Background of Source Writers

• Horace and Virgil - contemporary poets who were commissioned to write favourable accounts of Actium (propagandistic)
• Tacitus - Later Senator from Gaul who survived the tyrannical reign of the emperor Domitian - there was no pressure for him to write favourably as he was born in a different time - personal prejudice may have made him harsher and more negative
• Velleius - Contemporary soldier who served under Augustus and his successor Tiberius- he became a Senator during their reigns - he writes favourably because of his own experiences
• Suetonius - Later biographer, Equestrian - secretary to emperor Hadrian and had access to the emperor's private archives
• Cassius Dio - Later Senator who experienced a much more monarchical princeps