#A2ZChallenge V is for Victory

V is for Victory - 
But no proper triumphus for Agricola?

Theme: Ancient Roman Scotland during the Flavian era

Ancient Roman Emperor Augustus set a precedent for full triumphal honours to celebrate great victories over the enemies of Rome. The conditions were strict in that the full triumphus could only be given to a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Essentially only emperors, or their family members, could benefit from the elaborate ceremonial triumphal march into, and through, Rome at the head of their army/ armies. A triumphal arch was generally built in honor of that emperor. Sadly only 3 out of of 36 such arches in Rome have survived, with some dedicated reconstruction. However, the ruins of numerous other arches erected throughout the Roman Empire can be visited. The remaining 3 arches in Rome were built in honour of Titus, Severus and Constantine. 

Arch of Titus - Wikimedia Commons

The Arch of Titus (above) that we can see today was reconstructed in the 18th century from the remains of the original inner arch and the inscription above built c. A.D. 82 by his brother Domitian after the death of Titus. The arch was to commemorate Titus' victories, including the siege of Jerusalem in A.D. 70 which took place shortly after their father Vespasian become the emperor. 

**This site has an incredibly busy painting of the Triumphal Entry to Rome of Emperor Vespasian. I'm not sure of the copyright of displaying the painting on this blog but one click HERE will get you the image. **

Generals who had conducted themselves victoriously, and who were not related to the emperor, were awarded insignia triumphalia, special ornamentation to indicate their triumphant success. They could wear their ornamentation along with a specials toga styles which were generally only worn by the emperor, or the main consuls/magistrates in Rome.

A public acknowledgement was granted in the form of a bronze statue of the recipient of the triumphal honours which had pride of place in the Forum of Augustus in Rome.

Nancy Jardine 

Unfortunately these honours fell out of use in the time of Emperor Tiberius but Emperor Vespasian reinstated them – possibly because Vespasian had received the awards from Emperor Claudius for his triumphs after the Claudian invasion of Britannia.

And what about General Gnaeus Iulius Agricola?

Agricola was recalled to Rome probably in early A.D. 85. According to the writings of Cornelius Tacitus, Agricola had been in post as Governor of Britannia for twice as  long as most of his predecessors. There were possibly many opportunities for Agricola to deserve a triumph during his career but the main one regularly quoted would have been Agricola’s triumph over the Caledonian allies at the Battle of Mons Graupius. If a battle took place as Tacitus describes where Agricola’s forces slaughtered some 10,000 Caledonians while he only lost 360 of his own men, mainly Roman auxiliary troops,  then that would certainly qualify as a triumphal honour for Agricola.

The aftermath of the said battle seems to be somewhat hazy in Tacitus’ Agricola. Tacitus makes no mention of the usual treaties being signed; makes no mention of the typical formal march of large numbers of high ranking captives to Rome. What Tacitus does write is that after marching his troops to north-east Scotland, Agricola was then recalled to Rome by Emperor Domitian in c. early A.D. 85. Tacitus then makes it clear that under Agricola the ‘whole of Caledonia’ was in the grasp of Rome but then on his recall ‘let go’.

Frejus - France 
(Gallia Narbonensis)
Wikimedia Commons

Tacitus goes on to say that Agricola returned to Rome unobtrusively at night. Emperor Domitian is said to have awarded Agricola insignia triumphalia, and a statue was erected in his honour but the intriguing thing is that Agricola never held any other military or political post after his return to Rome. It was written that Domitian offered Agricola the Governorship of Africa but Agricola is said to have declined. Why this was so will probably never be known. There is also no record of a statue to Agricola that's been found in Rome. 

Agricola returned to his estates in Gallia Narbonensis (Frejus, near Marseilles in France) and died there at the age of 53. According to the ancient writer Cassius Dio, Emperor Domitian showed great disfavour towards Agricola since Agricola had been too successful during his many campaigns in Britannia. Domitian, on the other hand, hadn’t been successful at all in Lower Germania, even after he had requested huge numbers of Troops stationed in Britannia be transferred to Germany to help quell the unrest of the Chatti. Domitian recalled even more troops of the Legio II Adiutrix from Britannia to help him during his Dacian wars. Cassius Dio wrote that Emperor Domitian’s disfavour of Agricola might even have gone so far as to have Agricola poisoned, but there seems to be no proper evidence for this.

Had Emperor Vespasian not died in A.D. 79 then who knows what more Agricola might have achieved in northern Britannia?

Agricola , Bath -Wikimedia Commons 

 It’s unclear if Vespasian’s successor, his elder son Titus, would have given Agricola the resources he needed to completely ensure capitulation of the northern Caledonian tribes. Titus, having had real experience in the field as commander of a legion, might have continued to support Agricola in Britannia. and Titus may well have given Agricola the best possible honours since Titus had an arch built in his honour (albeit much later than the events had happened) However, Titus’ short reign of less than two years ended when he died in A.D. 81.

Domitian seems to have begun the withdrawal of troops from Britannia almost immediately after his accession to emperor, which probably annoyed Agricola greatly since he had been making such good progress in controlling more and more of Britannia.

There may be no record of a statue of Agricola in Rome but there is a statue of Agricola in Bath, England. Not very old, since it was erected in late Victorian times (end 19th Century) but it acknowledges that Agricola spent most of his military and political career in Britannia. 

My #Celtic Fervour Series is roughly, and geographically, based on the campaigns of Agricola though it's mainly told via the perspectives of my Late Iron Age warrior clan members from the Hillfort of Garrigill. I wanted to write about what happened to relatively ordinary people of the time, not the kings or queens, when the legions of Ancient Rome descended on their territorial lands. My clan members fight battles against the Roman legions but when death, or being subsumed into the Roman Empire against their will, is inevitable they flee northwards. As the forces of General Agricola plough northwards into Caledonia my clan warriors are one step ahead.

Agricola becomes an important character in #4 of the series Agricola's Bane.  He also features for a time in what is intended to be the last book of the series - Beathan the Brigante.

Agricola may have seemed victorious in Caledonia but was that always true? My fiction series says ...maybe not always!

Till tomorrow and another #A2ZChallenge post...
Slainthe! 

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Arch_of_titus_2.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Statue_of_Agricola_at_Bath.jpg