Gnaeus Julius Agricola | |
|---|---|
 A statue of Agricola erected at theRoman Baths at Bath in 1894 | |
| Born | 13 June 40 Forum Julii,Gallia Narbonensis (nowFréjus, France) |
| Died | 23 August 93 (aged 53) |
| Allegiance | Roman Empire |
| Service years | 58–85 |
| Rank | Proconsul |
| Commands | Legio XXValeria Victrix Gallia Aquitania Britannia |
| Conflicts | Battle of Watling Street Battle of Mons Graupius |
| Awards | Ornamenta triumphalia |
Gnaeus Julius Agricola (/əˈɡrɪkələ/; 13 June 40 – 23 August 93) was a Roman general and politician responsible for much of theRoman conquest of Britain. Born to a political family ofsenatorial rank, Agricola began his military career as amilitary tribune under governorGaius Suetonius Paulinus. In his subsequent career, he served in a variety of political positions inRome. In 64, he was appointedquaestor inAsia province. Two years later, he was appointedPlebeian Tribune, and in 68, he was madepraetor. During theYear of the Four Emperors in 69, he supportedVespasian, general of theSyrian army, in his bid for the throne.
When Vespasian becameemperor, Agricola was made apatrician and appointed governor ofGallia Aquitania. In 77, he was madeconsul andgovernor of Britannia. As governor, he completed the conquest of what is todayWales andnorthern England, and led his army to the far north ofScotland, establishing forts across much of thelowlands. In 85, Agricola was recalled from Britain after an unusually lengthy service by EmperorDomitian. After his return, he retired from military and public life and died in 93. Most of what is known about Agricola and his governorship was written in theDe vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae,[1] aprimary source, written byTacitus, Agricola's son-in-law, and detailed archaeological evidence from northern Britain.[2]
Agricola was born in thecolonia ofForum Julii,Gallia Narbonensis (nowFréjus,France). Agricola's parents were from noted political families ofsenatorial rank inRoman Gaul. Both of his grandfathers served as imperial governors. His father, Lucius Julius Graecinus, was apraetor and had become a member of theRoman Senate in the year of Agricola's birth. Graecinus had become distinguished by his interest inphilosophy. Between August 40 and January 41, the emperorCaligula ordered his death, because he refused to prosecute the emperor's second cousinMarcus Junius Silanus.[3]
His mother was Julia Procilla. The Roman historianTacitus describes her as "a lady of singular virtue" who had a fond affection for her son. Agricola was educated in Massilia (Marseille), and showed what was considered to be an unhealthy interest in philosophy.
He began his career in Roman public life as a militarytribune, and served in Britain underGaius Suetonius Paulinus from 58 to 62. He was probably attached to theLegio II Augusta, but was chosen to serve on Suetonius's staff[4] and thus almost certainly participated in the suppression ofBoudica's uprising in 61.
Returning from Britain toRome in 62, he marriedDomitia Decidiana, a woman of noble birth. Their first child was a son. Agricola was appointed asquaestor in 64, which he served in theprovince of Asia under the corrupt proconsulLucius Salvius Otho Titianus. While he was there, his daughter, Julia Agricola, was born, but his son died shortly afterwards. He wastribune of the plebs in 66 andpraetor in June 68, during which time he was ordered by the Governor of SpainGalba to take an inventory of the temple treasures.
During that time, the emperorNero was declared a public enemy by the Senate and committed suicide, and the period of civil war known as theYear of the Four Emperors began. Galba succeeded Nero, but was murdered in early 69 byOtho, who took the throne. Agricola's mother was murdered on her estate inLiguria by Otho's marauding fleet. Hearing ofVespasian's bid for the empire, Agricola immediately gave him his support. Otho meanwhile committed suicide after being defeated byVitellius.
After Vespasian had established himself as emperor, Agricola was appointed to the command of theLegio XX Valeria Victrix, stationed in Britain, in place ofMarcus Roscius Coelius, who had stirred up a mutiny against the governor,Marcus Vettius Bolanus. Britain had revolted 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 theBrigantes in northern England.
When his command ended in 73, Agricola was enrolled as apatrician and appointed to governGallia Aquitania. There he stayed for almost three years. In 76 or 77, he was recalled to Rome and appointed suffectconsul,[5] and betrothed his daughter toTacitus. The following year, Tacitus and Julia married; Agricola was appointed to theCollege of Pontiffs, and returned to Britain for a third time, as itsgovernor (Legatus Augusti pro praetore).
Arriving in midsummer of 77, Agricola discovered that theOrdovices of north Wales had virtually destroyed the Roman cavalry stationed in their territory. He immediately moved against them and defeated them. His campaign then moved ontoAnglesey where hesubjugated the entire island. Almost two decades earlier, GovernorGaius Suetonius Paulinus had attempted the same but Roman forces had to withdraw in 60 CE because of the outbreak of theBoudican rebellion.
Agricola also expanded Roman rule north intoCaledonia (modernScotland). In the summer of 79, he pushed his armies to the estuary of the river Taus, usually interpreted as theFirth of Tay, virtually unchallenged, and established some forts. Though their location is left unspecified, the close dating of the fort atElginhaugh in Midlothian makes it a possible candidate. He established himself as a good administrator by reforming the widely corrupt corn levy as well as through his military successes. He introduced Romanising measures, encouraging communities to build towns on the Roman model and gave a Roman education to sons of native nobility; albeit, as Tacitus notes, for the cynical reason ofpacifying the aggressive tribes in Britannia for the servitude of Rome.[6]
In 81, Agricola "crossed in the first ship" and defeated peoples unknown to the Romans until then. Tacitus, in Chapter 24 ofAgricola, does not tell us what body of water he crossed.[7] Modern scholarship favours either theFirth of Clyde orFirth of Forth. Tacitus also mentionsHibernia, so southwest Scotland is perhaps to be preferred.[8] The text of theAgricola has been amended here to record the Romans "crossing into trackless wastes", referring to the wilds of the Galloway peninsula.[9] Agricola fortified the coast facing Ireland, and Tacitus recalls that his father-in-law often claimed the island could be conquered with a singlelegion andauxiliaries. 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 the crossing referred to was in fact a small-scale exploratory orpunitive expedition to Ireland,[10] though no Roman camps have been identified to confirm such a suggestion.[11]
Irish legend provides a striking parallel.Tuathal Teachtmhar, a legendaryHigh 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 between 76 and 80, andarchaeology has found Roman or Romano-British artefacts in several sites associated with Tuathal.[12]
The following year, Agricola raised a fleet and encircled the tribes beyond the Forth, and theCaledonians rose in great numbers against him. They attacked the camp of theLegio IX Hispana atnight, 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 died before his first birthday.
In the summer of 83, Agricola faced the massed armies of the Caledonians, led byCalgacus, at theBattle of Mons Graupius.[13] Tacitus estimates their numbers at more than 30,000.[14] 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 as they were unable to swing them properly or utilise thrusting attacks.[15] 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 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 360 on the Roman side.
A number of authors have reckoned the battle to have occurred in theGrampianMounth within sight of theNorth Sea.[16] In particular, Roy,[17] Surenne, Watt, Hogan[18] and others have advanced notions that the site of the battle may have beenKempstone Hill,Megray Hill or other knolls near theRaedykesRoman camp; these points of high ground are proximate to theElsick Mounth, an ancienttrackway used by Romans and Caledonians for military manoeuvres. However, following the discovery of theRoman camp atDurno in 1975, most scholars now believe that the battle took place on the ground aroundBennachie in Aberdeenshire.[19]
Satisfied with his victory, Agricola extracted hostages from the Caledonian tribes. He may have marched his army to the northern coast of Britain,[20] as evidenced by the probable discovery of a Roman fort atCawdor (nearInverness).[21]
He also instructed theprefect of the fleet to sail around the north coast, confirming (allegedly for the first time) that Britain was in fact an island.
In 2019, GUARD Archaeology team led by Iraia Arabaolaza uncovered a marching camp dating to the 1st century AD inAyr, used by Roman legions during the invasion of Roman General Agricola. According to Arabaolaza, the fire pits were split 30 meters apart into two parallel lines. The findings also included clay-domed ovens and 26 fire pits dated to between 77- 86 AD and 90 AD loaded with burnt material and charcoal contents. Archaeologists suggested that this site had been chosen as a strategic location for the Roman conquest ofAyrshire.[22][23]
Agricola was recalled from Britain in 85, after an unusually long tenure as governor of the province. Tacitus claimsDomitian ordered his recall because Agricola's successes outshone the emperor's own modest victories in Germany. He re-entered Rome unobtrusively, reporting as ordered to the palace at night.
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 actualtriumph); 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. According to his son-in-law, the Roman historianTacitus, rumours circulated attributing the death to a poison administered by emperor Domitian, but no positive evidence for this was ever produced.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byas Suffect consul | Suffect Consul of theRoman Republic 77 withignotus | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Roman governors of Britain 78–85 | Succeeded by |
