Gnaeus Julius Agricola
Gnaeus Julius Agricola (
July 13 40 -
August 23,
93) was a
Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of
Britain. His biography, the
De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae, was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian
Tacitus, and is the source for most of what is known about him.
[Tacitus, Agricola; Dio Cassius (Roman History 66.20) and three inscriptions found in Britain also make reference to Agricola.]Agricola was born in the
colonia of
Forum Julii,
Gallia Narbonensis (modern southern France). His father,
Julius Graecinus, was a
senator of
equestrian forebears who was put to death by
Caligula for refusing to prosecute
Marcus Junius Silanus. His mother was
Julia Procilla, the daughter of an equestrian. He was educated in Massilia (
Marseille), and showed what was considered an unhealthy interest in philosophy.
He began his career in Roman public life as a military
tribune, serving in Britain under
Gaius Suetonius Paulinus from 58 to 62. He was probably attached to the
Legio II Augusta, but was chosen to serve on Suetonius's staff
[Agricola 5] and thus almost certainly participated in the suppression of
Boudica's uprising in 61.
Returning from Britain to
Rome in 62, he married
Domitia Decidiana, a woman of noble birth. Their first child was a son. Agricola was appointed to the
quaestorship for 64, which he served in
Asia under the corrupt proconsul
Salvius Titianus. While he was there his daughter,
Julia Agricola, was born, but his son died shortly afterwards. He was tribune of the
plebs in 66 and
praetor in 68, during which time he was ordered by
Galba to take an inventory of the temple treasures.
In June of 68 the emperor
Nero was deposed and committed suicide, and the period of civil war known as the
year of four emperors began. Galba succeeded Nero, but was murdered in early 69 by
Otho, who took the throne. Agricola's mother was murdered on her estate in
Liguria by Otho's marauding fleet. Hearing of
Vespasian's bid for the empire, Agricola immediately gave him his support.
After Vespasian had established himself as emperor, Agricola was appointed to the command of the
Legio XX Valeria Victrix, stationed in Britain, in place of
Marcus Roscius Coelius, who had stirred up a mutiny against the governor,
Marcus Vettius Bolanus. Britain had suffered revolt during the year of civil war, and Bolanus was a mild governor. Agricola reimposed discipline on the legion and helped to consolidate Roman rule. In 71 Bolanus was replaced by a more aggressive governor,
Quintus Petillius Cerialis, and Agricola was able to display his talents as a commander in campaigns against the
Brigantes.
When his command ended in 75, Agricola was enrolled as a
patrician and appointed to govern
Gallia Aquitania. In 77 he was recalled to Rome and appointed suffect
consul, and betrothed his daughter to Tacitus. The following year Tacitus and Julia married; Agricola was appointed to the
College of Pontiffs, and returned to Britain for a third time as its governor.
Arriving in mid-summer of 78, Agricola immediately moved against the
Ordovices of north Wales, who had virtually destroyed the Roman cavalry stationed in their territory, and defeated them. He then moved north to the island of Mona (
Anglesey), which had previously been reduced by Suetonius Paulinus in 61 but must have been regained by the Britons in the meantime, and forced its inhabitants to sue for peace. He established a good reputation as an administrator as well as a commander by reforming the widely corrupt corn levy. He introduced Romanising measures, encouraging communities to build towns on the Roman model and educating the sons of the native nobility in the Roman manner.
He also expanded Roman rule north into what is now
Scotland. In the summer of 80 he pushed his armies to the estuary of the river Taus, virtually unchallenged, and established forts there. This is often interpreted as the
Firth of Tay, but this would appear to be anomalous as it is further north than the Firths of
Clyde and
Forth, which Agricola did not reach until the following year. Others suggest the Taus was the
Solway Firth.
[William Smith, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology Vol 1 pp. 75-76]Agricola in Ireland?
In 82 Agricola "crossed in the first ship" and defeated peoples unknown to the Romans until then. Tacitus, in Chapter 24 of
Agricola,
[Agricola 24] does not tell us what body of water he crossed, although most scholars believe it was the Clyde or Forth, and some translators even add the name of their preferred river to the text. However, the rest of the chapter exclusively concerns
Ireland. Agricola fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a single
legion and a few
auxiliaries. He had given refuge to an exiled Irish king whom he hoped he might use as the excuse for conquest. This conquest never happened, but some historians believe that the crossing referred to was in fact a small-scale exploratory or punitive expedition to Ireland.
[Vittorio di Martino (2003), Roman Ireland, The Collins Press]Irish legend provides a striking parallel.
Tuathal Teachtmhar, a legendary
High King, is said to have been exiled from Ireland as a boy, and to have returned from Britain at the head of an army to claim the throne. The traditional date of his return is 76-80, and
archaeology has found Roman or Romano-British artefacts in several sites associated with Tuathal.
[R. B. Warner (1995), "Tuathal Techtmar: a myth or ancient literary evidence for a Roman invasion?", Emania 13]The conquest of Scotland
The following year Agricola raised a fleet and encircled the tribes beyond the Forth, and the
Caledonians rose in great numbers against him. They attacked the camp of the
Legio IX Hispana at night, but Agricola sent in his cavalry and they were put to flight. The Romans responded by pushing further north. Another son was born to Agricola this year, but he died in his first year.
In the summer of 84 Agricola faced the massed armies of the Caledonians, led by
Calgacus, at the
Battle of Mons Graupius. Tacitus estimates their numbers at more than 30,000. Agricola put his auxiliaries in the front line, keeping the legions in reserve, and relied on close-quarters fighting to make the Caledonians' large swords useless. The Caledonians retreated uphill but were surrounded by the Roman cavalry and cut to pieces. Satisfied with his victory, Agricola extracted hostages from the Caledonian tribes and began to march his army south. He also instructed the
prefect of the fleet to sail around the north coast, establishing for the first time that Britain was in fact an island.
Agricola was recalled from Britain in 85, after an unusually long tenure as governor. Tacitus claims that Domitian ordered his recall because Agricola's successes outshone the Emperor's own modest victories in Germany. The relationship between Agricola and the Emperor is unclear: on the one hand, Agricola was awarded triumphal decorations and a statue (the highest military honours apart from an actual
triumph); on the other, Agricola never again held a civil or military post, in spite of his experience and renown. He was offered the governorship of the province of Africa, but declined it, whether due to ill health or (as Tacitus claims) the machinations of Domitian. He died in 93.
*
History of Northumberland*
Gnaeus Julius Agricola at
Roman-Britain.org
