Historian's historian …

… Tacitus the Great | The Weekly Standard. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

In an infrequent insertion of himself into his historical work, Tacitus, in his Histories, wrote: "I must not deny that my public career was launched by Vespasian, promoted by Titus, and advanced by Domitian." The odd locution—"I must not deny"—is owing to the fact that his rise under these men, especially under the vicious Domitian, was not something of which a man could be unequivocally proud. The disclaimer was also meant to imply that this would in no way render him intellectually hostage to those who had promoted his career.