Germania and Agricola
Cornelius Tacitus c. 98 CE
These two short works describe Germanic peoples and recount a Roman governor's life in Britain. The British leader Calgacus condemns Roman conquest in a speech before battle.
85 pages 1h 39m reading time
- The oldest detailed written account of the early Germanic peoples, and a classic of Roman history writing.
- Contrasts the simple, hardy life of tribes beyond the Roman frontier with the comfort and moral decline Tacitus saw in Rome.
- Argues that a good man can serve honestly under a cruel emperor, using the life of Agricola, Tacitus's father-in-law, as the example.
- Gave the world the famous line "they make a desert and call it peace," still quoted today against conquest and empire.
- Shaped how Germans saw their own origins from the 1500s on, and its picture of a pure, ancient German people was later misused by Nazi propaganda.
Hunted by the SS
In 1944, Nazi SS soldiers searched an Italian villa for an old copy, but the family had hidden it.
Saved by one manuscript
Both works survived the Middle Ages in a single handwritten copy, found in a German monastery in the 1400s.
Written after the silence
Tacitus wrote the Agricola soon after Emperor Domitian died, ending years when Romans could not speak freely.
Built from other books
Tacitus probably never visited Germany himself and relied on earlier writers, such as Pliny the Elder.
Translated from Latin