Cnaeus Julius Agricola was born at the ancient and illustrious colony
of Forum Julii. Both his grandfathers were imperial procurators, an
office which confers the rank of equestrian nobility. His father,
Julius Graecinus, of the senatorian order, was famous for the study of
eloquence and philosophy; and by these accomplishments he drew on
himself the displeasure of Caius Caesar,[133] for, being commanded to
undertake the accusation of Marcus Silanus--on his refusal, he was
put to death. His mother was Julia Procilla, a lady of exemplary
chastity. Educated with tenderness in her bosom, he passed his
childhood and youth in the attainment of every liberal art. He was
preserved from the allurements of vice, not only by a naturally good
disposition, but by being sent very early to pursue his studies at
Massilia;[134] a place where Grecian politeness and provincial
frugality are happily united. I remember he was used to relate, that
in his early youth he should have engaged with more ardor in
philosophical speculation than was suitable to a Roman and a senator,
had not the prudence of his mother restrained the warmth and vehemence
of his disposition: for his lofty and upright spirit, inflamed by the
charms of glory and exalted reputation, led him to the pursuit with
more eagerness than discretion. Reason and riper years tempered his
warmth; and from the study of wisdom, he retained what is most
difficult to compass--moderation.
He learned the rudiments of war in Britain, under Suetonius Paulinus,
an active and prudent commander, who chose him for his tent companion,
in order to form an estimate of his merit. Nor did Agricola, like many
young men, who convert military service into wanton pastime, avail
himself licentiously or slothfully of his tribunitial title, or his
inexperience, to spend his time in pleasures and absences from duty;
but he employed himself in gaining a knowledge of the country, making
himself known to the army, learning from the experienced, and
imitating the best; neither pressing to be employed through vainglory,
nor declining it through timidity; and performing his duty with equal
solicitude and spirit. At no other time in truth was Britain more
agitated or in a state of greater uncertainty. Our veterans
slaughtered, our colonies burned, our armies cut off--we were then
contending for safety, afterward for victory. During this period,
altho all things were transacted under the conduct and direction of
another, and the stress of the whole, as well as the glory of
recovering the province, fell to the general's share, yet they
imparted to the young Agricola skill, experience, and incentives; and
the passion for military glory entered his soul; a passion ungrateful
to the times, in which eminence was unfavorably construed, and a great
reputation was no less dangerous than a bad one.
Departing thence to undertake the offices of magistracy in Rome, he
married Domitia Decidiana, a lady of illustrious descent, from which
connection he derived credit and support in his pursuit of greater
things. They lived together in admirable harmony and mutual affection;
each giving the preference to the other; a conduct equally laudable in
both, except that a greater degree of praise is due to a good wife, in
proportion as a bad one deserves the greater censure. The lot of
questorship gave him Asia for his province, and the proconsul Salvius
Titianus[135] for his superior; by neither of which circumstances was
he corrupted, altho the province was wealthy and open to plunder, and
the proconsul, from his rapacious disposition, would readily have
agreed to a mutual concealment of guilt. His family was there
increased by the birth of a daughter, who was both the support of his
house, and his consolation; for he lost an elder-born son in
infancy....
On his return from commanding the legion he was raised by Vespasian to
the patrician order, and then invested with the government of
Aquitania, a distinguished promotion, both in respect to the office
itself, and the hopes of the consulate to which it destined him. It is
a common supposition that military men, habituated to the unscrupulous
and summary processes of camps, where things are carried with a strong
hand, are deficient in the address and subtlety of genius requisite in
civil jurisdiction. Agricola, however, by his natural prudence, was
enabled to act with facility and precision even among civilians. He
distinguished the hours of business from those of relaxation. When the
court or tribunal demanded his presence, he was grave, intent, awful,
yet generally inclined to lenity. When the duties of his office were
over, the man of power was instantly laid aside. Nothing of sternness,
arrogance, or rapaciousness appeared; and, what was a singular
felicity, his affability did not impair his authority, nor his
severity render him less beloved. To mention integrity and freedom
from corruption in such a man, would be an affront to his virtues. He
did not even court reputation, an object to which men of worth
frequently sacrifice, by ostentation or artifice: equally avoiding
competition with his colleagues, and contention with the procurators.
To overcome in such a contest he thought inglorious; and to be put
down, a disgrace. Somewhat less than three years were spent in this
office, when he was recalled to the immediate prospect of the
consulate; while at the same time a popular opinion prevailed that the
government of Britain would be conferred upon him; an opinion not
founded upon any suggestions of his own, but upon his being thought
equal to the station. Common fame does not always err, sometimes it
even directs a choice. When Consul,[136] he contracted his daughter, a
lady already of the happiest promise, to myself, then a very young
man; and after his office was expired I received her in marriage. He
was immediately appointed governor of Britain, and the pontificate was
added to his other dignities....
His decease was a severe affliction to his family, a grief to his
friends, and a subject of regret even to foreigners, and those who had
no personal knowledge of him. The common people too, and the class who
little interest themselves about public concerns, were frequent in
their inquiries at his house during his sickness, and made him the
subject of conversation at the forum and in private circles; nor did
any person either rejoice at the news of his death, or speedily forget
it. Their commiseration was aggravated by a prevailing report that he
was taken off by poison. I can not venture to affirm anything certain
of this matter; yet, during the whole course of his illness, the
principal of the imperial freedmen and the most confidential of the
physicians was sent much more frequently than was customary with a
court whose visits were chiefly paid by messages; whether that was
done out of real solicitude, or for the purposes of state inquisition.
On the day of his decease, it is certain that accounts of his
approaching dissolution were every instant transmitted to the emperor
by couriers stationed for the purpose; and no one believed that the
information, which so much pains was taken to accelerate, could be
received with regret. He put on, however, in his countenance and
demeanor, the semblance of grief: for he was now secured from an
object of hatred, and could more easily conceal his joy than his fear.
It was well known that on reading the will, in which he was nominated
co-heir with the excellent wife and most dutiful daughter of Agricola,
he exprest great satisfaction, as if it had been a voluntary testimony
of honor and esteem: so blind and corrupt had his mind been rendered
by continual adulation, that he was ignorant none but a bad prince
could be nominated heir to a good father.