Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XV.djvu/580

 552 TACITUS coadjutor to Bishop Provencher of St. Boni- face, Nov. 23, 1851, and succeeded him, June 7, 1853. In September, 1871, he was made metropolitan. During the troubles attendant on the Kiel insurrection in 1869-'70 he exerted his influence to prevent the effusion of brood ; and after the surrender of Kiel and the latter's election to the Dominion house of commons, the archbishop resisted successfully all attempts of the authorities to punish him as a traitor. He has established a college and theological seminary at St. Boniface, opposite Fort Garry, and, besides numerous interesting reports on the Indian missions printed in the " Annals of the Propagation of the Faith," has published Vingt annees de missions dans le nord-ouest de VAmerique (Montreal, 1866), and Esquisse sur le nord-ouest de VAmerique (1869). TACITUS, Cains Cornelias, a Roman historian, born probably about A. D. 55, died probably after the accession of the emperor Hadrian (117). He was early appointed to a public office under Vespasian, and married a daugh- ter of Julius Agricola. He held a praetorship under Domitian, and was consul suffectus un- der Nerva. Nothing positive is known of his subsequent career. He was famous as an ora- tor and a lawyer, and the rhetorical studies of his earlier years led him to compose his first work, the Dialogus de Oratoribus, which contrasts strongly with his later writings for diffuseness and negligence. His Vita Julii Agricolm is the masterpiece of ancient biogra- phy, and specially valuable for the account it gives of the early condition and history of Britain. The Germania (De Origine, Situ, Moribus ac Populis Germanics) appeared soon after, both probably in 98. It is based on the works of Pliny and the most trustworthy sources obtainable at the time, and as such is of great importance to students of German antiquities. Numerous theories have been broached in regard to the author's purpose in writing it, but there is every reason for sup- posing that one of his main objects was to re- mind the Romans of the virtues of their former days, and to warn them of the dangers threaten- ing them from the north. Its geographical and historical accuracy has often been attacked, and as often successfully vindicated, though he has frequently exaggerated or idealized the customs and morals of the German people. About the year 105 appeared the first portion of his history of Rome after the time of Au- gustus, embracing Histories of the years 69-96, or from the last days of Galba to the death of Domitian. Only the first four books and a part of the fifth, reaching to the year 70, are extant. Next appeared the Annales, a con- cise _ history of the events from 14 to 68. Its original title was Ab Excessu D. Augusti Libri. Of the original 16 books, only nine complete and parts of three others are extant. The portions relating to the last two years of Nero are wanting. Tacitus is commonly compared to Thucydides ; but the latter has none of the TADOLINI psychological characteristics of the former. There is a greater resemblance between Taci- tus and his forerunner Sallust. His style is remarkable for its vigor and conciseness. A melancholy and almost tragic earnestness per- vades his pictures of imperial history. Nu- merous interpolations disfigure his writings, especially the last portion of the Annales and the Histories. The editio princeps of Tacitus, which is far from complete, was printed at Venice in 1469 by Vindelin de Spira; and of the numerous subsequent editions that of Er- nesti (Leipsic, 1752), successively revised by Oberlin, Bekker, Walther, Ruperti, and oth- ers, and Halm's (Leipsic, 1874), are esteemed the best. The best translations are: in Ger- man, by Roth (Stuttgart, 1855-'7) ; in French, by Louandre (Paris, 1858) and Dureau de la Malle (1874); and in English, by Church and Brodribb (London, 1864). German literature abounds with hermeneutical treatises on Taci- tus; Pfitzner's Die Annalen des Tacitus kri- tisch beleuchtet (Halle, 1869) is very thorough. TACITUS, Marcus Claudius, a Roman emperor, born at Interamna (now Terni), Umbria, about A. D. 200, died at Tyana, in Cappadocia, in April, 276. Previous to the assassination of the emperor Aurelian in March, 275, he held various important civil offices, the last being that of consul in 273, and was well known for his love of letters, his great wealth, and his integrity. In September, 275, Tacitus was unanimously elected emperor by the senate. He instituted a few domestic reforms, and at- tempted to revive the authority of the senate, but died within little more than half a year from the commencement of his reign. Ac- cording to one account, he was assassinated by his soldiers when on an expedition against the Goths in Asia Minor. He claimed descent from the historian Tacitus, whose works he ordered to be placed in all public libraries, and to be multiplied to the extent of ten copies a year at the public expense. TACKMAHACK, or Balsam Poplar. See POPLAE. TACONIC SYSTEM, or Taghkanic. See UNITED STATES (geological part). TADEMA, Lourenz Alma, a Dutch painter, born at Drouryp, West Friesland, Jan. 8, 1836. He studied under Leys at Antwerp in 1861, and became known as a painter of classical sub- jects. His wife, the countess Pauline Dumou- lin, died in 1869, and in 1870 he married an English woman and removed to London. His works include " Venantius Fortunatus and Radegond " (1862), " How they enjoyed them- selves in Egypt 3,000 Years ago " (1863), " The Mummies" (1867), "The Siesta of Ancient Romans" (1868), "The Vintage Celebration at Rome " (1870), " The Last Plague of Egypt " (1872), and " The Picture Gallery" (1874). TADMOR. See PALMYRA. TADOLINI, Adamo, an Italian sculptor, born in Bologna in 1789. He studied in the acade- my of Bologna, and settled in Rome. In 1812 he received for his "Dying Ajax" the grand