Saturday, April 20, 2024

26.03.24: Tacitus and Britannia

The Roman historian Tacitus never went to Britain, but his father-in-law did. Gaius Julius Agricola was governor of Britain from 77 or 78 CE until 83 / 84 CE. Tacitus’ work “De vita et moribus Iulii Agricolae” (On the life and character of Julius Agricola) – which is a short work and worth reading even in English – describes the actions of his father-in-law but also gives descriptions of the geography and ethnography of the tribes inhabiting Britain. The image shows the title page of a manuscript dating from between 800 and 900:

CORNELII TACITI DE VITA IVLII AGRICOLAE LIBER INCIPIT

Cornēliī Tacitī [genitive] ¦ dē vītā [ablative] ¦ Iūliī Agricolae [genitive] ¦ liber incipit.

The book ¦ of Cornelius Tacitus ¦ about the life ¦ of Julius Agricola ¦ begins.

incipiō, incipere [3-iō]: begin

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agricola_(book)

English version online:

https://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/TacitusAgricola.php




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