (c. 55-120)
• TACITUS, MARCUS CLAUDIUS

Tacitus, who ranks beyond dispute in the highest See also:

• PLACE (through Fr. from Lat. platea, street; Gr. IrAar6s, wide)

place among men of letters of all ages, lived through the reigns of the emperors See also:

• NERO (37-68)

Nero, See also:

• GALBA, SERVIUS SULPICIUS

Galba, See also:

• OTHO, MARCUS SALVIUS (32-69)

Otho, See also:

• VITELLIUS, AULUS

Vitellius, See also:

• VESPASIAN

Vespasian, See also:

• TITUS
• TITUS, FLAVIUS SABINUS VESPASIANUS
• TITUS, THE EPISTLE TO

Titus, See also:

• DOMITIAN (Thus FLAVIUS DOMITIANUS)

Domitian, See also:

• NERVA, MARCUS COCCEIUS

Nerva and See also:

• TRAJAN [MARCUS ULPIUS TRAJANUS] (A. D. 53-117)

Trajan . All we know of his See also:

• PERSONAL

personal See also:

• HISTORY

history is from allusions to himself in his own See also:

• WORKS

works, and from eleven letters addressed to him by his very intimate friend, the younger See also:

• PLINY, THE ELDER
• PLINY, THE YOUNGER

Pliny . The exact See also:

• YEAR

year of his See also:

• BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth is a See also:

• MATTER

matter of inference, but it may be approximately fixed near the See also:

• CLOSE
• CLOSE (from Lat. clausum, shut)
• CLOSE, MAXWELL HENRY (1822-1903)

close of the reign of See also:

• CLAUDIUS
• CLAUDIUS [TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS DRUSUS NERO GERMANICUS]
• CLAUDIUS, MARCUS AURELIUS
• CLAUDIUS, MATTHIAS (174o-1815)

Claudius . Pliny indeed, though himself See also:

• BORN, IGNAZ, EDLER VON (1742–1791)

born in 61 or 62, speaks of Tacitus and himself as being " much of an See also:

• AGE (Fr. age, through late Lat. aetaticum, from aetas)

age," 1 but he must have been some years junior to his friend, who began, he tells us, his See also:

• OFFICIAL (Late Lat. QJicialis, for class. Lat. apparitor, from officium, office, duty)

official See also:

• LIFE

life under Vespasian,2 no doubt as See also:

• QUAESTOR (from Lat. quaero, investigate)

quaestor, and presumably See also:

• TRIBUNE (med. Lat. tribune, from classical Lat. tribunal)

tribune or See also:

• AEDILE (Lat. aedilis)

aedile under Titus (8o or 81), at which See also:

• TIME (0. Eng. Lima, cf. Icel. timi, Swed. timme, hour, Dan. time; from the root also seen in " tide," properly the time of between the flow and ebb of the sea, cf. O. Eng. getidan, to happen, " even-tide," &c.; it is not directly related to Lat. tempus)
• TIME, MEASUREMENT OF
• TIME, STANDARD

time he must have been twenty-five years of age at least . Of his See also:

• FAMILY

family and birthplace we know nothing certain; we can infer nothing from his name See also:

• CORNELIUS
• CORNELIUS, CARL AUGUST PETER (1824-1874)
• CORNELIUS, PETER VON (1784–1867)

Cornelius, which was then very widely extended; but the fact of his See also:

• EARLY
• EARLY, JUBAL ANDERSON (1816-1894)

early promotion seems to point to respectable antecedents, and it may be that his See also:

• FATHER

father was one Cornelius Tacitus, who had been a See also:

• PROCURATOR (Lat. procurare, to take care of)

procurator in one of the divisions of See also:

• GAUL
• GAUL, GILBERT WILLIAM (1855— )

Gaul, to whom allusion is made by the See also:

• ELDER (0. Eng. ellarn; Ger. Holunder; Fr. sureau)
• ELDER (Gr. 1rpev(3iTepos)

elder Pliny in his Natural History (vii . 76) . But it is all matter of pure conjecture, as it also is whether his " praenomen " was Publius or Gait's . The most interesting facts about him to us are that he was an eminent pleader at the Roman See also:

• BAR
• BAR (0. Fr. barre, Late Lat. barra, origin unknown)
• BAR, CONFEDERATION OF
• BAR, FRANCOIS DE (1538-1606)
• BAR, THE

bar, that he was an See also:

• EYE
• EYE (O. Eng. edge, Ger. Auge; derived from an Indo-European root also seen in Lat. oc-ulus, the organ of vision (q.v.)

eye-See also:

• WITNESS
• WITNESS (from O. Eng. witan, to know)

witness of the " reign of terror " during the last three years of Domitian, and that he was the son-in-See also:

• LAW
• LAW (0. Eng. lagu, M. Eng. lawe; from an old Teutonic root lag, " lie," what lies fixed or evenly; cf. Lat. lex, Fr. loi)
• LAW, JOHN (1671—1729)
• LAW, WILLIAM (1686-1761)

law of See also:

• JULIUS

Julius See also:

• AGRICOLA (originally SCHNEIDER, then SCHNITTER), JOHANNES (1494-1566)
• AGRICOLA (the Latinized form of the name BAUER), GEORG (1490-1555)
• AGRICOLA, CHRISTOPH LUDWIG (1667-1719)
• AGRICOLA, GNAEUS JULIUS (A.D. 37-93)
• AGRICOLA, JOHANN FRIEDRICH (1720-1774)
• AGRICOLA, MARTIN (c. 1500-1556)
• AGRICOLA, RODOLPHUS (properly ROELOF HUYSMANN) (1443-1485)

Agricola . This See also:

• HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour-able connexion, which testifies to his high moral See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character, may very possibly have accelerated his promotion, which he says' was begun by Vespasian, augmented by Titus, and still further advanced by Domitian, under whom we find him presiding as See also:

• PRAETOR (Lat. prae-itor, " he who goes before," "a leader")

praetor at the celebration of the See also:

• SECULAR (Lat. saecularis, of or belonging to an age or generation, saeculum)

secular See also:

• GAMES, CLASSICAL

games in 88, and a member of one of the old priestly colleges, to which See also:

• GOOD, JOHN MASON (1764-1827)

good family was an almost indispensable See also:

• PASSPORT

passport . Next year, it seems, he See also:

• LEFT

left See also:

• ROME
• ROME (Roma)

Rome, and was absent till 93 on some provincial business, and it is possible that in these four years he may have made the acquaintance of See also:

• GERMANY
• GERMANY (Ger. Deutschland)

Germany and its peoples . His father-in-law died in the year of his return to Rome .

In the concluding passage of his Life of Agricola he tells us plainly that he witnessed the judicial murders of many of Rome's best citizens from 93 to 96, and that being himself a senator he See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt almost a guilty complicity in them . With the See also:

• EMPEROR (Fr. empereur, from the Lat. imperator)

emperor Nerva's See also:

• ACCESSION (from Lat. accedere, to go to, to approach)

accession his life became See also:

• BRIGHT, JOHN (1811-188g)
• BRIGHT, SIR CHARLES TILSTON

bright and prosperous, and so it continued through the reign of Nerva's successor, Trajan, he himself, in the opening l Pliny, Epp. vii . 20 . 2 Hist. i. i . 3 Ibid.(J . S . F.) he outlived Trajan is matter of conjecture . It is See also:

• WORTH
• WORTH, CHARLES FREDERICK (1825-1895)

worth noticing that the emperor Tacitus in the 3rd See also:

• CENTURY (from Lat. centuria, a division of a hundred men)

century claimed descent from him, and directed that ten copies of his works should be made every year and deposited in the public See also:

• LIBRARIES

libraries . He also had a See also:

• TOMB (Gr. Tuµ/3a, Tuµ(3os, probably allied to Lat. tumulus, literally a swelling, tumere, to swell)

tomb built to his memory, which was destroyed by See also:

• ORDER
• ORDER (through Fr. ordre, for earlier ordene, from Lat. ordo, ordinis, rank, service, arrangement; the ultimate source is generally taken to be the root seen in Lat. oriri, rise, arise, begin; cf. " origin ")
• ORDER, HOLY

order of See also:

• POPE (Gr. irarraas, post-classical Lat. papa, father)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1688–1744)
• POPE, ALEXANDER (1763-1835)
• POPE, JANE (1742-1818)
• POPE, JOHN (1822-1892)
• POPE, SIR THOMAS (c. 1507-1559)

Pope See also:

• PIUS

Pius V. in the latter See also:

• PART

part of the 16th century . Pliny, as we see clearly from several passages in his letters, had the highest See also:

• OPINION (Lat. opinio, from opinari, to think)

opinion of his friend's ability and worth . He consults him about a school which he thinks of establishing at Comum (See also:

• COMO (anc. Comum)
• COMO, LAKE OF (the Lacus Larius of the Romans, and so sometimes called LARIO to the present day, though in the 4th century it is already termed Lacus Comacinus)

Como), his birthplace, and asks him to look out for suitable teachers and professors . And he pays 5 him the high compliment, " I know that your Histories will be immortal, and this makes me the more anxious that may name should appear in them." The following is a See also:

• LIST (O.E. lisle, a Teutonic word, cf. Dut. lust, Ger. Leiste, adapted in Ital. lista and Fr. lisle)
• LIST, FRIEDRICH (1789-1846)

list of Tacitus's remaining works, arranged in their probable See also:

• CHRONOLOGICAL

chronological order, which may be approximately inferred from See also:

• INTERNAL

internal See also:

• EVIDENCE (Lat. evidentia, evideri, to appear clearly)

evidence:-(r) the See also:

• DIALOGUE

Dialogue on Orators, about 76 or 77; (2) the Life of Agricola, 97 or 98; (3) the Germany, 98, published probably in 99; (4) the Histories (Historiae), completed probably by 115 or 116, the last years of Trajan's reign (he must have been at See also:

• WORK

work on them for many years); (5) the See also:

• ANNALS (Annales, from annus, a year)

Annals, his latest work probably, written in part perhaps along with the Histories, and completed subsequently to Trajan's reign, which he may very well have outlived .

The Dialogue on Orators discusses, in the See also:

• FORM (Lat. forma)

form of a conversation which Tacitus professes to have heard (as a See also:

• YOUNG
• YOUNG, A
• YOUNG, ARTHUR (1741-1820)
• YOUNG, BRIGHAM (1801-1877)
• YOUNG, CHARLES MAYNE (1777–1856)
• YOUNG, EDWARD (1683–1765)
• YOUNG, JAMES (1811-1883)
• YOUNG, THOMAS (1773-1829)

young See also:

• MAN
• MAN, ISLE OF (anc. Mona)

man) between some eminent men at the Roman bar, the causes of the decay of eloquence under the See also:

• EMPIRE

empire . There are some interesting remarks in it on the See also:

• CHANGE (derived through the Fr. from the Late Lat. cambium, cambiare, to barter; the ultimate derivation is probably from the root which appears in the Gr. «a urmu', to bend)

change for the worse that had taken place in the See also:

• EDUCATION

education of Roman lads . The See also:

• STYLE
• STYLE (from Gr. a-6'1ms, a column; a different word from that used in literature, see below)

style of the Dialogue is far more Ciceronian than that of Tacitus's later work, and critics have attributed it to See also:

• QUINTILIAN [MARCUS FABIUS QUINTILIANUS] (C. A.D. 35-95)

Quintilian; but its genuineness is now generally accepted . It is noticeable that the mannerisms of Tacitus appear to develop through his lifetime, and are most strongly marked in his latest books, the Annals . The Life of Agricola, See also:

• SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short as it is, has always been considered an admirable specimen of See also:

• BIOGRAPHY (from the Gr. (3ios, life, and yp&4 , writing)

biography . The See also:

• GREAT

great man with all his See also:

• GRACE (Fr. grace, Lat. gratia, from grates, beloved, pleasing; formed from the root cra-, Gr. xav-, cf. xaipw, x6p,ua, Xapts)
• GRACE, WILLIAM GILBERT (1848– )

grace and dignity is brought vividly before us, and the See also:

• SKETCH (directly adapted from Dutch schets, which was taken from Ital. schizzo, a rough draft, Lat. schedium, something hastily made, Gr. oxE&os, sudden, off-hand, axeb6v, near by; Ger. Skizze and Fr. esquisse are from the same source)

sketch we have of the history of our See also:

• ISLAND (O.E. ieg =isle, +land')

island under the See also:

• ROMANS
• ROMANS, EPISTLE TO THE

Romans gives a See also:

• SPECIAL

special See also:

• INTEREST

interest to this little work . The Germany, the full See also:

• TITLE (0. Fr. title, mod. titre, from Lat. titulus)

title of which is " Concerning the See also:

• GEOGRAPHY (Gr. yil, earth, and ypiickty, to write)

geography, the See also:

• MANNERS, CHARLES (1857– )

manners and customs, and the tribes of Germany," describes with many suggestive hints the See also:

• GENERAL
• GENERAL (Lat. generalis, of or relating to a genus, kind or class)

general 4 See also:

• ANN

Ann. ii . 61; iv . 4 . 5 Epp. vii . 33 . character of the See also:

• GERMAN
• GERMAN, DUTCH AND SCANDINAVIAN

German peoples, and dwells particularly on their fierce and See also:

• INDEPENDENT

independent spirit, which the author evidently felt to be a See also:

• STANDING

standing menace to the empire .

The geography is its weak point; much of this was no doubt gathered from vague hearsay . Tacitus dwells on the contrast between See also:

• BARBARIAN (Gr. fap/3apos)

barbarian freedom and simplicity on the one See also:

• HAND
• HAND (a word common to Teutonic languages; cf. Ger. Hand, Goth. handus)
• HAND, FERDINAND GOTTHELF (1786-185r)

hand, and the servility and degeneracy of Roman life on the other . The Histories, as originally composed in twelve books, brought the history of the empire from Galba in 69 down to the close of Domitian's reign in 97 . The first four books, and a small fragment of the fifth, giving us a very See also:

• MINUTE
• MINUTE (Lat. minutes, small; minuere, to make less)

minute See also:

• ACCOUNT
• ACCOUNT (through O. Fr. acont, Late Lat. comptum, cornputare, to calculate)

account of the eventful year of revolution, 69, and the brief reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius, are all that remain to us . In the fragment of the fifth See also:

• BOOK

book we have a curious but entirely inaccurate account of the Jewish nation, of their character, customs and See also:

• RELIGION
• RELIGION, FOLKLORE, CUSTOM

religion, from a cultivated Roman's point of view, which we see at once was a strongly prejudiced one . The Annals—a title for which there is no See also:

• ANCIENT
• ANCIENT (also spelt ANTIENT; derived, through the Fr. ancien, old, from the late Lat. antianum, from ante, before)

ancient authority, and which there is no See also:

• REASON (Lat. ratio, through French raison)

reason for supposing Tacitus gave distinctively to the work—See also:

• RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record the history of the emperors of the See also:

• JULIAN (FLAVIUS CLAUDIUS JULIANUS) (331-363)

Julian See also:

• LINE

line from Tiberius to Nero, comprising thus a See also:

• PERIOD
• PERIOD (Gr. irepioSos, a going or way round, circuit, aepi, round, and &Sis, way, road)

period from A.D . 14 to 68 . Of these, nine books have come down to us entire; of books v., xi. and xvi. we have but fragments, and the whole of the reign of See also:

• GAIUS

Gaius (Caligula), the first six years of Claudius, and the last three years of Nero are wanting . Out of a period of fifty-four years we thus have the history of See also:

• FORTY

forty years . The See also:

• PRINCIPAL

principal See also:

• MSS

MSS. of Tacitus are known as the "first "and " second " Medicean—both of the loth or 1th centuries . The first six books of the Annals exist nowhere but in the " first Medicean " MS., and an See also:

• ATTEMPT (Lat. adtemptare, attentare, to try)

attempt was made in 1878 to prove that the Annals are a See also:

• FORGERY (derived through the French from Latin fabricare, to construct)

forgery by See also:

• POGGIO (1380-1459)

Poggio See also:

• BRACCIOLINI, FRANCESCO (1566-1645)

Bracciolini, an See also:

• ITALIAN

Italian See also:

• SCHOLAR, SCHOLARSHIP

scholar of the 15th century, but their genuineness is confirmed by their agreement' in various minute details with coins and See also:

• INSCRIPTIONS (from Lat. inscribere, to write upon)

inscriptions discovered since that period . Moreover, Ruodolphus, a See also:

• MONK (O.Eng. munuc; this with the Teutonic forms, e.g. Du. monnik, Ger. Witch, and the Romanic, e.g. Fr. moine, Ital. monacho and Span. monje, are from the Lat. monachus, adaptedfrom Gr. µovaXos, one living alone, a solitary; Own, alone)
• MONK (or MONCK), GEORGE
• MONK, JAMES HENRY (1784-1856)
• MONK, MARIA (c. 1817—1850)

monk, See also:

• WRITING
• WRITING (the verbal noun of " to write," O. Eng. writan, to inscribe)

writing in the 9th century, shows that he is acquainted with a MS. of Tacitus containing at least the two first books .

Add to this the testimony of See also:

• JEROME, JEROME KLAPKA (1859– )
• JEROME, ST (HIERONYMUS, in full EUSEBIUS SOPHRONIUS HIERONYMUS) (c. 340–420)

Jerome that Tacitus wrote in See also:

• THIRTY

thirty books the lives of the Caesars and the evidence of style, and there can be no doubt that in the Annals we have a genuine work of Tacitus . Much of the history of the period described by him, especially of the earlier Caesars, must have been obscure and locked up with the emperor's private papers and memoranda . As we should expect, there was a vast amount of floating See also:

• GOSSIP (from the O.E. godsibb, i.e. God, and sib, akin, standing in relation to)

gossip, which an historian would have to sift and utilize as best he might . Tacitus, as a man of good social position, no doubt had See also:

• ACCESS (Lat. accessus)

access to the best See also:

• INFORMATION (from Lat. informare, to give shape or form to, to represent, describe)

information, and must have talked matters over with the most eminent men of the See also:

• DAY (O. Eng. dreg, Ger. Tag; according to the New English Dictionary, " in no way related to the Lat. dies")
• DAY, JOHN (1574-1640?)
• DAY, THOMAS (1748-1789)

day . There were several writers and chroniclers, whom he occasionally cites but not very often; there were See also:

• MEMOIRS

memoirs of distinguished persons—those, for example, of the younger See also:

• AGRIPPINA

Agrippina, of Thrasea, and Helvidius . There were several collections of letters, like those of the younger Pliny; a number, too, of funeral orations; and the " acta senatus " and the " acta populi " or " acta diurna," the first a record of proceedings in the See also:

• SENATE (Lat. senatus, from root sen-, as in senex, old; the root is the Sanskrit sana, cf. Gr. 'vos; the same element appears in senor, seigneur, seneschal)

senate, the latter a See also:

• KIND (O. E. ge-cynde, from the same root as is seen in " kin," supra)

kind of See also:

• GAZETTE

gazette or See also:

• JOURNAL
• JOURNAL (through Fr. from late Lat. diurnalis, daily)

journal . Thus there were the materials for history in considerable abundance, and Tacitus was certainly a man who knew how to turn them to good account . He has given us a striking, and on the whole doubtless a true, picture of the empire in the 1st century . The rhetorical tendency which characterizes the" See also:

• SILVER

silver age" of Roman literature, gives perhaps exaggerated expression to his undoubtedly strong sense of the badness of individual emperors, but he assuredly wrote with a high aim, and we may accept his own account of it: " I regard2 it as history's highest See also:

• FUNCTION

function to See also:

• RESCUE (in Middle Eng. rescous, from O. Fr. recousse, Low Lat. rescussa, from reexcussa,reexcutere, to shake off again, re, again, ex, off, quatere, to shake)

rescue merit from oblivion, and to hold up as a terror to See also:

• BASE

base words and actions the reprobation of posterity." He is convinced of the degeneracy of the age, though it be relieved by the existence of truly See also:

• NOBLE, SIR ANDREW (1832- )

noble virtues: and he connects this degeneracy more or less directly with the ' See Introduction to vol. i. of See also:

• FURNEAUX, TOBIAS (1735-1781)

Furneaux's edition of the Annals of Tacitus, See also:

• CLARENDON, CONSTITUTIONS OF
• CLARENDON, EDWARD HYDE, 1ST EARL OF (1609-1674)
• CLARENDON, GEORGE WILLIAM FREDERICK VILLIERS, 4TH EARL OF (in the Villiers line) (1800-r87o)
• CLARENDON, HENRY HYDE

Clarendon See also:

• PRESS (through Fr. presse from Lat. pressare, frequentative of premere, to crush, squeeze, press)

Press See also:

• SERIES (a Latin word from serere, to join)

Series, 1884 . 2 Ann. iii . 65.imperial regime . But it is difficult to dogmatize as to Tacitus's See also:

• POLITICAL

political ideals .

He is primarily concerned rather with See also:

• ETHICS
• ETHICS, SHAFTESBURY, HOBBES

ethics than with politics; though he may feel that the See also:

• WORLD

world is out of See also:

• JOINT (through Fr. from Lat. junctum, jungere, to join)

joint—with whatever sentimental sympathy he may regard the age of "See also:

• LIBERTY (Lat. libertas, from liber, free)

liberty," and admire the heroic See also:

• EPOCH (Gr. E7roxij, holding in suspense, a pause, from E1rxav, to hold up, to stop)

epoch of the See also:

• REPUBLIC (Lat. respublica, a commonweal or common-wealth)

republic—yet he appears to realize that the empire is a See also:

• PRACTICAL

practical See also:

• NECESSITY (Lat. necessitas)

necessity, and to the provinces even a benefit . Like the See also:

• STOICS

Stoics, with whom otherwise he has little in See also:

• COMMON

common, he censures rather individual rulers than the imperial See also:

• SYSTEM

system . But " the See also:

• KEY
• KEY (in O. Eng. tang; the ultimate origin of the word is unknown; it appears only in Old Frisian kei of other Teutonic languages; until the end of the 17th century the pronunciation was kay, as in other words in O. Eng. ending in aeg; cf. daeg, day; clang
• KEY (the phraseograms being indicated by hyphens)
• KEY, SIR ASTLEY COOPER (1821-1888)
• KEY, THOMAS HEWITT (1799-1875)

key to the See also:

• INTERPRETATION (from Lat. interpretari, to expound, explain, inter pres, an agent, go-between, interpreter; inter, between, and the root pret-, possibly connected with that seen either in Greek 4 p4'ew, to speak, or irpa-rrecv, to do)

interpretation of Tacitus," it has been well said,3 " is to regard him as a moralist rather than a politician." Perhaps the strongest work in the Annals and Histories is the delineation of character . Tacitus gives us no certain See also:

• CLUE

clue to his religious belief . His expressions of opinion about the See also:

• GOVERNMENT
• GOVERNMENT (0. Fr. governement, mod. gouvernement, O. Fr. governer, mod. gouverner, from Lat. gubernare, to steer a ship, guide, rule; cf. Gr. xv(3epvav)

government of the universe are difficult to reconcile with each other . There seems to have been a See also:

• STRANGE, SIR ROBERT (1721-1792)

strange tinge of superstition about him, and he could not divest himself of some belief' in See also:

• ASTROLOGY

astrology and revelations of the future through omens and portents, though he held these were often misunderstood and misinterpreted by charlatans and impostors . On the whole he appears to have inclined to the philosophical theory of " necessitarianism," that every man's future is fixed from his birth; but we must not fasten on him any particular theory of the world or of the universe . Some-times he speaks as a believer in a divine overruling See also:

• PROVIDENCE

Providence, and we may say confidently that with the Epicurean See also:

• DOCTRINE

doctrine he had no sort of sympathy . Tacitus's style is discussed in the See also:

• ARTICLE (from Lat. articulus, a joint)

article LATIN See also:

• LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

LANGUAGE . Whatever See also:

• JUDGMENT

judgment may be passed on it, it is certainly that of a man of See also:

• GENIUS (from Lat. genere, gignere)

genius, and cannot fail to make a deep impression on the studious reader . Tacitean brevity has become proverbial, and with this are closely allied an occasional obscurity and a rhetorical affectation which his warmest admirers must admit . He has been compared to See also:

• CARLYLE, ALEXANDER (1722-1805)
• CARLYLE, JOSEPH DACRE (1759-18o4)
• CARLYLE, THOMAS (1795-1881)

Carlyle: and both certainly affect singularity of expression .

But they are alike only in the brevity of sentences; and the brevity of Carlyle is not that of an artist in See also:

• EPIGRAM

epigram . Tacitus was probably never a popular author; to be understood and appreciated he must be read again and again, or the point of some of his acutest remarks will be quite missed . Tacitus has been many times translated, in spite of the very great difficulty of the task; the number of versions of the whole or part is stated as 393 . See also:

• MURPHY, ARTHUR (1727–1805)
• MURPHY, JOHN FRANCIS (1853– )
• MURPHY, ROBERT (1806-1843)

Murphy's See also:

• TRANSLATION

translation (we should See also:

• CALL (from Anglo-Saxon ceallian, a common Teutonic word, cf. Dutch kallen, to talk or chatter)

call it a See also:

• PARAPHRASE (Gr. irapa¢pavis, from rrapa4p4av, to relate something in different words, 'raga, beside, and ¢pai"eav, speak, tell)

paraphrase) was for See also:

• LONG, GEORGE (1800-1879)
• LONG, JOHN DAVIS (1838– )

long one of the best known; it was published early in the 19th century . On this was based the so-called See also:

• OXFORD
• OXFORD, EARLS OF
• OXFORD, EDWARD DE VERE, 17TH EARL
• OXFORD, JOHN DE VERE, 13TH EARL OF (1443-1513)
• OXFORD, PROVISIONS OF
• OXFORD, ROBERT DE VERE, 9TH EARL OF (1362-1392)
• OXFORD, ROBERT HARLEY, 1ST

Oxford translation, published by See also:

• BOHN, HENRY GEORGE (1796-1884)

Bohn in a revised edition . Messrs See also:

• CHURCH
• CHURCH (according to most authorities derived from the Gr. Kvpcaxov [&wµa], " the Lord's [house]," and common to many Teutonic, Slavonic and other languages under various forms—Scottish kirk, Ger. Kirche, Swed. kirka, Dan. kirke, Russ. tserkov, Buig. cerk
• CHURCH, FREDERICK EDWIN (1826-1900)
• CHURCH, GEORGE EARL (1835–1910)
• CHURCH, RICHARD WILLIAM (1815–189o)
• CHURCH, SIR RICHARD (1784–1873)

Church and Brodribb's translation, and See also:

• PROFESSOR (the Latin noun formed from the verb profiteri, to declare publicly, to acknowledge, profess)

Professor See also:

• RAMSAY, ALLAN (1686-1758)
• RAMSAY, ALLAN (1713-1784)
• RAMSAY, ANDREW MICHAEL (1686-1743)
• RAMSAY, DAVID (1749—1815)
• RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM (1852– )
• RAMSAY, SIR WILLIAM MITCHELL (185r– )

Ramsay's (1904) (the latter of Annals i.–iv.) are much better . The best known See also:

• FOREIGN

foreign translation is Davanzati's (Italian), printed about 1600 and frequently re-published . The See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French versions by Louandre and Burned (about the See also:

• MIDDLE

middle of the last century) are also good . Among the very numerous See also:

• MODERN

modern commentaries, the most important are Ruperti's (1839); See also:

• ORELLI, HANS KONRAD VON (1846- )
• ORELLI, JOHANN CASPAR VON (1787-1849)

Orelli's (1859: the Histories, Germania, Agricola, and Dialogues were revised and re-edited by Meiser and See also:

• ANDERSEN, HANS CHRISTIAN (1805-1875)

Andersen between 1877 and 1895); See also:

• RITTER, HEINRICH (1791-1869)
• RITTER, KARL (1779–1859)

Ritter's (1864); Nipperdey's (1879); Heraus's (Histories, 1885) ; Furneaux's (Annals, See also:

• LEVI, HERMANN (1839-1900)
• LEVI, LEONE (1821-1888)

Levi., 1884; xi.–xvi., 1891; Germania, 1894); Spooner's (Histories, 1891) . The last two editors' introductions are particularly useful . Of works See also:

• RELATING

relating to Tacitean Latinity, Draeger's Syntax and Stil See also:

• DES

des Tacitus is the best . (W .

J . B.; A . D . G.) .