Tacitus

Publius, or Gaius, Cornelius Tacitus (born circa AD 56-died circa AD 120), Roman historian. Known for two partially preserved works of history on the Roman republic and empire: the Annals (covering AD 14-AD 68) and the Histories (AD 69-AD 96). He is also known to have written the Agricola, a biography of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, but that is only preserved in fragments.

Tacitus was primarily concerned with the concentration of power into the hands of the Roman Emperors. His writings are filled with tales of corruption and tyranny, and display a particular hatred for the emperor Tiberius.

His coverage of the [Germanic peoples tribes]? outside the empire is of mixed value to historians. Tacitus uses what he reports of the German character as a kind of '[noble savage]?' to compare to contemporary Romans and their perceived 'degeneracy'. However, he does supply us with many names for tribes. In some cases, however, contemporary historians debate whether these tribes were really germanic in the sense that they spoke a Germanic language - some of them, like the Batavii, may have been Celts.