Irony and Misreading in the Annals of Tacitus

This book is a literary analysis of the language and style of Tacitus' Annals. The political context of first-second century AD Rome is also taken into consideration. In analysis of particular passages close attention is given to the structure of the Latin, which is fully translated. Issues relating to the study of narrative, Roman politics and theories of history are addressed in the course of the discussion. Cover......Page 1 Half-title......Page 3 Title......Page 5 Copyright......Page 6 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 9 SENTENCE STRUCTURE AND HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION......Page 11 THE IRONIC TRADITION......Page 20 STATIS AND STATUS......Page 24 2 Imperium sine Fine: problems of definition in Annals I......Page 33 DIVISIONS ON GROUND......Page 37 THE DISCERNING READER......Page 43 MAKING A DIFFERENCE......Page 49 3 Germanicus and the reader in the text......Page 56 THE TEUTOBERGERWALD......Page 59 IMAGINARY ROME......Page 66 THE ICONIC WOMAN......Page 79 4 Reading Tiberius at face value......Page 88 MISREADING......Page 91 ‘DECEIVING THE READER’......Page 99 CLOSE READINGS......Page 107 5 Obliteration and the literate emperor......Page 116 THE ABC OF HISTORY-WRITING......Page 117 DAMNATIO MEMORIAE AND MOMORY LOSS......Page 125 6 The empress’s plot......Page 132 OLD WIVES' TALES......Page 134 ‘HISTORY IS LIKE MOTHER’......Page 142 VENTREM FERI......Page 148 7 Ghostwriting the emperor Nero......Page 154 VOX PRINCIPIS......Page 157 THE GAME OF TROY......Page 172 8 Conclusion: the end of history......Page 186 Bibliography......Page 194 General Index......Page 203 Index Locorum......Page 206 This Book Examines Tacitus' Annals As An Ironic Portrayal Of Julio-claudian Rome, Through Close Analysis Of Passages In Which Characters Engage In Interpretation And Misreading. By Representing The Misreading Of Signifying Systems - Such As Speech, Gesture, Writing, Social Structures And Natural Phenomena - Tacitus Obliquely Comments Upon The Perversion Of Rome's Republican Structure In The New Principate. Furthermore, This Study Argues That The Distinctively Obscure Style Of The Annals Is Used By Tacitus To Draw His Reader Into The Ambiguities And Compromises Of The Political Regime It Represents. The Strain On Language And Meaning Both Portrayed And Enacted By The Annals In This Way Gives Voice To A Form Of Political Protest To Which The Reader Must Respond In The Course Of Interpreting The Narrative.--jacket. 1. Introduction: Irony, History, Reading -- 2. Imperium Sine Fine: Problems Of Definition In Annals I -- 3. Germanicus And The Reader In The Text -- 4. Reading Tiberius At Face Value -- 5. Obliteration And The Literate Emperor -- 6. The Empress's Plot -- 7. Ghostwriting The Emperor Nero -- 8. Conclusion: The End Of History. Ellen O'gorman. Includes Bibliographical References. This 2000 book examines Tacitus'Annals as an ironic portrayal of Julio-Claudian Rome, through close analysis of passages in which characters engage in interpretation and misreading. By representing the misreading of signifying systems - such as speech, gesture, writing, social structures and natural phenomena - Tacitus obliquely comments upon the perversion of Rome's republican structure in the new principate. Furthermore, this study argues that the distinctively obscure style of the Annals is used by Tacitus to draw his reader into the ambiguities and compromises of the political regime it represents. The strain on language and meaning both portrayed and enacted by the Annals in this way gives voice to a form of political protest to which the reader must respond in the course of interpreting the narrative. This 2000 book examines Tacitus' Annals as an ironic portrayal of Julio-Claudian Rome, through close analysis of passages in which characters engage in interpretation and misreading. By representing the misreading of signifying systems - such as speech, gesture, writing, social structures and natural phenomena - Tacitus obliquely comments upon the perversion of Rome's republican structure in the new principate. Furthermore, this study argues that the distinctively obscure style of the Annals is used by Tacitus to draw his reader into the ambiguities and compromises of the political regime it represents. The strain on language and meaning both portrayed and enacted by the Annals in this way gives voice to a form of political protest to which the reader must respond in the course of interpreting the narrative This 2000 book is a literary analysis of the language and style of Tacitus' Annals. The political context of first-second century AD Rome is also taken into consideration. Issues relating to the study of narrative, Roman politics and theories of history are addressed in the course of the discussion. Tacitus is a notoriously difficult writer; the central theme of this study is what the difficulty of Tacitus means and what are the possible ways a reader can respond to this difficulty. CD-ROM contains C programs that implement the algorithms discussed in the book, plus the LIBTIFF, LIBMIG, and LIBIP libraries and sample images in TIFF format