HISTORIAN

Tacitus

54 - 120

Photo of Tacitus

Icon of person Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( TAS-it-əs, Latin: [ˈtakɪtʊs]; c. AD 56 – c. 120), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals (Latin: Annales) and the Histories (Latin: Historiae)—examine the reigns of the emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero, and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors (69 AD). Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Tacitus has received more than 3,065,054 page views. His biography is available in 88 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 84 in 2019). Tacitus is the 9th most popular historian (down from 5th in 2019), the 169th most popular biography from France (down from 76th in 2019) and the most popular French Historian.

Tacitus is most famous for writing the Annals of Imperial Rome, a set of books that chronicle the history of Rome from the death of Augustus in 14 AD to the death of Nero in 68 AD.

Memorability Metrics

  • 3.1M

    Page Views (PV)

  • 74.41

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 88

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 10.78

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 4.10

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among HISTORIANS

Among historians, Tacitus ranks 9 out of 561. Before him are Ibn Khaldun, Thucydides, Xenophon, Sima Qian, Livy, and Polybius. After him are Suetonius, Alexis de Tocqueville, Diodorus Siculus, Hecataeus of Miletus, Manetho, and Thomas Kuhn.

Most Popular Historians in Wikipedia

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Contemporaries

Among people born in 54, Tacitus ranks 1.  Among people deceased in 120, Tacitus ranks 1. After him are Nicomachus, Dio Chrysostom, and Gaius Octavius Tidius Tossianus Lucius Javolenus Priscus.

Others Born in 54

Go to all Rankings
Load previous
  • Photo of Tacitus

    Tacitus

    HISTORIAN

    54 - 120

    HPI: 74.41

    Rank: 1

Load previous

Others Deceased in 120

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

In France

Among people born in France, Tacitus ranks 169 out of 6,770. Before him are Philip VI of France (1293), Pope Martin IV (1220), Théodore Géricault (1791), Jacques Cousteau (1910), Henry Cavendish (1731), and Jean Racine (1639). After him are Jean-Philippe Rameau (1683), Edward IV of England (1442), Pierre-Joseph Proudhon (1809), Jean Bodin (1530), Pope Urban V (1310), and Annie Ernaux (1940).

Others born in France

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous

Among HISTORIANS In France

Among historians born in France, Tacitus ranks 1. After him are Alexis de Tocqueville (1805), Fernand Braudel (1902), Marc Bloch (1886), Hippolyte Taine (1828), Jacques Le Goff (1924), Lucien Febvre (1878), François Guizot (1787), Joseph Justus Scaliger (1540), Geoffrey of Villehardouin (1150), Gaston Maspero (1846), and Emmanuel Le Roy Ladurie (1929).

French born Historians

Go to all Rankings
Load previousLoad previous