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The annals of Tacitus

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INTRODUCTION xvii<br />

j ealousy a,n rl intiri^Aie. Thpv(^. vv?ia Viis m otib"»-<br />

'^<br />

Jida ^nd<br />

his daughter-in-law Li villa , h is sister-in-law Antonja, and_<br />

Agrippina. Tho will (>f<br />

^^^(r,^ ovorf. if '<br />

It is importan t to notinp. tlui.t ovnn -A.t (I'lpri TihprniH gmia<br />

strict attention to the details <strong>of</strong> st,i,to, l)iisiiiass ; and he was<br />

i n constant communication with the Senate . Buryjsuggeata.<br />

that, by his retirement^ 'he may have wished t'> givp Npr(^^<br />

the eldest son <strong>of</strong> Germanicus, a chance <strong>of</strong> gm.dii;i11y tftkipg ^n<br />

active part in the govern iTi'^"^-"^"^ -^^ ronrlm-infT tl^» n > i>.i t^- .i,,op<br />

which he had himself given to Augustus.'<br />

Tn i v fi7, Tacitiia tells ns that thp F.ui ppi-or ohjpp.tpd jhq<br />

strongly to town li fe.—indgpijtn thp ma.inla.iii-1 a.K a whnlp^<br />

that heburied himself in<br />

attraction for him . <strong>The</strong>se<br />

(kp ri ; its SQlitudcJaeijig^^itsniaiii<br />

words, as Ramsay remarks, im i^ly<br />

a morbid shrinking from the public view, which would<br />

account for the retirement to Capri without calling for th e<br />

gXPSSer insinuations <strong>of</strong> \ \ ^1 whprp ^<br />

i f ; > qllpgad that thp<br />

island rocks were the ^screen <strong>of</strong> lifpnfinnsnpss Others, ac-<br />

cordi ng to <strong>Tacitus</strong>, said he wished to conceal the deformities^<br />

<strong>of</strong> old age. Others held tbat,__a,s we hfivp mentioned a bove , ^<br />

he had been driven away by his mother's imperioiisjgm per.<br />

This is~Til5erius'^ last phase as conceived by <strong>Tacitus</strong> in a<br />

later book :<br />

—<br />

postremo in scelera simul ac dedecora prorupit,<br />

postquam remoto pudore et metu suo tantum ingenio utehatur<br />

(vi 51). Compare vi 48 id dommationis conuuUus et mutatus<br />

sit. Ramsay is doubtless right when, following Tarver, he<br />

says : 'Intellectually and morally he stood head and shoulders<br />

above the evil emperors <strong>of</strong> the first century. <strong>Tacitus</strong> visited<br />

upon him the sins <strong>of</strong> the worst <strong>of</strong> his successors.'

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