Tacitus: Dialogus de Oratoribus, Agricola, Germania (Loeb Classical Library, 1914)
Book details
- Title
- Tacitus: Dialogus de Oratoribus, Agricola, Germania (Loeb Classical Library, 1914)
- Author
- William Peterson
- Publication year listed
- 1914
- Format
- Public domain eBook
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- Free online reader; no registration required
- Source record
- View on Archive.org
About this book
Tacitus: Dialogus de Oratoribus, Agricola, Germania (Loeb Classical Library, 1914)
Author: Publius Cornelius Tacitus
Year: 1914
Tacitus. Dialogus de Oratoribus; Agricola; Germania [Dialogue on Orators; The Life of Agricola; Concerning the Origin and Situation of the Germanic Peoples]. Translated by William Peterson, William Heinemann, 1914. Loeb Classical Library. Structured Analysis of Each Work I. Dialogus de Oratoribus 1. Historical, Political, and Philosophical Context Written ca. 102–106 CE, during the early principate of Trajan, this dialogue reflects on the decline of oratory in Rome since the Republic. It critiques the educational system, political constraints under the Empire, and shifting public tastes. Tacitus likely projects his own mixed feelings about empire and rhetorical decline through the characters. 2. Epistemology Knowledge is treated as rhetorical, performative, and tied to civic engagement. Wisdom is accessible through oratorical excellence, and failure in eloquence is viewed as societal decay. 3. Ontology The work assumes that human excellence (virtus) is shaped through social action, particularly through oratory in public life. Being is tied to participation in res publica and public speech. 4. Ethical Framework A Stoic-inflected yet pragmatic moralism pervades the dialogue. Characte