The Neronian Annals

Tacitus: The Death of Agrippina (Annals 13-14)

In this course Professor Christopher Whitton (University of Cambridge) explores Books 13-14 of Tacitus’ Annals, focusing in particular on Nero’s murder of his mother, Agrippina. In the first lecture we introduce Tacitus and the Annals in general, and the books which cover Nero’s reign in particular. In the second and third lectures, we think about the figure of Nero as he appears in Book 13 and 14 of the Annals, respectively, before turning in the fourth lecture to think about the figure of Nero’s mother, Agrippina. In the fifth and sixth lectures, we think about the theme of acting in Book 14 of the Annals, looking first at theatricality, and then at insincerity, before turning in the seventh lecture to think about the parallels and symmetries that Tacitus explores and suggests between Agrippina’s death and other events – particularly the death of Octavia and the British revolt of 60/61 AD, led by Boudica. Finally, in the eighth lecture, we offer some suggestions for further reading.

The Neronian Annals

In this lecture, we introduce Tacitus and the Annals in general, and think about Tacitus’ arrangement of events in the books covering Nero’s reign, focusing in particular on: (i) the figure of Tacitus himself, his political career and his literary output, including the Annals; (ii) the structure of the Annals, in particular its division into three sets of six books (hexads); (iii) the inherent subjectivity of historical writing, particularly when deciding how much coverage to give different events and when deciding how to split up (or ‘periodise’ the narrative; (iv) the three major turning points in Nero’s reign, according to Tacitus: the murder of Agrippina (early 59), the replacement of the ‘good’ advisors Burrus and Seneca with the ‘bad’ advisor Tigellinus (62), and the Pisonian conspiracy and the purge that followed (spring 65); (v) the events that may have been covered in the second half of the Neronian hexad (Books 16-18), most of which has now been lost.