Tacitus

by Ronald Mellor

The histories of Roman senator Cornelius Tacitus constitute the most influential examination of tyranny, political behavior and public morality from the classical age. For centuries these portraits of courageous martyrs to freedom, of paranoid tyrants, and of sycophantic flatteres and informers shaped modern political attitudes. Ronald Mellor provides a compelling analysis of the ideas of the greatest historian of evil in the western intellectual tradition.

In Tacitus, Ronald Mellor passionately argues for reclaiming this ironic genius whose cynical world view is particularly well-suited to an analysis of the tyranny and brutality in our own century.

Tacitus is presented as a moralist, psychologist, political analyst and literary artist. Tacitus' greatest impact has never been on historians. Rather, his political vision and dramatic images left their mark on painters, poets and thinkers.

Genres: Ancient History

224 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1992

Reviews

[Linniegayl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for a class on Tacitus and really enjoyed it! I'm now ready to tackle some of Tacitus' writing, and see what insights reading this has given me.

[Daniel Schotman · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you plan to set out to read/study the work of Tacitus, you can do no better than to read this small book first. It will absolutely put you on the right track to really understand this amazing historian (perhaps the best the ancient world ever produced (together with Thucydides)).

I read all the work of Tacitus I think over the course of my life amore than once, but for some reason I does not always get me, it gets lost on me, perhaps because I don't know where to look, go or admire in him. But after I read this book, I finally have an idea where to look, what Tacitus tried convey and why he reply is so universally admired.

Of great help.

[William Herbst · Rating 2 out of 5]

A lighter account of the famous historian but pales in comparison to Syme.