Tacitus stated that the Germans were passionately fond of dicing, so much that they would stake their personal liberty when bankrupt.

Here is also worth noting what Tacitus stated in his work Germania about capital punishment amongst the Germanic folk ; that none could be flogged, imprisoned or executed, not even on order of the warlord, without the consent of the priest ; who was himself required to render his judgement in accordance with the will of the god they believe accompanies them to the field of battle In the same source this god is stated being the chief deity.

Van Voorst has stated that it was unlikely for Tacitus himself to refer to Christians as Chrestianos i. e. " useful ones " given that he also referred to them as " hated for their shameful acts ".

The Roman historian Tacitus is often stated to have been born in Terni, but there is no evidence for the claim, which is circumstantially based on the probable birth there of the emperor of the same name, and on the attested fact that that emperor took care to have his namesake's works widely copied, in the apparent belief that they were related.

William L. Portier has stated that the consistency in the references by Tacitus, Josephus and the letters to Emperor Trajan by Pliny the Younger reaffirm the validity of all three accounts.

However, Paul R. Eddy has stated that given his position as a senator Tacitus was also likely to have had access to official Roman documents of the time and did not need other sources.

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

On the one hand Tacitus ' Germania tells us ( Chapters 38, 39 ) that they occupy more than half of Germany, use a distinctive hair style, and are spiritually centered on the Semnones.

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.

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.

Tacitus ' statement that they were " German in their way of life and types of dwelling " implies a sedentary bias, but their close relations with the Sarmatians, who were nomadic, may indicate a more nomadic lifestyle, as does the wide geographical range of their attested inhabitation.

According to Tacitus, they drew inspiration from the example of Arminius, the prince of the Cherusci who had driven the Romans out of Germany in AD 9, and their own ancestors who had driven Julius Caesar from Britain.

Yet, one cannot always trust Caesar and Tacitus when they ascribe individuals and tribes to one or the other category, although Caesar made clear distinctions between the two cultures.

Tacitus was one of the first to ask whether such powers were given to the head of state, because the citizens wanted to give them, or whether they were given for other reasons ( for example, because one had a deified ancestor ).

According to Tacitus, they found heaps of bleached bones and severed skulls nailed to trees, which they buried, "... looking on all as kinsfolk and of their own blood ...".

According to Tacitus in his book Germania ( chapter 30 ), they were disciplined warriors famed for their infantry, who ( unusually for Germanic tribes ) used trenching tools and carried provisions when at war.

The ancient Roman sources, particularly Tacitus and Suetonius, portray Messalina as extremely lustful, but also insulting, disgraceful, cruel, and avaricious ; they claimed her negative qualities were a result of her inbreeding.

In 59 they had reluctantly agreed to Agrippina's murder, and afterward, we are told by Tacitus that Seneca wrote a dishonest exculpation of Nero to the Senate.

This had been noted by Tacitus, for example when he mentioned the names of two kings of the 1st century Frisians and added that they were kings " as far as the Germans are under kings ".

Perhaps originating north of the River Main, the Quadi and Marcomanni migrated into what is now Moravia, western Slovakia and Lower Austria where they displaced Celtic cultures and were first noticed by Romans in 8 – 6 BC, briefly documented by Tacitus in his Germania.

Tacitus characterized the Rugii as well as the neighboring Goths and Lemovii saying they carried round shields and short swords, and obeyed their regular authority.

During Tacitus ' era they included lesser-known tribes such as the Tencteri, Cherusci, Hermunduri and Chatti ; however, a period of federation and intermarriage resulted in the familiar groups known as the Alemanni, Franks, Saxons, Frisians and Thuringians.

Due to their appearance, Tacitus hinted that they may have crossed over from Spain at an earlier date.

John Sterling pronounced Thirlwall " a writer as great as Thucydides and Tacitus, and with far more knowledge than they.

The Annales of Tacitus state ( 1. 42. 6 ) that they received standards from Tiberius, but when that was is not clear.

In Tacitus the Buri are a separate tribe, so it's possible that they entered the Lugian federation a bit later.

Tacitus in Annales Chapter 13. 54, 56, relates the sad fate of the men of the Ems, at which they arrived because they refused to accept a greater identity than that of a tribesman ; i. e., to become part of a nation.

According to Tacitus, in 58, Nero became involved with the noble woman Poppaea Sabina.

Tacitus ( De origine et situ Germanorum XXIX ) described the Batavi as the bravest of the tribes of the area, hardened in the Germanic wars, with cohorts under their own commanders transferred to Britannia.

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.

Tacitus reports that " according to one report almost eighty thousand Britons fell " compared with only four hundred Romans.

The ancient historians allege that Messalina was a nymphomaniac who was regularly unfaithful to Claudius — Tacitus states she went so far as to compete with a prostitute to see who could have the most sexual partners in a night — and manipulated his policies in order to amass wealth.

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.

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.

Unfortunately, the part of Tacitus ' Histories dealing with the reign of the Flavian dynasty is almost entirely lost.

Nevertheless, Tacitus admits his debt to the Flavians with regard to his own public career.

* Tacitus: Germania ( with introduction and commentary by J. B. Rives ), Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1999.

Tacitus in his Agricola wrote that the various groupings of Britons shared physical characteristics with their continental neighbours: the Britons of England were more typically blonde-haired, like the Gauls, in contrast to the Britons of Wales, who were generally dark and curly of hair, like the Spanish, or those of Scotland, stereotypically redheaded.

Larger-scale persecutions followed at the hands of the authorities of the Roman Empire, beginning with the year 64, when, as reported by the Roman historian Tacitus, the Emperor Nero blamed them for that year's great Fire of Rome.

In his work Germania, Tacitus records the veneration of the Alcis, whom he identifies with Castor and Pollux.

Latin can be used with striking conciseness, as in the works of Sallust and Tacitus.

He was on his way back west to deal with a Frankish and Alamannic invasion of Gaul when, ( according to Aurelius Victor, Eutropius and the Historia Augusta ), Tacitus died of fever at Tyana in Cappadocia in June 276.

Njörðr is often identified with the goddess Nerthus, whose reverence by various Germanic tribes is described by Roman historian Tacitus in his 1st CE century work Germania.

* Paleopaganism: A retronym coined to contrast with " Neopaganism ", " original polytheistic, nature-centered faiths ", such as the pre-Hellenistic Greek and pre-imperial Roman religion, pre-Migration period Germanic paganism as described by Tacitus, or Celtic polytheism as described by Julius Caesar.

Tacitus, a contemporary of Plutarch, was not concerned with whether a form of government could be analysed as a " republic " or a " monarchy ".

We are enabled thus to contrast Tacitus with Josephus, who warped his narrative to do honour to Titus.

Tacitus also named the German " Mars " as the primary deity, along with the German " Mercury ", associated with the Germanic custom of the disposal of the spoils of war ; as practiced from the 4th century BC to the 6th century AD.

A copy of the second Medicean manuscript of Annals, wikisource: The_Annals_ ( Tacitus )/ Book_15 # 44 | Book 15, chapter 44, the page with the reference to Christians