Tacitus the Annals and the Histories Author:Hugh Trevor Roper (Editor), Alfred John Church (Translator), William Jackson Broadribb (Translation) Tacitus -- one of the liveliest of Roman historians and a supreme literary artist -- describes in brilliant detail the political chaos of the first hundred years of the Roman Empire. Always a consumate stylist and delineator of character, Tacitus' portraits of the cruel Tiberius, the debauched Nero, and the intrigues of Sejanus are among the mos... more »t vivid glimpses of that hectic period. No writer has better captured in words the frantic jockeying for power that followed the death of Augustus, the first Roman Emperor. Moreover, Tacitus, the staunch opponent of tyranny and oppression, makes his writings a powerful document against the usurpation and barbarism of totalitarian government. An eyewitness to some of the crimes of the early Caesars, Tacitus is interested not only in recording the events of his time, but also in placing on record for all time the moral case against absolute power. Unheeded in his own era, he has come to be regarded as one of the outstanding historians of all time.« less