Annals (Tacitus) - Background and Structure

Background and Structure

The Annals was Tacitus' final work and provide a key source for modern understanding of the history of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Tiberius in AD 14 to the end of the reign of Nero, in AD 68. Tacitus wrote the Annals in at least 16 books, but books 7-10 and parts of books 5, 6, 11 and 16 are missing.

The period covered by the Histories (written before the Annals) starts at the beginning of the year AD 69, i.e. six months after the death of Nero and continues to the death of Domitian in 96. It is not known when Tacitus began writing the Annals, but he was well into writing it by AD 116. Modern scholars believe that as a senator, Tacitus had access to Acta Senatus, the Roman senate's records, thus providing a solid basis for his work.

Together the Histories and the Annals amounted to 30 books. These thirty books are referred to by Saint Jerome, and about half of them have survived. Although some scholars differ on how to assign the books to each work, traditionally fourteen are assigned to Histories and sixteen to the Annals. Tacitus' friend Pliny referred to "your histories" when writing to him about his earlier work. Although Tacitus refers to part of his work as "my annals", the title of the work Annals used today was not assigned by Tacitus himself, but derives from its year-by-year structure.

Of the eighteen books in Annals, the reign of Tiberius takes up six books, of which only Book 5 is missing. These books are neatly divided into two sets of three, corresponding to the change in the nature of the political climate during the period. Another six books are devoted to the reigns of Gaius and Claudius. Of the remaining six books, three and a half books pertaining to the reign of Nero are extant, and cover the period from his accession to the throne in AD 54 to the middle of the year AD 66. The last four extant books of the Annals cover all of Nero's reign except the last two years.