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In 62, while trying to rid himself of his wife OCTAVIA, Nero asked Anicetus to plead guilty to having
had an affair with her. Anicetus accepted the role, providing testimony that went far beyond what was
required. The freedman was found guilty, exiled to Sardinia and provided with every possible comfort.
He died there of old age. Octavia was exiled to Pandateria, where she died after terrible suffering.
¤ ANNALISTS The earliest Roman historians, who recorded events in a prose style that influenced those
who followed in this literary field. Records of magistrates, wars and events of religious importance began
to appear after the 4th century B.C., and in a variety of forms. Most were written by antiquarians who
were anxious to piece together the lives or works of their predecessors. For example, DIONYSIUS OF
HALICARNASSUS, historian of the late 1st century B.C., analyzed Fabius Pieter, who lived a century
before. These early writers were heavily influenced by their Hellenic counterparts, and adaptation of the
Greek style is apparent.
Early works of the Annalists centered on legends and speculative antiquarian history and were often
feeble when compared to the prodigious research of later writers, such as the historian Coelius Antipater,
who chronicled the Second Punic War. But the later Annalists could consult actual records, and their works,
from the Sullan archivists to LIVY in the 1st century B.C., were rich in evidence. SALLUST, for example,
took the Annalist Sisennus' work on the civil wars of 91 to 82 B.C. and incorporated large
portions of it into his own Histories in the late 1st century B.C.
It is debatable as to how thoroughly researched many of these works were. Each must be examined
individually. Aelius Tubero is reliable, as is Licinius Macer. Gradually the influences became
standardized, and Livy helped to formalize a style that was identifiable in the work of later historians,
especially TACITUS.
¤ ANNA PERENA A goddess who was the focus of a great festival on the 15th of March each year. She
was the deity of the new year, to whom the Romans prayed and offered sacrifices, especially at the
shrines dedicated to her on the Via Flamina. The Romans asked that the year would progress safely and
abundantly. See also GODS AND GODDESSES OF ROME.
¤ ANNIUS VERUS, MARCUS (fl. early 2nd century A.D.) Grandfather of Emperor MARCUS
AURELIUS; a highly successful political figure of the late 1st and early 2nd centuries A.D., who held a
consulship under Domitian but was honored twice more with the post, in 121 and 126. Annius Verus
enrolled in the Patrician class with the sponsorship of Vespasian and Titus and was later prefect of the
city. His son of the same name embarked upon a similar career but died while still a praetor. Thus Verus'