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GNAEUS JULIUS AGRICOLA (A.D. 37-93)

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Originally appearing in Volume V01, Page 387 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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GNAEUS See also:

JULIUS See also:AGRICOLA (A.D. 37-93)  , See also:Roman states-See also:man and See also:general, See also:father-in-See also:law of the historian See also:Tacitus, was See also:born on the 13th of See also:June A.D . 37 (according to others, 39) at See also:Forum Julii (See also:Frejus) in Gallia Narbonensis . His father, See also:Julius Graecinus, having been put to See also:death by Caligula, See also:Agricola was brought up by his See also:mother Julia Procilla . After studying See also:philosophy at Massilia, he entered the See also:army and served (59) under Suetonius See also:Paulinus in See also:Britain . In 61 he returned to See also:Rome, where he married Domitia Decidiana, a Roman See also:lady of distinction . In 63 he was See also:quaestor in See also:Asia, in 65 See also:tribune, in 68 See also:praetor, and when See also:Vespasian was proclaimed See also:emperor, he immediately declared himself his supporter . In 70 he was appointed to the command of the loth See also:legion in Britain, then stationed at See also:Deva (See also:Chester) . On his return to Rome at the end of three years he was made See also:censor, raised to the See also:rank of patrician, and appointed See also:governor of Aquitania (74-78) . Appointed See also:consul suffectus in the following See also:year, he was admitted into the See also:college of pontiffs and made governor of Britain . In the same year he betrothed his daughter to Tacitus . Although the See also:legation of Britain lasted as a See also:rule only three years, Agricola held the See also:post for at least seven and succeeded in reconciling the inhabitants to Roman rule and inducing them to adopt the customs and See also:civilization of their conquerors . His military achievements were equally brilliant .

After conquering the Ordovices in See also:

North See also:Wales and the See also:island of See also:Mona (See also:Anglesey), during the next two years he carried his victorious arms to the Taus (See also:Tay; others read Tanaus, perhaps the north See also:Tyne), and in his See also:fourth See also:campaign fortified the See also:country between Clota and Bodotria (the firths of See also:Clyde and Forth) as a See also:protection against the attacks of the Caledonians . Having explored the coasts of See also:Fife and See also:Forfar, he gained a decisive victory over the Caledonians under See also:Galgacus at the Graupian See also:hill (see BRITAIN, Roman) . His successes, however, had aroused the envy and suspicion of See also:Domitian . He was recalled to Rome,' where he lived a See also:life of studied retirement, to avoid the possibility of giving offence to the See also:tyrant . He died in 93, poisoned, it was rumoured, by the emperor's orders . The Life of Agricola by his son-in-law Tacitus is practically a See also:panegyric or funeral oration . See Urlichs, De Vita et Honoribus Agricolae (1868) ; Dio See also:Cassius xxxix . 50, lxvi . 20; See also:Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman See also:Empire (Eng. trans., 1886), i . 183-184, 194 .

End of Article: GNAEUS JULIUS AGRICOLA (A.D. 37-93)
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