Abstract

This article examines in the first place how Velleius' Histories work as a hinge between the republican historiographical tradition and the new way of writing history under the rule of a princeps. I will argue that through the concept of virtue, especially shown in the emperor Tiberius, Velleius stresses the continuity of Roman history; virtus is the strand which works as the unifying link in the development of the succession from Republic to Empire. On the other hand, I will show that through the way in which Velleius writes the Tiberian narrative, the author assigns a special role to the virtues he describes, where political ideology and historical reality blend together.