Cornelius Tacitus

Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (c. 56–c. 120 CE) was a Roman senator and one of Rome’s greatest historians. He rose through the imperial cursus honorum, serving as suffect consul in 97 and later as proconsul of Asia. Tacitus married the daughter of the general Gnaeus Julius Agricola, whose life he commemorated in *Agricola*. His major historical works, *Histories* and *Annals*, narrate the politics and power struggles of the early Roman Empire, noted for their compressed style and moral intensity. Other surviving works include *Germania* and the rhetorical dialogue *Dialogus de Oratoribus*.