Religion in Tacitus' Annals

Thesis

I examine how religion is presented in the Annals of Tacitus, and how it resonates with and adds complexity to the larger themes of the historian’s narrative. Memory is essential to understanding the place of religion in the narrative, for Tacitus constructs a picture of a Rome with ‘religious amnesia.’ The Annals are populated with characters, both emperors and their subjects, who fail to maintain the traditional religious practices of their forebears by neglecting prodigies and omens, co...

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Authors: Shannon, K

• Alternative title: historical constructions of memory
• Publication date: 2012
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Tacitus; Roman historiography; Roman religion; Annals; cultural memory
• Subjects: Italic literatures,i.e.,Latin; Religions of antiquity; Latin