Agricola. Testo latino a fronte

by Tacitus

Teacher's Handbook

Genres: History, Classics, Nonfiction, Biography, Roman History, Ancient, Ancient History

Paperback

First published January 1, 98

About the author

born perhaps 55
died perhaps 120

From the death of Augustus in 14 Histories and Annals , greatest works of Publius Cornelius Tacitus, Roman public official, concern the period to Domitian in 96.

Publius Cornelius Tacitus served as a senator of the empire. The major portions examine the reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those four emperors, who reigned in the year. They span the empire to the years of the first Jewish war in 70. One enormous four-books long lacuna survives in the texts.

Publius Cornelius Tacitus discusses oratory in dialogue format in Dialogus de oratoribus , Germania in De origine et situ Germanorum , and biographical notes about Gnaeus Julius Agricola, his father-in-law, primarily during his campaign in Britannia (see De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae ).

Reviews

[Emma Ann]

Read for comps. (Not this particular edition, but the text at least.) I did not expect there to be so many bangers in here, like Raptores omnes, postquam cuncta vastantibus defuere terrae, mare scrutantur, and of course the famous Auferre trucidare rapere falsis nominibus imperium, atque ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant.

[Sotiris Makrygiannis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tacitus, the greatest roman historian, wrote about Agricola, his relative, a Roman general who handled Britain's invasion. Agricola finished the job actually becouse he reached and conquered Caledonia (what we call Scotland nowadays). I am particularly interested in that part of Scotland becouse both the current and old names sound very much Greek. Σκοτους Διας (Scotus Zeus), the dark and murky Zeus resembles the landscape that Tacitus describes in this book. Their second name Καληδῶνες, Kalēdōnes is claimed to be of Celtic origin (meaning "alluding to steadfastness or endurance"), but to me does sound like Κυδωνία; Latin: Cydonia. That city in Crete was built by King Minos long ago before Athenians and Spartan history (early Greek history), well known for their navy skills. If you look at the frescos of King Minos palace, you will see red people playing with a bull or holding fishes, surrounded by white people. Coincidence? (Tacitus claims that early Scots are red-haired people with long legs)

The description of the sun never settling for 24 hours means that they reached up there during summer. Tacitus claims that it is unknown how cold becomes in the winter means that it took them time to reach the utmost lands of the Highlanders.

He praises the Red hair Scottish people for their bravery and fierce fighting, but at times also mentions a few negatives about them. He respects the enemy of the Roman empire and does not use language to describe inferiors as the 1st expedition by Cesar does. Perhaps is becouse is talking about Scots and not for the British people of the south? I dont know, but it is also good to consider that view.

He praises his relative for his strengths and strength of character but without too much syrup; that alone makes this historian a credible source.

All in all, among the best landscape description and character traits of Britain that I've ever read. It touches a bit on Ireland, not by name since it was not yet fully discovered but as a nearby place to invade after they finish the job with Britain. Did they ever do that? Or the Celts living there are still of that old pure Celtic blood untouched by Roman or other conquers? I need to refresh my knowledge on that one.

[Jacob Stelling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read for a university tutorial. I found this to be an interesting Roman text, as Tacitus combines an ethnography of ancient Britons with a fawning biography of his father in law, Agricola. He does this by using allegorical characters to represent the split between Vespasian, Domitian and Nerva, and present a story of Roman decline and renewal in his lifetime.

[E. Consonni · Rating 1 out of 5]

buuu

[Axel W]

Lite svårvärderat innehåll. Det inger inte förtroende att översättaren skriver att Boudica ”tog självmord” eller att Agricola ”spenderade” ett år i lugn och ledighet

[Green Lion]

Earlier in my read I was tempted to say the Germania was better--and maybe it was, glittering as it is with weird gold and the splendors of an unadulterate barbarism, the glory of the animals--but by the end I think I might say that Agricola is even better, at least as literature. The twinned speeches at the battle at the end of the world, and the battle that followed them; the nighttime skirmish in chapter 26; just stellar.

Probably good if you like De Bello Gallico, but with more of an artistic sense and less of an obsessive, liquid narrative flow than Caesar's lean prose; Tacitus is more truly literature. The obsession with one's own fame is, I think, misguided, but is shown in a gentle light, perhaps, in the final chapter, when Tacitus asks that the fame of Agricola imprint on his survivors the contemplation of his virtues, the preservation of the character of his mind within their own memories and thoughts.

[Patrick Callahan]

Some strange omissions in app. crit. and notes but otherwise an interesting supplement to the commentary tradition.

[Rodrihitita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una muy buena obra (para el estudio) por distintos motivos: se trata de una eulogía de un familiar perjudicado por la autoridad imperial escrita por uno de los principales exponentes de este, por así describirlo, romanticismo neocatoniano influido por el estoicismo al que pertenecen, en mi opinión, Cicerón, como fundamento, Lucano y el autor y que se caracteriza por una añoranza y loa del pasado legendario del periodo republicano. Por otra parte, se hace notar también una perspectiva moralista influida por Salustio a la hora de valorar los personajes. Con respecto a la situación en Britania, se destaca de manera patente el carácter depredador del imperialismo romano y su manera de ejercerse en brillantes pasajes, especialmente el discurso del caledonio Calgaco. En cuanto a la prosa, no es tan prolija en nimiedades como la de otros historiógrafos latinos, lo que la hace menos pesada y, por lo tanto, no necesariamente desagradable.

[Kayleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ireland is mentioned. I am really curious if there is some archeological evidence

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Agricola posteritati narratus et traditus superstes erit.

[James Carrigy · Rating 4 out of 5]

9/10

Some of the nicest words ever written about a father-in-law.

[Nick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty interesting but not as good as Germania. Or at least less interesting to me because much less of it is concerned with giving an ethnographic account of the British Celts than the other text is concerned with the Germanic tribes. Like the other text, I get the impression that this has Tacitus injecting his worldview into the description to a great extent, portraying the Celts as sort of noble savages who are willing to fight bravely and fairly for their freedom, despite their materially poor condition, as opposed to the cruel and rapacious authoritarianism of Rome. Very odd that he would write this way when describing those who his father in law subdued, though Agricola is portrayed as a good man in a screwed up situation, actually embodying in advanced form many of the same simple virtues of the Celts.

Its just interesting to me how this represents an odd little formative stage in historical writing. One in which biography, ethnography, and particularly anti-authoritarian political polemic are all done in the same piece. I guess modern historical writing to a great extent political polemic as well, but it isn't done this blatantly and we are supposed to pretend that its an accident when it does happen.

[Sinta · Rating 4 out of 5]

A typical Roman biography in many ways - except for how surreally modern the colonial thinking is. Both Agricola’s tactics for “civilizing” the Britons, and Galgacus’ speech, which is one of the most eloquent critiques of colonialism I’ve heard from any age (but of course is just Tacitus putting himself in the position of the colonised)

Notes from secondary commentary
- Biography of an administrator of Britain
- Used by British empire administrators as roadmap for colonialism (through “civilisation”)
- Implicit critique of the decadence of civilisation and the violence of colonisation
- The only people who still have the old Roman virtues are those on the margins of the empire:
“Some of these Caledonian tribes exhibit old Roman virtues, which is excellence in warfare, a dedication to the freedom of your people, loyalty to your families, respect for your ancestors, duty to your descendants.
These are all things that the Romans valued immensely highly. And Tacitus is saying, where is that now?”

Quotes:

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 throucrh 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

Agricola, by the repression of these abuses in his very first year of 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 independent, 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.

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 civilization, when it was but a part of their servitude.

He thought it better to show anger than to cherish hatred

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.

[ Excerpts from Speech of the Caledonian chief, Galgacus.] 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; they make a solitude and call it peace.

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 bythe toil of clearing forests and morasses. Creatures born to slavery are sold once 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 the most contemptible, are marked out for destruction.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe one of the best eulogies ever written.

Focused on the Roman wars in 1st century Britain with insightful descriptions of the early Britains customs. It finishes on a very emotional note, describing the soul as "eternal" and memories best expressed not through an artistic rendition but by "individuals in their own lives".

[Marijn Taal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Klein boekje met een volledige vertaling van Tacitus' Agricola door Vincent Hunink. Erg leuk.

[Ian Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This edition dates from 2014 and updates earlier editions of this short work by the great Roman historian, Cornelius Tacitus. I should say that the text itself is quite short at 24 pages but AJ Woodman, the editor, gives us a 37-page introduction and a commentary that runs to about 270 pages plus a bibliography and index.
The text is a biography of Tacitus’ father-in-law, Julius Agricola, who served as an army officer in Britain as a young man and returned there as governor from 77 to 84CE. By coincidence, Agricola was born in 43CE, the year of the Roman invasion of Britain.
The lengthy commentary focuses on the language and historical references. There is very little on the archaeology of Roman Britain and some reviewers have complained about that. However, the editor points out that Tacitus makes no attempt to give readers any kind of feel for the landscape in which Agricola was operating. His purpose is to present his father-in-law as an exemplary military leader who deserved a lot more gratitude from the Roman state and people than he in fact got. The climax of Agricola’s career is his spectacular victory at the battle of Mons Graupius, which was fought somewhere in the Scottish Highlands against an alliance of local tribes. Having reinforced Roman rule in Britain, Agricola was in line for promotion to the governorship of a more important province, such as Syria or Africa. But instead the last ten years of his life were a disappointment, thanks to the jealousy and paranoia of the emperor, Domitian. Instead of putting himself forward for higher office, Agricola found it prudent to keep his head down. However, Tacitus has a sneaking suspicion that that wasn’t enough to save his father-in-law from imperial spite as he died suddenly while Tacitus and his wife were overseas. Tacitus suspects poison and gives a creepy portrait of Domitian hiding his glee when he is informed of Agricola’s demise.
The text has some great passages, but a couple of things stand out for me. One is Tacitus’ description of the Silures, a tribe living in what is now south Wales, as having “colorati vultus and torti crines”. That sounds to me like dark faces and curly hair. Tacitus guesses that the Silures had migrated from the Iberian peninsula, so some readers would say they were simply southern Europeans. However, the Romans were southern Europeans and they did not describe themselves as “colorati”. Those who insist on whitening the history of this island have some explaining to do.
Another great passage is the speech of the tribal chieftain Calgacus before the battle of Mons Graupius. This reads as a powerful oration against the evils of imperialism, though the editor warns us that that would not have been Tacitus’ intention and that is not how a contemporary reader would have interpreted the speech. However, in the twenty-first century most readers would probably view it as an indictment of everything the Romans were doing, not just in Britain, but across Europe, the Middle East and north Africa. After all, the speech is pure fiction. No Roman journalists were hanging on Calgacus’ every word and it’s doubtful if the old boy distributed copies of his speech after the battle. He wasn’t Cicero. So it’s quite reasonable to wonder why Tacitus put all his rhetorical powers in the mouth of a barbarian chieftain who was about to lose a battle that would cost the lives of ten thousand of his fellow countrymen and the “mercy killing” of untold numbers of their women and children by the survivors.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in British history and anyone who admires Tacitus as a brilliant – if complicated – writer.

[BrandosEgo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is of course primarily about the exploits of Cneus Julius Agricola and secondly about Britain and The Britons. Boudicca is also briefly touched on. I’ll now list 10 quotes from Tacitus’s observations about Britain:

1. “Britain, the largest of the islands which Roman geography includes” (Ch. 9)

2. On Orkney:
“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 hither to unknown.” (Ch. 10)

3. On The Wind and Sea:
“Those waters, they say, are sluggish, and yield with difficulty to the oar, and are not even raised by the wind as other seas. […] nowhere has the sea a wider dominion, that it has many currents running in every direction, that it does not mearly 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 it’s own domain.” (Ch. 10)

4. “The red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia point clearly to a German origin” (Ch. 11)

5. “Their religious belief may be traced in the strongly-marked British superstition.” (Ch. 11)

6. “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. (Ch. 12)

7. “The Britons themselves bear cheerfully the conscription, the taxes, and other burdens imposed on them by the empire, if there be no oppression.” (Ch. 13)

8. “a population scattered and barbarous and therefore inclined to war” (Ch. 21)

9. The River Clyde (At Glasgow) & Forth (At North of Edinburgh and Stirling)
“Clota and Bodotria, estuaries which the tides of two opposite seas carry far back into the country, are separated by but narrow strip of land. This Agricola then began to defend with a line of forts” (Ch. 23)

10. “huge swords and small shields” (Ch. 36)

[Old Scot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Agricola by Tacitus contains the first account of the people who lived in Caledonia, which is why I decided to read it.

I read the translation by A R Birley, which is very clear and easy to read. Tacitus was writing a short biography of his father in law; Agricola arrived in Britain as Governor in 77AD, and spent his time consolidating parts of Briton already conquered, and then launching offensives beyond this. In Scotland, his most memorable victory was against Calgacus at Mons Graupius, although the site of the battle has recently "moved", as further archaeological discoveries have been unearthed.

Tacitus is very much a Roman colonist. His descriptions of the "barbarians" outwith Roman rule are of untamed, vicious tribes who just won't fight according to the traditions that favour the Roman army; he is also quite contemptuous of those who have submitted to Roman rule.

He clearly loved his father-in-law, who he endowed with all the virtues anyone would wish from a paterfamilias or an army general; we have to take this with a pinch of salt. It seems clear Agricola was determined to bring the rest of Britain, and the island of Ireland, under Roman control by means of force. It's also clear that he was a family man who inspired great love at home. Tacitus feels the emperor Domitian was jealous of Agricola's virtues and called him back home because he was so beloved by his soldiers. Agricola then lived a quiet life until his early death at 54; Tacitus more than hints that this was at the hands of the Emperor's proxies.

In all, this was a good insight into the minds of the Romans who set out to conquer Britain (and everywhere else). Tacitus is a man of his time and place, but he grants some virtues to Rome's opponents, and certainly gives Calgacus a terrific speak on the eve of the battle of Mons Graupius "they create a desert and call it peace . . . fight for your ancestors and your descendants."

Well worth a read.

[Esioan · Rating 3 out of 5]

"These plunderers of the world, after exhausting the land by their devastations, are rifling the ocean: stimulated by avarice, if their enemy be rich; by ambition, if poor; unsatiated by the East and by the West: the only people who behold wealth and indigence with equal avidity. To ravage, to slaughter, to usurp under false titles, they call empire; and where they make a desert, they call it peace" - Calgacus on America rn.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a good but sometimes challenging style to read. Tacitus is all over the place in terms of genre but that’s not unique to him (think also Caesar’s Bello Gallico but less) but it does have a powerful commentary of Roman imperialism which actual undercuts the positive portrayal of the title man, Agricola.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read 1/2 of this in the original Latin. Absolutely zero notes / glossary / commentary, so our professor gave us one to supplement. Tacitus, you are like reading Shakespeare in a foreign language sometimes.

[Zoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

why was this fun to read; glad tacitus knows that sometimes its good to keep things short
like some passages were too long,, but like some of his comments were kinda funny especially like the fact that he obssessed so much over how like incomparably great Agricola was

[Mihai Pop · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, it is a book too much quoted elsewhere, because of Britain, the location of most actions, but it has little to offer to the lay reader. A historical book which keeps relevance to historians, but not to the general public.

[Aaron Schuschu · Rating 4 out of 5]

About the Roman general in Britain

[Phil Hughes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to the audio. Narrator’s English was not great and lost a lot in the pronunciation. Will have to read a translation.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Even under bad emperors men can be great.”

[Nathan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biography of the author's father-in-law.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

To read Agricola by Tacitus is a gift, from a nameless monk who carefully recopied an ancient Latin scroll that would have otherwise crumbled with the vicissitudes of time.

[Scarlett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boo, Tacitus get your facts right please 🙄

[Iamreddave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Third part with arguments against the empire and from the empire is fascinating.
The claim that one legion could have conquered Ireland is earlier.