In "The Annals of Imperial Rome", his last and greatest work, Tacitus (AD c.55-c.117) covers the period from AD 14, just before the death of Augustus, to the death of Nero in AD 68. Not all the passages have survived, but in those that have the depth and diversity of genius are manifest. From a vicious, vituperative biography of Tiberius to the more straightforward accounts of Gaius (Caligula), Claudius and Nero, which reveal an extraordinary gift for pictorial description, the Annals carry conviction both as a work of art and as a history.
Michael Grant's tranlation of The Annals is a fine one. It captures the emotional patriotism of Tacitus's moral tone, offset by a lucid understanding that Rome is doomed, and conveys with vigor the lives of the great emperors who laid the foundations of modern Europe.
1. The Life and Works of Tacitus
3. Tacitus on Empire and Emperors
5. The Style of Tacitus: Translator’s Note
Chapter 1. From Augustus to Tiberius
Chapter 2. Mutiny on the Frontiers
Chapter 3. War with the Germans
Chapter 4. The First Treason Trials
Chapter 5. The Death of Germanicus
Chapter 6. Tiberius and the Senate
Chapter 7. ‘Partner of My Labours’
Chapter 8. The Reign of Terror
Chapter 9. The Fall of Messalina
Chapter 10. The Mother of Nero
Chapter 11. The Fall of Agrippina
Chapter 12. Nero and his Helpers
Chapter 13. Eastern Settlement
Chapter 14. The Burning of Rome
LISTS OF SOME EASTERN MONARCHS