I.
Clarorum virorum facta moresque posteris tradere, antiquitus usitatum, ne nostris quidem temporibus quamquam incuriosa suorum aetas omisit, quotiens magna aliqua ac nobilis virtus vicit ac supergressa est vitium parvis magnisque civitatibus commune, ignorantiam recti et invidiam. Sed apud priores ut agere digna memoratu pronum magisque in aperto erat, ita celeberrimus quisque ingenio ad prodendam virtutis memoriam sine gratia aut ambitione bonae tantum conscientiae pretio ducebantur. Ac plerique suam ipsi vitam narrare fiduciam potius morum quam adrogantiam arbitrati sunt, nec id Rutilio et Scauro citra fidem aut obtrectationi fuit: adeo virtutes isdem temporibus optime aestimantur, quibus facillime gignuntur. At nunc narraturo mihi vitam defuncti hominis venia opus fuit, quam non petissem incusaturus: tam saeva et infesta virtutibus tempora.
1.
To hand down to posterity the deeds and characters of famous men is an ancient practice. Not even our age, though heedless of its own men, has neglected it, especially when some great and noble virtue has prevailed over the vice common to small and great states alike, namely neglect and contempt of what is right and good. But in former times, just as there was a readiness, as well as greater opportunity, to perform deeds worthy of being recorded, so there were also men of great talent capable of preserving the memory of virtue. Their motive was not favour or profit, but the simple rewards of a good conscience. In fact, the recording of their own lives was not regarded as presumption, but confidence in their own merits. Rutilius and Scaurus did so without incurring disbelief or disparagement; so much are virtues esteemed by the same age in which they are most easily engendered. But, in our days, to write the life of a dead man I had to ask permission to do it, which I would not have needed had my intention been to denounce someone; so grim have times become, so hostile to virtue.
II.
Legimus, cum Aruleno Rustico Paetus Thrasea, Herennio Senecioni Priscus Helvidius laudati essent, capitale fuisse, neque in ipsos modo auctores, sed in libros quoque eorum saevitum, delegato triumviris ministerio ut monumenta clarissimorum ingeniorum in comitio ac foro urerentur. Scilicet illo igne vocem populi Romani et libertatem senatus et conscientiam generis humani aboleri arbitrabantur, expulsis insuper sapientiae professoribus atque omni bona arte in exilium acta, ne quid usquam honestum occurreret. Dedimus profecto grande patientiae documentum; et sicut vetus aetas vidit quid ultimum in libertate esset, ita nos quid in servitute, adempto per inquisitiones etiam loquendi audiendique commercio. Memoriam quoque ipsam cum voce perdidissemus, si tam in nostra potestate esset oblivisci quam tacere.
2.
We read that when Thrasea Paetus and Helvidius Priscus were praised – the one by Rusticus Arulenus, the other by Herennius Senecio – the praise was made a capital offence, and not only were the authors savagely suppressed, but also the eulogies they had written, for the triumvirs were ordered to burn the written tributes to illustrious men of genius in the assembly section of the forum. The rulers fancied, no doubt, that in that fire the voice of the Roman people, the liberty of the senate, and the conscience of mankind were being abolished, notably since all teachers of philosophy had been expelled and all models of moral conduct exiled to prevent anything decent from emerging anywhere. We certainly gave then a sublime example of our docility: just as former generations have seen the ultimate in liberty, so we have seen the ultimate in servitude. Even the exchanges of simple conversation were taken from us by official prying. We should have lost our memory too, along with our voice, were it as easy to forget as to be silent.
III.
Nunc demum redit animus; et quamquam primo statim beatissimi saeculi ortu Nerva Caesar res olim dissociabilis miscuerit, principatum ac libertatem, augeatque cotidie felicitatem temporum Nerva Traianus, nec spem modo ac votum securitas publica, sed ipsius voti fiduciam ac robur adsumpserit, natura tamen infirmitatis humanae tardiora sunt remedia quam mala; et ut corpora nostra lente augescunt, cito extinguuntur, sic ingenia studiaque oppresseris facilius quam revocaveris: subit quippe etiam ipsius inertiae dulcedo, et invisa primo desidia postremo amatur. Quid, si per quindecim annos, grande mortalis aevi spatium, multi fortuitis casibus, promptissimus quisque saevitia principis interciderunt, pauci et, ut ita dixerim, non modo aliorum sed etiam nostri superstites sumus, exemptis e media vita tot annis, quibus iuvenes ad senectutem, senes prope ad ipsos exactae aetatis terminos per silentium venimus? Non tamen pigebit vel incondita ac rudi voce memoriam prioris servitutis ac testimonium praesentium bonorum composuisse. Hic interim liber honori Agricolae soceri mei destinatus, professione pietatis aut laudatus erit aut excusatus.
3.
Now at last our spirits are reviving. But though at the very start of this happy age Nerva has reconciled things once thought incompatible – principate and liberty – and Trajan is daily increasing the happiness of the times, while public confidence has bolstered hopes and desires, as well as strong faith in their fulfilment, yet by nature the cure of human infirmity works more slowly than the disease. Just as our body’s growth is slow and its decline rapid, similarly it is easier to suppress than to revive enthusiasm and goodwill. Inactivity itself has a certain sweetness that steals over us, and apathy, hateful at first, in the end is found pleasant. How else to explain why for fifteen years, a long time in a man’s life, we did not raise a word in protest, while many died from fortuitous causes, most of them eliminated by the savage hand of the Emperor, and the few of us still alive surviving not only our neighbours, but, I might say, our own former selves? During the many years taken from the prime of our lives, youths have silently turned into elders and elders into dotards on the very brink of death. In any case, I shall not apologize for writing, though in unschooled and awkward language, a record of our former servitude and present good fortune. Meanwhile, this book is dedicated to Agricola, my father-in-law. Being an expression of true filial regard, it will be either praised or excused.
IV.
Gnaeus Iulius Agricola, vetere et inlustri Foroiuliensium colonia ortus, utrumque avum procuratorem Caesarum habuit, quae equestris nobilitas est. Pater illi Iulius Graecinus senatorii ordinis, studio eloquentiae sapientiaeque notus, iisque ipsis virtutibus iram Gai Caesaris meritus: namque Marcum Silanum accusare iussus et, quia abnuerat, interfectus est. Mater Iulia Procilla fuit, rarae castitatis. In huius sinu indulgentiaque educatus per omnem honestarum artium cultum pueritiam adulescentiamque transegit. Arcebat eum ab inlecebris peccantium praeter ipsius bonam integramque naturam, quod statim parvulus sedem ac magistram studiorum Massiliam habuit, locum Graeca comitate et provinciali parsimonia mixtum ac bene compositum. Memoria teneo solitum ipsum narrare se prima in iuventa studium philosophiae acrius, ultra quam concessum Romano ac senatori, hausisse, ni prudentia matris incensum ac flagrantem animum coercuisset. Scilicet sublime et erectum ingenium pulchritudinem ac speciem magnae excelsaeque gloriae vehementius quam caute adpetebat. Mox mitigavit ratio et aetas, retinuitque, quod est difficillimum, ex sapientia modum.
4.
Gnaeus Julius Agricola, born of the ancient and famous Roman colony of Forum Julii, had imperial procurators for grandfathers, an office of high equestrian rank. His father was Julius Graecinus of the senatorial order, well-known for his studies of eloquence and philosophy, who incurred the wrath of Gaius Caesar on account of these same merits, for he was ordered to prosecute Marcus Silanus and met his death because he refused. His mother was Julia Procilla, a woman of unblemished conduct, under whose affectionate care he spent his boyhood and youth in the pursuit of every worthy accomplishment. What kept him from the temptations of sin, besides his good honest nature, was having from childhood Massilia as the seat and fount of his learning; a place where Greek refinement mingled well with provincial simplicity. I recall him saying quite often that in his early youth he would tend to drink in more philosophy than was permitted to a Roman and a senator, had not his blazing hot enthusiasm been tempered by his mother’s good sense. Certain it is that his high-minded and ambitious character sought the radiant beauty of great and sublime glory with more fervour than prudence. Soon reason and experience cooled his impulsive heart and from his learning he retained the most difficult precept, self-restraint.
V.
Prima castrorum rudimenta in Britannia Suetonio Paulino, diligenti ac moderato duci, adprobavit, electus quem contubernio aestimaret. Nec Agricola licenter, more iuvenum qui militiam in lasciviam vertunt, neque segniter ad voluptates et commeatus titulum tribunatus et inscitiam rettulit: sed noscere provinciam, nosci exercitui, discere a peritis, sequi optimos, nihil adpetere in iactationem, nihil ob formidinem recusare, simulque et anxius et intentus agere. Non sane alias exercitatior magisque in ambiguo Britannia fuit: trucidati veterani, incensae coloniae, intercepti exercitus; tum de salute, mox de victoria certavere. Quae cuncta etsi consiliis ductuque alterius agebantur, ac summa rerum et recuperatae provinciae gloria in ducem cessit, artem et usum et stimulos addidere iuveni, intravitque animum militaris gloriae cupido, ingrata temporibus quibus sinistra erga eminentis interpretatio nec minus periculum ex magna fama quam ex mala.
5.
His training for warfare was spent in Britain under Suetonius Paulinus, a diligent and gifted officer, who approved of him to the extent of attaching him to his staff. Agricola did not, like many young men who turn army life into debauchery, take advantage of his rank as tribune and of his inexperience to be careless or negligent, or to use the office for his own pleasures, or to escape duty, or to excuse incompetence. Rather, he availed himself of his post to know the province, to become known to the troops, to learn from men of experience, to imitate the best, to attempt nothing reckless, to shrink from nothing in fear, and to be decisive yet cautious in action. Truly, at no other time had the situation in Britain been in such turmoil and more uncertain: veterans murdered, Roman colonies burnt, armies cut off. One day the struggle was for survival, the next for victory. Though everything was done under the leadership and according to the plans of another, and the responsibility and the glory of rescuing the province rested with the general, the young officer was able to acquire skills, experience, and incentives for action. A desire for military glory filled his heart, and this at a time when a dim, nay, a sinister view was taken of prominence in any field, and good fame was more dangerous than bad.
VI.
Hinc ad capessendos magistratus in urbem degressus Domitiam Decidianam, splendidis natalibus ortam, sibi iunxit; idque matrimonium ad maiora nitenti decus ac robur fuit. vixeruntque mira concordia, per mutuam caritatem et in vicem se anteponendo, nisi quod in bona uxore tanto maior laus, quanto in mala plus culpae est. Sors quaesturae provinciam Asiam, pro consule Salvium Titianum dedit, quorum neutro corruptus est, quamquam et provincia dives ac parata peccantibus, et pro consule in omnem aviditatem pronus quantalibet facilitate redempturus esset mutuam dissimulationem mali. Auctus est ibi filia, in subsidium simul ac solacium; nam filium ante sublatum brevi amisit. Mox inter quaesturam ac tribunatum plebis atque ipsum etiam tribunatus annum quiete et otio transiit, gnarus sub Nerone temporum, quibus inertia pro sapientia fuit. Idem praeturae tenor et silentium; nec enim iurisdictio obvenerat. Ludos et inania honoris medio rationis atque abundantiae duxit, uti longe a luxuria ita famae propior. Tum electus a Galba ad dona templorum recognoscenda diligentissima conquisitione effecit, ne cuius alterius sacrilegium res publica quam Neronis sensisset.
6.
From Britain he went to Rome to enter public service and here he married Domitia Decidiana, a woman of high birth. The marriage gave both lustre and strength to the rising man. They lived in wonderful harmony and mutual affection, each equally putting the other first, although a good wife should receive more praise than the husband, just as the bad one gets the greater blame. The drawing of lots for the quaestorship gave him Asia for a province and Salvius Titianus for his proconsul. Neither was able to corrupt him, even though the province was rich and no stranger to extortion, and the proconsul, a man prone to every form of greed, would have been willing, with the utmost compliance, to purchase the mutual cover-up of their crimes. Here a daughter was borne to him to support and comfort him, for a son borne earlier he had soon lost. After completing the quaestorship, he passed the year between the quaestorship and the tribunate, and also the year of the tribunate itself, in quiet retirement, knowing full well that under Nero doing nothing was wisdom. He maintained the same quiet attitude during his praetorship, in fact no judicial duties had come to him. As regards the ceremonial duties of his office, such as holding official games, he kept to a middle course between parsimony and extravagance, staying far from excess, but not so far as to displease the crowds. He was chosen next by Galba to look into the fate of temple offerings, and his painstaking investigation was the reason the state had no experience of temple robbery other than that of Nero.
VII.
Sequens annus gravi vulnere animum domumque eius adflixit. Nam classis Othoniana licenter vaga dum Intimilium (Liguriae pars est) hostiliter populatur, matrem Agricolae in praediis suis interfecit, praediaque ipsa et magnam patrimonii partem diripuit, quae causa caedis fuerat. Igitur ad sollemnia pietatis profectus Agricola, nuntio adfectati a Vespasiano imperii deprehensus ac statim in partis transgressus est. Initia principatus ac statum urbis Mucianus regebat, iuvene admodum Domitiano et ex paterna fortuna tantum licentiam usurpante. Is missum ad dilectus agendos Agricolam integreque ac strenue versatum vicesimae legioni tarde ad sacramentum transgressae praeposuit, ubi decessor seditiose agere narrabatur: quippe legatis quoque consularibus nimia ac formidolosa erat, nec legatus praetorius ad cohibendum potens, incertum suo an militum ingenio. Ita successor simul et ultor electus rarissima moderatione maluit videri invenisse bonos quam fecisse.
7.
The following year dealt a terrible wound to his morale and to his family. Otho’s fleet, idling about at sea unchallenged, carried out a savage raid against Intimilium in Liguria. Agricola’s mother was killed on her own estate and the estate itself and a large portion of the patrimony (the reason for the murder) were plundered. Agricola, who had gone to fulfill the duties of a son, was then overtaken by the news that Vespasian was aspiring to the throne, and instantly went over to his side. Mucianus initially held the rein of government and control of the city, Domitian being then just a youth, interested only in using his father’s rise to power to do as he pleased. Agricola was sent by Mucianus to levy troops and the loyalty and zeal he displayed earned him the command of the Twentieth legion, a unit that had been slow in coming over to take the new oath. His predecessor was said to stir up mutiny among his soldiers. In fact, this legion was proving too much even for consular commanders and was a reason for serious concern. The officer in question, a mere member of the general’s staff, was not able to maintain discipline, either because of his or his soldiers’ attitude. Appointed for that reason, both as successor and castigator, Agricola, with exceptional modesty, would later prefer to be seen as having inherited than having shaped good soldiers.
VIII.
Praeerat tunc Britanniae Vettius Bolanus, placidius quam feroci provincia dignum est. Temperavit Agricola vim suam ardoremque compescuit, ne incresceret, peritus obsequi eruditusque utilia honestis miscere. Brevi deinde Britannia consularem Petilium Cerialem accepit. Habuerunt virtutes spatium exemplorum, sed primo Cerialis labores modo et discrimina, mox et gloriam communicabat: saepe parti exercitus in experimentum, aliquando maioribus copiis ex eventu praefecit. Nec Agricola umquam in suam famam gestis exultavit; ad auctorem ac ducem ut minister fortunam referebat. Ita virtute in obsequendo, verecundia in praedicando extra invidiam nec extra gloriam erat.
8.
Britain was at that time under Vettius Bolanus, who ruled more mildly than was suitable in so warlike a province. Agricola kept his energy in check and reined in his ardour, for fear he might seem too ambitious. He was trained to obey and knew how to blend self-interest with duty. Soon afterwards, Britain received the proconsul Petilius Cerialis. Now Agricola’s talents had room for expression. At first Cerealis let him share only his work and dangers, but soon his glory also. He often put him at the head of part of the army as a test and sometimes, depending on the results, of larger forces. But Agricola never boasted of his exploits to gain renown. His success he ascribed to the general in command, whose subordinate he was. So, by strict adherence to orders and self-effacement in speech, he kept beyond the reach of envy, though not that of glory.
IX.
Revertentem ab legatione legionis divus Vespasianus inter patricios adscivit; ac deinde provinciae Aquitaniae praeposuit, splendidae inprimis dignitatis administratione ac spe consulatus, cui destinarat. Credunt plerique militaribus ingeniis subtilitatem deesse, quia castrensis iurisdictio secura et obtusior ac plura manu agens calliditatem fori non exerceat: Agricola naturali prudentia, quamvis inter togatos, facile iusteque agebat. Iam vero tempora curarum remissionumque divisa: ubi conventus ac iudicia poscerent, gravis intentus, severus et saepius misericors: ubi officio satis factum, nulla ultra potestatis persona[; tristitiam et adrogantiam et avaritiam exuerat]. Nec illi, quod est rarissimum, aut facilitas auctoritatem aut severitas amorem deminuit. Integritatem atque abstinentiam in tanto viro referre iniuria virtutum fuerit. Ne famam quidem, cui saepe etiam boni indulgent, ostentanda virtute aut per artem quaesivit; procul ab aemulatione adversus collegas, procul a contentione adversus procuratores, et vincere inglorium et atteri sordidum arbitrabatur. Minus triennium in ea legatione detentus ac statim ad spem consulatus revocatus est, comitante opinione Britanniam ei provinciam dari, nullis in hoc ipsius sermonibus, sed quia par videbatur. Haud semper errat fama; aliquando et eligit. Consul egregiae tum spei filiam iuveni mihi despondit ac post consulatum collocavit, et statim Britaniae praepositus est, adiecto pontificatus sacerdotio.
9.
When he returned to Rome from his service as legion commander, divine Vespasian admitted him to the patrician order and then gave him command of the province of Aquitania, a particularly splendid appointment, both for the administrative duties it entailed and for the prospect of consulship for which Vespasian had singled him out. Many believe that the mind of the military man lacks subtlety, because the administration of justice in the army is uncomplicated, rather summary, inclined to settle matters by force, and does not develop the astuteness required in civil law. Owing to his natural good sense, Agricola, though among civilians, ruled with ease and equity. Besides, the hours of work and relaxation were kept apart. Whenever official meetings and judicial business demanded it, he was serious, attentive, austere, yet, more often than not, compassionate. Once the work was done, the official mask came off. He had long freed himself from moodiness, pomposity, and greed, but what is truly rare, his amiability did not diminish authority, nor his strictness popularity. To insist on the probity and self-discipline in so great a man would be to do injustice to his qualities. Not even fame, to which even good men make concessions, did he court by displays of courage or by intrigue. He had a distaste for rivalry among colleagues and wrangles with procurators, and thought victories of this kind inglorious and defeats degrading. He was kept less than three years in Aquitania and was then summoned back to await prospective consulship. A rumour accompanied him on his way that the province of Britain was to be his, not because he himself had expressed a desire for the assignment, but because he was deemed equal to the task. Rumour is not always mistaken; sometimes it even decides the choice. The new consul promised his daughter, a girl of whom he had then great hopes, to me, then a mere youth. After the consulate, he gave her to me in marriage and soon after was put in charge of Britain, the office of pontiff being added to the promotion.
X.
Britanniae situm populosque multis scriptoribus memoratos non in comparationem curae ingeniive referam, sed quia tum primum perdomita est. Ita quae priores nondum comperta eloquentia percoluere, rerum fide tradentur. Britannia, insularum quas Romana notitia complectitur maxima, spatio ac caelo in orientem Germaniae, in occidentem Hispaniae obtenditur, Gallis in meridiem etiam inspicitur; septentrionalia eius, nullis contra terris, vasto atque aperto mari pulsantur. Formam totius Britanniae Livius veterum, Fabius Rusticus recentium eloquentissimi auctores oblongae scutulae vel bipenni adsimulavere. Et est ea facies citra Caledoniam, unde et in universum fama [est]: transgressis inmensum et enorme spatium procurrentium extremo iam litore terrarum velut in cuneum tenuatur. Hanc oram novissimi maris tunc primum Romana classis circumvecta insulam esse Britanniam adfirmavit, ac simul incognitas ad id tempus insulas, quas Orcadas vocant, invenit domuitque. Dispecta est et Thule, quia hactenus iussum, et hiems adpetebat. Sed mare pigrum et grave remigantibus perhibent ne ventis quidem perinde attolli, credo quod rariores terrae montesque, causa ac materia tempestatum, et profunda moles continui maris tardius impellitur. Naturam Oceani atque aestus neque quaerere huius operis est, ac multi rettulere: unum addiderim, nusquam latius dominari mare, multum fluminum huc atque illuc ferre, nec litore tenus adcrescere aut resorberi, sed influere penitus atque ambire, et iugis etiam ac montibus inseri velut in suo.
10.
I shall now dwell on the geography and the peoples of Britain, described by many writers, not to compare the accuracy and quality of my research with theirs, but because the entire country was then subjugated for the first time. Thus, factual information shall now be presented, unavailable to former writers, who embroidered with rhetoric the gaps in their knowledge of the island. As to extent and orientation, Britain, the largest island known to the Romans, faces east towards Germany, west towards Spain, and on the south it is even within sight of Gaul. Its northern coast has no land opposite and is battered by a vast open sea. Livy and Fabius Rusticus, two most informative writers, one ancient and the other modern, have compared the shape of the island as a whole to that of an elongated shoulder blade or to a head of an axe. This in fact is the shape as far as Caledonia but is applied to the whole. But if we cross the border, a vast and shapeless stretch of land, extending northward, tapers into a wedge at its upper end. Then, for the first time a Roman fleet sailed around the coast of the most distant sea and thereby confirmed the insular nature of Britain. At the same time it discovered the Orkney Islands, unknown until then, and subdued them. It also inspected Thule, though from a distance, because orders were to go only so far and winter was near. But it was reported that the waters were sluggish and equally unresponsive to the oar and even to the winds, the reason being, I think, that land and mountains, the material cause of storms, are here fewer and farther between and the fathomless mass of the unending sea resists being set in motion. To enquire into the nature and tides of the ocean is not within the scope of this work. Many have already done so. But one thing I would add, is that nowhere has the sea wider influence, that it has many currents flowing in all directions, that it ebbs and flows not only within the confines of the shore, but penetrates and probes deep inland, and lodges itself among hills and mountains, as though they were its home.