Tacitus

===Public life, marriage, and literary career===
As a young man, Tacitus studied [[rhetoric]] in Rome to prepare for a career in law and politics; like Pliny, he may have studied under [[Quintilian]]<ref>The fact that he studied rhetoric and law is known from the ''Dialogus'', ch. 2; see also Martin, 1981, p. 26; Syme, 1958, pp. 114–115</ref> ({{circa|35 AD}} – {{circa| 100}}). <!--. The precedent is established in 1st paragraph, so BC/AD should be retained throughout ---> In 77 or 78, he married Julia Agricola, daughter of the [[Gnaeus Julius Agricola|famous general Agricola]].<ref>''Agricola'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ag.+9 9]</ref>

Little is known of their domestic life, save that Tacitus loved [[hunting]] and the outdoors.<ref>Pliny, ''Letters'' [http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny1.html#6 1.6], [http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny9.html#10 9.10]; Benario, 1975, pp. 15, 17; Syme, 1958, pp. 541–42</ref> He started his career (probably the ''[[latus clavus]]'', mark of the senator)<ref>Syme, 1958, pg. 63; Martin, 1981, pp. 26–27</ref> under [[Vespasian]]<ref>([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Hist.+1.1 1.1])</ref> (r. 69–79), but entered political life as a [[quaestor]] in 81 or 82 under [[Titus]].<ref name=quaestor>He states his debt to Titus in his ''Histories'' ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Hist.+1.1 1.1]); since Titus ruled only briefly, these are the only years possible.</ref>

He advanced steadily through the ''[[cursus honorum]]'', becoming [[praetor]] in 88 and a [[quindecimviri sacris faciundis|quindecimvir]], a member of the priestly college in charge of the ''[[Sibylline Books]]'' and the [[Saecular Games|Secular Games]].<ref>In the ''Annals'' ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+11.11 11.11]), he mentions that, as praetor, he assisted in the Secular Games held by Domitian, which can be precisely dated to 88. See Syme, 1958, pg. 65; Martin, 1981, pg. 27; Benario in his Introduction to Tacitus, ''Germany'', p. 1.</ref> He gained acclaim as a lawyer and as an [[orator]]; his skill in public speaking ironically counterpoints his [[cognomen]], ''Tacitus'' ("silent").{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

He served in the provinces from {{circa| 89}} to {{circa| 93}}, either in command of a [[Roman legion|legion]] or in a civilian post.<ref>The ''Agricola'' ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ag.+45 45.5]) indicates that Tacitus and his wife were absent at the time of Julius Agricola's death in 93. For his occupation during this time see Syme, 1958, p. 68; Benario, 1975, p. 13; Dudley, 1968, pp. 15–16; Martin, 1981, p. 28; Mellor, 1993, p. 8</ref> He and his property survived [[Domitian]]'s reign of terror (81–96), but the experience left him jaded and perhaps ashamed at his own complicity, installing in him the hatred of [[tyrant|tyranny]] evident in his works.<ref>For the effects on Tacitus of this experience see Dudley, 1968, pg. 14; Mellor, 1993, pp. 8–9</ref> The ''Agricola'', chs. [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ag.+44 44]–[https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ag.+45 45], is illustrative:
<blockquote>Agricola was spared those later years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval or breathing space of time, but, as it were, with one continuous blow, drained the life-blood of the Commonwealth... It was not long before our hands dragged [[Helvidius Priscus|Helvidius]] to prison, before we gazed on the dying looks of [[Junius Mauricus|Mauricus]] and [[Arulenus Rusticus|Rusticus]], before we were steeped in [[Herennius Senecio|Senecio]]'s innocent blood. Even [[Nero]] turned his eyes away, and did not gaze upon the atrocities which he ordered; with Domitian it was the chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen, to know that our sighs were being recorded...</blockquote>

From his seat in the [[Roman Senate|Senate]], he became [[suffect consul]] in 97 during the reign of [[Nerva]], being the [[novus homo|first of his family]] to do so. During his tenure, he reached the height of his fame as an orator when he delivered the funeral oration for the famous veteran soldier [[Lucius Verginius Rufus]].<ref>Pliny, ''Letters'', [http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/Pliny/Pliny02-01-L.html 2.1] [http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/Pliny/Pliny02-01-E.html (English)];
Benario in his Introduction to Tacitus, ''Germany'', pp. 1–2.</ref>

In the following year, he wrote and published the ''Agricola'' and ''Germania'', foreshadowing the literary endeavors that would occupy him until his death.<ref>In the ''Agricola'' ([https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ag.+3 3]), he announces what was probably his first major project: the ''Histories''. See Dudley, 1968, pg. 16</ref>

Afterward, he absented himself from public life, but returned during [[Trajan]]'s reign (98–117). In 100, he and his friend Pliny the Younger prosecuted {{ill|Marius Priscus|la}} ([[proconsul]] of Africa) for corruption. Priscus was found guilty and sent into exile; Pliny wrote a few days later that Tacitus had spoken "with all the majesty which characterizes his usual style of oratory".<ref>Pliny, ''Letters'' [http://www.attalus.org/old/pliny2.html#11 2.11]</ref>

A lengthy absence from politics and law followed while he wrote the ''Histories'' and the ''Annals''. In 112 to 113, he held the highest civilian governorship, that of the Roman province of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]] in western [[Anatolia]],<ref name="Hazel 2002 p. 297">{{cite book |last=Hazel |first=J. |title=Who's who in the Roman World |publisher=Routledge |series=Routledge who's who series |year=2002 |isbn=978-0-415-29162-0 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bfkd6fy_zb8C&pg=PA297 |access-date=28 August 2018 |page=297 |quote=Seniority brought him the governorship of the province of Asia as proconsul in 112–113.}}</ref> recorded in the inscription found at Mylasa mentioned above. A passage in the ''Annals'' fixes 116 as the ''[[terminus post quem]]'' of his death, which may have been as late as 125 or even 130. It seems that he survived both Pliny (died {{circa|113}}) and Trajan (died 117).<ref>Grant in his Introduction to Tacitus, ''Annals'', pg. xvii; Benario in his Introduction to Tacitus, ''Germania'', pg. 2. ''Annals'', [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Tac.+Ann.+2.61 2.61], says that the Roman Empire "now extends to the [[Red Sea]]".

If by ''mare rubrum'' he means the [[Persian Gulf]], the passage must have been written after Trajan's eastern conquests in 116, but before [[Hadrian]] abandoned the new territories in 117. But this may only indicate the date of publication for the first books of the ''Annals''; Tacitus could have lived well into Hadrian's reign, and there is no reason to suppose that he did not. See Dudley, 1968, pg. 17; Mellor, 1993, pg. 9; Mendell, 1957, pg. 7; Syme, 1958, pg. 473; against this traditional interpretation, e.g., Goodyear, 1981, pp. 387–93.</ref>

It remains unknown whether Tacitus had any children. The ''[[Historia Augusta|Augustan History]]'' reports that Emperor [[Marcus Claudius Tacitus]] (r. 275–276) claimed him for an ancestor and provided for the preservation of his works, but this story may be fraudulent, like much of the ''Augustan History''.<ref>''Augustan History'', [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Historia_Augusta/Tacitus*.html ''Tacitus'' X]. Scholarly opinion on this story is that it is either "a confused and worthless rumor" (Mendell, 1957, pg. 4) or "pure fiction" (Syme, 1958, p. 796). [[Sidonius Apollinaris]] reports (''Letters'', 4.14; cited in Syme, 1958, pg. 796) that [[Polemius]], a 5th-century [[Gallo-Roman]] aristocrat, is descended from Tacitus — but this claim, says Syme (ibid.), is of little value.</ref>