Agricola and Germania: Tacitus

The Agricola is both a portrait of Julius Agricola - the most famous governor of Roman Britain and Tacitus` well-loved and respected father-in-law - and the first detailed account of Britain that has come down to us. It offers fascinating descriptions of the geography, climate and peoples of the country, and a succinct account of the early stages of the Roman occupation, nearly fatally undermined by Boudicca`s revolt in AD 61 but consolidated by campaigns that took Agricola as far as Anglesey and northern Scotland. The warlike German tribes are the focus of Tacitus` attention in the Germania, which, like the Agricola, often compares the behaviour of `barbarian` peoples favourably with the decadence and corruption of Imperial Rome.