Today I regaled myself with the complete historical works, and in one handsome volume, of the greatest chronicler of the Roman Empire.  Tacitus, of course.  Although I already have The Annals, the new book, which I chanced upon in one of the bookstores carrying foreign books in central Zagreb, contains his Histories, The Life of Cnaeus Julius Agricola, and Germany and Its Tribes.[1]  Cornelius Tacitus (c. 58-c.116) brings ancient Rome to life for me.  As of late, I often long to immerse myself in that world.  To smell it and taste it.  To feel it on my skin.  Why?  So as to better appreciate its demise only a few centuries after Tacitus’ blessed period, when Rome was at its height.  So as to better appreciate our overwhelming loss, that is.  Which is in the air once again, it goes without saying.

Footnote

1. New York: Everyman’s Library, 2009, first published in 1908.