He knows how to portray the mass when it is calm; he knows equally how to show the threat of insurrection and panic-stricken flight. Tacitus writes from the point of view of an aristocrat. He shows fear, mixed with disdain, for the soldiers' tumult and for the rabble of the capital. He also holds in low esteem those members of the Senate whose behavior he describes with malice, insisting upon the contrast between their public image and the unconfessable reality: adulation, conspiracy, and ambition. The Historiae is a grim work; it speaks throughout of violence, dishonesty, and injustice. Tacitus skillfully shows the characters, alternating short and sharp notations with complete portraits. His technique is similar to that of Sallust: incongruency, parataxis, and loose stylistic structure combine to make the characters sharp. The influence of Sallust is clear in the rest of Tacitus' style as well. Tacitus improves on the method, stressing the tension between gravitas, which connects the narrative with the past, and pathos, which makes it dramatic. Tacitus loves ellipsis of verbs and conjunctions. He uses irregular constructs and frequent changes of subject, to give variety and movement to the narration. It often happens that when a sentence seems finished, it is extended with a surprising tail that adds a comment, which is usually alluding or indirect. It has been theorized that Tacitus' style is based on that of Pompeius Trogus, due to the similarity between his style and that of the later Justin in his Historia Philippicae et Totius Mundi Origines et Terrae Situs, which was based on the work of Trogus. However, this interpretation is disputed, and an alternative is that Justin's style was based on the work of Tacitus. See also Annals (Tacitus) Tacitean studies References Further reading Damon, Cynthia (2003) Tacitus, Histories, Book I (Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics) External links 2nd-century history books 2nd-century Latin books History books about ancient Rome Latin works about history Works by Tacitus