THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
I. The intellect and depravity of the age.
II. Bracciolini as its exponent.
III. Hunter's accurate description of him.
IV. Bracciolini gave way to the impulses of his age.
V. The Claudius, Nero and Tiberius of the Annals
personifications of the Church of Rome in the
fifteenth century.
VI. Schildius and his doubts.
VII. Bracciolini not covetous of martyrdom: communicates his
fears to Niccoli.
VIII. The princes and great men in the Annals the princes and
great men of the XVth century, not of the opening period
of the Christian aera.
IX. Bracciolini, and not Tacitus, a disparager of persons in
high places.
CHAPTER III.
FURTHER PROOFS OF FORGERY.
I. "Octavianus" as the name of Augustus Caesar.
II. Cumanus and Felix as joint governors of Judaea.
III. The blood relationship of Italians and Romans.
IV. Fatal error in the oratio obliqua.
V. Mistake made about "locus".
VI. Objections of some critics to the language of Tacitus
examined.
VII. Some improprieties that occur in the Annals found also in
Bracciolini's works.
VIII. Instanced in (a) "nec—aut".
(b) rhyming and the peculiar use of "pariter".
IX. The harmony of Tacitus and the ruggedness of Bracciolini
illustrated.
X. Other peculiarities of Bracciolini's not shared by Tacitus:
Two words terminating alike following two others with like
terminations; prefixes that have no meaning; and playing
on a single letter for alliterative purposes.
CHAPTER IV.
THE TERMINATION OF THE FORGERY.
I. The literary merit and avaricious humour of Bracciolini.
II. He is aided in his scheme by a monk of the Abbey of Fulda.
III. Expressions indicating forgery.
IV. Efforts to obtain a very old copy of Tacitus.
V. The forgery transcribed in the Abbey of Fulda.
VI. First saw the light in the spring of 1429.