Expert: Maria - 4/26/2009

Question
Hello - Im looking for information on the Roman Senate from Tiberius to the reign of Nero. Tacitus aside, would you know of any works - classic or modern - that I could look for.

Answer
Hello,

Aside from Tacitus who in his Annals whose original title was “Ab excessu divi Augusti” (Following the death of the divine Augustus) describes the reign of the four Roman Emperors succeeding to Caesar Augustus, i.e. Tiberius(14-37 AD), Caligula (37-41), Claudius (41-54) and Nero(54-68), I can mention “De Vita Caesarum” (The Lives of Twelve Caesars) by Suetonius who dedicates the books 3,4,5,6 to Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero respectively.

Moreover I could add the Greek historian Cassius Dio who in his “Roman History”, Books 57-63, tells of Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero.

Both Tacitus and Suetonius are of course primary sources that frequently  give information on the Roman Senate just from Tiberius to Nero, though sometimes they cannot be considered impartial, since they often seem to side with the Senate against the emperor.


As for some secondary sources on the same matter, I can mention:

- R. J. A. Talbert, 'The Senate of Imperial Rome', 1984
- M. Gelzer, 'The Roman Nobility', 1969
- Howard H. Scullard, 'From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to A.D. 68'
- Edward T. Salmon, 'A History of the Roman World from 30 B.C. to A.D. 138'
- Andrew Lintott, 'The Constitution of the Roman Republic'. Oxford University Press

Hope these suggestions can be helpful to you.
Regards,
Maria