HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Instructions:- To what extent do the ways in which Tacitus and Suetonius portray Neros advisers differ? Which writer do you consider to be more sucesfull in the portrayals and why ?
all should be written in Word and first person get credits for Evidence and personal opinion must compare the ways tacitus and suetonius potrays nero advisers. Must include Introduction- Aims of the essay, Neros and Tacitus background brief explanation who they where
Define Neros Advisor (Anicerus, Burrus, Seneca, Tigelinus, Agripina ) Most important are Seneca and Burrus.
Successes of Tacitus Positives and Negatives of Tacitus portrayals of Neros Advisers
How dose suetonius potrays Neros advisers ?
How dose Tacitus potrays Neros advisors ?
Conclusion
Needs to include which Writer is better in Portrayal of Neros advisers and why?
Quotes should look like this . On page 91 in Tacitus “The only person whose health I regard as more important then my own is the emperors. This shows that Tacitus portrays senica as a loyal Adviser ….
ALL the points must bucket up With quotes from Tacituts Selections form Tacitus annals Translatet by Graham tingay and Suetonius The twelve Casers (Penguin Classics)
THIS IS NOT PARTO OF THE ESSAY (just a proof how the essay was written )All the reserch done in order to create this essay must be included separately. This should heave all the quotes used and brief explanation why are they relevant to the question. Just bullet points and no sentences in the research plan.
This need to include AO1. AO2 and AO3
AO1 Recall, select and organize relevant knowledge of literature and its contexts or of society and values of the classical world 15
AO2 Demonstrate an understanding of literature and its contexts or of society and values of the classical world 15
AO3 Interpret, evaluate and respond to literature and its contexts and sources related to society and values 30
Solution
HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Introduction
The Roman Empire was the most expensive and well structured political system in the western civilization. By 285 CE the Roman Empire had developed far and wide to be governed by their central government in Rome. The Empire began from the reign of Augustus Caesar and ended during the reign of Romulus Augustulus when the German king deported him. The Roman Empire influenced the western civilization as it contributed to various aspects of western civilization.
This essay aims at providing facts of the Roman Empire history during the reign of Nero’s and providing details of how Tacitus and portrays the emperor’s key advisers during his time in power. The background of the teachers as well as that of the scholars is also provided in this essay. Significant developments and achievements are also mentioned in the piece and how it impacted the society.
When Agrippina settled on promoting her son Nero into the imperial household. She had had in place excellent instructors, the known philosopher Lucius Annaeus Seneca the elder and Burrus Sextus Afranius commander of the Praetorian Guard. Burrus became Nero’s advisor along With Seneca, and collectively they managed to keep the Empire from Nero’s rebels and to break the hold that Nero’s mother had on him. This essay aims at showing how Tacitus and Suetonius great philosophers and historians perceive the advisers of Nero. It indicates the thoughts, contradictions, and agreements on how they advised the emperor on issues of the empire.
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus ordinarily referred to as Suetonius was a Roman historian and wrote during the imperial error of the Roman Empire. His essential works that have survived to the recent days include a set of biographies of twelve successive of the Roman emperors. Contributions in the day to day lives of the Romans, politics, and oratory. Tacitus (Cornelius Tacitus) was a Roman a senator who contributed to writings of annuals and histories of the Roman Empire
1. COMPARISON OF THE WAYS THE TACITUS AND SUETONIUS PORTRAYS NERO ADVISERS.
a. TACITUS VIEWS.
AOI. Tacitus was a senator who wrote annals and histories of the Roman Empire. He viewed Nero’s advisers as of help to the emperor. AO2. According to chronicles and annals reviewed, modern historians are of the thought that as a senator, he had access to Senate records of the Roman Empire which provided a concrete base for his work. The annuals were his last and he explained the history of Rome from the beginning Tiberius’s reign to that of Nero. AO3.in his interpretations (book 13.2) he indicates the roles of Nero’s advisers, according to him; Agrippina was in control of all business in the empire, and she monitored all the activities in the palace. According to him Agrippina being in charge didn’t last a long time. As time passed, it aroused the discontentment of Seneca and Burrus and ended up stopping her. They lastly took over the administration of the empire. In his books, he speaks of the advisers as of much help to Nero around the palace. He views them as a source of support to the king and according to him led better management of issues in the empire.
b. SUETONIUS PORTRAYS NERO ADVISERS.
AO1. Suetonius didn’t view the advisers as not of much help. He was an administrator who knew much of the palace’s business. AO2 According to Penguin class 1992, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 70-ca. 135) was a director and writer. In his writings were covered the reigns of five emperors, he held some public offices and in his free time wrote biographies of literary men and emperors. A notable number of short works, especially on literary subjects. As personal secretary to Emperor Hadrian, Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them together with eyewitness accounts to generate outstanding biographical works in history. His works and books, however, differ significantly from those of Tacitus mainly because his views on the advisers were based on gossips and eye witness accounts. AO3 the first comparison between the two is how Suetonius collected his information from which he made assumptions on the advisers. (“Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. William? Kibler and Carleton W. Carroll. (Penguin Classics.) London: Penguin Books, 1991. Paper. Pp. V, 521. $7.95.”, 1992)…
2. Nero’s and Tacitus background brief explanation which they were.
a. Nero’s background.
AO1. Nero was born in 37 A.D. he was born as Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Agrippina, his mother was the great-granddaughter of Emperor Augustus. AO2. Nero 2005 a book Edward Champlin, Nero became king with the help of his mother Agrippina who convinced Nero’s stepfather to make his successor instead of his. This book goes ahead and explains Nero’s educational background. It points out that he got educated in the classical tradition by philosopher Seneca and majored in Greek, philosophy and rhetoric. The author describes Nero to be the nephew of the emperor, that after his father’s demise, his mother was married to his great uncle, Claudius, and convinced him to name Nero as his successor. David shooter in his book, describes Nero to be the crowned the leader at the age of 17, refused his mother’s attempts to control him, and later had her killed. He was a spendthrift, lived lavishly ad acted inappropriately. He started killing opponents and Christians.
AO3. From all the literature provided Nero turned out to be described as a liberal and progressive leader. He did away with capital punishment and abolished it entirely; among the things he did the liberal leader minimized taxes and allowed slaves to forward complaints against their masters. This in a way strengthened the relationship between the masters and their slaves. Nero showed support and interests in arts and athletics and provided help to other cities when they experienced a crisis. After the death of his mother he, however, lived an extravagant and spent a lot of money on artistic pursuits, he lived a public life and performed as a poet who was a violation of the set standards for the ruling class. After Burros death and Seneca retirement, Nero divorced his wife Octavia and had her killed then married Poppaea. Accusations of treason begun arising and Senate surfaced. He resorted to acting harshly against those who were disloyal and showed forms of the critic. He ended up committing suicide when he got Intel on being beaten to death.
b. Tacitus background.
AO1. Tacitus was born from a well off family, went to the best of schools and earned the best education. “Tacitus was born in c.55, in southern Gaul. His father was a wealthy man and belonged to the second tier of the Roman elite. His father was an imperial official, was in charge of the post of procurator (chief financial agent) for Gallia Belgica, and was able to give his son the best education. His parents sent him to Rome to pursue his studies to study rhetoric’s, which is not only the art of speaking in public, involved overall cultural education that included all that magistrates should be conversant with. He studied and was trained as an advocate under orators Marcus Aper and Julius Secundus. Tacitus commenced his career with a vigintivirate and military tribunes”.
AO2.According to Tacitus annals, page 33 Tacitus (Cornelius Tacitus) is a vigintivirate” Roman orator and a civil servant. In his annuals 45, it’s indicated that he was a Roman senator and contributed significantly on histories and annals of the Roman Empire. His focus was on the examination on the reigns of Roman emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who were in power during the time of the four leaders (AD 69). Tacitus annuals contribute to the modern understanding of the Roman Empire during the 1st century. He is described as one of the greatest historians. Among his work, he provided insights into the psychology of power politics. Several books have been written to back up the stories on the background of Tacitus
Owen & Gildenhard,”from being a senator, Tacitus become suffect consul in 97 under the leadership of Nerva becoming the first among his family to do so. He becomes famous as an orator when he delivered funeral oration for the well-known solder Lucious Verginius. In 98, he wrote and published the Agricola and Germania. This ended indicating activities that kept him busy to the time of his death. Later on, he stayed out of the public eye and returned during Trajan’s reign (98-117). Together with his friend Pliny the Younger prosecuted Marius Priscus for corruption charges”.
AO3. Tacitus took a long absence of law and politics and started the process of writing his journals, histories, and annals. His annuals have contributed to the modern understanding of the Roman Empire during the 1st century. I will describe him as one of the highly rated and described historians in the Roman Empire. From his writings, a lot of insights have been provided into the psychology of power and politics. Greater understandings of how people in authority behave and what promotes these habits. His books and journals are an inspiration to modern scholars who show interest in this field
3. Define Nero’s Advisor (Anicerus, Burrus, Seneca, Tigelinus, Agrippina) Most important are Seneca and Burrus.
Introduction
Nero’s advisers were the people around him and offered him administrative advice on issues of the empire. Initially, Agrippina had intelligent, and great advisors right before his soon took the thrown. Lucius Seneca and Burrus as his advisors they were in charge of administration at home. They were mandated to provide him with advice on how to protect his life from being known to the public.
Seneca and Burrus prevented him against too greater excesses and encouraged him to have a romantic relationship with freedwoman named Acte. Provided that the emperor appreciated that marriage was impossible. Nero’s excesses were hushed up and with the collective effort from the three of them they successfully managed to stop continued attempts by Agrippina to exert imperial influence.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca (5 A.D.-65 A.D.)
AO1.He was a poet and a writer.AO2.background and history of Seneca are recorded in the annals of the world 860; it describes him as one of the greatest literary figures and highly spoken philosophers of the first century A.D. His father was Seneca, the Elder; Seneca was born in Spain and flown to Rome as a youth. Caligula and the Senate viewed Seneca the younger as a very gifted orator and writer. As Claudius became emperor in 41 A.D., he exiled Seneca to Corsica, Spain (where he was born). Seneca exile finally comes to an end when Agrippina the Younger, the most influential person in Rome at that time, requested to return to Rome and become an advisor to his son.
AO3.He provided advice to Nero and assisted in the administration during his reign. He was a right-hand side and made sure all the activities in the palace were up and running. He supported Nero and kept his behaviors in check. This led to him being a democratic leader who made sure everyone is treated fairly and equally no matter the levels or class in the society. At one time when one of his slaves killed Lucius Pedanius Secundus. Nero was immensely upset that he was required by law to have all four hundred slaves of Pedanius’ subjected to the death penalty.
Sextus Afranius Burrus.
AO1. An adviser to the emperor. He was recognized because of his military skills; Burrus was a praetorian guard at the time Claudius and Nero were in power. AO2. ‘’Annals of the world 906”describes him to have worked as a Tribune and later as a prosecutor and personal bodyguard of Livia, the empress and for Tiberius and Claudius. From interactions with Claudius, he managed to meet Agrippina who saw him be useful and trustworthy. In 51 A.D. he was made her private bodyguard. As a way of returning the favor, he supported Nero instead of Claudius’s son. When Claudius died in 54 A.D., he presented Nero to the ruling class. AO3.He becomes Nero’s adviser and as collaboration between him and Seneca they were able to keep and maintain the empire from rebels as well as protect him from his mother’s controlling ways. He managed the high business and made sure all the great activities went as organized.
Agrippina.
AO1.Were Nero’s mother and adviser until when his son broke loose his control. AO2. According to the Annals 175, she attempted to control his son’s and was seen to want to influence his son’s rules. She was a source of inspiration to his son at the first stages of his reign. Her dominance did not last long and got angered by the advice offered to his son by his advisers as she considered them as modern and did not agree with them.
AO3.She also tried to advise his son when he began having an affair a former slave Claudia Acte. As a parent she needed the best for him, she tried all the means possible to help change his mind. She advocated for Octavia and encouraged his son to do away with Acte. This did not help much as he publicly acknowledged her as his wife. This led to her feeling betrayed and sorted to turning against his son which led to hem killing her.
4. Successes of Tacitus Positives and Negatives of Tacitus portrayals of Nero’s Advisers.
AO1.Tacitus portrayed Nero’s advisers to be the ones in charge of the administration of the issues of the empire. AO2.In his book, he indicates the earlier the functions and influences of his mother and later on being overtaken by the two known advisers. AO3.The positives come about due to the solid base that his information had especially because he had access to Senate documents. However, his works and writings do not indicate the recovery that comes after Nero’s succession.
5. Successes of Suetonius Positives and negatives of Tacitus portrayal of Nero’s Adviser.
AO1.He acknowledges the negatives and the negatives of the advisers. “Tacitus Annals 56” explains the thoughts of Suetonius and how he portrayed them was mainly influenced by the inside information that he had to reach on as of his position as a public servant. Had crucial information concerning the advisers and this changed how he viewed them. AO3. He considered Nero’s advisers not to a perfect job due to the simple mistakes that he made especially on morality issues. On the positive side, he acknowledges the work; they do to ensure the administrative matters are well-taken care while Nero plays his music and idle around.
6. How does Suetonius portray Nero’s adviser?
AO1. He represented the teachers not to have done a commendable job in advising the emperor.AO2. In “Nero’s advisers 67”, Suetonius described the life of Nero’s consultants and himself to be identical to that Caligula. He starts by explaining how Nero took the thrown from Britannicus then giving power to those who are considered to be his advisers. He describes the mentors as administrators while Nero enjoyed his music and art. He describes Nero to be a gifted man.AO3.Suetonius from his histories shows discontentment in how the advisers advised Nero. He questions the moral standards of both Burrus and Seneca when they decided on advising him on having a second wife. He is not a fan of Nero and his team since in his articles there is one place he questions why the advisers let the king get away with inhuman actions.
7. How does Tacitus portray Nero’s advisors?
AO1.Tacitus views Nero’s advisers to be of positive influence to him.AO2. Tacitus Annals 13.4-5 all the advises in one way, or the other did a remarkable work in managing the functions in the palace. His annals indicate the features his mother and that which Burrus and Seneca. AO3. From the texts, histories and annals, I would say he portrayed Nero’s advisers to have done a good job and that they were a positive influence to the king. In his books he indicates Agrippina to be in charge of all the functions of the empire. She did a good job doing it until he was pushed aside by Burrus and Seneca who at some point were said to be sensible and most 1influential at his court. Together they managed to stop Agrippina from mounting tribunal at the American embassy. He views them to have performed a marvelous job in running affairs of the state in a fair and just manner, and this led to them winning the heart of the people and gaining their approval.
Conclusion.
In conclusion, Nero did a remarkable amount of good things during his reign which led to the change in the living conditions of the people. However, he had his negative sides which led to his downfall. While in power, he had people who offered him advice on how to run the empire. This essay aimed at showing how Tacitus and Suetonius viewed the advisers. Results indicated Tacitus handles quite some the same materials, from Tiberius to Nero, but Suetonius fills in quite a few gaps. Tacitus strikes me as the better writer, profound and critical thinker, and very real historian. This is not the case with Suetonius depends on gossips and contributions from eye witnesses. He doesn’t carry out substantial research as a way of validating the information he has obtained.
References
Chrétien de Troyes, Arthurian Romances, trans. William W. Kibler and Carleton W. Carroll. (Penguin Classics.) London: Penguin Books, 1991. Paper. Pp. V, 521. $7.95. (1992). Speculum, 67(04), 1063. http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0038713400024258
Owen, M. & Gildenhard, I. Tacitus, annuals, 15.20-23, 33-45.
