CHAPTER IV.
THE 'ANNALS.'
TIBERIUS.
The title of this work may not be inviting to some English readers. It may suggest to them the idea of a note-book in which rough materials are collected for a complete and polished narrative. They have doubtless observed in the most attractive historical works frequent references to monkish annals—to Camden's and Strype's, for instance, the authorities for much dreary political or ecclesiastical controversy. But no one need anticipate in the 'Annals' of Tacitus any dulness. Far from being the dry bones of some purposed record, they are among the most signal examples of thoughtful, interesting, and brilliant narration. They abound in anecdote; their by-ways are often not less pleasant than the main road; they take the reader into many lands; introduce him to many forms of life and manners. The keystone of the arch is indeed Rome and its Cæsar, but the arch of description itself is wide in its span; the 'Annals' are "the roof and crown" of the mighty master's genius.
The 'Annals' commence with the death of Augustus, A.D. 14, and, when in a perfect state, closed with the death of Nero, in 68. In them were related the events of fifty-four years. They are less mutilated than the
