On Tuesday 25th February the Eton College Classical Society was delighted to welcome Dr Rhiannon Ash from Merton College Oxford to speak about “Tacitus' Great Fire of Rome: Spin, Sensationalism, and the Sources”. She guided us through the relevant chapters from Book 15 of Tacitus’ Annals analysing some of the literary devices of the text, before examining Tacitus’ use of rumour and bias. She showed that the account of the Great Fire of Rome is a lively and exciting description and also demonstrated how Tacitus’ work as a whole can be analysed.
George Peel JDN
