Tacitus
Tacitus
PubliusCornelius Tacituswas a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to the years of the First Jewish–Roman War in AD 70. There are substantial lacunae in the surviving texts,...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionHistorian
support stronger
Deos fortioribus adesse. The gods support those who are stronger.
peace wilderness
Solitudinem faciunt pacem appellant. They make a wilderness and they call it peace.
liberty used no-hope
The word liberty has been falsely used by persons who, being degenerately profligate in private life, and mischievous in public, had no hope left but in fomenting discord.
adventure fool hazards
Reckless adventure is the fool's hazard.
men fame reluctant
The love of fame is a love that even the wisest of men are reluctant to forgo.
men rumor doe
Rumor does not always err; it sometimes even elects a man.
rumor always-wrong
Rumor is not always wrong
flames matter eloquence
It is of eloquence as of a flame; it requires matter to feed it, and motion to excite it; and it brightens as it burns.
tongue hours danger
Every recreant who proved his timidity in the hour of danger, was afterwards boldest in words and tongue.
struggle politics middle
In the struggle between those seeking power there is no middle course.
political ruling consent
By general consent, he would have been capable of ruling, had he not ruled.
exclusion moral ancient
All ancient history was written with a moral object; the ethical interest predominates almost to the exclusion of all others.
solitude
They make solitude, which they call peace.
barbarians firsts england
Who the first inhabitants of Britain were, whether natives or immigrants, remains obscure; one must remember we are dealing with barbarians.