Tacitus, Annals, 15.20­-23, 33­-45. Latin Text, Study Aids with Vocabulary, and Commentary, 2013a

a text, early imperial Rome comes across as a society ruled over by lunatics
besotted with power and keen to act on every depraved instinct. Tacitus
contributed his share to our image of Roman emperors as evil freaks. Over the
last few decades, however, scholarship has increasingly started to question
this picture, arguing that your favourite salacious anecdote about imperial
Rome (such as Caligula appointing his horse to the consulship) may just be
too good to be true – and is in fact a distorting rumour put into circulation
posthumously by individuals and groups much invested in blackening the
reputation of the deceased emperor. 21 Could it be that our sources are so
hostile to certain emperors not because they were deranged – but that they
look deranged because our sources are so hostile?
This possibility may come as a let-down. But it shouldn’t: critical
debunking of historiographical myth-making is in itself an exciting exercise
that opens insights into a foreign culture. Fascination shifts from history
to the ‘making’ of history, from the allure of alleged facts to the power of
historical fabrications. The question as to why these sensationalizing stories
have emerged and been able to colonize our imagination so effectively is
arguably just as interesting as trying to put an emperor on the psychiatric
couch on the basis of insufficient and distorted evidence. What went down in
imperial Rome was not just the power of the sword but the power of the word,
especially when it came to shaping (or disfiguring) posthumous reputations.
oeuvreopera minora and maiora
From the very beginning of Roman historiography in the late third century BC
political achievement and authoritative prose about historical events or figures
had gone hand-in-hand. The composition of historical narratives in a range of
genres was very much the domain of senators. As Ronald Syme puts it: 22
In the beginning, history was written by senators (first a Fabius, and Cato was
the first to use the Latin language); it remained for a long time the monopoly of
the governing order; and it kept the firm imprint of its origins ever after. The
senator came to his task in mature years, with a proper knowledge of men and
government, a sharp and merciless insight. Taking up the pen, he fought again
the old battles of Forum and Curia. Exacerbated by failure or not mollified by
worldly success, he asserted a personal claim to glory and survival; and, if he
wrote in retirement from affairs, it was not always with tranquillity of mind.
21 For rehabilitation of Caligula see Winterling (2003/2011); for ‘Nero the Hero’ Champlin
(2003). See also Caligula with Mary Beard on BBC2 (available on-line).
22 Syme (1970) 1–2.