The Agricola and The Germania

tacitus harold mattingly james rives

The Agricola is both a portrait of Julius Agricola - the most famous governor of Roman Britain and Tacitus' well-loved and respected father-in-law - and the first detailed account of Britain that has come down to us. It offers fascinating descriptions of the geography, climate and peoples of the country, and a succinct account of the early stages of the Roman occupation, nearly fatally undermined by Boudicca's revolt in AD 61 but consolidated by campaigns that took Agricola as far as Anglesey and northern Scotland. The warlike German tribes are the focus of Tacitus' attention in the Germania, which, like the Agricola, often compares the behaviour of 'barbarian' peoples favourably with the decadence and corruption of Imperial Rome.

Genres historyclassicsnonfictionancient historybiographyromanancientgermanyhistoricalclassical studies

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,0098

Places

caledonia roman-era britain,

This edition

Format: 174 pages, Paperback
Published: January 1, 1975 by Penguin
ISBN: 9780140442410
ASIN: B0052XBRDE
Language: English

Characters More characters

Boudica

Boudica, formerly known as Boadicea and known in Welsh as "Buddug" (d. AD 60 or 61) was a queen of the Brittonic 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...
Titus Flavius Domitianus

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Calgacus

According to Tacitus, Calgacus was a chieftain of the Caledonian Confederacy who fought the Roman army of Gnaeus Julius Agricola at the Battle of Mons Graupius in northern Scotland in AD 83 or 84. His name can be as interpreted as Celtic *calg-ac-os, "pos...
Vespasian

Vespasian (/vɛsˈpeɪʒiən/ or /vɛsˈpeɪziən/ Latin: Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus Augustus; 17 November 9 – 23 June 79) was Roman Emperor from AD 69 to AD 79. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. ...
Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola (40 – 93) was a Gallo-Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. Written by his son-in-law Tacitus, the De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae is the primary source for most of what is known about him, along wi...
Gaius Seutonius Paulinus

Gaius Suetonius Paulinus (fl. AD 40-69) was a Roman general best known as the commander who defeated Boudica and her army during the Boudican revolt....

About the author

tacitus

Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (ca. AD 56 – ca. AD 120) was a senator 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 who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors. These two works span the history of the Roman Empire from the death of Augustus in AD 14 to the years of the First Jewish–Roman War, in 70 AD. There are enormous lacunae in the surviving texts, including one four books long in the Annals.

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

Tacitus was an author writing in the latter part of the Silver Age of Latin literature.