Gnaeus Julius Agricola

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Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola (June 13, 40

Year 40 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar....
–August 23, 93

Events...
) was a Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain

Roman Britain

Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410. The Romans referred to their province as Britannia....
. His biography, the De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae
Agricola (book)

The Agricola is a book by the ancient Rome historian Tacitus, written c 98, which recounts the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general....
, was the first published work of his son-in-law, the historian Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
, and is the source for most of what is known about him.

cola was born in the colonia
Colonia (Roman)

A Roman colonia was originally a Roman Empire outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city....
of Forum Julii

Fréjus

Fr?jus is a coastal town on the C?te d'Azur and Communes of France in the Var Departments of France, in the Provence-Alpes-C?te d'Azur regions of France of southern France....
, Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis

Gallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. Narbonese Gaul "lay between the Alps, the Mediterranean Sea, and the C?vennes Mountains....
(modern southern France). Agricola’s parents were from families of senatorial

Roman Senate

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Gnaeus Julius Agricola (June 13, 40

Year 40 was a leap year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar....
–August 23, 93

Events...
) was a Roman

Roman Empire

Roman Britain

Tacitus

Early life

Agricola was born in the colonia
Colonia (Roman)

A Roman colonia was originally a Roman Empire outpost established in conquered territory to secure it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of Roman city....
of Forum Julii

Fréjus

Gallia Narbonensis

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
rank. Both of his grandfathers served as Imperial Governors. His father Julius Graecinus was a praetor

Praetor

Praetor was a Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected Magistratus assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period....
and had become a member of the Roman Senate

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
in the year of his birth. Graecinus had become distinguished in his interest for philosophy. Between August 40-January 41, the Roman Emperor

Roman Emperor

The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman Empire during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office: Latin language titles such as imperator , Augustus , Caesar and princeps were all associated with it....
Caligula

Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
ordered his death because he refused to prosecute the Emperor's second cousin Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus

Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus

Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus was a consul that lived in the Roman Empire. Marcus was the first born son and child to Aemilia Lepida and Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus a member of the Silanus, a family of Ancient Rome....
.

His mother was Julia Procilla. The Roman historian Tacitus

Tacitus

Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a Roman Senate and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories —examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those that reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors....
describes her as "a lady of singular virtue". Tacitus states that Procilla had a fond affection for her son. Agricola was educated in Massilia (Marseille

Marseille

"Marseille" is the second-largest city of France and forms the third-largest aire urbaine, after those of Paris and Lyon, with a population recorded to be 1,516,340 at the 1999 census and estimated to be 1,605,000 in 2007....
), and showed what was considered an unhealthy interest in philosophy.

Political career

He began his career in Roman public life as a military tribune

Tribune

Tribune was a title shared by 10 elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the exclusive right to propose legislation before it....
, serving in Britain under Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, also spelled Paullinus, was a Roman Empire general best known as the commander who defeated the rebellion of Boudica....
from 58 to 62. He was probably attached to the Legio II Augusta, but was chosen to serve on Suetonius's staff and thus almost certainly participated in the suppression of Boudica

Boudica

Boudica was a queen of the Iceni tribe of what is now known as East Anglia in England, who led an uprising of the tribes against the occupying forces of the Roman Empire....
's uprising in 61.

Returning from Britain to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
in 62, he married Domitia Decidiana

Domitia Decidiana

Domitia Decidiana was a Ancient Rome woman who lived in the 1st century. She was a well-connected woman of illustrious descent.In 62 she married the Roman general Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who had just recently returned from service in Roman Britain as a military tribune....
, a woman of noble birth. Their first child was a son. Agricola was appointed to the quaestor

Quaestor

Quaestor is a type of public official.In the Roman Republic a quaestor was an elected official who supervised the treasury and financial affairs of the state, its armies and its officers....
ship for 64, which he served in Asia under the corrupt proconsul Salvius Titianus. While he was there his daughter, Julia Agricola

Julia Agricola

Julia Agricola was the daughter of Ancient Rome general Gnaeus Julius Agricola and Domitia Decidiana, a lady of illustrious birth. Shortly after her birth her elder brother, who was just a young child, died....
, was born, but his son died shortly afterwards. He was tribune of the plebs in 66 and praetor

Praetor

Galba

Servius Sulpicius Galba , also called Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperor from June 8, 68 until his death. He was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors....
to take an inventory of the temple treasures.

In June of 68 the emperor Nero

Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
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

Otho

For other uses, see Otho .Marcus Salvius Otho , also called Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperors from 15 January to 16 April 69, the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors....
, who took the throne. Agricola's mother was murdered on her estate in Liguria

Liguria

Liguria is a coastal Regions of Italy of north-western Italy, the third smallest of the Italian regions. Its capital is Genoa. It is a popular region with tourists for its beautiful beaches, picturesque little towns, and food....
by Otho's marauding fleet. Hearing of Vespasian

Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
'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
Legio XX Valeria Victrix

Legio vigesima Valeria Victrix was a Roman legion, probably raised by Augustus some time after 31 BC. It served in Hispania, Illyricum, and Germania before participating in the invasion of Britannia in 43 AD, where it remained and was active until at least the beginning of the 4th century....
, stationed in Britain, in place of Marcus Roscius Coelius

Marcus Roscius Coelius

Marcus Roscius Coelius was a Roman Empire military officer of the 1st century.He was the legatus of the Legio XX Valeria Victrix, stationed in Roman Britain in 68....
, who had stirred up a mutiny against the governor, Marcus Vettius Bolanus

Marcus Vettius Bolanus

Marcus Vettius Bolanus was a Roman Empire soldier and politician.He served in Asia under Corbulo in AD 62 and was consul in AD 66.He became governor of Roman Britain in AD 69 in the midst of the Year of four emperors, appointed by the short-lived Roman emperor Vitellius....
. 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

Quintus Petillius Cerialis

Quintus Petilius Cerialis Caesius Rufus was a Ancient Rome general.His name suggests that he was an Adoption in Rome of a Caesius family into the Petilii....
, and Agricola was able to display his talents as a commander in campaigns against the Brigantes

Brigantes

The Brigantes were a List of Celtic tribes who in British Iron Age times controlled the largest section of Northern England and a significant part of the Midlands#The English Midlands....
.

When his command ended in 75, Agricola was enrolled as a patrician

Patrician

The term "patrician" originally referred to a group of elitism citizens in ancient Rome, including both their natural and adopted members. In the late Roman empire, the class was broadened to include high council officials, and after the fall of the Western Empire became a term for Byzantine Imperial governors in the West....
and appointed to govern Gallia Aquitania

Gallia Aquitania

Gallia Aquitania was a province of the Roman Empire, bordered by the provinces of Gallia Lugdunensis, Gallia Narbonensis, and Hispania Tarraconensis....
. In 77 he was recalled to Rome and appointed suffect consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
, and betrothed his daughter to Tacitus. The following year Tacitus and Julia married; Agricola was appointed to the College of Pontiffs

College of Pontiffs

The College of Pontiffs or Collegium Pontificum was a body of the ancient Rome state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the polytheism Religion in ancient Rome....
, and returned to Britain for a third time as its governor.

Governor of Britain

Arriving in mid-summer of 78, Agricola found that the Ordovices

Ordovices

The Ordovices were one of the Celtic tribes living in the British Islands, before the Roman invasion of Britain. Its tribal lands were located in Wales between the Silures to the south and the Deceangli to the north-east....
of north Wales had virtually destroyed the Roman cavalry stationed in their territory. He immediately moved against them and defeated them. He then moved north to the island of Mona (Anglesey

Anglesey

Anglesey is an island and principal areas of Wales off the northwest coast of Wales, with a predominantly Welsh language-speaking population. It is connected to the mainland by two bridges spanning the Menai Strait: the original Menai Suspension Bridge , designed by Thomas Telford in 1826; and the newer reconstructed Britannia Bridge ; which...
), 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 Caledonia (modern Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
). 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

Firth of Tay

The Firth of Tay is a firth in Scotland between the council areas of Fife, Perth and Kinross, the City of Dundee and Angus, into which Scotland's largest river in terms of flow, the River Tay, empties....
, but this would appear to be anomalous as it is further north than the Firths of Clyde

Firth of Clyde

The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland....
and Forth

Firth of Forth

The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south....
, which Agricola did not reach until the following year. Others suggest the Taus was the Solway Firth

Solway Firth

The Solway Firth is a firth that forms part of the Anglo-Scottish border, between Cumbria and Dumfries and Galloway. It stretches from St Bees Head, just south of Whitehaven in Cumbria, to the Mull of Galloway, on the western end of Dumfries and Galloway....
.

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, 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

Ireland

Ireland is the List of islands by area in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world. It lies to the north-west of continental Europe and is surrounded by hundreds of islands and islet....
. 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

Roman legion

The Roman Legion is a term that can apply both as a translation of legio to the entire Roman army and also, more narrowly , to the heavy infantry that was the basic military unit of the Roman army in the period of the late Roman Republic and the Roman Empire....
and auxiliaries

Auxiliaries (Roman military)

Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen Roman legion. By the 2nd century, the auxilia contained the same number of infantry as the legions and in addition provided almost all the Roman army's Roman cavalry and more specialised troops ....
. 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

Punitive expedition

A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a state or any group of persons. It is usually undertaken in response to disobedient or morally wrong behavior, but may be also be a covered revenge....
to Ireland.

Irish legend provides a striking parallel. Tuathal Teachtmhar

Tuathal Teachtmhar

T?athal Techtmar , son of F?achu Finnolach, was, according to medieval Irish legend and historical tradition, a High King of Ireland. He was said to have been the ancestor, through his grandson Conn of the Hundred Battles, of the U? N?ill and Connachta dynasties....
, a legendary High King

High King of Ireland

A High King of Ireland is a historical or legendary figure who claimed lordship over the whole of Ireland. The High-Kingship was never a political reality in Ireland, but has a strong literary and folkore tradition....
, 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

Archaeology

Archaeology, archeology, or arch?ology is the science that studies Homo cultures through the recovery, documentation, analysis, and interpretation of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, Artifact , features, Biofact s, and cultural landscape....
has found Roman or Romano-British artefacts in several sites associated with Tuathal.

The invasion of Caledonia (Scotland)

The following year Agricola raised a fleet and encircled the tribes beyond the Forth, and the Caledonians

Caledonians

The Caledonians , or Caledonian Confederacy, is a name given by historians to a group of the Indigenous peoples of Scotland during the Iron Age that the Romans initially included as Brython, but later distinguished as the Picts....
rose in great numbers against him. They attacked the camp of the Legio IX Hispana
Legio IX Hispana

Legio nona Hispana , sometimes known as Legio IX Hispana was a Roman legion. The legion's symbol is unknown, likely a Taurus , as other legions created by Caesar....
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 before his first birthday.

In the summer of 84 Agricola faced the massed armies of the Caledonians, led by Calgacus

Calgacus

According to Tacitus, Calgacus was a chieftain of the Caledonian Confederacy who fought the Ancient Rome army of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius in northern Scotland in AD 83 or 84....
, at the Battle of Mons Graupius

Battle of Mons Graupius

According to Gaius Cornelius Tacitus, the Battle of Mons Graupius took place in 83 or 84 AD. Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the List of Roman governors of Britain and Tacitus' father-in-law, had sent his fleet ahead to panic the Caledonians, and, with light infantry reinforced with British auxiliaries, reached the site, which he found occupied by th...
. 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' unpointed slashing swords useless. Even though the Caledonians were put to rout and therefore lost this battle, two thirds of their army managed to escape and hide in the Scottish Highlands or the "trackless wilds" as Tacitus calls them. Battle casualties were estimated by Tacitus to be about 10,000 on the Caledonian side and about 360 on the Roman side. A number of authors have reckoned the battle to have occurred in the Grampian

Grampian Mountains

Grampians or Grampian Mountains can mean:* The Grampian Mountains of Scotland* A common designation for the Grampian of Scotland* Grampians National Park, Australia...
Mounth

Mounth

The Mounth is the range of hills on the southern edge of River Dee, Aberdeenshire in northeast Scotland. It was usually referred to with the article, i.e....
within sight of the North Sea

North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
. In particular, Roy, Surenne, Watt, Hogan and others have advanced notions that the site of the battle may have been Kempstone Hill

Kempstone Hill

Kempstone Hill is a landform in Aberdeenshire, Scotland within the Mounth Range of the Grampian Mountains. The peak elevation of this mountain is 132 metres above mean sea level....
, Megray Hill

Megray Hill

Megray Hill is a low lying coastal mountainous landform in Aberdeenshire, Scotland within the Mounth Range of the Grampian Mountains. The peak elevation of this mountain is 120 metres above mean sea level....
or other knolls near the Raedykes

Raedykes

Raedykes Roman Camp is located at National Grid Reference NO 084090, approximately three miles north of Fetteresso Castle and two miles southwest of Muchalls Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland....
Roman Camp. In addition these points of high ground are proximate to the Elsick Mounth

Elsick Mounth

The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway crossing the Grampian Mountains in the vicinity of Netherley, Scotland. This trackway was one of the few means of traversing the Grampian Mounth area in prehistoric and medieval times....
, an ancient trackway

Trackway

A trackway is an ancient route of travel for people and/or animals. In biology, a trackway can be a set of impressions in the soft earth, usually a set of footprints, left by an animal....
used by Romans and Caledonians for military maneuvers.

Satisfied with his victory, Agricola extracted hostages from the Caledonian tribes. He may have marched his army to the northern coast of Britain. He also instructed the prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition.A prefect's office, department, or area of control is called a prefecture, but in various post-Roman cases there is a prefect without a prefecture or vice versa....
of the fleet to sail around the north coast, confirming for the first time that Britain was in fact an island.

Later years

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

Roman triumph

A Roman triumph was a civil religion and religious rite of ancient Rome, held to publically celebrate the achievements of an army commander who had won great military successes, originally and traditionally, who had successfully completed a war....
); 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. In 93 Agricola died on his family estates in Gallia Narbonensis aged fifty-three.

Literature

Anthony Birley
Anthony Birley

Anthony Richard Birley was the Professor of Ancient History at University of Manchester and at Heinrich Heine University of D?sseldorf . He is the son of the archaeologist Eric Birley, who bought the house next to Vindolanda where Anthony and his brother Robin Birley began to excavate the site....
(1996), “Iulius Agricola, Cn.”, in Hornblower, Simon, Oxford Classical Dictionary
Oxford Classical Dictionary

The Oxford Classical Dictionary is the standard one-volume encyclopedia in English language of topics relating to Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome....
, Oxford: Oxford University Press
"Agricola's Campaigns", special issue of Ancient Warfare
Ancient Warfare (magazine)

Ancient Warfare is a glossy, bi-monthly military history magazine published by the Netherlands publishing company Karwansaray. The founding and current magazine editor is Jasper Oorthuys....
, 1/1 (2007)

External links

at
at Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works, as founder Michael Hart said "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."....

Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Early life

Political career

Governor of Britain

Agricola in Ireland?

The invasion of Caledonia (Scotland)

Later years

See also

Literature

External links