Agricola - Tacitus Flashcards
“barely distinguish the evening from the morning twilight”
never went to England himself
- based on gossip
- unreliable
“Crops are slow to ripen, but quick to grow”
suggests the coldness of Britannia
“Britannia yields gold, silver and other metals, a reward for victory.”
unapologetic imperialism
- Roman belief of superiority
“The Britanni themselves readily submit to the levy, the tribute and the other obligations of empire”
Romans came 55 BC
- suggests the Britanni were willing
- groups them as one - were actually many different tribes
- patronizing Roman mindset
“broken in to obedience, not to slavery”
imagery of taming a beast
“with the weapons of Roman leaders turned against the Commonwealth”
Civil Wars (assassination of Caesar etc) ended 31 BC
“Nations were subdued, kings were captures and Vespasian was marked out by fate.”
epic tone adopted - hyperbolic
triplet
Vespasian became emperor in AD70
“long-established Roman custom of employing even kings to make others slaves”
anti-imperialistic view
critical of Rome
“it was feeding native resistance”
AD68 - Anglesey
- Celtic priests (druids) - Romans persecuted them
“For the Britanni, freed from fear by the absence of the legate, began to discuss the woes of slavery”
when the tribes took the opportunity to rebel
huge generalization & stereotype - many tribes hated each other
“Nothing is safe from their greed, nothing safe from their lust.”
group of 3
Tacitus plays the role of a Britanni - all fictional
- makes it very dramatic for entertainment purposes
“it is mostly cowards and shirkers who rob our homes, kidnap our children and conscript our men”
the Britons do not like that they are expected to fight for Rome
- seems very critical of Roman rule in Britannia
“the whole island rose in arms under the command of Boudicca”
ridiculous exaggeration - untrue
- only the Iceni tribe followed her
“he (Paulinus) restored it to its old obedience by a single successful action.”
the actual battle field was never found
“The barbarians now learned like us to condone seductive vices.”
Romanisation
- prostitution, gambling, alcohol
- ‘very Roman’
