IX. Failure of his attempt, and he proceeds with the forgery of
the Annals.


BOOK THE THIRD.

THE LAST SIX BOOKS OF THE ANNALS.

CHAPTER I.

THE CHARACTER OF BRACCIOLINI.

I. The audacity of the forgery accounted for by the mean
opinion Bracciolini had of the intelligence of men.
II. The character and tone of the last Six Books of the Annals
exemplified by what is said of Sabina Poppaea, Sagitta,
Pontia and Messalina.
III. A few errors that must have proceeded from Bracciolini
about the Colophonian Oracle of Apollo Clarius, the
Household Gods of the Germans, Gotarzes, Bardanes and,
above all, Nineveh.
IV. The estimate taken of human nature by the writer of the
Annals the same as that taken by Bracciolini.
V. The general depravity of mankind as shown in the
Annals insisted upon in Bracciolini's Dialogue
"De Infelicitate Principum".


CHAPTER II.