Tacitus: The Histories, Volumes I and II | Page 5

independence. Of Galba, Otho, and
Vitellius, I have known nothing either to my advantage or my hurt. I
cannot deny that I originally owed my position to Vespasian, or that I
was advanced by Titus and still further promoted by Domitian;[5] but
professing, as I do, unbiassed honesty, I must speak of no man either
with hatred or affection. I have reserved for my old age, if life is spared
to me, the reigns of the sainted Nerva and of the Emperor Trajan, which
afford a richer and withal a safer theme:[6] for it is the rare fortune of
these days that a man may think what he likes and say what he thinks.
The story I now commence is rich in vicissitudes, grim with 2 warfare,
torn by civil strife, a tale of horror even during times of peace. It tells of
four emperors slain by the sword, three several civil wars, an even
larger number of foreign wars and some that were both at once:
successes in the East, disaster in the West, disturbance in Illyricum,
disaffection in the provinces of Gaul, the conquest of Britain and its
immediate loss, the rising of the Sarmatian and Suebic tribes. It tells
how Dacia had the privilege of exchanging blows with Rome, and how
a pretender claiming to be Nero almost deluded the Parthians into
declaring war. Now too Italy was smitten with new disasters, or
disasters it had not witnessed for a long period of years. Towns along
the rich coast of Campania were submerged or buried. The city was
devastated by fires, ancient temples were destroyed, and the Capitol

itself was fired by Roman hands. Sacred rites were grossly profaned,
and there were scandals in high places.[7] The sea swarmed with exiles
and the island cliffs[8] were red with blood. Worse horrors reigned in
the city. To be rich or well-born was a crime: men were prosecuted for
holding or for refusing office: merit of any kind meant certain ruin. Nor
were the Informers more hated for their crimes than for their prizes:
some carried off a priesthood or the consulship as their spoil, others
won offices and influence in the imperial household: the hatred and fear
they inspired worked universal havoc. Slaves were bribed against their
masters, freedmen against their patrons, and, if a man had no enemies,
he was ruined by his friends.
However, the period was not so utterly barren as to yield no 3 examples
of heroism. There were mothers who followed their sons, and wives
their husbands into exile: one saw here a kinsman's courage and there a
son-in-law's devotion: slaves obstinately faithful even on the rack:
distinguished men bravely facing the utmost straits and matching in
their end the famous deaths of older times. Besides these manifold
disasters to mankind there were portents in the sky and on the earth,
thunderbolts and other premonitions of good and of evil, some doubtful,
some obvious. Indeed never has it been proved by such terrible
disasters to Rome or by such clear evidence that Providence is
concerned not with our peace of mind but rather with vengeance for our
sin.
FOOTNOTES:
[5] To Vespasian Tacitus probably owed his quaestorship and a seat in
the senate; to Titus his tribunate of the people; to Domitian the
praetorship and a 'fellowship' of one of the great priestly colleges,
whose special function was the supervision of foreign cults. This last
accounts for Tacitus' interest in strange religions.
[6] This project, also foreshadowed in Agricola iii, was never
completed.
[7] Referring in particular to the scandals among the Vestal Virgins and
to Domitian's relations with his niece Julia.

[8] i.e. the Aegean islands, such as Seriphus, Gyarus, Amorgus, where
those in disfavour were banished and often murdered.

THE STATE OF THE EMPIRE
Before I commence my task, it seems best to go back and consider 4
the state of affairs in the city, the temper of the armies, the condition of
the provinces, and to determine the elements of strength and weakness
in the different quarters of the Roman world. By this means we may see
not only the actual course of events, which is largely governed by
chance, but also why and how they occurred.
The death of Nero, after the first outburst of joy with which it was
greeted, soon aroused conflicting feelings not only among the senators,
the people, and the soldiers in the city, but also among the generals and
their troops abroad. It had divulged a secret of state: an emperor could
be made elsewhere than at Rome. Still the senate was satisfied. They
had immediately taken advantage of their liberty and were naturally
emboldened against a prince who was new to the throne and, moreover,
absent. The highest class of the knights[9] seconded the