BBC Radio 4's In Our Time discusses Tacitus's influence on our perceptions of Ancient Rome. The programme was broadcast yesterday (Thursday), but is available from the series archives to listen online or download. From the programme's site:
Tacitus’ Rome is a hotbed of sex and violence, of excessive wealth and senatorial corruption. His work is a pungent study in tyranny and decline that has influenced depictions of Rome, from Gibbon’s "Decline and Fall" to Robert Graves’ "I, Claudius".
But is it a true picture of the age or does Tacitus’ work present the tyranny and decadence of Rome at the expense of its virtues? And to what extent, when we look at the Roman Empire today, do we still see it through his eyes?
It's well worth browsing through the programme's archives. Some of the programmes on offer of particular relevance to us are:
The Celts
The Romans in Britain
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
The Roman Republic
The Oath
