greatness," Gibbon here observes, "we shall esteem the birth of Tacitus
more truly noble than that of Kings. He claimed his descent from the
philosophic historian, whose writings will instruct the last generations
of mankind. From the assiduous study of his immortal ancestor, he derived
his knowledge of the Roman Constitution and of human nature." This Emperor
gave orders, that the writings of Tacitus should be placed in all the
public libraries; and that ten copies should be taken annually, at the
public charge. Notwithstanding the Imperial anxiety, a valuable part of
Tacitus is lost: indeed we might argue, from the solicitude of the
Emperor, as well as from his own "distinction," that Tacitus could not be
generally popular; and, in the sixteenth century, a great portion of him
was reduced to the single manuscript, which lay hidden within a German
monastery. Of his literary works, five remain; some fairly complete, the
rest in fragments. Complete, are "The Life of Julius Agricola," "The
Dialogue on Orators," and "The Account of Germany": these are,
unfortunately, the minor works of Tacitus. His larger works are "The
History," and "The Annals." "The History" extended from the second
Consulship of Galba, in the year 69, to the murder of Domitian, in the
year 96; and Tacitus desired to write the happy times of Nerva, and of
Trajan: we are ignorant, whether infirmity or death prevented his design.
Of "The History," only four books have been preserved; and they contain
the events of a single year: a year, it is true, which, saw three civil
wars, and four Emperors destroyed; a year of crime, and accidents, and
prodigies: there are few sentences more powerful, than Tacitus'
enumeration of these calamities, in the opening chapters. The fifth book
is imperfect; it is of more than common interest to some people, because
Tacitus mentions the siege of Jerusalem by Titus; though what he says
about the Chosen People, here and elsewhere, cannot be satisfactory to
them nor gratifying to their admirers. With this fragment, about revolts
in the provinces of Gaul and Syria, "The History" ends. "The Annals" begin