Tu vero felix, Agricola, non vitae tantum claritate, sed etiam opportunitate mortis. Ut perhibent, qui interfuerunt novissimis sermonibus tuis, constans et libens fatum excepisti, tamquam pro virili portione innocentiam principi donares. Sed mihi filiaeque eius praeter acerbitatem parentis erepti auget maestitiam, quod assidere valetudini, fovere deficientem, satiari vultu complexuque non contigit. Excepissemus certe mandata vocesque, quas penitus animo figeremus. Noster hic dolor, nostrum vulnus; nobis tum longae absentiae condicione ante quadriennium amissus est. Omnia sine dubio, optime parentum, assidente amantissima uxore superfuere honori tuo; paucioribus tamen lacrimis compositus es, et novissima in luce desideravere aliquid oculi tui.

XLVI. Si quis piorum manibus locus, si, ut sapientibus placet, non cum corpore extinguuntur magnae animae, placide quiescas, nosque, domum tuam, ab infirmo desiderio et muliebribus lamentis ad contemplationem virtutum tuarum voces, quas neque lugeri neque plangi fas est. Admiratione te potius quam, temporalibus laudibus, et, si natura suppeditet, aemulatione decoremus. Is verus honos, ea coniunctissimi cuiusque pietas. Id filiae quoque uxorique praeceperim, sic patris, sic mariti memoriam venerari, ut omnia facta dictaque eius secum revolvant, formamque ac figuram animi magis quam corporis complectantur; non quia intercedendum putem imaginibus, quae marmore aut aere finguntur; sed ut vultus hominum, ita simulacra vultus imbecilla ac mortalia sunt, forma mentis aeterna, quam tenere et exprimere non per alienam materiam et artem, sed tuis ipse moribus possis. Quicquid ex Agricola amavimus,

T. A.

3

quicquid mirati sumus, manet mansurumque est in animis hominum, in aeternitate temporum, fama rerum. Nam multos veterum velut inglorios et ignobiles oblivio obruit; Agricola posteritati narratus et traditus superstes erit.

NOTES.

CHAPTER I.

1. Antiquitus usitatum.] Usitatum is in attribution to the noun-infinitive tradere, tradere being the object of the verb omisit.

2. Quamquam.] The word is commonly used to introduce a distinct clause; 'quamvis' is generally employed to qualify a single word.

3. Incuriosa suorum.] 'Neglectful of its own sons,' not 'glories.' Comp. Ann. II. 88, vetera extollimus, recentium incuriosi; also Hor. C. III. 24, 31-2, virtutem incolumem, odimus, sublatam ex oculis quaerimus invidi.

4. Supergressa est.] Has risen superior to;' has past into a region which invidia cannot reach. Comp. Ann. XIV. 54, invidia infra tuam magnitudinem jacet.

'Blindness and

5. Ignorantiam recti et invidiam.] hostility to goodness' (C and B). It is very doubtful, however, whether invidiam is to be connected with recti. The expression 'invidia recti' would scarcely be allowable. The rectum (right) which the multitude are incapable of discerning is not exactly the aspect of virtue against which invidia is felt. And yet the presence of the singular vitium in the preceding clause compels us to join the two phrases. Rectum is equivalent here to virtus. Comp. Hist. III. 51, exempla recti, and IV. 5, recti pervicax.

6. Pronum magisque in aperto.] 'Pronum' expresses the inclination of the will; 'in aperto' the favouring circumstances. Or we may take both phrases as referring to the circumstances; the path to virtue was pronus, sc. not arduus, and in aperto, sc. not impeditus.

7. Sine gratia aut ambitione.] 'Without partiality or self-seeking.' Gratia' expresses the bias felt by a writer possibly towards unworthy persons; 'ambitio' the unprincipled desire for advancement which would betray him into flattery.

8. Conscientiae.] Comp. the use of the word in ch. 2, conscientiam generis humani, and 42, sive ex conscientia, ne quod vetuerat videretur emisse. 'Bonae conscientiae pretium' is the feeling that they had acted rightly.

9. Ipsi.] 'Ipsorum' would be more strictly grammatical, but would clash unpleasantly with 'morum' later on in the sentence. The nominative 'ipsi' is borrowed from what would be the equivalent conditional clause, 'Si suam ipsi vitam narrarent.' Comp. Sallust, Jug. 18, exercitus, amisso duce, ac passim multis sibi quisque imperium petentibus, brevi dilabitur.

10. Citra fidem.] That which falls short of (citra) or goes beyond (ultra) belief (fides) does not meet with credit. Comp. Germ. 16, citra speciem falling short of beauty. For the subject of autobiography generally comp. Cic. Epist. ad Fam. v. 12, where the writer says that if his friend Lucceius cannot write about him, he must write about himself, and would have good precedents in doing so, and continues thus: Sed quod te non fugit, haec sunt in hoc genere vitia; et verecundius ipsi de sese scribant necesse est si quid est laudandum, et praetereant si quid reprehendendum est. Accedit etiam ut minor sit fides, minor auctoritas, etc.

II. At nunc narraturo...tempora.] Comp. Hist. I. I, Ambitionem scriptoris facile averseris, livor et detrectatio pronis auribus accipiuntur. Tacitus feels that he might rely on the acceptance which satire and invective always meet with, and need not, had these, and not praise, been his theme, have asked for indulgence. The use of the perfect 'fuit' may be best expressed by such a paraphrase as 'Before I begin to relate I have found it necessary, etc.' The 'tempora' are the times of Domitian. For 'incusaturus' Ritter reads incursaturus.' He refers the 'nunc' to Domitian's days, makes 'venia' equivalent to 'leave,' and supposes incursaturus' to mean 'likely to offend.' Tacitus thus is made to say that he would not have asked for a permission which would have been likely to offend a régime (tempora) that was hostile to virtue. 'Fuit' would then be equivalent to 'fuisset.' For the expression 'infesta virtutibus' comp. Cic. Orat. ad Brut. 10. Hoc sum aggressus, statim Catone absoluto, quem nunquam attigissem, tempora timens inimica virtuti; a curious parallel to the sentiment of this chapter.

CHAPTER II.

1. Legimus.] Most probably this means we read,' or 'it is recorded in history.' But it may be opposed to 'vidimus,' and imply that Tacitus was himself absent and heard only of these occurrences. Kritz refers it to the Acta Diurna, and would understand by it, 'it was positively recorded (so evil were the

times) in official documents' (as we might say in the Gazette). This seems a far-fetched explanation, and the passage which he quotes from Dion Cassius (LXVII. II) tells against it, as it states that in his later years Domitian forbad the names of his victims to be inscribed in the acta.

2. Triumviris.] These were the 'triumviri capitales,' who combined some of the duties of our police magistrates and our sheriffs.

3. Comitio ac foro.] The comitium was part of the forum. A certain solemnity is given to the sentence by the use of the two words. Comp. the use of Romani Quirites.

4. Scilicet.] The word is used ironically. "They fancied, forsooth.'

5. Conscientiam.] 'The approving knowledge.' It was hoped that, all records of these actions being destroyed, mankind could never express its approval of them. This is a step towards the meaning which our word 'conscience' has now reached.

6. Arbitrabantur.] Sc. Domitian and his satellites.

7. Expulsis insuper, &c.] Comp. Plin. Epp. III. II, quum essent philosophi ab urbe summoti.

8. Omni bona arte, &c.] Comp. Plin. Panegyr. 47, quum sibi vitiorum omnium conscius princeps inimicas vitiis artes non odio magis quam reverentia relegaret.

9. Ultimum.] Sc. the last point that could be reached, 'the extreme.'

10. Adempto per inquisitiones, &c.] By 'inquisitiones' is meant the espionage of the informer, which made men afraid either to speak their own thoughts or to listen to the thoughts of others.

CHAPTER III.

I. Nerva Caesar.] This passage marks the date of this work, or, at least, of these prefatory chapters, as being between the adoption of Trajan by Nerva (whence the name Nerva Trajanus) and Nerva's death. In Hist. I. I, we read of Divus Nerva. Nerva adopted Trajan towards the end of A.D. 97, and died Jan. 27 in the following year.

2. Principatum.] 'Principatus' is the form of government which puts a 'Princeps' (in the case of Rome it was a 'Princeps Senatus') at the head of the state. Comp. Hist. 1. 1, principatum Divi Nervae, where, as here, there may be some allusion to the specially civil character of Nerva's rule.