The Annals of Tacitus: Book 3 Book 3

Covers the period AD 20-22 and contains some of Tacitus' best known and important programmatic and reflective passages.

Books 1 and 2 of Tacitus' Annals were edited and annotated in two earlier volumes of this series (1972 and 1981) by the late F. R. D. Goodyear. Now A. J. Woodman and R. H. Martin have added a third volume: Book 3 of the Annals. This book covers the years AD 20–22, including the aftermath of Germanicus' death and the trial of his alleged murderer Calpurnius Piso and contains some of Tacitus' most well known and important programmatic and reflective passages. In their commentary the editors are the first to attempt a systematic comparison of the documentary record provided by a recently discovered senatus consultum relating to Piso's trial with Tacitus' narrative of the same episode. More attention is given to literary matters than by Goodyear but textual, linguistic and historical issues are treated fully and new interpretations frequently offered.

Introduction; Text; Commentary; Indexes.

The Annals of Tacitus, which chronicle the years AD 14-68, are arguably the greatest work of the greatest Roman historian. Book 3 covers the years AD 20-22, a period including the trial of Calpurnius Piso for treason and the alleged murder of Germanicus. Throughout the volume attention is paid to literary matters, and textual, linguistic and historical issues are treated fully.