Annalium liber XV is the most known and interesting book of the Annalium libri. It is famous for the description of the great fire of Rome and the subsequent persecution of Christians by Emperor Nero. Indeed, some believed Nero to have been responsible for this crime. The reader of Latin may expect an interesting, depressing and fascinating book from the point of view of the historian and politician Tacitus. The editor publishes these works without any omissions. This fascicle is faithful to the edition by Fridericus Haase in MDCCCLV.

Publius (Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus was born in 56 A.D, either in Gallia cisalpina or in Gallia Narbonensis. His Annals deal with the period from the death of Augustus in A.D. 14 to the end of Nero's reign in A.D. 68. The Annals originally comprised at least 16 books, but some of them are lost. Tacitus grew up in a comfortable environment, and he studied rethorics in Rome. Due to his excellent education, he started a career as a lawyer. He married the daughter of Agricola, a consul, which paved the way for his political career. Subsequently he became quaestor and praetor. Then he even became responsible for the Sibylline books within a college of priests. Finally, he returned to Rome and became a consul in the reign of emperor Nerva. His literary works showed his great talent and education in prose writing. He died in ca. A.D. 120.