In his Filippo he has represented, almost with the masterly touches of Tacitus, the sombre character, the dark mysterious counsels, the suspensa semper et obscura verba, of the modern Tiberius.

Tacitus ' descriptions of the Germanic character are at times favorable in contrast to the opinions of the Romans of his day.

Tacitus described Faustus's character as " timid and despicable " and also stated that Faustus was incapable to attempt to plot against Nero.

On the life and character of Julius Agricola ) is a book by the Roman historian Tacitus, written c 98, which recounts the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general.

" This is a tribe ," says Tacitus ( Histories Book iv ) " which inhabits part of the island, and closely resembles the Batavians in their origin, their language, and their courageous character, but is inferior in numbers.

Suetonius alleges that Tiberius had a low opinion of Julia's character, while Tacitus claims that she disdained Tiberius as an unequal match and even sent her father a letter, written by Sempronius Gracchus, denouncing him.

It has been suggested that this last detail is an example of Tacitus altering facts to make Claudius a passive character in his reign.

Tacitus, the most important Roman historian of this period, took a particular interest in Britain as Gnaeus Julius Agricola, his father-in-law and the subject of his first book, served there three times.

One of the most detailed reports of military activity under the Flavian dynasty was written by Tacitus, whose biography of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola largely concerns the conquest of Britain between 77 and 84.

He fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a single legion and a few auxiliaries.

Although Tacitus is usually considered to be the most reliable author of this era, his views on Domitian are complicated by the fact that his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, may have been a personal enemy of the Emperor.

Governor Gnaeus Julius Agricola, father-in-law to the historian Tacitus, conquered the Ordovices in 78.

Agricola was the father-in-law of the famous historian Tacitus.

Agricola fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a single legion and auxiliaries.

The Roman historian Tacitus, in his book chronicling the life of his father-in-law, Agricola, describes how the Romans knew that Britain ( which Agricola was commander of ) was an island.

Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the Roman governor and Tacitus ' father-in-law, had sent his fleet ahead to panic the Caledonians, and, with light infantry reinforced with British auxiliaries, reached the site, which he found occupied by the enemy.

They are most notoriously recorded in Tacitus ' Agricola ( chapter 28 ), where he recounts how a cohort drafted into the Roman army mutinied whilst on campaign in northern Britain ( presumably on the west coast ) with his father-in-law, the general Gn.

From the memoirs written by Agrippina the Younger, Tacitus used the memoirs to extract information regarding the family and fate of Agrippina the Elder, when Tacitus was writing The Annals.

This view is based partly on Old English and Danish traditions regarding persons and events of the 4th century, and partly on the fact that striking affinities to the cult of Nerthus as described by Tacitus are to be found in pre-Christian Scandinavian, especially Swedish and Danish, religion.

The closeness of this information to the executive authority of the emperor is attested by Tacitus ' statement that it was written out by Augustus himself.

In 21, during the reign of Tiberius, they revolted under Julius Sacrovir, and seized Augustodunum, but were soon put down by Gaius Silius ( Tacitus Ann.

Tacitus reports that before their arrival the area had been " an uninhabited district on the extremity of the coast of Gaul, and also of a neighbouring island, surrounded by the ocean in front, and by the river Rhine in the rear and on either side " ( Tacitus, Historiae iv. 12 ).

They retained the honour of the ancient association with the Romans, not required to pay tribute or taxes and used by the Romans only for war: " They furnished to the Empire nothing but men and arms ", Tacitus remarked.

If so, they may have originally comprised residual Celtic elements in central eastern Europe such as the Cotini, who formed a Celtic enclave in the Germanic-speaking zone and are described by Tacitus as iron-ore miners working as tributaries of the powerful Quadi Germanic people.

It is possible that the miscegenation mentioned by Tacitus had, by the 3rd century, resulted in the Bastarnae becoming assimilated by the Sarmatians, perhaps adopting their tongue ( which belonged to the Iranic group of Indo-European languages ) and / or Sarmatian customs.

Tacitus says that the Britons had no interest in taking or selling prisoners, only in slaughter by gibbet, fire, or cross.

More recently, a discovery of Roman artefacts in Kings Norton close to Metchley Camp has suggested another possibility, and a thorough examination of a stretch of Watling Street between St. Albans, Boudica's last known location, and the Fosse Way junction has suggested the Cuttle Mill area of Paulerspury in Northamptonshire, which has topography very closely matching that described by Tacitus of the scene of the battle.

Tacitus writes that the Praetorian Prefect, Macro, smothered Tiberius with a pillow to hasten Caligula's accession, much to the joy of the Roman people, while Suetonius writes that Caligula may have carried out the killing, though this is not recorded by any other ancient historian.

After his death, Domitian's memory was condemned to oblivion by the Roman Senate, while senatorial authors such as Tacitus, Pliny the Younger and Suetonius published histories propagating the view of Domitian as a cruel and paranoid tyrant.

Hostile views of Domitian were propagated until well into the early 20th century, before archeological and numismatic advances brought renewed attention to his reign, and necessitated a revision of the literary tradition established by Tacitus and Pliny.

In the following year, 27 AD, he is again mentioned by Tacitus as the accuser of Quinctilius Varus, the son of Claudia Pulchra.

Tacitus suggests that this was the original way the word " Germani " was used – as the name of a single tribal nation, ancestral to the Tungri ( who lived in the same area as the earlier Germani reported by Caesar ), and not a whole race ( gentis ).

This was never proven, and Piso later died while facing trial ( ostensibly by suicide, but Tacitus supposes Tiberius may have had him murdered before he could implicate the emperor in Germanicus ' death ).

Map showing the approximate locations of the major Germanic tribes in and around the geographical region of Germania as mentioned in Tacitus ' work, the Germania

The Roman empire under Hadrian ( ruled 117-138 ), showing the location of the Aestii as described by the Roman historian Tacitus

By the end of 20th century, however, a sort of inverted red tacitism ( as the new variant of black tacitism could be called ) appeared, for example in publications like Woodman's Tacitus reviewed: the new theories described the emperors of the principate no longer as monarchs ruling as autocrats, but as " magistrates " in essence defending a " republican " form of government ( which might excuse some of their rash actions ), very much in line with Graves ' lenient posture regarding crimes committed under the rule of princeps Claudius ( for instance the putting aside of the elder L. Silanus, showing the emperor's lack of conscience according to Tacitus, Ann.

Considering Dio must have read Tacitus, it is worth noting he mentions nothing about suicide ( which was also how Postumus and Nero ended their lives ).

Tacitus ( Annals ii. 30, 86 ) recounts how Gaius Fonteius Agrippa and Domitius Pollio offered their daughters as Vestal candidates in AD 19 to fill such a vacant position.

Tacitus, the main source concerning the events of the conspiracy, admits to lacking knowledge about how Epicharis originally gained knowledge of the conspiracy.

For Tacitus, Agricola served as an example of how, even under despotism, it was possible to behave correctly, avoiding the opposite extremes of servility and useless opposition.

One of the first operas to use historical events and people rather than classical mythology, it adapts incidents from the writings of Tacitus, Suetonius and others to recount how Poppea, mistress of the Roman emperor Nerone ( Nero ), is able to achieve her ambition and be crowned empress.

Tacitus recounts how one centurio earned the nickname Cedo Alteram (" give me another!

Tacitus describes how the Romanised Britons embraced the new urban centres: