The Annals - Tacitus, John Jackson

Category: Classic, History, Literature
Language: English
Keywords: Acta Senatus Ancient Rome Annales caligula Claudius Messalina Nero Tiberius

Written by Tacitus, John Jackson
Read by Martyn Swain
Format: MP3
Bitrate: Variable
Unabridged

Duration: 17 hrs and 1 min

[Translated by John Jackson]

The Annals, written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (56c-120 CE), originally comprised of 18 volumes, books 7 to 10 and parts of books 5, 6, 11 and 16 have been lost, but those that remain tell the fascinating tale of the Julio Claudian emperors and their times. Writing many years after their deaths, in the reign of the emperor Trajan, but still within living memory of his subjects, Tacitus describes the corrupting nature of Roman society with an analytical eye and a critical mind, seeking to present an accurate and considered view of the key events and characters of the preceding century.

His descriptions of the lives and deaths of the Julio Claudian emperors (14-68 CE) paint portraits of some of the most monstrous and notorious individuals the world has ever seen: he describes the gradual moral decay and corruption of the hypocritical Tiberius; the weakness of the unfortunate Claudius and his infamous wives Messallina and Agrippina; and the unmitigated malignant evil of the despicable Nero.

The Annals chronicles a series of events filled with multiple examples of the limitless appetite for power, wealth and glory and the interplay between the rulers of the state, its populace, its institutions and its military. As well as detailing the conflicts, battles and conquests of the empire stretching from North Africa to Persia and from Palestine to Britain, Tacitus recounts fascinating details of insurrection, mutiny and rebellion in the armies of Rome; battles won and lost; storms at sea; shipwrecks; suicides; assassinations; torture; executions; murder by poison, rope and blade; incest and worse; and the commonplace of family members scheming, plotting, and killing each other to satisfy their lusts and achieve their ambitions.

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