T
Tacitus, Cornelius (A.D. 55–117) Roman histo-
rian and statesman
In his Latin books Germania (on the German
provinces of the Roman Empire) and Histories(on the
Roman REPUBLICfrom A.D. 68), Tacitus provides a cri-
tique of the decline of Roman morals and civilization
much like that of his contemporary CICEROand, later,
Edward GIBBON. He compares the simplicity and VIRTUE
of the German people and the early republic with the
increasing decadence, luxury, and immorality of the
Roman state. DESPOTISM, moral depravity, and eco-
nomic abundance seem to go together, for Tacitus.
This makes his writings part of the CLASSICAL REPUBLI-
CAN IDEOLOGY that is revived in Western political
thought in James HARRINGTON, John MILTON, Thomas
JEFFERSON, and others.
Tawney, Richard Henry (1880–1962) British
economic historian
Richard Tawney was a CHRISTIAN SOCIALISTwho wrote a
number of influential works on economics and poli-
tics. Tawney served a long tenure as a professor at the
London School of Economics. He was also prominent
in the labor movement and in the leadership of the
Worker’s Educational Association (WEA).
Tawney was born in Calcutta, India, but educated
at Rugby and Balliol College, Oxford, where he gradu-
ated with a degree in modern history. An early work,
The Agrarian Problem in the 16th Century (1912),
helped solidify his academic reputation. In the piece,
Tawney examined the use of land in a society that was
also undergoing a population explosion and rapid
inflation, resulting from the impact of the increased
availability of gold and silver. The work created a new
field of research for social historians.
Throughout his life, Tawney was a vocal advocate
for education. He taught classes for working-class stu-
dents and served as a social worker at Toynbee Hall in
London. An early supporter of labor rights and a
Christian socialist, Tawney joined the WEA in 1905
and then became a member of the organization’s exec-
utive board. He remained on the board until 1917 and,
in 1920, was elected vice president of the WEA, a post
he retained until 1928. He was subsequently elected
president and served in that capacity from 1928 to- Concurrently, Tawney began a long academic
career by serving as a lecturer at Glasgow University.
He joined the faculty of the London School of Eco-
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