Thule too was descried in the distance, which as yet had been hidden by the snows of winter. In war it is the strong who plunders; now, it is for the most part by cowards and poltroons that our homes are rifled, our children torn from us, the conscription enforced, as though it were for our country alone that we could not die. 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. By one successful engagement, he brought it back to its former obedience, though many, troubled by the conscious guilt of rebellion and by particular dread of the legate, still clung to their arms. ISBN 13: Language: english. On the basis of the scientific data gained by Agricola's exploring fleet Tacitus shows that the likeness cannot be extended to the whole island because Scotland is wedge-shaped; its contour thus approximately reverses the ax-head. He married Julia Agricola, the daughter of the famous general Agricola. The Agricola is both a portrait of Julius Agricola—the most famous governor of Roman Britain and Tacitus' well-loved and respected father-in-law—and the first detailed account of Britain that has come down to us. Tacitus, Agricola Tacitus (c.55 CE – c.120 CE) was a Roman historian and senator who may have spent his early years in northeastern Gaul. Tacitus means that the native morality and strict ideals of life, which, according to his view, once distinguished the northern barbarians, had become things of the past among them as well as elsewhere (note quoque); the Britons, having learned to embrace the … Both were famous soldiers, and by degrees the nearest portions of Britain were brought into the condition of a province, and a colony of veterans was also introduced. The date of his birth can only be arrived at by conjecture, and then only approximately. Or of course mare may be the subject. This chapter considers an extraordinary passage from Tacitus's Agricola, his excursus on the mutinous adventures of a disaffected auxiliary cohort of Usipi. Nec Agricola prosperitate rerum in vanitatem usus, expeditionem aut victoriam vocabat victos continuisse; ne laureatis quidem gesta prosecutus est, sed ipsa dissimulatione famae famam auxit, aestimantibus quanta futuri spe tam magna tacuisset. (Stuart); "in extent and direction," i.e., its eastern and western coastlines were equal to, and ran towards the same points of the compass as the western and eastern coastlines of Germany and Spain respectively. Agitasse Gaium Caesarem de intranda Britannia satis constat, ni velox ingenio mobili paenitentiae, et ingentes adversus Germaniam conatus frustra fuissent. A stranger to the enemy's misdeeds and so more accessible to their penitence, he put an end to old troubles, and, attempting nothing more, handed the province over to Trebellius Maximus. LIFE OF CNÆUS JULIUS AGRICOLA. Agricola then encouraged three Batavian and two Tungrian 10 cohorts to fall in and come to close quarters; a method of fighting familiar to these veteran soldiers, but embarrassing to the enemy from the nature of their armor; 2 for the enormous British swords, blunt at the point, are unfit for close grappling, and engaging in a confined space. (Pearce)  unde: sc. (Gudeman); is an emendation of the manuscript's proinde; the two terms are frequently confused by scribes, who generally abbreviate both. (Gudeman), Germāniae: take as dative with obtenditur. 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. Links to resources for finding sight reading passages of moderate difficulty, most with glosses. Nec Vettius Bolanus, manentibus adhuc civilibus bellis, agitavit Britanniam disciplina: eadem inertia erga hostis, similis petulantia castrorum, nisi quod innocens Bolanus et nullis delictis invisus caritatem paraverat loco auctoritatis. Sara Bryant. (Gudeman)  ēnorme: here "shapeless," but usually synonymous with immensus. of attendant circumstances. We are missing about 2/3 of the Annales (an account of Rome year-by-year), but still have 40 out of 54 years.Annales isn't the only source for the period, either. Igitur primus omnium Romanorum divus Iulius cum exercitu Britanniam ingressus, quamquam prospera pugna terruerit incolas ac litore potitus sit, potest videri ostendisse posteris, non tradidisse. Their strength is in infantry. Agricola (Ancient Roman General) a biography by Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 98) by Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 98). libens fatum excepisti, tamquam pro virili portione 4 innocentiam principi donares. (Gudeman), causa ac māteria tempestātum: the origin of the winds was a stock topic in the works of ancient physicists and philosophers, some of whom, notably Aristotle, closely approximated the true explanation. (13) Tacitus, Vol 1, Agricola , translated by M. Hutton, revised by R. M. Ogilvie, LCL, 1970, p. 29. His father was a wealthy man and belonged to the second tier of the Roman elite, the knights, or - to use a more stately expression - the equestrian order. 13. (Pearce)  ēnorme spatium: "a shapeless tract." (Gudeman) [A&G §375], etiam: strengthens inspicitur, as opposed to the less demonstrable statement spatio ac caelo ... obtenditur. Et terrorem statim intulit Petilius Cerialis, Brigantum civitatem, quae numerosissima provinciae totius perhibetur, adgressus. (Pearce); sc. (Gudeman), hāctenus iussum: sc. Scotland" (Furneaux). The young man was sent to Rome to study what is called rhetorics, which is not just the art of speaking in public, but in fact a grand cultural education that included everything a magistrate needed to know.The last years of the reign of Nero must have impressed the student. 10 ans ça se fête, surtout lorsqu’on s’appelle Agricola. iam marks the contrast with the apparently natural ending of the land at the isthmus. Henry Furneaux (1896) The Annals of Tacitus, Vol. See note on 2.1. Indeed we have understood that even the Gauls were once renowned in war; but, after a while, sloth following on ease crept over them, and they lost their courage along with their freedom. (Gudeman), multīs scrīptōribus: dative. To bequeath to posterity a record of the deeds and characters of distinguished men is an ancient practice which even the present age, careless as it is of its own sons, has not abandoned whenever some great and conspicuous excellence has conquered and risen superior to that failing, common to petty and to great states, blindness and hostility to goodness. (Gudeman)  in ūniversum fāma: i.e. (Gudeman); parallel to Oceani, not naturam. There were many battles, some by no means bloodless, and his conquests, or at least his wars, embraced a large part of the territory of the Brigantes. (Pearce), īnserī: a middle use of the passive infinitive; "penetrates." He collected a force of veterans and a small body of auxiliaries; then as the Ordovices would not venture to descend into the plain, he put himself in front of the ranks to inspire all with the same courage against a common danger, and led his troops up a hill. Like Pliny, he may have studied under Quintilian. (Gudeman); see note on eloquentia above. Trebellius, who was somewhat indolent, and never ventured on a campaign, controlled the province by a certain courtesy in his administration. Georg. The scribe marked the words after transgressis as problematic by underlining them, and editors emend variously. Britain contains gold and silver and other metals, as the prize of conquest. Quaedam civitates Cogidumno regi donatae (is ad nostram usque memoriam fidissimus mansit), vetere ac iam pridem recepta populi Romani consuetudine, ut haberet instrumenta servitutis et reges. (Francese) [A&G §347-48]  cūrae: historical accuracy and painstaking. Rousing each other by this and like language, under the leadership of Boudicea, a woman of kingly descent (for they admit no distinction of sex in their royal successions), they all rose in arms. Fact 3 His life is well known to us today because his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus, wrote a detailed biography of him which survives. (Stuart), Līvius: we learn from the extant epitome that Livy treated Caesar's invasion of Britain in the lost 105th book. Edition: Revised. (Stuart)  hiems: on the date see the Introduction. From The Germany and the Agricola by Tacitus; The Oxford Translation, Revised, with Notes; The Handy Book Company: Reading, Pennsylvania; undated; pp. Caelum crebris imbribus ac nebulis foedum; asperitas frigorum abest. 1. The language differs but little; there is the same boldness in challenging danger, and, when it is near, the same timidity in shrinking from it. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23. Little is known of their domestic life, except that Tacitus … (Gudeman)  fama sed: between fama and sed the manuscript contains some words repeated from earlier in the sentence: fama est transgressis unde et universis fama sed. Nothing is now safe from their avarice, nothing from their lust. But a general survey inclines me to believe that the Gauls established themselves in an island so near to them. Frontinus appears only once in Tacitus' Agricola, at a moment in the text where Tacitus is filling in some background, sketching a rough history of the Roman occupation of Britain up to the time when Agricola took over as governor of the province.His appearance is brief, and the momentum of the whole section makes it tempting to see him as a mere footnote in the tale of Agricola's life and career. 11. (Pearce)  mare pigrum: on the brachylogy in this clause, see lntrod. Iam Britannorum etiam deos misereri, qui Romanum ducem absentem, qui relegatum in alia insula exercitum detinerent; iam ipsos, quod difficillimum fuerit, deliberare. FAMOUS men have from time immemorial had their life stories told, and even our generation, with all its stupid indifference to the present, has not quite abandoned the practice. They fell upon our troops, which were scattered on garrison duty, stormed the forts, and burst into the colony itself, the head-quarters, as they thought, of tyranny. (Stuart), unde et in ūniversum fāma: "whence it is that the report has been made applicable as well to the island in its entirety." The red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia point clearly to a German origin. Here some account of Britain would be in place. Omnia scire, non omnia exsequi. According to the theory here adopted by Tacitus with small credit to his scientific knowledge, storms were caused by streams of air which were compressed by the obstruction of mountains or gathered in clefts of the earth and which then rushed forth with a rotary motion imparted by the contact with the opposing objects. ISBN 10: 0806123400. Trebellius, who had escaped the soldiers' fury by flying and hiding himself, governed henceforth on sufferance, a disgraced and humbled man. 15. (Gudeman), inmēnsum ... tenuātur: two separate and independent characteristics, viz. The crux of the problem is in the comparative merits of the read-ing of the manuscripts, irritamenta, and the conjecture of Acidalius, invitamenta, a word which is found in no other place in Tacitus. Didium Veranius excepit, isque intra annum extinctus est. In proelio fortiorem esse qui spoliet: nunc ab ignavis plerumque et imbellibus eripi domos, abstrahi liberos, iniungi dilectus, tamquam mori tantum pro patria nescientibus. Yet by thus disguising his renown he really increased it, for men inferred the grandeur of his aspirations from his silence about services so great. oriebatur. Publication date 1894 Publisher London : Methuen & Co. Collection cdl; americana Digitizing sponsor MSN Contributor University of California Libraries Language English. Agricola (Ancient Roman General) a biography by Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 98) by Cornelius Tacitus (A.D. 98). In pedite robur; quaedam nationes et curru proeliantur. über seinen Schwiegervater, Feldherrn und Statthalter in Britannien Gnaeus Iulius Agricola (40 93). On the conciseness of expression, see lntrod. Their sky is obscured by continual rain and cloud. : Random House, Inc. Random House, Inc. 1876. reprinted 1942. Nor was it always punishment, but far oftener penitence, which satisfied him. It was a kind of bargain; the soldiers had their licence, the general had his life; and so the mutiny cost no bloodshed. The emendation adopted here assumes that fama est displaced fama sed; the editor therefore excises both the repeated words and the interloper est. Livet til Agricola (latinsk tittel: De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolæ) nedtegner livet til Gnaeus Julius Agricola, en framstående romersk general og svigerfar av Tacitus. Un jeu devenu une référence dans le milieu en quelques années. Nihil per libertos servosque publicae rei, non studiis privatis nec ex commendatione aut precibus centurionem militesve adscire, sed optimum quemque fidissimum putare. (Gudeman), quia ... per­­domita est: Tacitus's personal interest in geography and ethnology was a leading motive. De vita Iulii Agricolae (kurz: [der] Agricola [des Tacitus]) ist den Zügen nach eine biographische Schrift des römischen Historiographen Tacitus aus dem Jahr 98 n. Chr. Divus Claudius auctor iterati operis, transvectis legionibus auxiliisque et adsumpto in partem rerum Vespasiano, quod initium venturae mox fortunae fuit: domitae gentes, capti reges et monstratus fatis Vespasianus. Tacitus kann also, übrigens ebenso wie Agricola, kaum als Gegner Domitians gelten, sondern er machte unter diesem Kaiser, den er später als Tyrannen darstellte, Karriere. (Pearce); see note on 11.3. Indeed he would have altogether thrown into the shade the activity and renown of any other successor; but Julius Frontinus was equal to the burden, a great man as far as greatness was then possible, who subdued by his arms the powerful and warlike tribe of the Silures, surmounting the difficulties of the country as well as the valour of the enemy. (Gudeman), ēloquentiā: ablative of means with percoluere. Il est nommé questeur dans la province d'Asie vers 64, puis il devient tribun de la plèbe en 66 et préteur en 68. The comparison with the double ax had been applied at a time when the northern part of Britain was an unknown land. It is said that, if there are no clouds in the way, the splendour of the sun can be seen throughout the night, and that he does not rise and set, but only crosses the heavens. Der Agricola ist eine von Cornelius Publius Tacitus geschriebene Biographie über seinen Schwiegervater, den Politiker und Feldherrn, Gnaeus Iulius Agricola. Greece has many gulfs and firths, but no tide. The days exceed in length those of our part of the world; the nights are bright, and in the extreme north so short that between sunlight and dawn you can perceive but a slight distinction. Year: 1991. Et Cerialis quidem alterius successoris curam famamque obruisset: subiit sustinuitque molem Iulius Frontinus, vir magnus, quantum licebat, validamque et pugnacem Silurum gentem armis subegit, super virtutem hostium locorum quoque difficultates eluctatus. (Stuart)  ingeniī: literary ability shown in attractive presentation of data. To provide readers of Greek and Latin with high interest texts equipped with media, vocabulary, and grammatical, historical, and stylistic notes. He transacted no public business through freedmen or slaves; no private leanings, no recommendations or entreaties of friends, moved him in the selection of centurions and soldiers, but it was ever the best man whom he thought most trustworthy. A rationalistic explanation of the story might lie in masses of floating ice, an unwonted sight to dwellers by the Mediterranean. Et est ea faciēs citrā Calēdoniam, unde et in ūniversum fāma: sed trānsgressīs inmēnsum et ēnorme spatium prōcurrentium extrēmō iam lītore terrārum velut in cuneum tenuātur. In seiner Funktion als Statthalter von Britannien war Agricola überaus erfolgreich, konnte die Provinz stabilisieren und … (Stuart), priōrēs: particularly Livy and Fabius Rusticus, and possibly Posidonius, but not Caesar, to whom eloquentia percoluere would be inapplicable. (Pearce); "geographical location." 1. Nor did he use his success for self-glorification, or apply the name of campaigns and victories to the repression of a conquered people. Missus igitur Petronius Turpilianus tamquam exorabilior et delictis hostium novus eoque paenitentiae mitior, compositis prioribus nihil ultra ausus Trebellio Maximo provinciam tradidit. Chr.) He has left an historical monument highly interesting to every Briton, who wishes to know the manners of his ancestors, and the spirit of liberty that from the earliest time distinguished the natives of Britain. (Gudeman), incognitās: the Orkneys had been mentioned by Mela, so incognitas probably means merely "unexplored." Towards the end of the Agricola, Tacitus offers the following summary of his father-in-law’s character: ‘you would easily think him a good man, and freely a great one’. Germany did thus actually shake off the yoke, and yet its defence was a river, not the ocean. On the life and character of Julius Agricola) is a book by the Roman historian Tacitus, written c. AD 98, which recounts the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general and Governor of Britain from AD 77/78 – 83/84.It also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain.