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# Nikolay Karamzin in a 1797 poem on Rome as described by Tacitus
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/tatsit-velik-no-rim-opisannyi-tatsitom-dostoin-li-pera-ego/
- Published: 2024-03-30T06:32:50.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:39:37.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Books, Observations, Rome

Tacitus is great; but is the Rome that Tacitus describes  
Worthy of his pen?  
In this Rome, once renowned for heroism,  
I see nothing but murderers and their victims,  
One should not pity it:  
It deserved the cruel calamities of its misfortune,  
Enduring what cannot be endured without baseness!

*Literal translation*

*Nikolay Karamzin, 1797*

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_11688@30-03-2024_09-32-50.jpg)