로마 황제 티베리우스에 대한 타키투스의 서술 -주변적 요소들을 고려한 인물의 행태 변화에 대한 이해-

Abstract

The evaluation of the ruling and the achievement of Tiberius has been treated unfavorably in comparison with the former emperor Augustus who had established the change of the system and therefore become remarkable. Dio Cassius and Suetonius regarded Tiberius as a tyrant and criticized him as a problematic ruler. Basically the understanding of Tacitus on Tiberius is not so much different from those authors. But Tacitus thought much of the surrounding elements of Tiberius and did not evaluate him in the confirmative or one sided manner. This paper reviews how the author Tacitus describes Tiberius and finds out the unconventional method of Tacitus. Especially it focuses on the 4th, 5th and 6th book of ‘annales’ in which Tiberius is described in the category as a problematic ruler. The aim of the paper is to search for both how the narrative of Tacitus is and to which purpose it is formulated. Partially we can find the brutal image of Tiberius, and furthermore sexual and moral declinations are also seen in the writing of Tacitus. However Tacitus is clearly different from Dio and Suetonius in that he does not define Tiberius as tyrant in one dimension but tries to explain the background of the person. Namely the factors that made Tiberius as tyrant rise from his rivals and enemies. Tiberius gradually falls into the struggle for the power in the court, then he becomes a formidable ruler and he realizes that he himself became rapidly a terrible and uncontrollable man. The characteristic of Tacitus avoids the simple explanation in treating with the person of Tiberius. Moreover the author takes notice of the rivals or enemies around the person and searches for the relations between him and these people. Namely he might be influenced by them and his behaviours, actions and attitudes were changed according to the relations. Thus the characteristic of Tacitus overcame somewhat prejudiced interpretation of Tiberius. It brought about a historical writing which enables to understand humans multiply and profoundly.