Writing imperial history : Tacitus from Agricola to Annales / Bram L. H. ten Berge.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

ten Berge, Bram.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Tacitus, Cornelius--Technique.

Tacitus, Cornelius.

Tacitus, Cornelius--Criticism and interpretation.

Historiography--Rome.

Historiography.

Imperialism--Historiography.

Imperialism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (425 pages)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, 2023.

Summary:

The late first- and early second-century Roman senator and historian Cornelius Tacitus, whom Edward Gibbon described as "the first of the historians who applied the science of philosophy to the study of facts," shaped the development of the modern understanding of history as a crucial vehicle for social analysis. The breadth of his thinking is fully revealed only through analysis of how the political, geographical, and rhetorical theories expounded in his early works influenced his later narrative of the evolution of the Roman monarchy. Tacitus, who was one of the oratorical luminaries of his time, produced a collection of works widely recognized as offering the most authoritative account of Rome's early imperial history. His oeuvre traditionally is divided into the so-called "minor" and "major" works. Writing Imperial History offers the first comprehensive analysis of Tacitus' five texts and their interconnections and serves to confront longstanding assumptions that have led to a fundamental misunderstanding of the nature and development of his oeuvre and historical thinking. Tracing many of the enduring themes and concerns that Tacitus explores across his oeuvre, the book shows how the vision articulated in his earlier texts persists in his later ones and how he used the former as sources for the latter.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

Acknowledgments

A Note on the Text

Introduction

Preliminary Remarks: Some Background

1. The Agricola: Enunciating Tacitean Concerns and Techniques

2. The Agricola and the Germania as Companion Pieces

3. The Dialogus de Oratoribus: Rehabilitating the "Anomaly"

4. The Historiae: Biography, Ethnography, and Dialogue as Sources for Historiography

5. The Annales: Finalizing an Integrated Project

Epilogue

Bibliography

Index Locorum.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 365 -384) and index.

Description based on information from the publisher.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Other Format:

Print version: ten Berge, Bram Writing Imperial History

ISBN:

9780472221240

0472221248

OCLC:

1376446409