19. After the Silence: Tacitus, Suetonius, Juvenal

Abstract

The traditional picture of the Flavian emperors, and especially the last of them, depends exclusively on the evidence provided by near contemporary literary sources, especially those written in Latin and familiar to most classical scholars. Among them, Tacitus, Suetonius and Juvenal were pre-eminent. In support of their credibility was the remarkable consistency apparent in their joint portrayal of the oppressive nature of Domitian's principate in its last phase. For Ramage, the definitive context is the date of publication, which in all instances can be placed after Domitian's death; and Pliny's Panegyricus is held up as the key that unlocks the true meaning of the other literary works of the age. This speech, designed to celebrate the accession of Trajan, agrees in its detailed enumeration of Domitian's vices with the testimony of Tacitus, Juvenal and Suetonius. Ramage's theory has implications for Tacitean studies that go far beyond interpretation of the Agricola . Keywords: Agricola ; Domitian; Juvenal; Panegyricus ; Pliny; Ramage; Suetonius; Tacitus; Trajan

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