Produced by Anne Soulard, Tiffany Vergon, Charles Aldarondo, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS, OUT OF THE FIRST SIX ANNALS OF TACITUS WITH HIS ACCOUNT OF GERMANY, AND LIFE OF AGRICOLA By Tacitus Translated By Thomas Gordon And Edited By Arthur Galton "Alme Sol, curru nitido diem qui Promis et celas, aliusque et idem Nasceris, possis nihil urbe Roma Visere maius." CONTENTS INTRODUCTION THE ANNALS, BOOK I THE ANNALS, BOOK II THE ANNALS, BOOK III THE ANNALS, BOOK IV THE ANNALS, BOOK V THE ANNALS, BOOK VI A TREATISE OF THE SITUATION, CUSTOMS, AND PEOPLE OF GERMANY THE LIFE OF AGRICOLA; WITH AN ACCOUNT OF THE SITUATION, CLIMATE, AND PEOPLE OF BRITAIN INTRODUCTION "I am going to offer to the publick the Translation of a work, which, for wisdom and force, is in higher fame and consideration, than almost any other that has yet appeared amongst men:" it is in this way, that Thomas Gordon begins The Discourses, which he has inserted into his rendering of Tacitus; and I can find none better to introduce this volume, which my readers owe to Gordon's affectionate and laborious devotion. Caius Cornelius Tacitus, the Historian, was living under those Emperors, who reigned from the year 54 to the year 117, of the Christian era; but the place and the date of his birth are alike uncertain, and the time of his death is not accurately known. He was a friend of the younger Pliny, who was born in the year 61; and, it is possible, they were about the same age. Some of Pliny's letters were written to Tacitus: the most famous, describes that eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which caused the death of old Pliny, and overwhelmed the cities of Pompeii and of Herculaneum. The public life of Tacitus began under Vespasian; and, therefore, he must have witnessed some part of the reign of Nero: and we read in him, too, that he was alive after the accession of the Emperor Trajan. In the year 77, Julius Agricola, then Consul, betrothed his daughter to Tacitus; and they were married in the following year. In 88, Tacitus was Praetor; and at the Secular Games of Domitian, he was one of the _Quindecimviri_: these were sad and solemn officers, guardians of the Sibylline Verse; and intercessors for the Roman People, during their grave centenaries of praise and worship. _Quaeque Aventinum tenet Algidumque, Quindecim Diana preces virorum Curet; et vobis pueorum amicas Applicet aures._