Histories (Tacitus)

The fifth book contains—as a prelude to the account of Titus' victory in the First Jewish–Roman War—a short ethnographic survey of the ancient Jews—and is an invaluable record of the educated Romans' attitude towards that people.

[citation needed] Nerva, like Galba, came to the throne by senatorial designation, after the violent death of the previous emperor, Domitian.

Galba, described by Tacitus as a feeble old man, had chosen a successor unable, due to his severity, to obtain the faith and the control of the troops.

Nerva, instead, had consolidated his power by making a link between the throne and Trajan, who was general of the Upper Rhine legions and popular throughout the army.

In the first book of the Historiae, a speech put in the mouth of Galba makes clear Tacitus' ideological and political position.

Galba's pure respect for formality and lack of political realism rendered him unable to control events.

Tacitus was sure that only the principatus (the "prince", that is, the monarchical emperor) could maintain peace, the fidelity of the armies, and the cohesion of the empire.

He also holds in low esteem those members of the Senate whose behavior he describes with malice, insisting upon the contrast between their public image and the unconfessable reality: adulation, conspiracy, and ambition.

His technique is similar to that of Sallust: incongruency, parataxis, and loose stylistic structure combine to make the characters sharp.

Tacitus improves on the method, stressing the tension between gravitas, which connects the narrative with the past, and pathos, which makes it dramatic.