Tacitus Agricola
Translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1877)
1. 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. But
in days gone by, as there was a greater inclination and a more open path to the
achievement of memorable actions, so the man of highest genius was led by the
simple reward of a good conscience to hand on without partiality or
self-seeking the remembrance of greatness. Many too thought that to write their
own lives showed the confidence of integrity rather than presumption. Of Rutilius and Scaurus no one
doubted the honesty or questioned the motives. So true is it that merit is best
appreciated by the age in which it thrives most easily.
But in these days, I, who have to record the life of one who has passed away,
must crave an indulgence, which I should not have had to ask had I an
indulgence, which I should not have had to ask had I only to inveigh against an
age so cruel, so hostile to all virtue.
2. We have only to read that the panegyrics pronounced
by Arulenus Rusticus on Paetus Thrasea, and by Herennius Senecio on Priscus Helvidius, were made
capital crimes, that not only their persons but their very books were objects
of rage, and that the triumvirs were commissioned to burn in the forum those
works of splendid genius. They fancied, forsooth, that in that fire the voice
of the Roman people, the freedom of the Senate, and the conscience of the human
race were perishing, while at the same time they banished the teachers of
philosophy, and exiled every noble pursuit, that nothing good might anywhere
confront them. Certainly we showed a magnificent example of patience; as a
former age had witnessed the extreme of liberty, so we witnessed the extreme of
servitude, when the informer robbed us of the interchanges of speech, and
hearing. We should have lost memory as well as voice, had it been as easy to
forget as to keep silence.
3. Now at last our spirit is returning. And yet,
though at the dawn of a most happy age Nerva Caesar
blended things once irreconcilable, sovereignty and freedom; though Nerva Trajan is now daily
augmenting the prosperity of the time, and though the public safety has not
only our hopes and good wishes, but has also the certain pledge of their
fulfillment: still, from the necessary condition of human frailty, the remedy
works less quickly than the disease. As our bodies grow but slowly, perish in a
moment, so it is easier to crush than to revive genius and its pursuits.
Besides, the charm of indolence steals over us, and the idleness which at first
we loathed we afterwards love. What if during those fifteen years, a large
portion of human life, many were cut off by ordinary casualties, and the ablest
fell victim to the Emperor’s rage, if a few of us
survive, though there have been taken from the midst of life those many years
which brought the young in dumb silence to old age, and the old almost to the
very verge and end of existence! Yet we shall not regret that we have told,
though in language unskilful and unadorned, the story of past servitude, and
borne our testimony to present happiness. Meanwhile this book, intended to do
honour to Agricola, my father-in-law, will, as an
expression of filial regard, be commended, or at least excused.
4. Cnaeus Julius Agricola was born at the ancient and famous colony of Forum
Julii. Each of his grandfathers was an Imperial
procurator, that is, of the highest equestrian rank. His father, Julius Graecinus, a member of the Senatorian
order, and distinguished for his pursuit of eloquence and philosophy, earned
for himself by these very merits the displeasure of Caius
Caesar. He was ordered to impeach Marcus Silanus, and
because he refused was put to death. His mother was Julia Procilla,
a lady of singular virtue. Brought up by her side with fond affection, he
passed his boyhood and youth in the cultivation of every worthy attainment. He
was guarded from the enticements of the profligate not only by his own good and
straight- forward character, but also by having, when quite a child, for the
scene and guide of his studies, Massilia, a place
where refinement and provincial frugality were blended and happily combined. I
remember that he used to tell us how in his early youth he would have imbibed a
keener love of philosophy than became a Roman and a senator, had not his
mother's good sense checked his excited and ardent spirit. It was the case of a
lofty and aspiring soul craving with more eagerness than caution the beauty and
splendour of great and glorious renown. But it was soon
mellowed by reason and experience, and he retained from his learning that most
difficult of lessons -- moderation.
5. He served his military apprenticeship in Britain to
the satisfaction of Suetonius Paullinus,
a painstaking and judicious officer, who, to test his merits, selected him to
share his tent. Without the recklessness with which young men often make the
profession of arms a mere pastime, and without indolence, he never availed
himself of his tribune's rank or his inexperience to procure enjoyment or to
escape from duty. He sought to make himself acquainted with the province and
known to the army; he would learn from the skilful, and keep pace with the
bravest, would attempt nothing for display, would avoid nothing from fear, and
would be at once careful and vigilant. Never indeed had Britain been more
excited, or in a more critical condition. Veteran soldiers had been massacred,
colonies burnt, armies cut off. The struggle was then for safety; it was soon
to be for victory. And though all this was conducted under the leadership and
direction of another, though the final issue and the glory of having won back
the province belonged to the general, yet skill, experience, and ambition were
acquired by the young officer. His soul too was penetrated with the desire of
warlike renown, a sentiment unwelcome to an age which put a sinister
construction on eminent merit, and made glory as perilous as infamy.
6. From Britain he went to
Rome, to go through the regular course of office, and there allied himself with
Domitia Decidiana, a lady
of illustrious birth. The marriage was one which gave a man ambitious of
advancement distinction and support. They lived in singular harmony, through
their mutual affection and preference of each other to self. However, the good
wife deserves the greater praise, just as the bad incurs a heavier censure.
Appointed Quaestor, the ballot gave him Asia for his
province, Salvius Titianus
for his proconsul. Neither the one nor the other corrupted him, though the
province was rich and an easy prey to the wrongdoer, while the proconsul, a man
inclined to every species of greed, was ready by all manner of indulgence to
purchase a mutual concealment of guilt. A daughter was there added to his
family to be his stay and comfort, for shortly after he lost the son that had
before been born to him. The year between his quaestorship
and tribunate, as well as the year of the tribunate itself, he passed in retirement and inaction, for
he knew those times of Nero when indolence stood for wisdom. His praetorship was passed in the same consistent quietude, for
the usual judicial functions did not fall to his lot. The games and the
pageantry of his office he ordered according to the mean between strictness and
profusion, avoiding extravagance, but not missing distinction. He was
afterwards appointed by Galba to draw up an account
of the temple offerings, and his searching scrutiny relieved the conscience of
the stte from the burden of all sacrileges but those
committed by Nero.
7. The following year inflicted a terrible blow on his
affections and his fortunes. Otho's fleet, while
cruising idly about, cruelly ravaged Intemelii, a
district of Liguria; his mother, who was living here on her own estate, was
murdered. The estate itself and a large part of her patrimony were plundered.
This was indeed the occasion of the crime. Agricola,
who instantly set out to discharge the duties of affection, was overtaken by
the tidings that Vespasian was aiming at the throne.
He at once joined his party. Vespasian's early
policy, and the government of Rome were directed by Mucianus,
for Domitian was a mere youth, and from his father's
elevation sought only the opportunities of indulgence. Agricola,
having been sent by Mucianus to conduct a levy of
troops, and having done his work with integrity and energy, was appointed to
command the 20th Legion, which had been slow to take the new oath of
allegiance, and the retiring officer of which was reported to be acting
disloyally. It was a trying and formidable charge for even officers of consular
rank, and the late praetorian officer, perhaps from his own disposition,
perhaps from that of the soldiers, was powerless to restrain them. Chosen thus
at once to supersede and to punish, Agricola, with a
singular moderation, wished it to be thought that he had found rather than made
an obedient soldiery.
8. Britain was then under Vettius
Bolanus, who governed more mildly than suited so
turbulent a province. Agricola moderated his energy
and restrained his ardour, that he might not grow too important, for he had
learnt to obey, and understood well how to combine expediency with honour. Soon
afterwards Britain received
for its governor a man of consular rank, Petilius Cerialis. Agricola's merits had
now room for display. Cerialis let him share at first
indeed only the toils and dangers, but before long the glory of war, often by
way of trial putting him in command of part of the army, and sometimes, on the
strength of the result, of larger forces. Never to enhance his own renown did Agricola boast of his exploits; he always referred his
success, as though he were but an instrument, to his general and director. Thus
by his valour in obeying orders and by his modesty of speech he escaped
jealousy without losing distinction.
9. As he was returning from the command of the legion,
Vespasian admitted him into the patrician order, and
then gave him the province of Aquitania, a preeminently splendid appointment both from the importance
of its duties and the prospect of the consulate to which the Emperor destined
him. Many think the genius of the soldier wants subtlety, because military law,
which is summary and blunt, and apt to appeal to the sword, finds no exercise
for the refinements of the forum. Yet Agricola, from
his natural good sense, though called to act among civilians, did his work with
ease and correctness. And, besides, the times of business and relaxation were
kept distinct. When his public and judicial duties required it, he was
dignified, thoughtful, austere, and yet often merciful; when business was done
with, he wore no longer the official character. He was altogether without
harshness, pride, or the greed of gain. With a most rare felicity, his good
nature did not weaken his authority, nor his
strictness the attachment of his friends. To speak of uprightness and purity in
such a man would be an insult to his virtues. Fame itself,
of which even good men are often weakly fond, he did not seek by an ostentation
of virtue or by artifice. He avoided rivalry with his colleagues, contention
with his procurator, thinking such victories no honour and defeat disgrace. For
somewhat less than three years he was kept in his governorship, and was then
recalled with an immediate prospect of the consulate. A general belief went
with him that the province of Britain was to be his, not because he had himself
hinted it, but because he seemed worthy of it. Public opinion is not always
mistaken; sometimes even it chooses the right man. He was consul, and I but a
youth, when he betrothed to me his daughter, a maiden even then of noble
promise. After his consulate he gave her to me in marriage, and was then at
once appointed to the government of Britain, with the
addition of the sacred office of the pontificate.
10. The geography and inhabitants of Britain, already
described by so many writers, I will speak of, not that my research and ability
may be compared with theirs, but because the country was then for the first
time thoroughly subdued. And so matters, which as being still not accurately
known my predecessors embellished with their eloquence, shall now be related on
the evidence of facts. Britain, the largest of the islands which Roman
geography includes, is so situated that it faces Germany on the east, Spain on
the west; on the south it is even within sight of Gaul; its northern
extremities, which have no shores opposite to them, are beaten by the waves of
a vast open sea. The form of the entire country has been compared by Livy and Fabius Rusticus, the most graphic among ancient and modern
historians, to an oblong shield or battle-axe. And this no doubt is its shape
without Caledonia, so that it has become the popular
description of the whole island. There is, however, a large and irregular tract
of land which juts out from its furthest shores, tapering off in a wedge-like
form. Round these coasts of remotest ocean the Roman fleet then for the first
time sailed, ascertained that Britain is an island, and simultaneously
discovered and conquered what are called the Orcades,
islands hitherto unknown. Thule too was descried in the distance, which as yet
had been hidden by the snows of winter. Those waters, they say, are sluggish,
and yield with difficulty to the oar, and are not even raised by the wind as
other seas. The reason, I suppose, is that lands and mountains, which are the
cause and origin of storms, are here comparatively rare, and also that the vast
depths of that unbroken expanse are more slowly set in motion. But to
investigate the nature of the ocean and the tides is no part of the present
work, and many writers have discussed the subject. I would simply add, that
nowhere has the sea a wider dominion, that it has many currents running in
every direction, that it does not merely flow and ebb within the limits of the
shore, but penetrates and winds far inland, and finds a home among hills and
mountains as though in its own domain.
11. Who were the original inhabitants of Britain,
whether they were indigenous or foreign, is as usual among barbarians, little
known. Their physical characteristics are various, and from these conclusions
may be drawn. The red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia point
clearly to a German origin. The dark complexion of the Silures,
their usually curly hair, and the fact that Spain is the
opposite shore to them, are an evidence that Iberians
of a former date crossed over and occupied these parts. Those who are nearest
to the Gauls are also like them, either from the
permanent influence of original descent, or, because in countries which run out
so far to meet each other, climate has produced similar physical qualities. But
a general survey inclines me to believe that the Gauls
established themselves in an island so near to them. Their religious belief may
be traced in the strongly-marked British superstition. 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. The Britons, however, exhibit more
spirit, as being a people whom a long peace has not yet enervated. 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. This too has happened to
the long-conquered tribes of Britain; the rest
are still what the Gauls once were.
12. Their strength is in infantry. Some tribes fight
also with the chariot. The higher in rank is the charioteer; the dependants
fight. They were once ruled by kings, but are now divided under chieftains into
factions and parties. Our greatest advantage in coping with tribes so powerful
is that they do not act in concert. Seldom is it that two or three states meet
together to ward off a common danger. Thus, while they fight singly, all are
conquered. Their sky is obscured by continual rain and cloud. Severity of cold
is unknown. 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. 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. The
truth is, that the low shadow thrown from the flat
extremities of the earth's surface does not raise the darkness to any height,
and the night thus fails to reach the sky and stars. With the exception of the
olive and vine, and plants which usually grow in warmer climates, the soil will
yield, and even abundantly, all ordinary produce. It ripens indeed slowly, but
is of rapid growth, the cause in each case being the same, namely, the
excessive moisture of the soil and of the atmosphere. Britain contains gold and
silver and other metals, as the prize of conquest. The ocean, too, produces
pearls, but of a dusky and bluish hue. Some think that those who collect them
have not the requisite skill, as in the Red Sea the living
and breathing pearl is torn from the rocks, while in Britain they are
gathered just as they are thrown up. I could myself more readily believe that
the natural properties of the pearls are in fault than our keenness for gain.
13. The Britons themselves
bear cheerfully the conscription, the taxes, and the other burdens imposed on
them by the Empire, if there be no oppression. Of this they are impatient; they
are reduced to subjectionn, not as yet to slavery.
The deified Julius, the very first Roman who entered Britain with an army,
though by a successful engagement he struck terror into the inhabitants and
gained possession of the coast, must be regarded as having indicated rather
than transmitted the acquisition to future generations. Then came the civil
wars, and the arms of our leaders were turned against their country, and even
when there was peace, there was a long neglect of Britain. This Augustus spoke
of as policy, Tiberius as an inherited maxim. That Caius
Caesar meditated an invasion of Britain is
perfectly clear, but his purposes, rapidly formed, were easily changed, and his
vast attempts on Germany had failed.
Claudius was the first to renew the attempt, and conveyed over into the island
some legions and auxiliaries, choosing Vespasian to
share with him the campaign, whose approaching elevation had this beginning. Several tribes were subdued and kings made
prisoners, and destiny learnt to know its favourite.
14. Aulus Plautius was the first governor of consular rank, and Ostorius Scapula the next. 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. Some of the states were given to king Cogidumnus,
who lived down to our day a most faithful ally. So was maintained the ancient
and long-recognised practice of the Roman people, which seeks to secure among
the instruments of dominion even kings themselves. Soon
after, Didius Gallus consolidated the conquests of
his predecessors, and advanced a very few positions into parts more remote, to
gain the credit of having enlarged the sphere of government. Didius was succeeded by Veranius,
who died within the year. Then Suetonius
Paullinus enjoyed success for two years; he subdued
several tribes and strengthened our military posts. Thus encouraged, he made an
attempt on the island of Mona, as a place
from which the rebels drew reinforcements; but in doing this he left his rear
open to attack.
15. Relieved from apprehension by the legate's
absence, the Britons dwelt much among themselves on the miseries of subjection,
compared their wrongs, and exaggerated them in the discussion. "All we get
by patience," they said, "is that heavier demands are exacted from
us, as from men who will readily submit. A single king once ruled us; now two
are set over us; a legate to tyrannise over our lives, a procurator to
tyrannise over our property. Their quarrels and their harmony are alike ruinous
to their subjects. The centurions of the one, the slaves of the other, combine
violence with insult. Nothing is now safe from their avarice, nothing from
their lust. 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. For, after all, what a mere handful of soldiers has crossed over, if we Britons look at our own numbers.
Germany did thus shake off the yoke, and yet its defence was a river, not the
ocean. With us, fatherland, wives, parents, are the motives to war; with them,
only greed and profligacy. They will surely fly, as did the now deified Julius,
if once we emulate the valour of our sires. Let us not be panic-stricken at the
result of one or two engagements. The miserable have more fury and greater
resolution. Now even the gods are beginning to pity us, for they are keeping
away the Roman general, and detaining his army far from us in another island.
We have already taken the hardest step; we are deliberating. And indeed, in all
such designs, to dare is less perilous than to be detected."
16. 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. 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. In their rage and their triumph, they spared no
variety of a barbarian's cruelty. Had not Paullinus
on hearing of the outbreak in the province rendered prompt succour, Britain would have
been lost. 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. Excellent as he was
in other respects, his policy to the conquered was arrogant, and exhibited the
cruelty of one who was avenging private wrongs. Accordingly Petronius
Turpilianus was sent out to initiate a milder rule. 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.
Trebellius, who was somewhat indolent, and never
ventured on a campaign, controlled the province by a certain courtesy in his
administration. Even the barbarians now learnt to excuse many attractive vices,
and the occurrence of the civil war gave a good pretext for inaction. But we
were sorely troubled with mutiny, as troops habituated to service grew
demoralised by idleness. Trebellius, who had escaped
the soldiers' fury by flying and hiding himself, governed henceforth on
sufferance, a disgraced and humbled man. It was a kind of bargain; the soldiers
had their license, the general had his life; and so the mutiny cost no
bloodshed. Nor did Vettius Bolanus,
during the continuance of the civil wars, trouble Britain with
discipline. There was the same inaction with respect to the enemy, and similar
unruliness in the camp, only Bolanus, an upright man,
whom no misdeeds made odious, had secured affection in default of the power of
control.
17. When however Vespasian
had restored to unity Britain as well as the rest of the world, in the presence
of the great generals and renowned armies the enemy's hopes were crushed. They
were at once panic-stricken by the attack of Petilius
Cerialis on the state of the Brigantes,
said to be the most prosperous in the entire province. 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. Indeed
he would have altogether thrown into the shade the activity and renown of any
other successor; but Julius Frontus 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.
18. Such was the state of Britain, and such were the
vicissitudes of the war, which Agricola found on his
crossing over about midsummer. Our soldiers made it a pretext for carelessness,
as if all fighting was over, and the enemy were biding their time. The Ordovices, shortly before Agricola's
arrival, had destroyed nearly the whole of a squadron of allied cavalry
quartered in their territory. Such a beginning raised the hopes of the country,
and all who wished for war approved the precedent, and anxiously watched the
temper of the new governor. Meanwhile Agricola,
though summer was past and the detachments were scattered throughout the
province, though the soldiers' confident anticipation of inaction for that year
would be a source of delay and difficulty in beginning a campaign, and most
advisers thought it best simply to watch all weak points, resolved to face the
peril. 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. The tribe was
all but exterminated. Well aware that he must follow up the prestige of his
arms, and that in proportion to his first success would be the terror of the
other tribes, he formed the design of subjugating the island of Mona, from the
occupation of which Paulinus had been recalled, as I
have already related, by the rebellion of the entire province. But, as his
plans were not matured, he had no fleet. The skill and resolution of the
general accomplished the passage. With some picked men of the auxiliaries,
disencumbered of all baggage, who knew the shallows and had that national
experience in swimming which enables the Britons to take care not only of
themselves but of their arms and horses, he delivered so unexpected an attack
that the astonished enemy who were looking for a fleet, a naval armament, and
an assault by sea, thought that to such assailants nothing could be formidable
or invincible. And so, peace having been sued for and the island given up, Agricola became great and famous as one who, when entering
on his province, a time which others spend in vain display and a round of
ceremonies, chose rather toil and danger. Nor did he use his success for
self-glorification, or apply the name of campaigns and victories to the
repression of a conquered people. He did not even describe his achievements in
a laurelled letter. 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.
19. Next, with thorough insight into the feelings of
his province, and taught also, by the experience of others, that little is
gained by conquest if followed by oppression, he determined to root out the
causes of war. Beginning first with himself and his dependants, he kept his
household under restraint, a thing as hard to many as ruling a province. 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. He knew everything, but did not always act on his knowledge.
Trifling errors he treated with leniency, serious offences with severity. Nor
was it always punishment, but far oftener penitence, which satisfied him. He
preferred to give office and power to men who would not transgress, rather than
have to condemn a transgressor. He lightened the exaction of corn and tribute
by an equal distribution of the burden, while he got rid of those contrivances
for gain which were more intolerable than the tribute itself. Hitherto the
people had been compelled to endure the farce of waiting by the closed granary
and of purchasing corn unnecessarily and raising it to a fictitious price.
Difficult byroads and distant places were fixed for them, so that states with a
winter-camp close to them had to carry corn to remote and inaccessible parts of
the country, until what was within the reach of all became a source of profit
to the few.
20. Agricola, by the
repression of these abuses in his very first year in office, restored to peace
its good name, when, from either the indifference or the harshness of his
predecessors, it had come to be as much dreaded as war. When, however, summer
came, assembling his forces, he continually showed himself in the ranks,
praised good discipline, and kept the stragglers in order. He would himself
choose the position of the camp, himself explore the
estuaries and forests. Meanwhile he would allow the enemy no rest, laying waste his territory with sudden incursions, and, having
sufficiently alarmed him, would then by forbearance display the allurements of
peace. In consequence, many states, which up to that time had been in-
dependent, gave hostages, and laid aside their animosities; garrisons and forts
were established among them with a skill and diligence with which no
newly-acquired part of Britain had before
been treated.
21. The following winter
passed without disturbance, and was employed in salutary measures. For, to
accustom to rest and repose through the charms of luxury a population scattered
and barbarous and therefore inclined to war, Agricola
gave private encouragement and public aid to the building of temples, courts of
justice and dwelling-houses, praising the energetic, and reproving the
indolent. Thus an honourable rivalry took the place of compulsion. He likewise
provided a liberal education for the sons of the chiefs, and showed such a
preference for the natural powers of the Britons over the industry of the Gauls that they who lately disdained the tongue of Rome now coveted
its eloquence. Hence, too, a liking sprang up for our style of dress, and the “toga”
became fashionable. Step by step they were led to things which dispose to vice,
the lounge, the bath, the elegant banquet. All this in their ignorance they
called civilisation, when it was but a part of their servitude.
22. The third year of his campaigns opened up new
tribes, our ravages on the native population being carried as far as the Taus, an estuary so called. This struck such terror into
the enemy that he did not dare to attack our army, harassed though it was by
violent storms; and there was even time for the erection of forts. It was noted
by experienced officers that no general had ever shown more judgment in
choosing suitable positions, and that not a single
fort established by Agricola was either stormed by
the enemy or abandoned by capitulation or flight. Sorties were continually
being made; for these positions were secured from protracted siege by a year’s supply. So winter brought with it no alarms, and
each garrison could hold its own, as the baffled and despairing enemy, who had
been accustomed often to repair his summer losses by winter successes, found
himself repelled alike both in summer and winter. Never did Agricola
in a greedy spirit appropriate the achievements of others; the centurion and
the prefect both found in him an impartial witness of their every action. Some
persons used to say that he was too harsh in his reproofs, and that he was as
severe to the bad as he was gentle to the good. But his dis-
pleasure left nothing behind it; reserve and silence in him were not to be
dreaded. He thought it better to show anger than to cherish hatred.
23. The fourth summer he employed in securing what he
had overrun. Had the valour of our armies and the renown of the Roman name
permitted it, a limit to our conquests might have been found in Britain itself. Clota and Bodotria, estuaries
which the tides of two opposite seas carry far back into the country, are separated by but a narrow strip of land. This Agricola then began to defend with a line of forts, and, as
all the country to the south was now occupied, the enemy were pushed into what
might be called another island.
24. In the fifth year of the
war, Agricola, himself in the leading ship, crossed
the Clota, and subdued in a series of victories tribes
hitherto unknown. In that part of Britain which looks toward Ireland, he posted
some troops, hoping for fresh conquests rather than fearing attack, inasmuch as
Ireland, being between Britain and Spain and conveniently situated for the seas
round Gaul, might have been the means of connecting with great mutual benefit
the most powerful parts of the empire. Its extent is small when compared with Britain, but
exceeds the islands of our seas. In soil and climate, in the disposition,
temper, and habits of its population, it differs but little from Britain. We know
most of its harbours and approaches, and that through the intercourse of
commerce. One of the petty kings of the nation, driven out by internal faction,
had been received by Agricola, who detained him under
the semblance of friendship till he could make use of him. I have often heard
him say that a single legion with a few auxiliaries could conquer and occupy
Ireland, and that it would have a salutary effect on Britain for the Roman arms
to be seen everywhere, and for freedom, so to speak, to be banished from its
sight.
25. In the summer in which he entered on the sixth
year of his office, his operations embraced the states beyond Bodotria, and, as he dreaded a general movement among the
remoter tribes, as well as the perils which would beset an invading army, he
explored the harbours with a fleet, which, at first employed by him as an
integral part of his force, continued to accompany him. The spectacle of war
thus pushed on at once by sea and land was imposing; while often infantry,
cavalry, and marines, mingled in the same encampment and joyously sharing the
same meals, would dwell on their own achievements and adventures, comparing,
with a soldier’s boastfulness, at one time the deep
recesses of the forest and the mountain with the dangers of waves and storms,
or, at another, battles by land with victories over the ocean. The Britons,
too, as we learnt from the prisoners, were confounded by the sight of a fleet,
as if, now that their inmost seas were penetrated, the conquered had their last
refuge closed to them. The tribes inhabiting Caledonia flew to
arms, and with great preparations, made greater by the rumours which always
exaggerate the unknown, themselves advanced to attack our fortresses, and thus
challenging a conflict, inspired us with alarm. To
retreat south of the Bodotria, and to retire rather
than to be driven out, was the advice of timid pretenders to prudence, when Agricola learnt that the enemy’s
attack would be made with more than one army. Fearing that their superior
numbers and their knowledge of the country might enable them to hem him in, he
too distributed his forces into three divisions, and so advanced.
26. This becoming known to the enemy, they suddenly
changed their plan, and with their whole force attacked by night the ninth
Legion, as being the weakest, and cutting down the sentries, who were asleep or
panic-stricken, they broke into the camp. And now the battle was raging within
the camp itself, when Agricola, who had learnt from
his scouts the enemy’s line of march and had kept
close on his track, ordered the most active soldiers of his cavalry and
infantry to attack the rear of the assailants, while the entire army were
shortly to raise a shout. Soon his standards glittered in the light of
daybreak. A double peril thus alarmed the Britons, while the courage of the
Romans revived; and feeling sure of their safety, they now fought for glory. In
their turn they rushed to the attack, and there was a furious conflict within
the narrow passages of the gates till the enemy were routed. Both armies did
their utmost; the one for the honour of having given aid, the other for that of
not having needed support. Had not the flying enemy been sheltered by morasses
and forests, this victory would have ended the war.
27. Knowing this, and elated by their glory, our army
exclaimed that nothing could resist their valour -- that they must penetrate
the recesses of Caledonia, and at length after an unbroken succession of
battles, discover the furthest limits of Britain. Those who
but now were cautious and prudent, became after the
event eager and boastful. It is the singularly unfair peculiarity of war that
the credit of success is claimed by all, while a disaster is attributed to one
alone. But the Britons thinking themselves baffled, not so much by our valour
as by our general’s skilful use of an opportunity,
abated nothing of their arrogant demeanour, arming their youth, removing their
wives and children to a place of safety, and assembling together to ratify,
with sacred rites, a confederacy of all their states. Thus, with angry feelings
on both sides, the combatants parted.
28. The same summer a Usipian cohort, which had been levied in Germany and
transported into Britain, ventured on a great and memorable exploit. Having
killed a centurion and some soldiers, who, to impart military discipline, had
been incorporated with their ranks and were employed at once to instruct and
command them, they embarked on board three swift galleys with pilots pressed
into their service. Under the direction of one of them -- for two of the three
they suspected and consequently put to death -- they sailed past the coast in
the strangest way before any rumour about them was in circulation. After a
while, dispersing in search of water and provisions, they encountered many of
the Britons, who sought to defend their property. Often victorious, though now
and then beaten, they were at last reduced to such an extremity of want as to
be compelled to eat, at first the feeblest of their number, and then victims
selected by lot. Having sailed around Britain and lost
their vessels from not knowing how to manage them, they were looked upon as
pirates and were intercepted, first by the Suevi and
then by the Frisii. Some who were
sold as slaves in the way of trade and were brought through the process of
barter as far as our side of the Rhine, gained
notoriety by the disclosure of this extraordinary adventure.
29. Early in the summer Agricola
sustained a domestic affliction in the loss of a son born a year before, a
calamity which he endured, neither with the ostentatious fortitude displayed by
many brave men, nor, on the other hand, with womanish tears and grief. In his
sorrow he found one source of relief in war. Having sent on a fleet, which by
its ravages at various points might cause a vague and wide-spread alarm, he
advanced with a lightly equipped force, including in its ranks some Britons of
remarkable bravery, whose fidelity had been tried through years of peace, as
far as the Grampian mountains, which the
enemy had already occupied. For the Britons, indeed, in no way cowed by the
result of the late engagement, had made up their minds to be either avenged or
enslaved, and convinced at length that a common danger must be averted by
union, had, by embassies and treaties, summoned forth the whole strength of all
their states. More than 30,000 armed men were now to be seen, and still there
were pressing in all the youth of the country, with all whose old age was yet
hale and vigorous, men renowned in war and bearing each decorations of his own.
Meanwhile, among the many leaders, one superior to the rest in valour and in
birth, Galgacus by name, is said to have thus
harangued the multitude gathered around him and clamouring for battle: --
30. “Whenever I consider the origin of this war and
the necessities of our position, I have a sure confidence that this day, and
this union of yours, will be the beginning of freedom to the whole of Britain. To all of
us slavery is a thing unknown; there are no lands beyond us, and even the sea
is not safe, menaced as we are by a Roman fleet. And thus in war and battle, in
which the brave find glory, even the coward will find safety. Former contests,
in which, with varying fortune, the Romans were resisted, still left in us a
last hope of succour, inasmuch as being the most renowned nation of Britain,
dwelling in the very heart of the country, and out of sight of the shores of
the conquered, we could keep even our eyes unpolluted by the contagion of
slavery. To us who dwell on the uttermost confines of the earth and of freedom,
this remote sanctuary of Britain’s glory has up to
this time been a defence. Now, however, the furthest limits of Britain are thrown
open, and the unknown always passes for the marvellous. But there are no tribes
beyond us, nothing indeed but waves and rocks, and the yet more terrible
Romans, from whose oppression escape is vainly sought by obedience and
submission. Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted
the land, they rifle the deep. If the enemy be rich, they are rapacious; if he
be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to
satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and
riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire [imperium]; they make a
solitude and call it peace.
31. “Nature has willed that every man’s
children and kindred should be his dearest objects. Yet these are torn from us
by conscriptions to be slaves elsewhere. Our wives and our sisters, even though
they may escape violation from the enemy, are dishonoured under the names of
friendship and hospitality. Our goods and fortunes they collect for their
tribute, our harvests for their granaries. Our very hands and bodies, under the
lash and in the midst of insult, are worn down by the toil of clearing forests
and morasses. Creatures born to slavery are sold once and for all, and are,
moreover, fed by their masters; but Britain is daily
purchasing, is daily feeding, her own enslaved people. And as in a household
the last comer among the slaves is always the butt of his companions, so we in
a world long used to slavery, as the newest and most contemptible, are marked
out for destruction. We have neither fruitful plains, nor mines, nor harbours,
for the working of which we may be spared. Valour, too, and high spirit in
subjects, are offensive to rulers; besides, remoteness
and seclusion, while they give safety, provoke suspicion. Since then you cannot
hope for quarter, take courage, I beseech you, whether it be safety or renown
that you hold most precious. Under a woman’s
leadership the Brigantes were able to burn a colony,
to storm a camp, and had not success ended in supineness,
might have thrown off the yoke. Let us, then, a fresh and unconquered people,
never likely to abuse our freedom, show forthwith at the very first onset what
heroes Caledonia has in reserve.
32. “Do you suppose that the Romans will be as brave
in war as they are licentious in peace? To our strifes
and discords they owe their fame, and they turn the errors of an enemy to the
renown of their own army, an army which, composed as it is of every variety of
nations, is held together by success and will be broken up by disaster. These Gauls and Germans, and, I blush to say, these Britons, who,
though they lend their lives to support a stranger’s
rule, have been its enemies longer than its subjects, you cannot imagine to be
bound by fidelity and affection. Fear and terror there certainly are, feeble bonds of attachment; remove them, and those who
have ceased to fear will begin to hate. All the incentives to victory are on
our side. The Romans have no wives to kindle their courage; no parents to taunt
them with flight, man have either no country or one far away. Few in number,
dismayed by their ignorance, looking around upon a sky, a sea, and forests
which are all unfamiliar to them; hemmed in, as it were, and enmeshed, the Gods
have delivered them into our hands. Be not frightened by the idle display, by
the glitter of gold and of silver, which can neither protect nor wound. In the
very ranks of the enemy we shall find our own forces. Britons will acknowledge
their own cause; Gauls will remember past freedom;
the other Germans will abandon them, as but lately did the Usipii.
Behind them there is nothing to dread. The forts are ungarrisoned;
the colonies in the hands of aged men; what with disloyal subjects and
oppressive rulers, the towns are ill-affected and rife with discord. On the one
side you have a general and an army; on the other, tribute, the mines, and all
the other penalties of an enslaved people. Whether you endure these for ever,
or instantly avenge them, this field is to decide. Think, therefore, as you
advance to battle, at once of your ancestors and of your posterity.”
33. They received his speech with
enthusiasm, and as is usual among barbarians, with songs, shouts, and
discordant cries. And now was seen the assembling of troops and the
gleam of arms, as the boldest warriors stepped to the front. As the line was
forming, Agricola, who, though his troops were in
high spirits and could scarcely be kept within the entrenchments, still thought
it right to encourage them, spoke as follows -- “Comrades, this is the eighth
year since, thanks to the greatness and good fortune of Rome and to your own
loyalty and energy, you conquered Britain. In our many campaigns and battles,
whether courage in meeting the foe, or toil and endurance in struggling, I may
say, against nature herself, have been needed, I have ever been well satisfied
with my soldiers, and you with your commander. And so you and I have passed
beyond the limits reached by former armies or by former governors, and we now
occupy the last confines of Britain, not merely in rumour and report, but with
an actual encampment and armed force. Britain has been
both discovered and subdued. Often on the march, when morasses, mountains, and
rivers were wearing out your strength, did I hear our bravest men exclaim, ‘When
shall we have the enemy before us? -- when shall we
fight?’ He is now here, driven from his lair, and your wishes and your valour
have free scope, and everything favours the conqueror, everything is adverse to
the vanquished. For as it is a great and glorious achievement, if we press on,
to have accomplished so great a march, to have traversed forests and to have
crossed estuaries, so, if we retire, our present most complete success will
prove our greatest danger. We have not the same knowledge of the country or the
same abundance of supplies, but we have arms in our hands, and in them we have
everything. For myself I have long been convinced that neither for an army nor
for a general is retreat safe. Better, too, is an honourable death than a life
of shame, and safety and renown are for us to be found
together. And it would be no inglorious end to perish on the extreme confines
of earth and of nature.
34. “If unknown nations and an untried enemy
confronted you, I should urge you on by the example of other armies. As it is,
look back upon your former honours, question your own eyes. These are the men
who last year under cover of darkness attacked a single legion, whom you routed
by a shout. Of all the Britons these are the most confirmed runaways,
and this is why they have survived so long. Just as when the huntsman
penetrates the forest and the thicket, all the most courageous animals rush out
upon him, while the timid and feeble are scared away by the very sound of his
approach, so the bravest of the Britons have long since fallen; and the rest are
a mere crowd of spiritless cowards. You have at last found them, not because
they have stood their ground, but because they have been overtaken. Their
desperate plight, and the extreme terror that paralyses them, have rivetted their line to this spot, that you might achieve in
it a splendid and memorable victory. Put an end to campaigns; crown your fifty
years’ service with a glorious day; prove to your country that her armies could
never have been fairly charged with protracting a war or with causing a
rebellion.”
35. While Agricola was yet
speaking, the ardour of the soldiers was rising to its height, and the close of
his speech was followed by a great outburst of
enthusiasm. In a moment they flew to arms. He arrayed his eager and impetuous
troops in such a manner that the auxiliary infantry, 8,000 in number,
strengthened his centre, while 3,000 cavalry were posted on his wings. The
legions were drawn up in front of the intrenched
camp; his victory would be vastly more glorious if won without the loss of
Roman blood, and he would have a reserve in case of repulse. The enemy, to make
a more formidable display, had posted himself on high ground; his van was on
the plain, while the rest of his army rose in an arch-like form up the slope of
a hill. The plain between resounded with the noise and with the rapid movements
of chariots and cavalry. Agricola, fearing that from
the enemy’s superiority of force he would be
simultaneously attacked in front and on the flanks, widened his ranks, and
though his line was likely to be too extended, and several officers advised him
to bring up the legions, yet, so sanguine was he, so resolute in meeting
danger, he sent away his horse and took his stand on foot before the colours.
36. The action began with distant fighting. The
Britons with equal steadiness and skill used their huge swords and small
shields to avoid or to parry the missiles of our soldiers, while they
themselves poured on us a dense shower of darts, till Agricola
encouraged three Batavian and two Tungrian cohorts to
bring matters to the decision of close fighting with swords. Such tactics were
familiar to these veteran soldiers, but were embarrassing to an enemy armed
with small bucklers and unwieldy weapons. The swords of the Britons are not
pointed, and do not allow them to close with the foe, or to fight in the open
field. No sooner did the Batavians begin to close with the enemy, to strike
them with their shields, to disfigure their faces, and overthrowing the force
on the plain to advance their line up the hill, than the other auxiliary
cohorts joined with eager rivalry in cutting down all the nearest of the foe.
Many were left behind half dead, some even unwounded, in the hurry of victory.
Meantime the enemy’s cavalry had fled, and the
charioteers had mingled in the engagement of the infantry. But although these
at first spread panic, they were soon impeded by the close array of our ranks
and by the inequalities of the ground. The battle had anything but the
appearance of a cavalry action, for men and horses were carried along in
confusion together, while chariots, destitute of guidance, and terrified horses
without drivers, dashed as panic urged them, sideways, or in direct collision
against the ranks.
37. Those of the Britons who, having as yet taken no part
in the engagement, occupied the hill-tops, and who without fear for themselves
sat idly disdaining the smallness of our numbers, had begun gradually to
descend and to hem in the rear of the victorious army, when Agricola,
who feared this very moment, opposed their advance with four squadrons of
cavalry held in reserve by him for any sudden emergencies of battle. Their
repulse and rout was as severe as their onset had been furious. Thus the enemy’s design recoiled on himself,
and the cavalry which by the general’s order had
wheeled round from the van of the contending armies, attacked his rear. Then,
indeed, the open plain presented an awful and hideous spectacle. Our men
pursued, wounded, made prisoners of the fugitives only to slaughter them when
others fell in their way. And now the enemy, as prompted by their various
dispositions, fled in whole battalions with arms in their hands before a few
pursuers, while some, who were unarmed, actually rushed to the front and gave
themselves up to death. Everywhere there lay scattered
arms, corpses, and mangled limbs, and the earth reeked with blood. Even the
conquered now and then felt a touch of fury and of courage. On approaching the
woods, they rallied, and as they knew the ground, they were able to pounce on the
foremost and least cautious of the pursuers. Had not Agricola,
who was present everywhere, ordered a force of strong and lightly-equipped
cohorts, with some dismounted troopers for the denser parts of the forest, and
a detachment of cavalry where it was not so thick, to scour the woods like a
party of huntsmen, serious loss would have been sustained through the excessive
confidence of our troops. When, however, the enemy saw that we again pursued
them in firm and compact array, they fled no longer in masses as before, each
looking for his comrade; but dispersing and avoiding one another, they sought
the shelter of distant and pathless wilds. Night and weariness of bloodshed put
an end to the pursuit. About 10,000 of the enemy were slain; on our side there
fell 360 men, and among them Aulus Atticus, the commander of the cohort, whose youthful
impetuosity and mettlesome steed had borne him into the midst of the enemy.
38. Elated by their victory and their booty, the
conquerors passed a night of merriment. Meanwhile the Britons, wandering amidst
the mingled wailings of men and women, were dragging off their wounded, calling
to the unhurt, deserting their homes, and in their rage actually firing them,
choosing places of concealment only instantly to abandon them. One moment they
would take counsel together, the next, part company,
while the sight of those who were dearest to them sometimes melted their
hearts, but oftener roused their fury. It was an undoubted fact that some of
them vented their rage on their wives and children, as if in pity for their
lot. The following day showed more fully the extent of the calamity, for the
silence of desolation reigned everywhere: the hills were forsaken, houses were
smoking in the distance, and no one was seen by the scouts. These were
despatched in all directions; and it having been ascertained that the track of
the flying enemy was uncertain, and that there was no attempt at rallying, it
being also impossible, as summer was now over, to extend the war, Agricola led back his army into the territory of the Boresti. He received hostages from them, and then ordered
the commander of the fleet to sail round Britain. A force
for this purpose was given him, which great panic everywhere preceded.
Agricola himself, leading his infantry and cavalry by
slow marches, so as to overawe the newly-conquered tribes by the very tardiness
of his progress, brought them into winter quarters, while the fleet with
propitious breezes and great renown entered the harbour of Trutulium, to which
it had returned after having coasted along the entire southern shore of the
island.
39. Of this series of events,
though not exaggerated in the despatches of Agricola
by any boastfulness of language, Domitian heard, as
was his wont, with joy in his face but anxiety in his heart. He felt conscious
that all men laughed at his late mock triumph over Germany, for which there had
been purchased from traders people whose dress and hair might be made to
resemble those of captives, whereas now a real and splendid victory, with the
destruction of thousands of the enemy, was being celebrated with just applause.
It was, he thought, a very alarming thing for him that the name of a subject
should be raised above that of the Emperor; it was to no purpose that he had
driven into obscurity the pursuit of forensic eloquence and the graceful
accomplishments of civic life, if another were to forestall the distinctions of
war. To other glories he could more easily shut his eyes, but the greatness of
a good general was a truly imperial quality. Harassed by these anxieties, and
absorbed in an incommunicable trouble, a sure prognostic of some cruel purpose,
he decided that it was best for the present to suspend his hatred until the
freshness of Agricola’s renown and his popularity
with the army should begin to pass away.
40. For Agricola was still
the governor of Britain.
Accordingly the Emperor ordered that the usual triumphal decorations, the
honour of a laurelled statue, and all that is commonly given in place of the
triumphal procession, with the addition of many laudatory expressions, should
be decreed in the senate, together with a hint to the effect that Agricola was to have the province of Syria, then vacant by
the death of Atilius Rufus, a man of consular rank,
and generally reserved for men of distinction. It was believed by many persons
that one of the freedmen employed on confidential services was sent to Agricola, bearing a despatch in which Syria was offered
him, and with instructions to deliver it should he be in Britain; that this
freedman in crossing the straights met Agricola, and
without even saluting him made his way back to Domitian;
though I cannot say whether the story is true, or is only a fiction invented to
suit the Emperor’s character. Meanwhile Agricola had handed over his province in peace and safety
to his successor. And not to make his entrance into Rome conspicuous by the
concourse of welcoming throngs, he avoided the attentions of his friends by
entering the city at night, and at night too, according to orders, proceded to the palace, where, having been received with a
hurried embrace and without a word being spoken, he mingled in the crowd of
courtiers. Anxious henceforth to temper the military renown, which annoys men
of peace, with other merits, he studiously cultivated retirement and leisure,
simple in dress, courteous in conversation, and never accompanied but by one or
two friends, so that the many who commonly judge of great men by their external
grandeur, after having seen and attentively surveyed him, asked the secret of a
greatness which but few could explain.
41. During this time he was
frequently accused before Domitian in his absence,
and in his absence acquitted. The cause of his danger lay not in any crime, nor
in any complaint of injury, but in a ruler who was the foe of virtue, in his
own renown, and in that worst class of enemies -- the men who praise. And then
followed such days for the commonwealth as would not suffer Agricola
to be forgotten; days when so many of our armies were lost in Moesia, Dacia, Germany, and Pannonia, through the rashness or cowardice of our
generals, when so many of our officers were besieged and captured with so many
of our auxiliaries, when it was no longer the boundaries of empire and the
banks of rivers which were imperilled, but the winter-quarters of our legions
and the possession of our territories. And so when disaster followed upon
disaster, and the entire year was marked by destruction and slaughter, the
voice of the people called Agricola to the command;
for they all contrasted his vigour, firmness, and experience in war, with the
inertness and timidity of other generals. This talk, it is quite certain,
assailed the ears of the Emperor himself, while affection and loyalty in the
best of his freedmen, malice and envy in the worst, kindled the anger of a
prince ever inclined to evil. And so at once, by his own
excellences and by the faults of others, Agricola was
hurried headlong to a perilous elevation.
42. The year had now arrived
in which the pro-consulate of Asia or Africa was to fall to him by lot, and, as
Civica had been lately murdered, Agricola
did not want a warning, or Domitian a precedent.
Persons well acquainted with the Emperor’s feelings came to ask Agricola, as if on their own account, whether he would go.
First they hinted their purpose by praises of tranquillity and leisure; then
offered their services in procuring acceptance for his excuses; and at last,
throwing off all disguise, brought him by entreaties and threats to Domitian. The Emperor, armed beforehand with hypocrisy, and
assuming a haughty demeanour, listened to his prayer that he might be excused,
and having granted his request allowed himself to be formally thanked, nor
blushed to grant so sinister a favour. But the salary usually granted to a
pro-consul, and which he had himself given to some governors, he did not bestow
on Agricola, either because he was offended at its
not having been asked, or was warned by his conscience that he might be thought
to have purchased the refusal which he had commanded. It is, indeed, human
nature to hate the man whom you have injured; yet the Emperor, notwithstanding
his irascible temper and an implacability proportioned to his reserve, was
softened by the moderation and prudence of Agricola,
who neither by a perverse obstinacy nor an idle parade of freedom challenged
fame or provoked his fate. Let it be known to those whose habit it is to admire
the disregard of authority, that there may be great men even under bad emperors
[principes], and that obedience and
submission, when joined to activity and vigour, may attain a glory which most
men reach only by a perilous career, utterly useless to the state, and closed
by an ostentatious death.
43. The end of his life, a
deplorable calamity to us and a grief to his friends, was regarded with concern
even by strangers and those who knew him not. The common people and this busy
population continually inquired at his house, and talked of him in public
places and in private gatherings. No man when he heard of Agricola’s
death could either be glad or at once forget it. Men’s
sympathy was increased by a prevalent rumour that he was destroyed by poison.
For myself, I have nothing which I should venture to state for fact. Certainly
during the whole of his illness the Emperor’s chief
freedmen and confidential physicians came more frequently than is usual with a
court which pays its visits by means of messengers. This was, perhaps,
solicitude, perhaps espionage. Certain it is, that on
the last day the very agonies of his dying moments were reported by a
succession of couriers, and no one believed that there would be such haste
about tidings which would be heard with regret. Yet in his manner and
countenance the Emperor displayed some signs of sorrow, for he could now forget
his enmity, and it was easier to conceal his joy than his fear. It was well
known that on reading the will, in which he was named co-heir with Agricola’s excellent wife and most dutiful daughter, he
expressed delight, as if it had been a complimentary choice. So blinded and
perverted was his mind by incessant flattery, that he
did not know that it was only a bad Emperor whom a good father would make his
heir.
44. Agricola was born on the
13th of June, in the third consulate of Caius Caesar;
he died on the 23rd of August, during the consulate of Collega
and Priscus, being in the fifty-sixth year of his
age. Should posterity wish to know something of his appearance, it was graceful
rather than commanding. There was nothing formidable in his appearance; a
gracious look predominated. One would easily believe him a good man, and
willingly believe him to be great. As for himself, though taken from us in the
prime of a vigorous manhood, yet, as far as glory is concerned, his life was of
the longest. Those true blessings, indeed, which consist in virtue, he had
fully attained; and on one who had reached the honours of a consulate and a
triumph, what more had fortune to bestow? Immense wealth had no attractions for
him, and wealth he had, even to splendour. As his daughter and his wife
survived him, it may be thought that he was even fortunate -- fortunate, in
that while his honours had suffered no eclipse, while his fame was at its
height, while his kindred and his friends still prospered, he escaped from the
evil to come. For, though to survive until the dawn of this most happy age and
to see a Trajan on the throne was what he would
speculate upon in previsions and wishes confided to my ears, yet he had this
mighty compensation for his premature death, that he was spared those later
years during which Domitian, leaving now no interval
or breathing space of time, but, as it were, with one continuous blow, drained
the life-blood of the Commonwealth.
45. Agricola did not see the
senate-house besieged, or the senate hemmed in by armed men, or so many of Rome’s noblest ladies exiles and fugitives. Carus Metius had as yet the
distinction of but one victory, and the noisy counsels of Messalinus
were not heard beyond the walls of Alba, and Massa Baebius was then answering for his life. It was not long
before our hands dragged Helvidius to prison, before
we gazed on the dying looks of Manricus and Rusticus, before we were steeped in Senecio’s
innocent blood. Even Nero turned his eyes away, and did not gaze upon the
atrocities which he ordered; with Domitian it was the
chief part of our miseries to see and to be seen, to know that our sighs were
being recorded, to have, ever ready to note the pallid looks of so many faces,
that savage countenance reddened with the hue with which he defied shame.
Thou wast indeed fortunate, Agricola, not only in the splendour of thy life, but in the
opportune moment of thy death. Thou submittedst to
thy fate, so they tell us who were present to hear thy last words, with courage
and cheerfulness, seeming to be doing all thou couldst to give thine Emperor full acquittal. As for me and thy daughter,
besides all the bitterness of a father’s loss, it
increases our sorrow that it was not permitted us to watch over thy failing
health, to comfort thy weakness, to satisfy ourselves with those looks, those
embraces. Assuredly we should have received some precepts, some utterances to
fix in our inmost hearts. This is the bitterness of our sorrow, this the smart
of our wound, that from the circumstance of so long an absence thou wast lost to us four years before. Doubtless, best of
fathers, with that most loving wife at thy side, all the dues of affection were
abundantly paid thee, yet with too few tears thou wast
laid to thy rest, and in the light of thy last day there was something for
which thine eyes longed in vain.