The Agricola (Latin title: De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae) is a book by Tacitus, written c. 98, which recounts the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julius Agricola, an eminent Roman general. It also covers, briefly, the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain. As in the Germania, Tacitus favorably contrasted the liberty of the native Britons to the corruption and tyranny of the Empire; the book also contains eloquent and vicious polemics against the rapacity and greed of Rome. Latin is the language that was originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ... Gaius Cornelius Tacitus Publius or Gaius Cornelius Tacitus (c. ... For other uses, see number 98. ... Gnaeus Julius Agricola (July 13, 40 - August 23, 93) was a Roman general responsible for much of the Roman conquest of Britain. ...

When Trajan's ascent to the imperium in 98 ended the despotism of Domitian, Tacitus used the new freedom to publish this, his first historical work. During the reign of Domitian, Agricola, a faithful imperial officer, had been the most important general involved in the conquest of a great part of Britain. The proud tone of the Agricola recalls the style of the laudationes funebri (funeral speeches). A quick resume of the career of Agricola prior to his mission in Britain is followed by a narration of the conquest of the island. There are some geographical and ethnological digressions, taken not only from notes and memories of Agricola but also from the De Bello Gallico of Julius Caesar. There are enough digressions that the Agricola goes beyond the limits of a simple biography, but these descriptions of Britain serve to exalt the subject of the biography as its conqueror. Emperor Trajan Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus (September 18, 53 - August 9, 117), Roman Emperor (98 - 117), commonly called Trajan, was the second of the so-called five good emperors of the Roman Empire. ... For other uses, see number 98. ... De Bello Gallico (literally On the Gallic Wars in Latin) is an account written by Julius Caesar about his nine years of war in Gaul. ... Painting of Gaius Julius Caesar Bust of Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (Latin: C·IVLIVS·C·F·C·N·CAESAR¹) (July 12 or July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader whose conquest of Gallia Comata extended the Roman world all the way...

Tacitus exalts the character of his father-in-law, by showing how — as governor of Roman Britain and commander of the army — he attend to matters of state with fidelity, honesty, and competence, even under the government of a very bad Emperor such as Domitian. Critiques of Domitian and of his regime of spying and repression are often present. Agricola remained uncorrupted; in disgrace under Domitian, he died without seeking the glory of an ostentatious martyrdom. Tacitus condemns the suicide of the Stoics as of no benefit to the state. Tacitus makes no clear statement as to whether the death of Agricola was from natural causes or ordered by Domitian, although he does say that rumors were voiced in Rome that Agricola was poisoned on the Emperor's orders. Stoicism is a school of philosophy commonly associated with such Greek philosophers as Zeno of Citium, Cleanthes, or Chrysippus and with such later Romans as Cicero, Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Epictetus. ...

For Tacitus, Agricola served as an example of how, even under a despotism, it was possible to behave correctly, avoiding the opposite extremes of servility and useless opposition. The pride of Agricola is an apologia for a large part of the governing class: people who, not desiring martyrdom, had collaborated with the Flavian family and had made a valid contribution to lawmaking, to provincial government, to the enlargement of the limits of the empire and to the defence of its borders. These men, once they had back their freedom, would not have accepted an unjustified condemnation of their work and of their service to the state.

The work has a strong anti-despotic tone. Tacitus sets the despotism of Domitian against the merits of Agricola: an incorruptible officer and a great commander, he fit the model of the mos maiorum ("the custom of the forefathers", the presumed superior morality of an earlier time). The writer implicitly says that, as the Empire should be accepted as a necessary evil, one has to keep one's dignity without mixing up one's own responsibility with the responsibility of an arbitrary despot like Domitian. One can be an honest and scrupulous officer, doing his job with serenity and in collaboraton with the regime, keeping his job and keeping the interest of the state, waiting for a better age, when a writer would be able to write in freedom. The Mos maiorum are traditions of ancestors, an unwritten constitution of laws and conduct in Rome. ...

The Agricola mixes various literary genres. It is an elegy evolved into a biography, a laudatio funebris mixed with historical and ethnographical material. For this reason, the book contains portions written in different styles. The exordium, the speeches, and the final peroration show strong influence from Cicero, probably derived from Tacitus's own training in rhetoric. In the narrative and ethnographical portions, two models of the historical style can be seen: that of Sallust (with incongruities, archaism, parataxis and sobriety) and that of Livy (with oratorical style: wide, fluid, hypotaxic and dramatic). Marcus Tullius Cicero (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin prose stylist. ... Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus) (86-34 BC), Roman historian, belonging to a well-known plebeian family, was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines. ... Titus Livius (around 59 BC - 17 AD), known as Livy in English, wrote a monumental history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita, from its founding (traditionally dated to 753 BC). ...