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45 of 48 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
69 AD: The Year of the Four Emporers, September 24, 2000
The Histories, an account of the tumultuous year of 69 AD, is a historical tour de force by the Roman senator Cornelius Tacitus. Although part of the original work which was written in 105-108 AD has been lost, that which remains is still one of the better works of an ancient historian. The main strengths of this history lie in good organization and rich detail, combined with an excellent writing style and pithy observations. The main characters are the four men who vied for imperial power in the wake of the emperor Nero's demise: the elderly Galba, the playboy Otho, the porcine Vitellius and the veteran soldier Vespasian. All of these men sought to establish themselves in power and the result was a yearlong civil war that spread across virtually the entire empire. Organizationally, the book is divided into chapters that cover various events in chronological order. The tension and drama mounts as chapters follow the murder of Galba, Vitellius' march on Rome, the suicide of Otho, Vespasian's bid for power and the revolt of upper Germany under Civilis. Tacitus has organized the work well and the book quickly becomes a page-turner, as the drama and intrigue is interwoven between chapters. There are virtually no diversions from the main themes and little material that is irrelevant. The only problem organizationally, is that Tacitus includes very few time references so it can be difficult to gauge when events are actually occurring (the editor adds some dates in footnotes, but many other dates are vague). He also introduces many characters without providing sufficient background material. One of the main values of Tacitus' work is the richness of detail. There is considerable information on military order of battle and campaigns, as well as senatorial debates, imperial finances and political intrigues. Militarily, the Roman army does not appear so grand in Tacitus' account of their civil war behavior. Tacitus hates civil war and feels that it erodes the morality and discipline that made Rome great. Indiscipline is rife, with jealous generals competing against each other and troops always on the verge of mutiny or massacring civilians. Tacitus recounts that each of the armies of the imperial aspirants committed atrocities along the way to Rome in order to demonstrate the moral ambivalence of the civil struggle. In combat, the Roman soldier of this period performed poorly, whether against fellow Romans or Germans. Without discipline Tacitus suggests, the Roman army was little more than an armed mob led by criminals. He notes that, "a career of riot and looting was just the thing to acclimatize them to the idea of civil war". Even the famed Praetorian Guard appears ragged, fickle and lazy here; at the Second Battle of Cremona they are told "you are finished as soldiers unless you beat the enemy...Dishonor you have drunk to the dregs." The Second Battle of Cremona, which the forces of Vespasian win, is highly unusual as an example of a night battle in ancient history. Tacitus is highly readable because his writing style is fluid and vivid. In describing cowardly senators who were quick to switch allegiances he writes that, "they expressed themselves in violent language, and played the hero with their tongue." Galba is undone by "the united chorus of delusion" of his witless advisors. When civil order in Rome begins to break down, Tacitus notes "the willingness of the better men to obey orders had been neutralized by the darkness." Tacitus also provides numerous pithy observations as well for the student of politics. He says that, "since time immemorial, man has had an instinctive love of power." However he has contempt for the masses, writing, "political issues are usually above the heads of the lower classes and the man in the street owing to their complexity." Tacitus views the role of chance as critical in the outcome of events, rather than the relative merits of a cause. There is a certain bias in this work, as there is in all historical writing. Tacitus denigrates Galba, Otho and Vitellius, but Vespasian is applauded as "a born soldier". Of course, Vespasian was the ultimate victor and the others were losers, so there is no doubt that Tacitus engages in propaganda to embellish the wickedness of those other aspirants to the throne. Tacitus is also biased against the Germans (e.g. "The actions of the Germans were marked by incoherent fury...") and the Jews. He presents interesting but wildly inaccurate opinions on the origin of the Jews and Moses. However it is interesting, in light of the persecution of Christians under Nero, that he makes no mention of Christianity. Tacitus' account of this critical year in history, when the Roman Empire swung in the balance, is gripping and dramatic. Although biased toward the ultimate victor, this is still an incredibly detailed and rich account of events. Superb writing and organization complete the value of this historical triumph.
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15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A nicely done translation, July 28, 2008
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.
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25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A great book bringing the time alive, November 23, 2000
Tacitus the great Roman historian, although this means somewhat different things from what it does now, wrote during the eventful years of the first and second century straddling the changes in Roman society that took place over this time and the first inklings of the vast population movements which were still to come. In these books he chronicles the events taking place in the year AD 69 during the civil war which followed the death of Nero and the power vacuum left in his wake. The machinations of Otho, Galba, Vitellius and Vespasian are laid bare in a story told from Tacitus's viewpoint. One gets the feeling that he wrote in times of cynicism and greed, corruption and a degenerate society come to the fore. Tacitus was convinced that Roman society, and I'm sure many thought so as well, had declined in its inherent worth. Tacitus always seems to be looking back to the golden eras of a strong, vital and honest society often represented by the early years of expansion and struggle exemplified by the early Republic with figures such as Cato and later by Marius and even Augustus. He writes I think to both judge his time and leave it open for improvement especially as regards the integrity of the common man. The book is full of treachery and corruption from the lowest ranks such as slaves and freed men right up to the senators themselves. Strangely, although these weaknesses consume him he nonetheless points out the decent core yet still awake in the Roman state. At one point Otho the Emperor, at war with Vitellius over the throne, appears a self indulgent man taking too much pleasure in food and drink, rather against the original stoic mind set of his Roman forebears, but in the next he appears not totally without merit through his inspirational speeches to the troops. The same applies to the entire retinue of the warring parties each of whom are analysed in a manner exposing their weaknesses and strengths, all done mostly through the story itself rather than through an in depth analysis of the individual characters as such. Yet another reason Tacitus was such a skilled writer. As the year progresses and gradually Vitellius becomes dominant as Emperor and finally Vespasian makes his moves through fascinating political manoeuvres which include a number of personages even including Domitian, we see many aspects of the complex process at work in the eventual rise of Vespasian to the throne. There are some things which stand out in the narrative, one of which disabuses us of the usual interpretation of the situation as regards the views held by the Roman populace to the external "barbarians", especially in free Germany along the Rhine and Danube frontiers. What becomes clear is that even the seemingly alien Germans become part of the political process, they no longer seem a distant agressor hidden in the depths of the dark trackless forests of Germany but rather become human possessing the same weaknesses and strengths as other men. They are no longer seen as strictly alien to Romans themselves but are now players in the field of Empire. These new views seem at odds with other works even Tacitus's own "Agricola and the Germany" where the differences of these peoples from that of Rome is emphasised. Although this "new" view is noted, much is made of the ability of the German auxiliaries, their toughness and strength and bold recklessness in war, an aura of eliteness surrounds them and even of fear in the eyes of the legions. Similar note is taken of separate legions themselves such as those of Germany who having fought the Germans themselves many times are also considered almost invincible. The 14th Legion which single handedly defeated the Boudiccan rebellion against enormous odds, being outnumbered at least five to one, also stand out and are taken as elite. Unfortunately some of the original "Histories" is lost and this is shown by the abrupt end to the book just as Vespasian really starts to enter the picture. Nonetheless this is a fascinating book written with much skill and deft handling although it doesn't possess the same wit as his other "Agricola and the Germany". This tome seems a more serious work and may have been intended as such. A great book bringing the time alive.
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