Roman Baths At Wroxeter (ancient Viriconium) near Shrewsbury (second century A.D.). Thermal baths were one of the amenities
that, according to Tacitus, made 'vice agreeable' to the natives of Britain. Here the pillars of the under floor heating of the warm
room (tepidarium) have been partially restored in the foreground.
In spite of the supposedly happy era in which he wrote, Tacitus' attitude to history was pessimistic. The doom of the Republic was
inevitable; the miseries under Tiberius were ascribed to divine wrath. Tacitus seems to have had genuine doubts about the free will
of men, which should have subverted his endeavours to give them advice. Did the friendship or enmity of the Emperor depend on
predestination and one's lot at birth or was policy of some avail? For Tacitus the world was either a realm of pure chance
unmitigated by divine providence or else determined in its destiny, whether by rational chains of cause and effect, as the Stoics
believed, or by the planets. Though not always complimentary to individual astrologers, Tacitus was respectful to the science itself,
as were many of his contemporaries, including the Flavian Emperors. As for the old gods of Rome, Tacitus said little of religious
ceremonies and his treatment of portents was equivocal. The disasters which befell the Roman people were proof that the gods had
no care for their tranquillity, only for their punishment. In A.D. 69 there were 'monstrous animal births and numerous other signs and
wonders of the kind that in primitive centuries were noted in peacetime, but now are only heard of when men are afraid.' It is hard to
deduce a consistent religious or philosophical view from his work. However, this did not affect his moral purpose. Destiny might
provide an explanation for human conduct, but not an excuse.