ABSTRACT
Tacitus’ reputation as the greatest Roman historian rests chiefly on the Annals and Histories, which together produced a total of thirty volumes and, when complete,1 began with the death of Augustus in August AD 14 and ended eighty-two years later with the death of Domitian in September 96. The scale of treatment, which is ample, and the annalistic format, which is rigorously sustained throughout, alike served to remind his readers that Tacitus was writing history in the grand and time-honoured manner.
