Germania and Agricola 3

	Germania and Agricola 3

XIX. Ceterum animorum provinciae prudens, simulque doctus per aliena experimenta parum profici armis, si injuriae sequerentur, causas bellorum statuit excidere. A se suisque orsus, primum domum suam coercuit; quod plerisque haud minus arduum est, quam provinciam regere. Nihil per libertos servosque publicae rei: non studiis privatis nec ex commendatione aut precibus centurionum milites ascire, sed optimum quemque fidissimum putare: omnia scire, non omnia exsequi: parvis peccatis veniam, magnis severitatem commodare: nec poena semper, sed saepius poenitentia contentus esse: officiis et administrationibus potius non peccaturos praeponere, quam damnare, cum peccassent. Frumenti et tributorum auctionem aequalitate munerum mollire, circumcisis, quae, in quaestum reperta, ipso tributo gravius tolerabantur: namque per ludibrium assidere clausis horreis et emere ultro frumenta, ac vendere pretio cogebantur: devortia itinerum et longinquitas regionum indicebatur, ut civitates a proximis hibernis in remota et avia referrent, donec, quod omnibus in promptu erat, paucis lucrosum fieret. XX. Haec primo statim anno comprimendo, egregiam famam paci circumdedit; quae vel incuria vel intolerantia priorum haud minus quam bellum timebatur. Sed, ubi aestas advenit, contracto exercitu, multus in agmine laudare modestiam, disjectos coercere: loca castris ipse capere, aestuaria ac silvas ipse praetentare; et nihil interim apud hostes quietum pati, quo minus subitis excursibus popularetur: atque, ubi satis terruerat, parcendo rursus irritamenta pacis ostentare. Quibus rebus multae civitates, quae in illum diem ex aequo egerant, datis obsidibus, iram posuere, et praesidiis castellisque circumdatae tanta ratione curaque, ut nulla ante Britanniae nova pars illacessita transierit. XXI. Sequens hiems saluberrimis consiliis absumpta: namque, ut homines dispersi ac rudes, eoque in bella faciles, quieti et otio per voluptates assuescerent, hortari privatim, adjuvare publice, ut templa, fora, domus exstruerent, laudando promptos et castigando segnes: ita honoris aemulatio pro necessitate erat. Jam vero principum filios liberalibus artibus erudire, et ingenia Britannorum studiis Gallorum anteferre, ut, qui modo linguam Romanam abnuebant, eloquentiam concupiscerent. Inde etiam habitus nostri honor et frequens toga: paulatimque discessum ad delenimenta vitiorum, porticus et balnea et conviviorum elegantiam: idque apud imperitos humanitas vocabatur, cum pars servitutis esset. XXII. Tertius expeditionum annus novas gentes aperuit, vastatis usque ad Taum (aestuario nomen est) nationibus: qua formidine territi hostes quanquam conflictatum saevis tempestatibus exercitum lacessere non ausi; ponendisque insuper castellis spatium fuit. Annotabant periti non alium ducem opportunitates locorum sapientius legisse: nullum ab Agricola positum castellum aut vi hostium expugnatum aut pactione ac fuga desertum. Crebrae eruptiones: nam adversus moras obsidionis annuis copiis firmabantur: ita intrepida ibi hiems, et sibi quisque praesidio, irritis hostibus eoque desperantibus, quia soliti plerumque damna aestatis hibernis eventibus pensare, tum aestate atque hieme juxta pellebantur. Nec Agricola unquam per alios gesta avidus intercepit: seu centurio seu praefectus, incorruptum facti testem habebat. Apud quosdam acerbior in conviciis narrabatur; ut erat comis bonis, adversus malos injucundus: ceterum ex iracundia nihil supererat; secretum et silentium ejus non timeres: honestius putabat offendere, quam odisse. XXIII. Quarta aestas obtinendis, quae percurrerat, insumpta: ac, si virtus exercituum et Romani nominis gloria pateretur, inventus in ipsa Britannia terminus. Nam Clota et Bodotria, diversi maris aestibus per immensum revectae, angusto terrarum spatio dirimuntur: quod tum praesidiis firmabatur: atque omnis propior sinus tenebatur, summotis velut in aliam insulam hostibus. XXIV. Quinto expeditionum anno, nave prima transgressus, ignotas ad id tempus gentes crebris simul ac prosperis proeliis domuit: eamque partem Britanniae, quae Hiberniam aspicit, copiis instruxit in spem magis quam ob formidinem; si quidem Hibernia, medio inter Britanniam atque Hispaniam sita et Gallico quoque mari opportuna, valentissimam imperii partem magnis invicem usibus miscuerit. Spatium ejus, si Britanniae comparetur, angustius, nostri maris insulas superat. Solum coelumque et ingenia cultusque hominum haud multum a Britannia differunt: in melius aditus portusque per commercia et negotiatores cogniti. Agricola expulsum seditione domestica unum ex regulis gentis exceperat ac specie amicitiae in occasionem retinebat. Saepe ex eo audivi, legione una et modicis auxiliis debellari obtinerique Hiberniam posse. Idque etiam adversus Britanniam profuturum, si Romana ubique arma, et velut e conspectu libertas tolleretur. XXV. Ceterum aestate, qua sextum officii annum inchoabat, amplexus civitates trans Bodotriam sitas, quia motus universarum ultra gentium et infesta hostilis exercitus itinera timebantur, portus classe exploravit: quae, ab Agricola primum assumpta in partem virium, sequebatur egregia specie, cum simul terra, simul mari bellum impelleretur, ac saepe iisdem castris pedes equesque et nauticus miles, mixti copiis et laetitia, sua quisque facta, suos casus attollerent: ac modo silvarum ac montium profunda, modo tempestatum ac fluctuum adversa, hinc terra et hostis, hinc victus Oceanus militari jactantia compararentur. Britannos quoque, ut ex captivis audiebatur, visa classis obstupefaciebat, tanquam, aperto maris sui secreto, ultimum victis perfugium clauderetur. Ad manus et arma conversi Caledoniam incolentes populi, paratu magno, majore fama, uti mos est de ignotis, oppugnasse ultro, castella adorti, metum, ut provocantes, addiderant: regrediendumque citra Bodotriam, et excedendum potius, quam pellerentur, specie prudentium ignavi admonebant: cum interim cognoscit hostes pluribus agminibus irrupturos. Ac, ne superante numero et peritia locorum circumiretur, diviso et ipse in tres partes exercitu incessit. XXVI. Quod ubi cognitum hosti, mutato repente consilio, universi nonam legionem, ut maxime invalidam, nocte aggressi, inter somnum ac trepidationem caesis vigilibus, irrupere. Jamque in ipsis castris pugnabant, cum Agricola, iter hostium ab exploratoribus edoctus et vestigiis insecutus, velocissimos equitum peditumque assultare tergis pugnantium jubet, mox ab universis adjici clamorem; et propinqua luce fulsere signa: ita ancipiti malo territi Britanni: et Romanis redit animus, ac, securi pro salute, de gloria certabant. Ultro quin etiam erupere: et fuit atrox in ipsia portarum angustiis proelium, donec pulsi hostes; utroque exercitu certante, his, ut tulisse opem, illis, ne eguisse auxilio viderentur. Quod nisi paludes et silvae fugientes texissent, debellatum illa victoria foret. XXVII. Cujus conscientia ac fama ferox exercitus nihil virtuti suae invium: penetrandam Caledoniam, inveniendumque tandem Britanniae terminum continuo proeliorum cursu, fremebant: atque illi modo cauti ac sapientes, prompti post eventum ac magniloqui erant. Iniquissima haec bellorum conditio est: prospera omnes sibi vindicant, adversa uni imputantur. At Britanni non virtute, sed occasione et arte ducis rati, nihil ex arrogantia remittere, quo minus juventutem armarent, conjuges ac liberos in loca tuta transferrent, coetibus ac sacrificiis conspirationem civitatum sancirent: atque ita irritatis utrimque animis discessum. XXVIII. Eadem aestate cohors Usipiorum, per Germanias conscripta, in Britanniam transmissa, magnum ac memorabile facinus ausa est. Occiso centurione ac militibus, qui ad tradendam disciplinam immixti manipulis exemplum et rectores habebantur, tres liburnicas, adactis per vim gubernatoribus, ascendere: et uno remigante, suspectis duobus eoque interfectis, nondum vulgato rumore ut miraculum praevehebantur: mox hac atque illa rapti, et cum plerisque Britannorum, sua defensantium, proelio congressi, ac saepe victores, aliquando pulsi, eo ad extremum inopiae venere, ut infirmissimos suorum, mox sorte ductos, vescerentur. Atque circumvecti Britanniam, amissis per inscitiam regendi navibus, pro praedonibus habiti, primum a Suevis, mox a Frisiis intercepti sunt: ac fuere, quos per commercia venumdatos et in nostram usque ripam mutatione ementium adductos, indicium tanti casus illustravit. XXIX. Initio aestatis Agricola, domestico vulnere ictus, anno ante natum filum amisit. Quem casum neque, ut plerique fortium virorum, ambitiose, neque per lamenta rursus ac moerorem muliebriter tulit: et in luctu bellum inter remedia erat. Igitur praemissa classe, quae pluribus locis praedata, magnum et incertum terrorem faceret, expedito exercitu, cui ex Britannis fortissimos et longa pace exploratos addiderat, ad montem Grampium pervenit, quem jam hostis insederat. Nam Britanni, nihil fracti pugnae prioris eventu, et ultionem aut servitium exspectantes, tandemque docti commune periculum concordia propulsandum, legationibus et foederibus omnium civitatum vires exciverant. Jamque super triginta millia armatorum aspiciebantur, et adhuc affluebat omnis juventus et quibus cruda ac viridis senectus, clari bello et sua quisque decora gestantes: cum inter plures duces virtute et genere praestans, nomine Calgacus, apud contractam multitudinem proelium poscentem, in hunc modum locutus fertur: XXX. "Quotiens causas belli et necessitatem nostram intueor, magnus mihi animus est hodiernum diem consensumque vestrum initium libertatis totius Britanniae fore. Nam et universi servitutis expertes, et nullae ultra terrae, ac ne mare quidem securum, imminente nobis classe Romana: ita proelium atque arma, quae fortibus honesta, eadem etiam ignavis tutissima sunt. Priores pugnae, quibus adversus Romanos varia fortuna certatum est, spem ac subsidium in nostris manibus habebant: quia nobilissimi totius Britanniae eoque in ipsis penetralibus siti, nec servientium littora aspicientes, oculos quoque a contactu dominationis inviolatos habebamus. Nos terrarum ac libertatis extremos, recessus ipse ac sinus famae in hunc diem defendit: nunc terminus Britanniae patet; atque omne ignotum pro magnifico est. Sed nulla jam ultra gens, nihil nisi fluctus et saxa, et infestiores Romani: quorum superbiam frustra per obsequium et modestiam effugeris. Raptores orbis, postquam cuncta vastantibus defuere terrae, et mare scrutantur: si locuples hostis est, avari; si pauper, ambitiosi: quos non Oriens, non Occidens, satiaverit. Soli omnium opes atque inopiam pari affectu concupiscunt. Auferre, trucidare, rapere, falsis nominibus imperium; atque, ubi solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant." XXXI. "Liberos cuique ac propinquos suos natura carissimos esse voluit; hi per delectus, alibi servituri, auferuntur conjuges sororesque, etsi hostilem libidinem effugiant, nomine amicorum atque hospitum polluuntur. Bona fortunasque in tributum egerunt, annos in frumentum: corpora ipsa ac manus silvis ac paludibus emuniendis inter verbera ac contumelias conterunt. Nata servituti mancipia semel veneunt, atque ultro a dominis aluntur: Britannia servitutem suam quotidie emit, quotidie pascit. Ac, sicut in familia recentissimus quisque servorum et conservis ludibrio est, sic in hoc orbis terrarum vetere famulatu novi nos et viles in excidium petimur. Neque enim arva nobis aut metalla aut portus sunt, quibus exercendis reservemur. Virtus porro ac ferocia subjectorum ingrata imperantibus: et longinquitas ac secretum ipsum quo tutius, eo suspectius. Ita, sublata spe veniae, tandem sumite animum, tam quibus salus, quam quibus gloria carissima est. Trinobantes, femina duce, exurere coloniam, expugnare castra, ac, nisi felicitas in socordiam vertisset, exuere jugum potuere: nos integri et indomiti et libertatem non in poenitentiam laturi, primo statim congressu nonne ostendamus, quos sibi Caledonia viros seposuerit? An eandem Romanis in bello virtutem, quam in pace lasciviam adesse creditis?" XXXII. "Nostris illi dissensionibus ac discordiis clari, vitia hostium in gloriam exercitus sui vertunt: quem contractum ex diversissimis gentibus, ut secundae res tenent, ita adversae dissolvent: nisi si Gallos et Germanos et (pudet dictu) Britannorum plerosque, licet dominationi alienae sanguinem commodent, diutius tamen hostes quam servos, fide et affectu teneri putatis: metus et terror est, infirma vincula caritatis quae ubi removeris, qui timere desierint, odisse incipient. Omnia victoriae incitamenta pro nobis sunt: nullae Romanos conjuges accendunt; nulli parentes fugam exprobraturi sunt; aut nulla plerisque patria, aut alia est. Paucos numero, trepidos ignorantia, coelum ipsum ac mare et silvas, ignota omnia circumspectantes, clausos quodammodo ac vinctos dii nobis tradiderunt. Ne terreat vanus aspectus et auri fulgor atque argenti, quod neque tegit neque vulnerat. In ipsa hostium acie inveniemus nostras manus: agnoscent Britanni suam causam: recordabuntur Galli priorem libertatem: deserent illos ceteri Germani, tanquam nuper Usipii reliquerunt. Nec quidquam ultra formidinis: vacua castella, senum coloniae, inter male parentes et injuste imperantes aegra municipia et discordantia: hic dux, hic exercitus: ibi tributa et metalla et ceterae servientium poenae: quas in aeternum perferre aut statim ulcisci in hoc campo est. Proinde ituri in aciem et majores vestros et posteros cogitate." XXXIII. Excepere orationem alacres, ut barbaris moris, cantu et fremitu clamoribusque dissonis. Jam que agmina, et armorum fulgores audentissimi cujusque procursu: simul instruebantur acies: cum Agricola, quanquam laetum et vix munimentis coercitum militem adhortatus, ita disseruit: "Octavus annus est, commilitones, ex quo virtute et auspiciis imperii Romani fide atque opera vestra Britanniam vicistis: tot expeditionibus, tot proeliis, seu fortitudine adversus hostes seu patientia ac labore paene adversus ipsam rerum naturam opus fuit, neque me militum neque vos ducis poenituit. Ergo egressi, ego veterum legatorum, vos priorum exercituum terminos, finem Britanniae non fama nec rumore, sed castris et armis tenemus. Inventa Britannia et subacta. Equidem saepe in agmine, cum vos paludes montesve et flumina fatigarent, fortissimi cujusque voces audiebam, Quando dabitur hostis, quando acies? Veniunt, e latebris suis extrusi: et vota virtusque in aperto, omniaque prona victoribus, atque eadem victis adversa. Nam, ut superasse tantum itineris, silvas evasisse, transisse aestuaria pulchrum ac decorum in frontem; ita fugientibus periculosissima, quae hodie prosperrima sunt. Neque enim nobis aut locorum eadem notitia aut commeatuum eadem abundantia: sed manus et arma et in his omnia. Quod ad me attinet, jam pridem mihi decretum est, neque exercitus neque ducis terga tuta esse. Proinde et honesta mors turpi vita potior; et incolumitas ac decus eodem loco sita sunt: nec inglorium fuerit, in ipso terrarum ac naturae fine cecidisse." XXXIV. "Si novae gentes atque ignota acies constitisset, aliorum exercituum exemplis vos hortarer: nunc vestra decora recensete, vestros oculos interrogate. Ii sunt, quos proximo anno, unam legionem furto noctis aggressos, clamore debellastis: ii ceterorum Britannorum fugacissimi, ideoque tam diu superstites. Quomodo silvas saltusque penetrantibus fortissimum quodque animal contra ruere, pavida et inertia ipso agminis sono pelluntur, sic acerrimi Britannorum jam pridem ceciderunt: reliquus est numerus ignavorum et metuentium, quos quod tandem invenistis, non restiterunt, sed deprehensi sunt: novissimae res et extremo metu corpora defixere aciem in his vestigiis, in quibus pulchram et spectabilem victoriam ederetis. Transigite cum expeditionibus: imponite quinquaginta annis magnum diem: approbate reipublicae nunquam exercitui imputari potuisse aut moras belli aut causas rebellandi." XXXV. Et alloquente adhuc Agricola, militum ardor eminebat, et finem orationis ingens alacritas consecuta est, statimque ad arma discursum. Instinctos ruentesque ita disposuit, ut peditum auxilia, quae octo millia erant, mediam aciem firmarent, equitum tria millia cornibus affunderentur: legiones pro vallo stetere, ingens victoriae decus citra Romanum sanguinem bellanti, et auxilium, si pellerentur. Britannorum acies, in speciem simul ac terrorem, editioribus locis constiterat ita, ut primum agmen aequo, ceteri per acclive jugum connexi velut insurgerent: media campi covinarius et eques strepitu ac discursu complebat. Tum Agricola superante hostium multitudine veritus, ne simul in frontem, simul et latera suorum pugnaretur, diductis ordinibus, quanquam porrectior acies futura erat et arcessendas plerique legiones admonebant, promptior in spem et firmus adversis, dimisso equo pedes ante vexilla constitit. XXXVI. Ac primo congressu eminus certabatur simul constantia, simul arte Britanni ingentibus gladiis et brevibus cetris missilia nostrorum vitare vel excutere, atque ipsi magnam vim telorum superfundere: donec Agricola Batavorum cohortes ac Tungrorum duas cohortatus est, ut rem ad mucrones ac manus adducerent: quod et ipsis vetustate militiae exercitatum, et hostibus inhabile parva scuta et enormes gladios gerentibus: nam Britannorum gladii sine mucrone complexum armorum et in aperto pugnam non tolerabant. Igitur, ut Batavi miscere ictus, ferire umbonibus, ora foedare, et stratis qui in aequo obstiterant, erigere in colles aciem coepere, ceterae cohortes, aemulatione et impetu commistae, proximos quosque caedere; ac plerique semineces aut integri festinatione victoriae relinquebantur. Interim equitum turmae fugere, covinarii peditum se proelio miscuere: et, quanquam recentem terrorem intulerant, densis tamen hostium agminibus et inaequalibus locis haerebant: minimeque equestris ea pugnae facies erat, cum aegre diu stantes simul equorum corporibus impellerentur, ac saepe vagi currus, exterriti sine rectoribus equi, ut quemque formido tulerat, transversos aut obvios incursabant. XXXVII. Et Britanni, qui adhuc pugnae expertes summa collium insederant et paucitatem nostrorum vacui spernebant, degredi paulatim et circumire terga vincentium coeperant: ni id ipsum veritus Agricola, quatuor equitum alas, ad subita belli retentas, venientibus opposuisset, quantoque ferocius accurrerant, tanto acrius pulsos in fugam disjecisset. Ita consilium Britannorum in ipsos versum: transvectaeque praecepto ducis a fronte pugnantium alae, aversam hostium aciem invasere. Tum vero patentibus locis grande et atrox spectaculum: sequi, vulnerare, capere atque eosdem, oblatis aliis, trucidare. Jam hostium, prout cuique ingenium erat, catervae armatorum paucioribus terga praestare, quidam inermes ultro ruere ac se morti offerre; passim arma et corpora et laceri artus et cruenta humus: et aliquando etiam victis ira virtusque; postquam silvis appropinquarunt, collecti primos sequentium incautos et locorum ignaros circumveniebant. Quod ni frequens ubique Agricola validas et expeditas cohortes indaginis modo, et, sicubi arctiora erant, partem equitum dimissis equis, simul rariores silvas equitem persultare jussisset, acceptum aliquod vulnus per nimiam fiduciam foret. Ceterum, ubi compositos firmis ordinibus sequi rursus videre, in fugam versi, non agminibus, ut prius, nec alius alium respectantes, rari et vitabundi invicem, longinqua atque avia petiere. Finis sequendi nox et satietas fuit: caesa hostium ad decem millia: nostrorum trecenti sexaginta cecidere: in quis Aulus Atticus praefectus cohortis, juvenili ardore et ferocia equi hostibus illatus. XXXVIII. Et nox quidem gaudio praedaque laeta victoribus: Britanni palantes, mixtoque virorum mulierumque ploratu, trahere vulneratos, vocare integros, deserere domos ac per iram ultro incendere: eligere latebras et statim relinquere: miscere invicem consilia aliqua, dein separare: aliquando frangi aspectu pignorum suorum, saepius concitari: satisque constabat, saevisse quosdam in conjuges ac liberos, tanquam misererentur. Proximus dies faciem victoriae latius aperuit: vastum ubique silentium, secreti colles, fumantia procul tecta, nemo exploratoribus obvius: quibus in omnem partem dimissis, ubi incerta fugae vestigia neque usquam conglobari hostes compertum et exacta jam aestate spargi bellum nequibat, in fines Horestorum exercitum deducit. Ibi acceptis obsidibus, praefecto classis circumvehi Britanniam praecepit. Datae ad id vires, et praecesserat terror. Ipse peditem atque equites lento itinere, quo novarum gentium animi ipsa transitus mora terrerentur, in hibernis locavit. Et simul classis secunda tempestate ac fama Trutulensem portum tenuit, unde proximo latere Britanniae lecto omni redierat. XXXIX. Hunc rerum cursum, quanquam nulla verborum jactantia epistolis Agricolae actum, ut Domitiano moris erat, fronte laetus, pectore anxius excepit. Inerat conscientia derisui fuisse nuper falsum e Germania triumphum, emptis per commercia, quorum habitus et crines in captivorum speciem formarentur: at nunc veram magnamque victoriam, tot millibus hostium caesis, ingenti fama celebrari. Id sibi maxime formidolosum, privati hominis nomen supra principis attolli: frustra studia fori et civilium artium decus in silentium acta, si militarem gloriam alius occuparet: et cetera utcumque facilius dissimulari: ducis boni imperatoriam virtutem esse. Talibus curis exercitus, quodque saevae cogitationis indicium erat, secreto suo satiatus, optimum in praesentia statuit reponere odium, donec impetus famae et favor exercitus languesceret: nam etiam tum Agricola Britanniam obtinebat. XL. Igitur triumphalia ornamenta et illustris statuae honorem et quidquid pro triumpho datur, multo verborum honore cumulata, decerni in senatu jubet; addique insuper opinionem, Syriam provinciam Agricolae destinari, vacuam tum morte Atilii Rufi consularis et majoribus reservatam. Credidere plerique libertum ex secretioribus ministeriis missum ad Agricolam codicillos, quibus ei Syria dabatur, tulisse cum praecepto, ut, si in Britannia foret, traderentur: eumque libertum in ipso freto Oceani obvium Agricolae, ne appellato quidem eo, ad Domitianum remeasse: sive verum istud, sive ex ingenio principis fictum ac compositum est. Tradiderat interim Agricola successori suo provinciam quietam tutamque. Ac, ne notabilis celebritate et frequentia occurrentium introitus esset, vitato amicorum officio, noctu in urbem, noctu in palatium, ita ut praeceptum erat, venit: exceptusque brevi osculo et nullo sermone turbae servientium immixtus est. Ceterum, ut militare nomen, grave inter otiosos, aliis virtutibus temperaret, tranquillitatem atque otium penitus auxit, cultu modicus, sermone facilis, uno aut altero amicorum comitatus; adeo ut plerique quibus magnos viros per ambitionem aestimare mos est, viso aspectoque Agricola, quaererent famam, pauci interpretarentur. XLI. Crebro per eos dies apud Domitianum absens accusatus, absens absolutus est. Causa periculi non crimen ullum aut querela laesi cujusquam, sed infensus virtutibus princeps et gloria viri ac pessimum inimicorum genus, laudantes. Et ea insecuta sunt reipublicae tempora, quae sileri Agricolam non sinerent: tot exercitus in Moesia Daciaque et Germania Pannoniaque, temeritate aut per ignaviam ducum amissi: tot militares viri cum tot cohortibus expugnati et capti: nec jam de limite imperii et ripa, sed de hibernis legionum et possessione dubitatum. Ita, cum damna damnis continuarentur atque omnis annus funeribus et cladibus insigniretur, poscebatur ore vulgi dux Agricola: comparantibus cunctis vigorem, constantiam et expertum bellis animum cum inertia et formidine ceterorum. Quibus sermonibus satis constat Domitiani quoque aures verberatas, dum optimus quisque libertorum amore et fide, pessimi malignitate et livore, pronum deterioribus principem exstimulabant. Sic Agricola simul suis virtutibus, simul vitiis aliorum, in ipsam gloriam praeceps agebatur. XLII. Aderat jam annus, quo proconsulatum Asiae et Africae sortiretur, et occiso Civica nuper nec Agricolae consilium deerat, nec Domitiano exemplum. Accessere quidam cogitationum principis periti, qui, iturusne esset in provinciam, ultro Agricolam interrogarent: ac primo occultius quietem et otium laudare, mox operam suam in approbanda excusatione offerre: postremo non jam obscuri, suadentes simul terrentesque, pertraxere ad Domitianum; qui paratus simulatione, in arrogantiam compositus, et audiit preces excusantis, et, cum annuisset, agi sibi gratias passus est: nec erubuit beneficii invidia. Salarium tamen, proconsulari solitum offerri et quibusdam a se ipso concessum, Agricolae non dedit: sive offensus non petitum, sive ex conscientia, ne, quod vetuerat, videretur emisse. Proprium humani ingenii est, odisse quem laeseris: Domitiani vero natura praeceps in iram, et quo obscurior, eo irrevocabilior, moderatione tamen prudentiaque Agricolae leniebatur: quia non contumacia neque inani jactatione libertatis famam fatumque provocabat. Sciant. quibus moris illicita mirari, posse etiam sub malis principibus magnos viros esse: obsequiumque ac modestiam, si industria ac vigor adsint, eo laudis excedere, quo plerique per abrupta, sed in nullum reipublicae usum, ambitiosa morte inclaruerunt. XLIII. Finis vitae ejus nobis luctuosus, amicis tristis, extraneis etiam ignotisque non sine cura fuit. Vulgus quoque et hic aliud agens populus et ventitavere ad domum, et per fora et circulos locuti sunt: nec quisquam audita morte Agricolae aut laetatus est aut statim oblitus. Augebat miserationem constans rumor, veneno interceptum. Nobis nihil comperti affirmare ausim: ceterum per omnem valetudinem ejus, crebrius quam ex more principatus per nuntios visentis, et libertorum primi et medicorum intimi venere: sive cura illud sive inquisitio erat. Supremo quidem die, momenta deficientis per dispositos cursores nuntiata constabat, nullo credente sic accelerari, quae tristis audiret. Speciem tamen doloris animo vultuque prae se tulit, securus jam odii, et qui facilius dissimularet gaudium, quam metum. Satis constabat, lecto testamento Agricolae, quo cohaeredem optimae uxori et piissimae filiae Domitianum scripsit, laetatum eum velut honore judicioque: tam caeca et corrupta mens assiduis adulationibus erat, ut nesciret a bono patre non scribi haeredem, nisi malum principem. XLIV. Natus erat Agricola, Caio Caesare tertium consule, Idibus Juniis: excessit sexto et quinquagesimo anno, decimo Kalendas Septembris, Collega Priscoque consulibus. Quod si habitum quoque ejus posteri noscere velint, decentior quam sublimior fuit; nihil metus in vultu, gratia oris supererat bonum virum facile crederes, magnum libenter. Et ipse quidem, quanquam medio in spatio integrae aetatis ereptus, quantum ad gloriam, longissimum aevum peregit. Quippe et vera bona, quae in virtutibus sita sunt, impleverat, et consulari ac triumphalibus ornamentis praedito, quid aliud adstruere fortuna poterat? Opibus nimiis non gaudebat; speciosae contigerant. Filia atque uxore superstitibus, potest videri etiam beatus; incolumi dignitate, florente fama, salvis affinitatibus et amicitiis, futura effugisse. Nam sicuti durare in hac beatissimi saeculi luce ac principem Trajanum videre, quod augurio votisque apud nostras aures ominabatur, ita festinatae mortis grande solatium tulit, evasisse postremum illud tempus, quo Domitianus non jam per intervalla ac spiramenta temporum, sed continuo et velut uno ictu rempublicam exhausit. XLV. Non vidit Agricola obsessam curiam, et clausum armis senatum, et eadem strage tot consularium caedes, tot nobilissimarum feminarum exsilia et fugas. Una adhuc victoria Carus Metius censebatur, et intra Albanam arcem sententia Messalini strepebat, et Massa Bebius jam tum reus erat. Mox nostrae duxere Helvidium in carcerem manus: nos Maurici Rusticique visus, nos innocenti sanguine Senecio perfudit. Nero tamen subtraxit oculos jussitque scelera, non spectavit: praecipua sub Domitiano miseriarum pars erat videre et aspici: cum suspiria nostra subscriberentur; cum denotandis tot hominum palloribus sufficeret saevus ille vultus et rubor, quo se contra pudorem muniebat. Tu vero felix, Agricola, non vitae tantum claritate, sed etiam opportunitate mortis. Ut perhibent qui interfuerunt novissimis sermonibus tuis, constans et libens fatum excepisti; tanquam pro virili portione innocentiam principi donares. Sed mihi filiaeque ejus, praeter acerbitatem parentis erepti, auget moestitiam, quod assidere valetudini, fovere deficientem, satiari vultu, complexu, non contigit: excepissemus certe mandata vocesque, quas penitus animo figeremus. Noster hic dolor, nostrum vulnus: nobis tam longae absentiae conditione ante quadriennium amissus est. Omnia sine dubio, optime parentum, assidente amantissima uxore, superfuere honori tuo: paucioribus tamen lacrimis compositus es, et novissima in luce desideravere aliquid oculi tui. XLVI. Si quis piorum manibus locus, si, ut sapientibus placet, non cum corpore exstinguuntur magnae animae, placide quiescas, nosque, domum tuam, ab infirmo desiderio et muliebribus lamentis ad contemplationem virtutum tuarum voces, quas neque lugeri neque plangi fas est: admiratione te potius, te immortalibus laudibus, et, si natura suppeditet, similitudine decoremus. Is verus honos, ea conjunctissimi cujusque pietas. Id filiae quoque uxorique praeceperim, sic patris, sic mariti memoriam venerari, ut omnia facta dictaque ejus secum revolvant, formamque ac figuram animi magis quam corporis complectantur: non quia intercedendum putem imaginibus, quae marmore aut aere finguntur; sed ut vultus hominum, ita simulacra vultus imbecilla ac mortalia sunt; forma mentis aeterna, quam tenere et exprimere non per alienam materiam et artem, sed tuis ipse moribus possis. Quidquid ex Agricola amavimus, quidquid mirati sumus, manet mansurumque est in animis hominum, in aeternitate temporum, fama rerum. Nam multos veterum, velut inglorios, et ignobiles, oblivio obruet: Agricola posteritati narratus et traditus superstes erit. NOTES TABLE OF ABBREVIATIONS. Several words, which occur most frequently in the Notes, are abbreviated. Of these the following classes may require explanation. The other abbreviations are either familiar or sufficiently obvious of themselves. 1. WORKS OF TACITUS. A. Agricola. Ann. Annals. G. Germania. H. Histories. T. Tacitus. 2. ANNOTATORS CITED AS AUTHORITIES. Br. Brotier. D. or Dod. Doderlein. Dr. Dronke. E. Ernesti. Gr. Gruber. Gun. Gunther. K. Kiessling. Ky. Kingsley. Mur. Murphy. Or. Orelli. Pass. Passow. R. Roth. Rhen. Rhenanus. Rit. Ritter. Rup. Ruperti. W. Walch. Wr. Walther. 3. OTHER AUTHORITIES. H. Harkness' Latin Grammar. Beck. Gall. Becker's Gallus. Bot. Lex. Tac. Botticher's Lexicon Taciteun. For. and Fac. Forcellini and Facciolati's Latin Lexicon. Tur. His. Ang. Sax. Turner's History of the Anglo-Saxons. Z. Zumpt's Latin Grammar. GERMANIA. The Treatise DE SITU, MORIBUS ET POPULIS GERMANIAE, was written (as appears from the treatise itself see § 37) in the second consulship of the Emperor Trajan, A.U.C. 851, A.D. 98. The design of the author in its publication has been variously interpreted. From the censure which it frequently passes upon the corruption and degeneracy of the times, it has been considered as a mere satire upon Roman manners, in the age of Tacitus. But to say nothing of the ill adaptation of the whole plan to a satirical work, there are large parts of the treatise, which must have been prepared with great labor, and yet can have no possible bearing on such a design. Satires are not wont to abound in historical notices and geographical details, especially touching a foreign and distant land. The same objection lies against the _political_ ends, which have been imputed to the author, such as the persuading of Trajan to engage, or _not_ to engage, in a war with the Germans, as the most potent and dangerous enemy of Rome. For both these aims have been alleged, and we might content ourselves with placing the one as an offset against the other. But aside from the neutralizing force of such contradictions, wherefore such an imposing array of geographical research, of historical lore, of political and moral philosophy, for the accomplishment of so simple a purpose? And why is the purpose so scrupulously concealed, that confessedly it can be gathered only from obscure intimations, and those of ambiguous import? Besides, there are passages whose tendency must have been directly counter to either of these alleged aims (cf. note § 33). The author does indeed, in the passage just cited, seem to appreciate with almost prophetic accuracy, those dangers to the Roman Empire, which were so fearfully illustrated in its subsequent fall beneath the power of the German Tribes; and he utters, as what true Roman would not in such forebodings, the warnings and the prayers of a patriot sage. But he does this only in episodes, which are so manifestly incidental, and yet arise so naturally out of the narrative or description, that it is truly surprising it should ever have occurred to any reader, to seek in them the key to the whole treatise. The entire warp and woof of the work is obviously _historical_ and _geographical_. The satire, the political maxims, the moral sentiments, and all the rest, are merely incidental, interwoven for the sake of instruction and embellishment, inwrought because a mind so thoughtful and so acute as that of Tacitus, could not leave them out. Tacitus had long been collecting the materials for his Roman Histories. In so doing, his attention was necessarily drawn often and with special interest to a people, who, for two centuries and more, had been the most formidable enemy of the Roman State. In introducing them into his history, he would naturally wish to give some preliminary account of their origin, manners, and institutions, as he does in introducing the Jews in the Fifth Book of his Histories, which happens to be, in part, preserved. Nor would it be strange, if he should, with this view, collect a mass of materials, which he could not incorporate entire into a work of such compass, and which any slight occasion might induce him to publish in a separate form, perhaps as a sort of forerunner to his Histories. [It has even been argued by highly respectable scholars, that the Germania of Tacitus is itself only such a collection of materials, not published by the Author, and never intended for publication in that form. But it is quite too methodical, too studied, and too finished a work to admit of that supposition (cf. Prolegom. of K.).] Such an occasion now was furnished in the campaigns and victories of Trajan, who, at the time of his elevation to the imperial power, was at the head of the Roman armies in Germany, where he also remained for a year or more after his accession to the throne, till he had received the submission of the hostile tribes and wiped away the disgrace which the Germans, beyond any other nation of that age, had brought upon the Roman arms. Such a people, at such a time, could not fail to be an object of deep interest at Rome. This was the time when Tacitus published his work on Germany; and such are believed to have been the motives and the circumstances, which led to the undertaking. His grand object was not to point a satire or to compass a political end, but as he himself informs us (§ 27), to treat of the origin and manners, the geography and history, of the German Tribes. The same candor and sincerity, the same correctness and truthfulness, which characterize the Histories, mark also the work on Germany. The author certainly aimed to speak the truth, and nothing but the truth, on the subject of which he treats. Moreover, he had abundant means of knowing the truth, on all the main points, in the character and history of the Germans. It has even been argued from such expression as _vidimus_ (§ 8), that Tacitus had himself been in Germany, and could, therefore, write from personal observation. Bnt the argument proceeds on a misinterpretation of his language (cf. note in _loc. cit_.). And the use of _accepimus_ (as in § 27), shows that he derived his information from others. But the Romans had been in constant intercourse and connection, civil or military, with the Germans, for two hundred years. Germany furnished a wide theatre for their greatest commanders, and a fruitful theme for their best authors, some of whom, as Julius Caesar (to whom Tacitus particularly refers, 28), were themselves the chief actors in what they relate. These authors, some of whose contributions to the history of Germany are now lost (e.g. the elder Pliny, who wrote twenty books on the German wars), must have all been in the hands of Tacitus, and were, doubtless, consulted by him; not, however, as a servile copyist, or mere compiler (for he sometimes differs from his authorities, from Caesar even, whom he declares to be the best of them), but as a discriminating and judicious inquirer. The account of German customs and institutions may, therefore, be relied on, from the intrinsic credibility of the author. It receives confirmation, also, from its general accordance with other early accounts of the Germans, and with their better known subsequent history, as well as from its strong analogy to the well-known habits of our American aborigines, and other tribes in a like stage of civilization (cf. note, § 15). The geographical details are composed with all the accuracy which the ever-shifting positions and relations of warring and wandering tribes rendered possible in the nature of the case (cf. note, § 28). In sentiment, the treatise is surpassingly rich and instructive, like all the works of this prince of philosophical historians. In style, it is concise and nervous, yet quite rhetorical, and in parts, even poetical to a fault (see notes passim, cf. also, Monboddo's critique on the style of Tacitus). "The work," says La Bletterie, "is brief without being superficial. Within the compass of a few pages, it comprises more of ethics and politics, more fine delineations of character, more substance and pith (_suc_), than can be collected from many a ponderous volume. It is not one of those barely agreeable descriptions, which gradually diffuse their influence over the soul, and leave it in undisturbed tranquillity. It is a picture in strong light, like the subject itself, full of fire, of sentiment, of lightning-flashes, that go at once to the heart. We imagine ourselves in Germany; we become familiar with these so-called barbarians; we pardon their faults, and almost their vices, out of regard to their virtues; and in our moments of enthusiasm, we even wish we were Germans." The following remarks of Murphy will illustrate the value of the treatise, to modern Europeans and their descendants. "It is a draught of savage manners, delineated by a masterly hand; the more interesting, as the part of the world which it describes was the seminary of the modern European nations, the VAGINA GENTIUM, as historians have emphatically called it. The work is short but, as Montesquieu observes, it is the work of a man who abridged every thing, because he knew every thing. A thorough knowledge of the transactions of barbarous ages, will throw more light than is generally imagined on the laws of modern times. Wherever the barbarians, who issued from their northern hive, settled in new habitations, they carried with them their native genius, their original manners, and the first rudiments of the political system which has prevailed in different parts of Europe. They established monarchy and liberty, subordination and freedom, the prerogative of the prince and the rights of the subject, all united in so bold a combination, that the fabric, in some places, stands to this hour the wonder of mankind. The British constitution, says Montesquieu, came out of the woods of Germany. What the state of this country (Britain) was before the arrival of our Saxon ancestors, Tacitus has shown in the life of Agricola. If we add to his account of the Germans and Britons, what has been transmitted to us, concerning them, by Julius Caesar, we shall see the origin of the Anglo-Saxon government, the great outline of that Gothic constitution under which the people enjoy their rights and liberties at this hour. Montesquieu, speaking of his own country, declares it impossible to form an adequate notion of the French monarchy, and the changes of their government, without a previous inquiry into the manners, genius, and spirit of the German nations. Much of what was incorporated with the institutions of those fierce invaders, has flowed down in the stream of time, and still mingles with our modern jurisprudence. The subject, it is conceived, is interesting to every Briton. In the manners of the Germans, the reader will see our present frame of government, as it were, in its cradle, _gentis cunabula nostrae_! in the Germans themselves, a fierce and warlike people, to whom this country owes that spirit of liberty, which, through so many centuries, has preserved our excellent form of government, and raised the glory of the British nation:          ------Genus unde Latinum,     Albanique patres, atque altae     moenia Romae." CHAP. I. _Germania_ stands first as the emphatic word, and is followed by _omnis_ for explanation. _Germania omnis_ here does not include Germania Prima and Secunda, which were Roman provinces on the left bank of the Rhine (so called because settled by Germans). It denotes _Germany proper_, as a _whole_, in distinction from the provinces just mentioned and from the several tribes, of which Tacitus treats in the latter part of the work. So Caesar (B.G. 1,1) uses _Gallia omnis_, as exclusive of the Roman provinces called Gaul and inclusive of the three _parts_, which he proceeds to specify. _Gallis--Pannoniis_. People used for the countries. Cf. His. 5,6: _Phoenices. Gaul_, now France; _Rhaetia_, the country of the Grisons and the Tyrol, with part of Bavaria; _Pannonia_, lower Hungary and part of Austria. Germany was separated from Gaul by the Rhine; from Rhaetia and Pannonia, by the Danube.--_Rheno et Danubio_. Rhine and Rhone are probably different forms of the same root (Rh-n). Danube, in like manner, has the same root as Dnieper (Dn-p); perhaps also the same as Don and Dwina (D-n). Probably each of these roots was originally a generic name for river, water, stream. So there are several _Avons_ in England and Scotland. Cf. Latham's Germania sub voc. _Sarmatis Dacisque_. The Slavonic Tribes were called Sarmatians by the ancients. _Sarmatia_ included the country north of the Carpathian Mountains, between the Vistula and the Don in Europe, together with the adjacent part of Asia, without any definite limits towards the north, which was terra incognita to the ancients--in short, Sarmatia was _Russia_, as far as known at that time. _Dacia_ lay between the Carpathian mountains on the north, and the Danube on the south, including Upper Hungary, Transylvania, Wallachia, and Moldavia. _Mutuo metu_. Rather a poetical boundary! Observe also the alliteration. At the same time, the words are not a bad description of those wide and solitary wastes, which, as Caesar informs us (B.G. 6, 23), the Germans delighted to interpose between themselves and other nations, so that it might appear that _no one dared to dwell near them.--Montibus_. The Carpathian.--_Cetera_. Ceteram Germaniae partem. _Sinus_. This word denotes any thing with a curved outline (cf. 29, also A. 23); hence bays, peninsulas, and prominent bends or borders, whether of land or water. Here _peninsulas_ (particularly that of Jutland, now Denmark), for it is to the author's purpose here to speak of land rather than water, and the ocean is more properly said to _embrace peninsulas_, than _gulfs_ and _bays_. Its association with _islands_ here favors the same interpretation. So Passow, Or., Rit. Others, with less propriety, refer it to the _gulfs_ and _bays_, which so mark the Baltic and the German Oceans.--_Oceanus_ here, includes both the Baltic Sea, and the German Ocean (Oceanus Septentrionalis). _Insularum--spatia. Islands of vast extent_, viz. Funen, Zealand, &c. Scandinavia also (now Sweden and Norway) was regarded by the ancients as an island, cf. Plin. Nat. His. iv. 27: quarum (insularum) clarissima Scandinavia est, incompertae magnitudinis. _Nuper--regibus_. Understand with this clause _ut compertum est_. The above mentioned features of the Northern Ocean had been _discovered_ in the prosecution of the late wars, of the Romans, among the tribes and kings previously unknown. _Nuper_ is to be taken in a general sense==recentioribus temporibus, cf. _nuper additum_, § 2, where it goes back one hundred and fifty years to the age of Julius Caesar.--_Bellum_. War in general, no particular war.--_Versus_. This word has been considered by some as an adverb, and by others as a preposition. It is better however to regard it as a participle, like _ortus_, with which it is connected, though without a conjunction expressed. Ritter omits _in_. _Molli et clementer edito. Of gentle slope and moderate elevation_ in studied antithesis to _inaccesso ac praecipiti, lofty and steep_. In like manner, _jugo, ridge, summit_, is contrasted with _vertice, peak, height_, cf. Virg. Ecl. 9, 7: _molli clivo_; Ann. 17, 38: _colles clementer assurgentes_. The _Rhaetian_ Alps, now the mountains of the Grisons. _Alp_ is a Celtic word==hill. _Albion_ has the same root==_hilly country. Mons Abnoba_ (al. Arnoba) is the northern part of the Schwartzwald, or Black Forest.--_Erumpat_, al. erumpit. But the best MSS. and all the recent editions have _erumpat_: and Tacitus never uses the pres. ind. after _donec, until_, cf. Rup. & Rit. in loc. Whenever he uses the present after _donec, until_, he seems to have conceived the relation of the two clauses, which it connects, as that of a means to an end, or a condition to a result, and hence to have used the subj. cf. chap. 20: _separet_; 31: _absolvat_; 35: _sinuetur_; Ann. 2, 6: _misceatur_. The two examples last cited, like this, describe the course of a river and boundary line. For the general rule of the modes after _donec_, see H. 522; Z. 575. See also notes H. 1, 13. 35.--_Septimum_. According to the common understanding, the Danube had _seven_ mouths. So Strabo, Mela, Ammian, and Ovid; Pliny makes six. T. reconciles the two accounts. The _enim_ inserted after _septimum_ in most editions is not found in the best mss. and is unnecessary. Or. & Rit. omit it. II. _Ipsos_ marks the transition from the country to the people--_the Germans themselves_. So A. 13: _Ipsi Britanni_. _Crediderim_. Subj. attice. A modest way of expressing his opinion, like our: I should say, I am inclined to think. H. 486, I. 3; Z. 527. _Adventibus et hospitiis. Immigrants and visitors. Adventibus_ certae sedes, _hospitiis_ preregrinationes significantur. Gun. Both abstract for concrete. Dod. compares [Greek: epoikoi] and [Greek: metoikoi]. _Terra--advehebantur_. Zeugma for _terra adveniebant_, classibus advehebantur. H. 704, I. 2; Z. 775. _Nec--et_. These correlatives connect the members more closely than et--et; as in Greek oute-te. The sentiment here advanced touching colonization (as by sea, rather than by land), though true of Carthage, Sicily, and most _Grecian_, colonies, is directly the reverse of the general fact; and Germany itself is now known to have received its population by land emigration, from western Asia. The Germans, as we learn from affinities of languages and occasional references of historians and geographers, belonged to the same great stock of the human family with the Goths and Scythians, and may be traced back to that hive of nations, that primitive residence of mankind, the country east and south of the Caspian Sea and in the vicinity of Mount Ararat: cf. Tur. His. Ang. Sax. B. II. C. 1; also Donaldson's New Cratylus, B. I. Chap. 4. Latham's dogmatic skepticism will hardly shake the now established faith on this subject. The science of ethnography was unknown to the ancients. Tacitus had not the remotest idea, that all mankind were sprung from a common ancestry, and diffused themselves over the world from a common centre, a fact asserted in the Scriptures, and daily receiving fresh confirmation from literature and science. Hence he speaks of the Germans as _indigenas_, which he explains below by _editum terra_, sprung from the earth, like the mutum et turpe pecus of Hor. Sat. 1. 3, 100. cf. A. 11. _Mutare quaerebant. Quaerere_ with inf. is poet. constr., found, however, in later prose writers, and once in Cic. (de Fin. 313: quaeris scire, enclosed in brackets in Tauchnitz's edition), to avoid repetition of _cupio_. _Cupio_ or _volo mutare_ would be regular classic prose. _Adversus_. That the author here uses _adversus_ in some unusual and recondite sense, is intimated by the clause: _ut sic dixerim_. It is understood by some, of a sea _unfriendly to navigation_. But its connexion by _que_ with _immensus ultra_, shows that it refers to _position_, and means _lying opposite_, i.e., belonging, as it were, to another hemisphere or world from ours; for so the Romans regarded the Northern Ocean and Britain itself, cf. A 12: ultra _nostri orbis_ mensuram; G. 17: _exterior_ oceanus. So Cic. (Som. Scip. 6.) says: Homines partim obliquos, partim aversos, partim etiam _adversos_, stare vobis. This interpretation is confirmed by _ab orbe nostra_ in the antithesis. On the use of _ut sic dixerim_ for _ut sic dicam_, which is peculiar to the silver age, see Z. 528. _Asia_, sc. Minor. _Africa_, sc. the Roman Province of that name, comprising the territory of Carthage.--_Peteret_. The question implies a negative answer, cf. Z. 530. The subj. implies a protasis understood: if he could, or the like. H. 502.