Pompeius Trogus in Tacitus'Annals

Abstract

Abstract There is a long-standing controversy over how far Tacitus's Annals drew on the work of the Augustan historian Pompeius Trogus. Various parallels in language have been observed, but this may be the result of Trogus's epitomator Justin imitating Tacitus rather than of Tacitus imitating Trogus. This chapter argues that where there is a congruence of theme, especially when allied to linguistic parallels, there are strong reasons for seeing allusions to Trogus by Tacitus. It argues further that Tacitus, while drawing on Trogus, also reworks his ideas in an ironic and critical way, seeing (for example) Augustus as a perverted recreation of Trogus' idealized primitive monarchs, or Tiberius as the embodiment of Trogus' suggestion that the true threat to the Roman empire is from within itself.

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