Week II

I'm already at the end of my second week of translating! Even though there are many days when I've missed my goals, I am feeling more comfortable and working more efficiently, and getting back on track to finish the 30 pages I aimed for. But spending less time on translating means I have more time to research some of the background of The Annals. During my meeting with Bill, we discussed some context that would be helpful to know- who Tacitus may be writing for, what his sources are, and what historical writing influenced him. 

While The Annals begins in 14 CE, Tacitus was only born in 56 CE, so he must have relied on other historians to compile his facts. While he does not explicitly state his sources, Seneca the Elder, Aufidius Bassus, and Servilius Nonianus are most likely. However, most of his bibliography would have come from primary sources, as there was little other contemporary historical literature for him to reference. Tacitus also probably consulted more specific works, including memoirs, such as those by Pliny the Elder and Agrippina the Younger. There are additional passages throughout The Annals that may have been based on other first-hand accounts that we have lost today. 

Tacitus' sources are also a likely cause for some of his bias. As I worked through pages 53 and 54, in which the author recounts Agrippa's death, his stylistic choices are incriminating: using facinus, which means both "deed" and "crime" to characterize Tiberius' first action as Emperor, and stacking evidence in favor of other suspects in the case, using simulabat (simulare, "to pretend") to discredit the idea that Augustus was responsible. The depiction of Tiberius in The Annals is so biased, some earlier classicists believed it was not authentic Roman writing at all, but a series of forgeries, written no earlier than the Renaissance. Nevertheless, as Miller writes: "...the general impression given by his work is that it is serious in intention and in production bears the mark of the integrity of a great mind. Artistic integrity, no less than any other kind, is almost impossible to counterfeit, and deliberate deceit leaves a taste which is indefinable but unmistakable. From this taste the works of Tacitus are entirely free."

Implicit and explicit biases are constant among writers from all time periods, and while Tacitus appears heavily prejudiced against Tiberius, it is because his sources probably were as well. In addition, he had grown up during the Flavian dynasty, which exaggerated the Julio-Claudians' incompetency and immorality to justify their own rule. Acknowledging this context provides a more complete view of Tacitus as an author as well as his subjects. 

This week, I finally had the chance to meet up with one of my friends and work on our respective projects. The two of us have been close for a long time, and share a love of storytelling, especially through art. Although we chose really different topics, working together helped me feel more accountable and productive. With another person, a problem that would be frustrating for me alone in my room can become something to make fun of and laugh about. We shared ideas, talked about our future goals, and had some brunch:

Spending time with friends is almost always great way to pass a few hours, and it's even better when we can keep each other motivated! I had a great time and I hope to be more social over the next few weeks.

The last interesting thing I learned this week was also a result of my meeting with Bill. The word "tacit" and the name Tacitus share a root: Tacitus means "silent," and tacit has a similar meaning of something that is unspoken or implied. My interest in Latin isn't really motivated by a desire to understand roots and prefixes in English, but it is a great benefit, and researching these cognates is a fun way to become more familiar with both languages and how they work. It reminded me of some of my other favorite connections between Latin and other languages. For example, "occidental," meaning west, comes from occidens, which also means west in Latin. However, occidens itself comes from the verb occidere, meaning to fall, set, or die. So in English, we preserved occidere in the sense of where something (i.e. the sun) sets, but in Italian, it survives as uccidere, which means "to kill." I find it interesting that one root can produce words with such different modern uses- and even though it's a bit obvious, I like thinking of the west- or the Occident- as "where the sun sets/dies." 

Thank you for reading, and I'll see you next week!