Annals

Annals (Annales or Ab excessu divi Augusti, ‘from the death of the late emperor Augustus’), a history of the reigns of the Julio-Claudian emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, by Tacitus, written after his Histories. There is evidence that Tacitus was still writing it in AD 116. The surviving portions are books 1–4, a small piece of 5, 6, part of 11, 12–15, and part of 16. The work is notable for its style, concise to the point of obscurity, its sustained dignity and vividness, and its epigrammatic sayings, memorable for their irony or melancholy. The record is in the main gloomy and depressing, and although Tacitus bears occasional witness to the efficient civil administration of the empire, the emphasis seems to be rather on the crimes, the sycophancy, the informing, and the oppression that marked this period at Rome. Tacitus claims to write without partiality and prejudice, to aim at saving worthy actions from oblivion while recording evil deeds for posterity (3. 65), but he has in fact a republican bias. It is generally recognized that the impression he gives of Tiberius is unduly dark, and the life of debauchery imputed to him in his last years at Capri inherently improbable. The most important matters covered in the surviving books are as follows.

Book 1 (AD 14–15). After a rapid review of the reign of Augustus, the author passes to that of Tiberius, relating the suppression by Germanicus of the mutiny of the legions in Pannonia and Germany in 14, and his first two campaigns (14–15) against the Germans. There is a notable description of the visit of the Roman army to the scene of the disaster of Varus.

Book 2 (AD 16–19). The third campaign of Germanicus (16), in which he defeats Arminius. His expedition to the East with Cn. Piso (17), and his death, suspected to have been due to Piso.

Book 3 (AD 20–2). The return of Agrippina, the widow of Germanicus, to Italy, and the trial (20) and suicide of Piso. The growth of luxury and sycophancy at Rome.

Book 4 (AD 23–8). The character and career of Sejanus, who, in league with Livia, the wife of Drusus (son of Tiberius), has Drusus poisoned (23) and plots against the children of Germanicus. The proposal of his marriage to Livia is set aside by Tiberius. In 26 Tiberius withdraws to Capri. The increase in the activity of informers and in judicial murders, such as that of Cremutius Brutus, accused of having in a history praised Brutus and Cassius.

Book 5 (AD 29). The death of Julia Augusta or Livia (29), mother of Tiberius. The story of the conspiracy and fall of Sejanus in 31, which formed part of this book, is lost.

Book 6 (AD 31–7). Tiberius at Capri; his vicious life, anguish, and ferocity. The death of Drusus (son of Germanicus) by starvation in prison, and of Agrippina his mother (33). The ceaseless bloodshed at Rome, by executions and suicides. The death of Tiberius in 37, and a summary of his life.

Book 11 (AD 47–9). The seventh year of the reign of Claudius (47). The excesses of Messalina, her marriage with Silius, the dismay of the emperor, and the execution in 48 of Silius and Messalina at the urging of the freedman Narcissus.

Book 12 (AD 49–54). Claudius marries in 49 his niece Agrippina, daughter of Germanicus. Through her influence her son, the future emperor Nero, is adopted by Claudius, preferred to his own son Britannicus, and married to his daughter Octavia. Silanus, to whom Octavia had been betrothed, is brought to ruin and death in 49 by Agrippina. Seneca is recalled from exile to be Nero's tutor. The insurrection in Britain and the defeat (50) of Caratacus, king of the Silures, who is brought to Rome and pardoned. Claudius is poisoned by Agrippina, and Nero becomes emperor (54).

Book 13 (AD 55–8). The promising beginning to the reign of Nero, who is restrained by Seneca and Burrus, the prefect of the praetorians. Cn. Domitius Corbulo is sent to the East to resist Parthian aggression. Agrippina, whose influence is weakened, takes up the cause of Britannicus; Nero has him poisoned (55) and Agrippina removed from the palace. Nero in love with Poppaea Sabina.

Book 14 (AD 59–62). The attempt to remove Agrippina by scuttling her ship, followed by her brutal murder (61). The great rising of 61 in Britain under Boudicca, and its suppression (London is mentioned as much frequented by merchants and trading vessels). Armenia is recovered from the Parthians by the Romans under Corbulo. The death of Burrus in 62 and the retirement of Seneca. Nero marries Poppaea; his virtuous former wife Octavia is banished to Pandataria (Ventotene) and there murdered.

Book 15 (AD 62–5). The ignominious defeat of Caesennius Paetus in Armenia, followed by the reduction of the country by a Roman army under Corbulo to a dependency of the empire (63). The great fire of Rome, which devastates ten out of the city's fourteen districts, and its rebuilding on an improved plan. The persecution of the Christians, to whom Nero attributes the fire. The conspiracy of C. Calpurnius Piso and the putting to death of Seneca and Lucan in 65.

Book 16 (AD 65–6). The extravagances of Nero, who appears in public as a singer; the death of Poppaea (65). The suicide of the Stoic Thrasea and the banishment of his son-in-law Helvidius in 66. In chapter 16 of this book, one of the last surviving, Tacitus laments the melancholy and monotonous record of bloodshed. The part relating to the last two years of Nero's reign is lost.