The Annals, Volume Two

Rome under the Julio-Claudian emperors comes into sharp focus in this continuation of Tacitus's great history, covering the reigns following Tiberius's early years, as suspicion, informers, and palace intrigue tighten their grip on the Senate and the imperial family alike. Tacitus writes with a historian's rigor and a moralist's eye, tracing how power corrodes character and how fear reshapes public life. Listeners drawn to sharp political observation, court scheming, and the machinery of tyranny will find this an unflinching, deeply human account of Rome at its most treacherous.