The Tacitus Encyclopedia

The most comprehensive reference work on Tacitus published in English

The Tacitus Encyclopedia is the only complete reference of its kind in the field of Tacitean studies. Spanning two volumes, this unprecedented resource contains more than 1,000 entries covering every person and place named in all extant works of Roman historian and politician Tacitus (c. 56-120 CE). Written by an international collaboration of diverse contributors, the entries contextualize individuals and places named in Tacitus and show their relationship to the larger Tacitean corpus.

Alphabetized and cross-referenced entries contain general descriptions and background information of items as they appear in the texts, citations to ancient sources and relevant scholarship, and suggested readings. Designed to be a starting point for further research, the Encyclopedia also includes 165 key concepts topics related to the study of Tacitus, including ancient historiography, history, social history, gender and sexuality, literary criticism, ancient authors, reception, and material culture. Providing readers with an expansive view of the contents of Tacitus, this invaluable reference:



Covers approximately 1,000 individuals and 400 regions, cities, towns, and geographical and topological features
Provides readers of all levels with an accessible entry point to Tacitus’s Annals, Histories, Agricola, Germania, and Dialogue on Orators
Explores a broad range of topics such as gender, slavery, literary history, and the reigns of individual emperors
Treats the scholarship and reception of Tacitus from antiquity to the present
Discusses scholarly trends, current methodology, and future directions of Tacitean studies

Available in print and online, The Tacitus Encyclopedia is a must-have resource for students and academics in the fields of history, historiography, classics, art history, social sciences, European intellectual history, archaeology, and Roman studies.