Agricola Dies! 23rd August A.D. 93

Gnaeus Iulius Agricola-
Bath (Victorian representation)

Death of Agricola-August 23rd A.D. 93.

1,925 years ago, on the 23rd August, Gnaeus Iulius Agricola died. His death would probably have gone completely unrecorded but for his son-in-law, Cornelius Tacitus, making a note of it in his writing. The reference to Agricola’s death in De Vita et Moribus Iulii Agricola isn’t extensive but what is written is highly important because it points to a potentially suspicious end to the man who was the general in charge of the invasions of northern Britannia.

Agricola is briefly mentioned in the first books of my Celtic Fervour Series, initially as being the commander of Legio XX under the Governorship of Petilius Cerialis, and secondly as being the Governor of Britannia himself by c. A.D 78. When Agricola returned to Britannia c. A.D. 78, as Governor of Britannia, Commander of the Britannic legions and the Classis Britannica he was determined to conquer the whole of the island. In After Whorl: Donning Double Cloaks, Book 3 of my Celtic Fervour Series, Agricola is the driving force of my character Gaius Livanus Valerius, a senior tribune of the Legio XX.

In Book 4 of my series, Agricola’s Bane, now a stage closer to publication, Agricola is one of my main characters. It has been a difficult task and yet a wholehearted pleasure to attempt to get into the head of this man who was a complex invader. Total conquest was his aim yet Tacitus gives us a hint of the nature of General Agricola.

Tacitus may well have been glossing over any faults in his father-in-law. He may well have been highly exaggerating any triumphs and conquests that Agricola had in northern Britannia. But sadly, his work is all we have to chart the life of this dedicated man who was perhaps an unusual high ranking soldier of his time.  

Cornelius Tacitus
from an early lithograph

Agricola was instrumental in leading his armies, often in the vanguard according to Tacitus, into barbarian uncharted territory.  It seems clear from Tacitus that although perhaps not the most aggressive of military leaders, Agricola was not afraid of confrontational situations with hostile enemies. It’s also notable that Tacitus credits Agricola as being a very astute and competent Governor of Britannia in that his civic impositions were intended to be adhered to in a fair and just manner. He had spent some time in earlier political posts, e.g. as Quaestor in Asia Province and had learned that corruption was rife. Tacitus infers that Agricola abhorred the practice and was determined to avoid having underhand practices in Britannia.

If Tacitus was not over glossing Agricola’s attributes, then the man was a complex leader, he was more than a military invader and portraying him in Agricola’s Bane had been a challenge. We may never find out exactly what Agricola was like but archaeology is unearthing more and more details of his conquest year by year. The domination of what is now southern Scotland seems a bit earlier than first thought by the amateur historians over the last centuries. It may well have been Agricola who DID march his Legio XX soldiers over the border hills under the governorship of Petillius Cerialis. By the time Agricola marched all the way to north-east Scotland, probably around A.D. 84, he had laid down sufficient traces of his determined attempt to subdue all in his path.

By late A.D. 84 or early A.D. 85, Agricola was in an unenviable position. He had been Governor of Britannia for more years than most of his predecessors. As far as the archaeological records presently record, seven summer campaigns weren’t quite enough for Agricola to have left a trail of temporary camp evidence north of Inverness. I, personally, have little doubt that one more year would have seen him dominating that most northerly area of Scotland as well. (and perhaps he did and we just don't know it yet) 

Emperor Domitian recalling him to Rome at such a juncture in his career leaves so many unanswered questions, some of which I’ve attempted to answer in Agricola’s Bane. Whether, or not, Agricola fell foul of Domitian displeasure Agricola was back in Rome by A.D. 85. Tacitus does tell us that Agricola received triumphal honours, and an official statue was erected (probably lost in antiquity) but there are nuances in the writing that make it seem a grudging acknowledgement on the part of Domitian.

It’s quite an amazing fact that Agricola held no further high office after his return from Britannia at approx. 44 years old. His reasons for refusing the post of Governor of the Province of Africa are unknown. What is recorded elsewhere is that the political situation around the Emperor Domitian was highly volatile. Perhaps Agricola was miffed that he had been recalled from Britannia before his conquest was complete. Perhaps he no longer wished to be surrounded by political corruption. Perhaps he was just tired after a life of being on a campaign trail.

Tacitus relates nothing of Agricola’s actual feelings, but that isn’t too surprising since Tacitus was likely to have been elsewhere around the empire during the approximately eight years that Agricola spent in retirement at his family estates in Gallia Narbonensis (Frejus in modern France).

Recent statue-Frejus, France
Wikimedia Commons

It does seem suspicious that after being in retirement at a reasonable distance from Rome Agricola would have had visits from doctors in the employ of Domitian prior to his death –a rumour that circulated after the death of Agricola.

As a born and bred Scot, I’m torn between admiring the man for his determined attempts to subdue the native Caledons and the other tribes of Scotland, but I’m also glad he did not succeed. However, that doesn’t stop me from wondering what Scotland would be like now if he had successfully converted his temporary camps into stone built forts and fortresses and that Rome hadn’t dismantled the barely begun legionary supply fortress of Inchtuthil.

And then again, there is also the wonderful prospect that I now have so much still to learn via the archaeological record to mull over!

Slainthe!