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The Histories (Penguin Classics)

Download The Histories (Penguin Classics)

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Review

" In all the records of Rome there can scarcely be another year that is so full of calamity, or that displays so clearly the strength and weakness of the Romans." -Kenneth Wellesley, from his original introduction to "The Histories"

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About the Author

Tacitus studied rhetoric in Rome and rose to eminence as a pleader at the Roman Bar. In 77 he married the daughter of Agricola, conqueror of Britain, of whom he later wrote a biography. His works include the Germania and the Historiae.

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Product details

Series: Penguin Classics

Paperback: 384 pages

Publisher: Penguin Classics; Revised edition (August 25, 2009)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0140449647

ISBN-13: 978-0140449648

Product Dimensions:

5.1 x 0.9 x 7.8 inches

Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review:

4.6 out of 5 stars

23 customer reviews

Amazon Best Sellers Rank:

#222,278 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

The Histories - Penguin Classics - is a valuable book to teach about the time period, and Tacitus, but it is not the same book as the hardbound version of Tacitus by, Kenneth Wellesley. The Penguin version has "modifications" of that version for the present audience, by Rhiannon Ash (Editor, Introduction), who takes the liberty of changing it, to make it "more accessible." In doing so, the immediacy of the Kenneth Wellesley edition is made less energetic and forceful.For instance, "died by the sword" becomes "died violently" and "the gods take no thought for our happiness, only punishment" becomes "the gods care not for our peace of mind but only for vengeance." Changes of this type seem more than just "editing."The Penguin edition is more helpful in its inclusion of notes, etc. but it does not seem to have the impact of the original, hardbound version.

This is a gripping look at a most chaotic year for the Roman Empire. Tacitus presents vivid depictions not only of the major claimants to the Imperial throne but also the subordinates who schemed and plotted with them.Best of all, perhaps, are Tacitus's trenchant observations on how people react to power. This is a very good window into the ancient Roman mind.

Most people don't need a review of Tacitus's work. Most people want to know if a particular translation is any good. With that in mind, I recommend this Penguin edition of Kenneth Wellesley's translation. The translation itself is highly readable, and Wellesley indicates the rare instances where he emends the Latin text in footnotes. Wellesley also uses the footnotes to help the reader keep track of some of the less prominent characters in the work, a feature which is a big help for the non-specialist. Probably the best aspect of this edition is the map section at the end. The book contains 11 maps that include maps of large areas, maps of cities, and diagrams of important battles. Wellesley also refers the reader to the appropriate map through the footnotes. This review makes it sound like the book contains a lot of footnotes, but really there are usually just one or two a page. The one minor defect of the book is that the index only contains personal names. A general index would have made this user friendly book even better. But like I said, this is a great English copy of the Histories.

4 rulers in Rome during a period of a year. Interesting times indeed. The more things change, the more they stay the same. The authors insight is every bit as applicable today as 2000 years ago. Humans haven't changed a bit.

Tacitus was one of the preeminent historians of the ancient world. He wrote several works, but only a couple of them have survived, and even these have fragments missing. "The Histories" primarily concerns one year of the Roman Empire: 69 AD. In that year, the empire would have four emperors: Galba, Otho, Vittelius, and Vespasian. The first three would come to "untimely ends." Otho would committee suicide, the other two were murdered. Vespasian would rule for 10 years, die of natural causes, and we succeeded by his son, Titus. It was Nero's suicide (yes, the infamous Nero, of watching Rome burn fame) in 68 AD, without a ready heir-apparent, that precipitated this year-long fight for succession that was in reality a civil war within the empire. Each of the contenders had their own geographic power base, with shifting alliances on the part of other players. Vittelius was in the Germanic area; Vespasian was most recently based in the area now called the Middle East: Judaea and Syria. It was a very bloody transition, both for the "principals," as indicated earlier, as well as the foot soldier, who died in their thousands. Overall, though there sure was much injustice in the infamous "hanging chads" as well as a Supreme Court decision, Tacitus' account makes one appreciate a non-bloody transition.Tacitus was a Roman senator who wrote this account over 30 years after the events occurred. Thus, much had become "received wisdom." He includes certain speeches, verbatim. He admits to owing his position to the Vespasians', who were enemies of Vittelius, so in his rather scathing account of the later, it helps to keep that in mind. With those caveats aside, I sensed that he was an acute observer in how power was sought and utilized, and the many follies associated with it. He does an excellent job of tracking the changing political alliances, along with summarizing the motivations of the principal characters. In addition to the politics, there is much military history, with the names and leadership of the various legions that took part in battles. Tacitus assumes that the reader knows the military nomenclature and tactics of the time, and thus the modern reader may need to familiarize oneself with these, from a separate source. The most detailed battle accounts were of two different battles, each occurring essentially at the same place, Bedriacum, in northern Italy. Vittelius was the winner in the first one, and the loser in the second, both fought within six months of each other. (It recalled other multiple battles over the same place, for example Bull Run in the American Civil War, or Ypres, in the First World War.) One aspect of the fighting that I found surprising was how, in a civil war, Roman soldiers would treat Roman civilians as suitable targets for looting and raping (it just seemed to be part of the game.) Furthermore, in terms of brutality and callousness, Tacitus states that Hannibal insisted that the Romans who died in the bloody battle of Cannae in 216 BC be buried. In this Civil War of 69 AD, Romans let other Romans rot on the battlefield. And in terms of "fragging their own officers," an expression from a much later war, it was also telling how often the troops revolted, and killed their own generals.The last section covers the Roman war against the Jews, in 70 AD, which included the destruction of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem. The victorious Roman general was Titus, son of Vespasian, who would go on to become emperor in his own right, when his father died (of natural causes!) For the modern reader, Tacitus' perspective can be somewhat jarring. Judea was just one more area on the borders of the expanding empire that needed to be "pacified." It was filled with cantankerous natives involved in customs and practices that did not conform with the norm of the empire, and were therefore "aberrant."I cannot read Latin, and therefore cannot vouch for the accuracy of the translation. I note at least one other review which challenges it though. But I do think that Kenneth Wellesley has produced a most readable and understandable version for the modern reader. And there are four excellent maps that I found myself constantly referring to, as well as 50 pages of notes designed to assist the modern reader who is not intimately familiar with the period. It was a great read, with numerous points on power, its use, and the transition of same between one group and another, valid for today. 5-stars.

Good read.

History of the White man before it was evil to be one

The histories of Tacitus are more of a unified story than his Annals. In the extant books, Tacitus tells of the goings on of the Roman aristocracy during the year of the four emperors. Assassinations, battles, backstabbing and general intrigue dominate the text.Secondary stories are the rebellion and pacification of Germany and the response to the Jewish revolution of 70 A.D. As one of the earliest sources on Roman views of the Jewish people and offering insight into contemporary Roman views of the German nations, Tacitus certainly provides grist for historians.But consisting mostly of the story of the ultimate triumph of Vespasian over his imperial rivals, the book is more a unity like Thucydides’s account of the Peleponessian war as opposed to the meandering style of Herodotus. Recommended reading if ancient history is to one’s liking or if one is interested in the story of the near break up and reconstitution of the Roman Empire in the late first century A.D.

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