tacitus- themes Flashcards

Question

annals loss liberty

Answer 1

Annals 3.52- if return to republic owuldnt be able to cope- anarchy and disorder- as people wont learn what is right and wrong without being told explicity

Answer 2

 Britons- sgricola- ‘roken to obedience’  And above

Answer 3

- book burnings other historians cremitus cordus

Answer 4

of the ‘eulogies written by rusticus and sencio on paetus and priscus’ * Threat to pursuit of history esp concerneing as raises issue factually inccorect collective memory- rela pribem under a principate rather a republic- lack of idcussion and accountability * Forum- freedom of speech arena * ‘they fancied.. that in that fire the voice of the roman people, the freedom of the senate and the conscience of human race were perishing ‘

Answer 5

 Historian described the reigns of principates ‘during their lifetimes in fictitious terms’- feared what happen to them

Answer 6

forced into suiscide due to his overly positive perspective on tyrannicides- cassius and brutus

Answer 7

 Tacitus stays quiet about nerva and trajan- iff to critic and give ‘oppp fro free speech and thought

Answer 8

 Juxtaposes Lepidus (defending Priscus) and Tiberius. Priscus is a poet who made an impudent remark.  Priscus is executed, showing the bankruptcy of Tiberius’ claims to justice and moderation.

Answer 9

- boudica speach britain disease calgacus speech gauls

Answer 10

Boudicca speech and the anonymous speech preceding it are powerful.  - Agricola 21: “the simple natives call it civilisation, when in reality it was part of their enslavement.

Answer 11

occurs during the dramatic and infamous murder plot against Agrippina the Younger, Nero’s mother. Nero arranges for her to be killed in a staged shipwreck off the coast of Baiae. However, the calm sea and clear night expose the plan when the mechanism fails.

Answer 12

acitus’ double rhetoric: He sets up an opposition between the disciplined, honour-bound Roman military ideal and Boudicca’s appeal to justice, honour, and ancestral liberty. Boudicca’s speech: She speaks in the voice of a woman, a mother, and a queen wronged by Roman power — referencing the rape of her daughters and the plundering of Britain. Powerful contrast: The Roman speaker emphasizes order and discipline, while Boudicca invokes freedom and outrage. The speeches reflect Tacitus’ ambivalence about empire: civilised power vs righteous rebellion.

Answer 13

Tacitus reports Agricola himself as having said: it “would be advantageous even with regard to Britain, if Roman arms were everywhere and liberty were, so to speak, removed from sight.” (24.3)

Answer 14

Agr. 30–32) – "They make a desolation and call it peace" Ciceronian rhetoric: Tacitus’ rebel Calgacus speaks in polished, Roman oratory — a literary irony that raises questions about where true Roman values now reside. Moral inversion: Rome, the supposed bringer of peace, is the true aggressor, destroying to rule.

Answer 15

The Gauls are said to have lost their courage when they lost their freedom (11.4); in the short account of Boudica’s revolt, the Britons discuss the evils of slavery (15.1) and they seek inspiration from German successes in this regard (15.3) ecurring idea: that liberty nourishes virtue, while empire breeds decadence and decline. This is true not only of the conquered — but of the conquerors. liberty lacking= lack confidence

Answer 16

 Batomsky and Levan. Levan considers the semantic field of disease which lingers around imperialism: “regained consciousness”, “remedies”, “pure contagion of mastery”, “unimpaired and unconquered.” 

Answer 17

- historical context cicero \tacitus moerig the loss of republican ideas not republic observations and qyotes

Answer 18

republic wasn’t a democracy, closest had was tribune of plebs who rep peole of rome

Answer 19

 Cicero- republic is thing belongs to people- cohesion between orme and citizens  Whilst everyone must be in agreement what right and wht is just – most not actively involved in politics

Answer 20

o Notes how the nobles “preferred the safety of the present to the dangerous past.” o “deranged by violence, intrigue and finally corruption.” o the rivalries of factions, the avarice of magistrates, the impotence of laws”

Answer 21

comfortable succumbed to it chose submission because it was easier than risking their lives for liberty. Periodisation: This is a key line for understanding the post-Republic transition. The Republic = “dangerous”; the Empire = “safe” (but also morally dead). Useful theme: The complicity of the nobility in tyranny. Freedom wasn’t just lost; it was relinquished.

Answer 22

Breakdown of Republican norms: Factions (factio) suggest elite self-interest and political tribalism. Avarice of magistrates = greed hollowed out magistracies as public service. Laws had no power = legal forms remained but lost moral and civic force. Modern feel: This sounds eerily like a critique of modern political collapse — very quotable for essay openings or conclusions.

Answer 23

libo drusus trial piso trial luxury

Answer 24

Libo Drusus, a young nobleman, is accused of treason (maiestas) under Tiberius. The charges include consulting fortune-tellers, asking whether he would be wealthy enough to pave the Via Appia with silver, and writing fantastical omens. His “confession” is extracted under duress, and he commits suicide before sentencing. His property is seized and distributed among his accusers.

Answer 25

nmoved countenance” ❞ (2.28) Tacitus describes Libo at the Senate with a passive expression — possibly from fear, perhaps from resignation. This moment becomes symbolic of the powerlessness of the individual under imperial power. acussers get his property =ourts become tools for personal enrichment and political elimination.

Answer 26

* Tacitus heavily insinuates that he was not guilty; Marsh argues that he was.

Answer 27

Piso is accused of poisoning Germanicus, popular general and heir of Tiberius. His trial becomes a test of the Senate’s independence and the credibility of the Principate. - rumour that assinated not killed himself

Answer 28

without pity, without anger… closed against any emotional appeal.” silenced, degraded elite under emperors.

Answer 29

did not commit suicide but was assassinated so he could not implicate Tiberius in the death of Germanicus

Answer 30

bribery loss of history corruption

Answer 31

e won over the soldiers with gifts” ❞ Tacitus on Augustus' rise — not with the people’s will, but through military bribery. This exposes the hollow foundation of the principate — built on manipulation, force, and appeasement of armed power, not civic legitimacy.

Answer 32

he boldest spirits had fallen in battle... how few men were left who had seen the republic.” ❞ Part of Tacitus’ opening moral landscape. He paints the rise of Augustus not as necessary reform, but as the product of exhaustion, war, and loss.

Answer 33

the higher a man’s rank, the more eager his hypocrisy.” ypocrisy becomes a social survival strategy, especially in public life (e.g., the Senate, the courts). Related figures: L. Piso (Ann. 3.10), Sejanus’ supporters (Ann. 4–6), or the flattery around Nero.

Answer 34

pannonia mutiny parthoa embpus senators justify luxyr

Answer 35

'craving luxury and ideleness Context: Germanicus is trying to restore order after soldiers in Pannonia mutiny, demanding better pay, less service time, and more privileges. Tacitus inserts this line as commentary on the soldiers’ moral state — they’re no longer motivated by duty (disciplina) or glory (virtus), but by comfort and ease.

Answer 36

o 2.2 even the Parthian envoys are corrupted by Rome’s decadence. – given valuable gfifts= yet soon replaced by ashamed feeling of nat humiliation at having accepted from another world a king tained wit henemey customs

Answer 37

self-righteously justify their luxury at 2.33.- ‘the only criterion of moderation or excess is the owners means’ , ‘senators and knights have special property qualifications..because their precedence in station rank and honours warrants special provision for their menatla dn physical well being

Answer 38

- power appears shared - senate silence and hortalus subsidy - tib and senate function - laissex- fiare? - provincial wives

Answer 39

Annals 1.11: “The consuls, the chiefs of the Senate, and the wisest experts on contemporary affairs were consulted.” - Tiberius presents himself as reviving Republican collegiality — consultation with the Senate, no divine honours, etc. - Tacitus uses this to frame Tiberius as disingenuous: power is centralised, but cloaked in the rhetoric of shared governance - predetermmed or guided by fear

Answer 40

“The majority received his speech in silence” ❞ Tiberius delivers a speech against granting financial aid to the descendants of Hortensius. When this speech receives only nervous silence, he reverses course and offers 200,000 sesterces to each of Hortalus’ sons.

Answer 41

ven when Tiberius opens debate, senators dare not respond — creating a culture of performative agreement. His reversal might seem like responsiveness, but Tacitus presents it as a sign of: Frustration at the Senate’s passivity Or a tactical display of generosity to reaffirm control Either way, it’s a parody of consultation.

Answer 42

Public and private business transacted within the Senate, enabling freedom of discussion among chief members.” ❞ (Annals 1.14) This claim early in the Annals sounds promising — a return to senatorial government. But the reality is grim: freedom of discussion is slowly replaced with obedient silence, especially after the maiestas trials begin to accelerate. Tacitus’ irony: the form of liberty survives, while its substance is gone.

Answer 43

– laissex-faire not intervening I grain crisis and rejecteinhg name ‘father of his county’- paradox of an indivd who helped to manufacgture an atmosphere of fear in rome * Removing himself fomr grain crisis and empire- opp expanding further * Yet- self preservation rather than opp discussion and coop?

Answer 44

o Contrast republican and principate controlled rome in quality of senatorial discussion – on debate over govenors taking wives w them to provinces  Shutdown of debate by drusus limited discussion on issue pertaining to relaxation of military integrity  Marshall 2014 p 89- decline of senatorial integrity- giving up on debate allowing dursus halt it

Answer 45

- sycophans - tib attitude towards them - tib actions histories

Answer 46

pisa asking tiv in senate ‘will you vote first or last’ as concerned about voting against tib  Presents as children unsure what to think

Answer 47

exclaimed ‘men fit to be slaves’ – himself slave owner and thus had ability to do as wished not a vestige of the old, sound morality” remained as they “plunged into slavery”

Answer 48

 Tiberius does not even need to justify the murder of Agrippa Posthumous.

Answer 49

 Asinius Gallus: “single mind”

Answer 50

opening lines domitian reign of terror shift of power sharing power removal of opps facilitated trials

Answer 51

Book Four of the Histories, Regulus attacks the senate mercilessly, stating that the entire senate could be overturned by one voice (Hist. 4.42.4

Answer 52

rome from the beginning was ruled by kings’annals 1 1 opening lines  ‘power under the title of preceps

Answer 53

* Saw ‘senate house under siege ‘ * Individ now simply watching for ‘imperial commands ‘ * Tacitus presents Agricola lucky due before * ‘maurius and rusticus’ suffering whilst * ‘we senators lef helvidius to prison’ – helvidius being phil and thus conflicting w Domitian repression of individ thougt and the arts

Answer 54

o Exhonerate guilt shared action * ‘stained ‘ ‘w senecios innocent blood ‘ o Innocent highlights awareness senator action not orally justified or acceptable 'we senators lef hlebidius to prison'

Answer 55

 Away from oligarcy seen ‘when the senate was in power’ to one of fear wich ‘virtually been transformed into an autocracy * Virtually hesitance s

Answer 56

agriocla germanicu clemens

Answer 57

 Domitian reign of terror  Annals- ‘upper class survivors’ finding that ‘slavish obedience was the way to succeed’, those able to have a voice chose to conform in order to ebenfit themsleevs

Answer 58

libo drusus pirso priscus

Answer 59

o Pillars of republican life- damaged – freedom of speech, cb on ruler diminish  Freedom of speech * Decline of power of senate o Brutal repression opp figures o Quashing romes civil liberties o Thus in works – esp Agricola, tacitus mourns loss of republic

Answer 60

o Rome adoption useful mechanism which looked to consolidate power in a smal group o Tib adopted by augusts given ‘civil and military authjirty ‘ and ‘the powers of the truben’ o Augustus adopted Agrippa sons gaius and Lucias casear and had ‘consulshops reserved for them’ o Noble families have earmarked power

Answer 61

sallust livy

Answer 62

conspiracy of catiline pointing to ‘the narrowness of the oligarchic clique which monopolises power’- largely dictated by ‘birth’ resulting in corruption of country

Answer 63

raises issue of ‘supreme exec posts’ oly open yto patricians ‘

tacitus- themes Flashcards

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