Assignment for Monday, March 1:

Read: Tacitus, Annals, Book 15.33-16.35 (Penguin, pp. 360-97)

Presentation: Catherine, on Tacitus (‘Profanation of corpses in Tacitus’)

‘One hr. or two-page paper’: Today’s reading features a number of incidents involving members of the so-called ‘Stoic opposition’ to Nero (Thrasea Paetus being the best example). What are the elements of this ‘opposition’ as Tacitus describes it? What are they after? and is Tacitus sympathetic to their cause…or not? (Note, by the way, that these ‘Stoics’ are often identified with ‘Republican’ sentiment; and that preserving the memory of the Republic is esp. important for their cause.)

Things to think about:

• What Tacitean ‘theme’ do you think is advanced by the scene on p. 362 (Nero’s wedding)?

• Tacitus is fairly detailed about the damage done to buildings by the fire. Why?
• What in the motivation behind the conspiracy of Piso? What, that is, do they hope to achieve? How does it compare to (what you know of) the conspiracy against Julius Caesar?