Critical commentaryTacitus, born in 56 AD, was a senator and historian of the Roman Empire, who wrote two important works on the reigns of the emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those of the Year of Four Emperors. His work covers the period from the death of Augustus in 14 AD to the First Jewish-Roman War in 70 AD, however the work has a substantial gap with books 7-10 missing along with parts of books 5, 6, 11 and 16. This section from Book 4 gives us information on the location of various legions throughout the empire in the time of Tiberius. This material shows us the extension of the Roman Empire at the time of Tiberius and at the same time allows us to highlight the most unstable points of the empire. Here we can see that the bulk of the army is stationed on the Rhine providing a defense against the Gauls and Germans, 'Spain, recently subjugated, was held by three' here we see that Spain had only recently been brought under Roman control so it was necessary to have more men there to provide support in the event of a rebellion. The source also gives us the role of Tiberius' legions by describing the importance of the auxiliary troops that supported them but also the maneuverability of these units as they could travel where they were needed. "There were also, in command positions in the provinces, allied fleets, cavalry and light infantry, of slightly inferior strength." Here we can see that those who are not part of the legions do not have as important a role as soldiers in the majority of the army. “But any detailed account of them would be misleading, since they moved from place to place depending on circumstances, and their numbers increased and sometimes decreased.” Also... middle of paper... slaves work harder. Important in this is Varro's suggestion that a foreman's first action to maintain control is not to take the whip but to try to talk to his slaves; however, if that fails, the whip is a good second option. His work is almost a guide to good management, providing the farm owner with help in knowing how to manage and select the management of his farm. This source is important for understanding how slaves were treated on the farms and how their days were organized. Although this is simply a guide, it gives us ideas from the time of how a farm would be organised, this is reinforced by Varro's work in agriculture both in the reform but also on his family farm. His ideas show the importance of using slaves to control other slaves to keep a farm running day to day. Works Cited Tacitus, Annals 4.5, Varro, On Agriculture 1.17.4-5