Name: Cornelius Tacitus Dates: c. A.D. 56 - c. 120 Occupation: Historian Importance: Source on Imperial Rome, Roman Britain, and Germanic TribesTacitus Quote "It is the rare fortune of these days that a man may think what he likes and say what he thinks. "Histories I.1Tacitus Quotes Biography
Little is known for certain about the origins of Tacitus, although he is believed to have been born, around A.D. 56, into a provincial aristocratic family in Gaul (modern France) or nearby, in the Roman province of Transalpine Gaul. We don't even know if his name was "Publius" or "Gaius Cornelius" Tacitus. He had a successful political course, becoming senator, consul, and eventually governor of the Roman province of Asia. He probably lived and wrote into Hadrian's reign (117-38) and may have died in A.D. 120.
Despite a political situation that had provided for his personal success, Tacitus was unhappy with the status quo. He lamented the previous century's reduction of aristocratic power, which was the price of having a princeps 'emperor'
Name: Cornelius Tacitus Dates: c. A.D. 56 - c. 120