Agricola 13

Early Roman attempts on Britain

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Agr. 13.1Ipsī Britannī dīlēctum ac tribūta et iniūncta imperiī mūnera impigrē obeunt, sī iniūriae absint: hās aegrē tolerant, iam domitī ut pāreant, nōndum ut serviant.The Britons themselves readily submit to the levy, the tributes and the duties imposed by the empire, provided there are no injustices: these they bear with difficulty, being already subdued so far as to obey, but not yet so far as to be slaves. Agr. 13.2Igitur prīmus omnium Rōmānōrum dīvus Iūlius cum exercitū Britanniam ingressus, quamquam prosperā pugnā terruerit incolās ac lītore potītus sit, potest vidērī ostendisse posterīs, nōn trādidisse.Thus the deified Julius, the first of all Romans to enter Britain with an army, although he frightened the inhabitants with a successful battle and gained control of the shore, may be seen to have pointed it out to posterity, not to have handed it over. Agr. 13.3Mox bella cīvīlia et in rem pūblicam versa prīncipum arma, ac longa oblīviō Britanniae etiam in pāce: cōnsilium id dīvus Augustus vocābat, Tiberius praeceptum.Then came the civil wars and the arms of the leading men turned against the state, and a long forgetting of Britain even in peace: the deified Augustus called this policy, Tiberius a precept.

Agr. 13.4Agitāsse Gāium Caesarem dē intrandā Britanniā satis cōnstat, nī vēlōx ingeniō mōbilī paenitentiae, et ingentēs adversus Germāniam cōnātūs frūstrā fuissent.It is well established that Gaius Caesar planned to invade Britain, had not his fickle mind been quick to repent, and his huge efforts against Germany come to nothing. Agr. 13.5Dīvus Claudius auctor iterātī operis, trānsvectīs legiōnibus auxiliīsque et adsūmptō in partem rērum Vespasiānō, quod initium ventūrae mox fortūnae fuit: domitae gentēs, captī rēgēs et mōnstrātus fātīs Vespasiānus.The deified Claudius was the author of the renewed enterprise, shipping over legions and auxiliaries and taking Vespasian into a share of the operations, which was the beginning of the fortune soon to come to him: tribes were subdued, kings captured, and Vespasian pointed out by the fates.

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Grammar in this passage: purpose clauses ×2, gerunds and gerundives ×1, indirect statement ×1, ablative absolute ×1

Latin vocabulary for this passage (93 words)

ipse, ipsa, ipsum, intensive pron.	self, himself, herself, itself, themselves; often to be rendered by very
dīlēctus, -ūs m.	levy, recruitment of soldiers; dīlēctum habēre: hold a levy
atque, ac (conj.)	and; after comparisons: as, than (ac only before consonants)
tribūtum, -ī, n.	contribution, tribute
et, conj.	and; et ... et, both ... and
iniungō, -ere, -iūnxī, -iūnctus	join to; impose, inflict
imperium, -ī, n.	command; sway, rule
mūnus, mūneris, n.	service, office, duty; present, gift
impigrē (adv.)	energetically, briskly
obeō, -īre, -iī, -itus	go to meet; attend to, carry out
sī, conj.	if
iniūria, -ae, f.	injury, wrong, hurt, harm
absum, abesse, āfuī, āfutūrus	be away, be absent, be distant; be wanting
hic, haec, hoc, dem. pron.	this; ille ... hīc, that ... this, the former ... the latter
aegrē, adv.	ill, with difficulty
tolerō, -āre, -āvī, -ātum	bear, endure; keep off (hunger)
iam, adv.	now, already
domō, -āre, -uī, -itus	tame, subdue, master
ut, conj.	as; when; that; ita ut, as
pāreō, -ēre, -uī	obey
nōndum, adv.	not yet
serviō, -ire, -īvī, -ītus	be subject to, serve
igitur, conj.	therefore
prīmus, -a, -um	first, foremost
omnis, -e	all, every
Rōmānus, -a, -um	Roman
dīvus, -ī m. (gen. pl. also dīvum, dīvom)	god
cum, prep, with abl.	with
exercitus, -ūs, m.	army
ingredior, -ī, ingressus sum	go into, enter
quamquam, conj.	however much, although
prosperus, -a, -um	favourable, successful, prosperous
pugna, -ae, f.	fighting, battle, combat
terreō, -ēre, -uī, -itus	frighten, terrify
incola, -ae, m. and f.	inhabitant
lītus, lītoris, n.	shore
potior, -īrī, -ītus	become master of, get possession of
sum, esse, fuī, futūrus	be
possum, posse, potuī	be able, have power, can
videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus	see; pass., seem
ostendō, -tendere, -tendī, -tentus	stretch out before, show, explain
posterī, -ōrum m. pl.	descendants, posterity
nōn, adv.	not
trādō, -dere, -didī, -ditus	give across, over, or up, deliver; hand down, relate, report
mox, adv.	soon
bellum, -ī, n.	war
cīvīlis, -e	of citizens; bellum cīvīle: civil war
in, prep. with acc. and abl.	with acc.: into, onto, against; with abl.: in, on
rēs, reī, f.	thing, matter, affair, circumstance, situation; rē vērā, in truth, in fact, really
pūblicus, -a, -um	public, of the state (rēs pūblica: the state)
vertō, vertere, vertī, versus	turn
prīnceps, -ipis	first, chief; as noun: leader
arma, -ōrum, n. plur.	arms, weapons
longus, -a, -um	long; tedious
oblīviō, -ōnis f.	forgetfulness, oblivion
etiam, adv.	and now, also, too, even
pāx, pācis f.	peace
cōnsilium, -ī, n.	advice; plan, design, purpose; prudence
is, ea, id, dem. pron.	this, that; he, she, it, they
vocō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	call, summon
praeceptum, -ī n.	instruction, order
agitō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	drive about; discuss, debate
dē, prep, with abl.	down from, from, out of; about, concerning, of
intrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	go within or into, enter
satis, adv.	enough, sufficiently
cōnstō, -stāre, -stitī, -stātūrus	stand together, agree; consist;
nī (conj.)	if not, unless (= nisi)
vēlōx, vēlōcis	swift, fast
ingenium, -ī n.	natural ability, talent, cleverness; character
mōbilis, -e	movable, quick; fickle, changeable
paenitentia, -ae f.	repentance, change of heart
ingēns, -gentis, adj.	huge, vast
adversus, -a, -um	facing; unfavourable, unsuccessful
cōnātus, -ūs, m.	attempt, effort
frūstrā, adv.	in vain
auctor, -ōris m.	originator, instigator
iterō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	repeat, do again
opus, operis, n.	work, task
trānsvehō, -vehere, -vexī, -vectus	carry across or over
legiō, -ōnis f.	legion
auxilium, -ī, n.	help, aid
que, enclitic conj.	and
assūmō, -ere, -sūmpsī, -sūmptus	take up, receive; take to oneself
pars, partis, f.	part, side, direction
quī, quae, quod, rel. pron.	who, which
initium, -ī, n.	beginning
veniō, venīre, vēnī, ventus	come
fortūna, -ae, f.	fortune
gēns, gentis, f.	race, nation
capiō, capere, cēpī, captus	take, catch, seize; receive, suffer; adopt
rēx, rēgis, m.	king
mōnstrō, -āre, -āvī, -ātus	point out, show
fātum, -ī, n.	destiny, fate

Tacitus, Agricola. Latin text: H. Furneaux, Cornelii Taciti Opera Minora (Oxford, 1900), public domain; digital text from the Perseus Digital Library, CC BY-SA. Word analysis: drafted by our own tagger (trained on the hand-checked texts on this site), with every doubtful word checked by hand. English translation and section titles: written for this app, each checked against the Latin by a second reader.