Study Questions for Assignment 16
Tacitus, Annals, Pages 157-283 (bks iv-xii)
- Page 157. To what cause does Tacitus trace Sejanus's power over Tiberius? Why was both the rise of Sejanus and his downfall (Pages 198ff, 20 etc.) catastrophic to Rome?
- Page 162, bottom,
163, top. What does this passage tell us about Tacitus's care as a historian in
using his sources?
- Page 167, and bottom of Page 210, top of Page 211. What does Tacitus think about the relationship
between fate and human responsibility?
- Page 173. What does
Tacitus say is the value of the study of many of these apparently insignificant
events? What expression here echoes Livy?
- Page 186. What
reasons does Tacitus give to explain why Tiberius went into
seclusion?
- Pages 202, bottom,
203, top. What is Tacitus saying here? (For those of you who have read Plato's
Gorgias, consider how this echoes Socrates's argument to Callicles
there)
- Page 213 and 214. In Tacitus's account of the phoenix, on which facts is there agreement and which are "doubtful, but not wholly fantastic"? What does this tell us about Tacitus as a historian? In what way is he like Herodotus?
- Pages 226-227. What
progression do we see in the life of Tiberius?
- Pages 231 and 278.
What biblical story do the accounts of Messalina and Agrippina coveting parks
and gardens reflect? How far does the parallel go?
- Page 237 and 245.
What affair cause Messalina's destruction?
- Pages 237, 238.
Where does Tacitus say the Greek and Latin alphabets came
from?
- Page 251. In what way were the consequences of the vengeance on Messalina grim? Who brought about
her fall, and why (Pages 245-250)?
- Page 255, top. How
was Agrippina different from Messalina? What was Agrippina's agenda to achieve
power?
- Page 276. Who was
Pallas, and what was his relationship with Agrippina? What was his connection
with the apostle Paul?
- Page 282. How and
why did Claudius die?
- How were Tiberius
and Claudius alike and different in how they were controlled by other people?
How were the people who controlled them alike?
- What patterns do
you see, over and over, in how these powerful, wicked people accomplish their
purposes? How means do they use to destroy people? How do the people of Rome and
the Senate respond to their rulers?
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