Tacitus, Annals and Histories

The history of Rome under the emperors, by Tacitus, translated by A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb.

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An Ancient Reference Book, not part of the Bible. Tacitus was a Roman historian, not a Jewish or Christian writer. The text is from the Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University), shared under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 licence. The editors’ notes are not shown. It is free to use.

Part I

What it is

What the two books hold and when they were written.

A Roman historian. Encyclopaedia Britannica calls the Annals a “historical work by the Roman orator and historian Tacitus.” It says the two works were well along by A.D. 107 and finished by 109.
The Annals. Britannica: they run “from the death of Augustus and the accession of Tiberius in 14 AD to the end of Nero’s reign in 68 AD.” Books 7 to 10 and parts of others are lost; this copy has Books 1 to 6 and 11 to 16.
The Histories. Britannica: only Books 1 to 4 and part of Book 5 survive, for the years A.D. 69 and 70.
The translation. Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb. Perseus notes that its copy follows a 1942 reprint of their translation.

Part II

Where it meets the Bible

Places where the history touches the people of the New Testament. Verses are quoted from the ASV.

Christ and Pontius Pilate. In the Annals, Book 15, chapter 44, Tacitus writes of the Christians of Rome under Nero: “Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus.” Compare Matthew 27:2: “delivered him up to Pilate the governor.”
The emperors of the New Testament. The Annals cover Tiberius (Luke 3:1), Claudius (Acts 11:28, “in the days of Claudius”) and Nero.
Felix the governor. Annals, Book 12, chapter 54 names Felix, “who had for some time been governor of Judæa.” Paul stood before him: “most excellent Felix” (Acts 24:3).
Jerusalem in A.D. 70. The Histories, Book 5, gives Tacitus’s account of the Jews and of Titus beginning the siege of Jerusalem.

Part III

The books

Tap the Annals or the Histories to open its books. The years under each book are the ones the edition prints.

The AnnalsBooks 1 to 6 and 11 to 16 (Books 7 to 10 are lost)

The HistoriesBooks 1 to 4 and part of Book 5

Sources

Where these facts come from

Encyclopaedia Britannica, “Annals” (Tacitus), checked 30 October 2026. Text: Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University, PerseusDL canonical-latinLit (phi1351.phi005 and phi1351.phi004, perseus-eng2), CC BY-SA 4.0. Bible verses: American Standard Version (1901), checked by machine.