Who was Agricola?
Simon Turney has painted a vivid picture of a man who learnt his trade fighting Boudicca, but who left his mark.
The son of a minor nobleman of Gallic birth with a fascination over viticulture, Gnaeus Julius Agricola climbed the ladder of Roman political offices like others of his era, so why is he so important to Roman Britain? Quite simply from the day Julius Caesar landed an exploratory fleet in Kent in 55 BC to the day the empire told Britain to “look to its own defence” in AD 410, no Roman was more involved in shaping the island’s history than Agricola.
At various points in the course of a political career, a Roman of the equestrian or patrician classes would serve in certain roles or posts. The first was that of a military tribune, the equivalent of an untrained commissioned officer serving over the centurions but under the legion’s commander where they might be used for logistical purposes or to relay commands etc. Later in a man’s career, he would command a legion as its legatus. He would also serve as a governor of a province, at least once if not twice.
Where Agricola is unusual is that he served many of his major postings in the same province. As well as a questorship in Asia and a minor gubernatorial role in Aquitania, he spent the three aforementioned roles all in Britain, and perhaps made more out of those positions than most did.
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