Tacitus

About Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus (c. 54 – c. 120 AD) was a Roman senator and one of the most highly regarded historians of the late Roman Empire. His historical importance, reflected in his HPI Rank of #831, stems primarily from his surviving works, The Annals and The Histories, which offer an indispensable, though often grim, narrative of the early Imperial era, covering figures from Tiberius to Nero and the turbulent Year of the Four Emperors. His sharp, often cynical prose provides crucial primary source material on Roman politics and imperial power dynamics.

In the context of modern digital attention, Tacitus shows a modest following: Wikipedia pageviews for 2025 totaled 369K. This level of interest places his Attention Gap at approximately 1x relative to his historical standing, suggesting he receives attention roughly commensurate with his importance in the Pantheon rankings. This contrasts sharply with figures like Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi, ranked significantly higher at #92 in historical importance, yet receiving only 74K Wikipedia views in 2025.

His recent digital trajectory shows some minor fluctuation; the year-over-year change was a slight decline of -3.1%, though Q1 to Q3 momentum was positive at +3%, indicating a small rebound or seasonal interest late in 2025.