procurator in Belgic Gaul, and whom the elder Pliny speaks of in his
"Natural History."

Of the early life of Tacitus and the training which he underwent
preparatory to those literary efforts which afterwards rendered him a
conspicuous figure among Roman literateurs we know absolutely nothing.

Of the events of his life which transpired after he attained man's estate
we know but little beyond that which he himself has recorded in his
writings. He occupied a position of some eminence as a pleader at the
Roman bar, and in 77 A.D. married the daughter of Julius Agricola, a
humane and honorable citizen, who was at that time consul and was
subsequently appointed governor of Britain. It is quite possible that this
very advantageous alliance hastened his promotion to the office of
quaestor under Vespasian.

Under Domitian, in 88, Tacitus was appointed one of fifteen commissioners
to preside at the celebration of the secular games. In the same year he
held the office of praetor, and was a member of one of the most select of
the old priestly colleges, in which a pre-requisite of membership was that
a man should be born of a good family.

The following year he appears to have left Rome, and it is possible that
he visited Germany and there obtained his knowledge and information
respecting the manners and customs of its people which he makes the
subject of his work known as the "Germany."

He did not return to Rome until 93, after an absence of four years, during
which time his father-in-law died.