Histories 5

This chapter discusses the surviving text of Book 5 of Tacitus’ Histories (ch. 1–26). The two main themes, the revolt of the Batavians and the Jewish–Roman war, are situated in the context of the whole work. In both cases, Tacitus presents the events in the provinces first and foremost in their relation to the developments in Rome. The excursus on Judea, which is unusually detailed and includes a number of very negative statements on the Jews, stands out in the narrative of the Histories. Elsewhere the Jews are hardly ever mentioned. As for the lost part of Book 5, one explicit citation in Orosius’ Historiae adversum paganos as well as Sulpicius Severus’ (Christian) rewriting of Tacitus allow for glimpses into what Tacitus might have reported in the missing chapters.