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
politics foundation economy
Nothing mortal is so unstable and subject to change as power which has no foundation.
struggle politics middle
In the struggle between those seeking power there is no middle course.
blood guilt politics
Seek to make a person blush for their guilt rather than shed their blood.
political politics audacity
Crime, once exposed, has no refuge but in audacity.
tears politics feds
Cruelty is fed, not weakened, by tears.
law suffering politics
Formerly we suffered from crimes; now we suffer from laws.
hate anger politics
It belongs to human nature to hate those you have injured.
human nature whom
It is human nature to hate the man whom you have hurt.
bear less misfortune prosperity remain touchstone
Prosperity is the measure or touchstone of virtue, for it is less difficult to bear misfortune than to remain uncorrupted by pleasure.
When the state is most corrupt, then the laws are most multiplied.
easier found injury
It is always easier to requite an injury than a service: gratitude is a burden, but revenge is found to pay.
bear last learned love men
Love of fame is the last thing even learned men can bear to be parted from.
appreciation common esteem
It is common, to esteem most what is most unknown.
fields example precedent
All those things that are now field to be of the greatest antiquity were at one time new; what we to-day hold up by example will rank hereafter as precedent.