Narrative structures in Tacitus’ Annals

Abstract

The paper proposes a reading of the Annals based on the analysis of rhetorical devices belonging to the rules of the Latin historiographical tradition, such as they were subtly adapted by Tacitus, due to his need to stress the actions and character of the emperors. This allows us to note the construction of a relatively linear succession of degeneration among the emperors – and, consequently, on the empire itself –, which reaches its peak in Nero (and, afterwards, in the civil wars portrayed in the Histories).