Agr. 25.1Cēterum aestāte, quā sextum officiī annum inchoābat, amplexus cīvitātēs trāns Bodotriam sitās, quia mōtūs ūniversārum ultrā gentium et īnfesta hostibus exercitūs itinera timēbantur, portūs classe explōrāvit;But in the summer in which he began the sixth year of his office, having taken in the states lying beyond the Bodotria, since a rising of all the peoples further on was feared, and the army's routes were feared to be beset by the enemy, he explored the harbours with his fleet; Agr. 25.1quae ab Agricolā prīmum adsūmpta in partem vīrium sequēbātur ēgregiā speciē, cum simul terrā, simul marī bellum impellerētur, ac saepe īsdem castrīs pedes equesque et nauticus mīles mīxtī cōpiīs et laetitiā suā quisque facta, suōs cāsūs attollerent, ac modo silvārum ac montium profunda, modo tempestātum ac flūctuum adversa, hinc terra et hostis, hinc victus Oceanus mīlitārī iactantiā comparārentur.the fleet, now first employed by Agricola as part of his forces, followed him in a fine display, as the war was pushed forward by land and sea at once, and often in the same camp infantry, cavalry and marines, mingling their supplies and their high spirits, would extol each his own deeds, his own adventures, and with soldierly boasting would compare, now the depths of forests and mountains, now the hardships of storms and waves, on one side the land and the enemy, on the other the conquered Ocean.
Agr. 25.2Britannōs quoque, ut ex captīvīs audiēbātur, vīsa classis obstupefaciēbat, tamquam apertō maris suī sēcrētō ultimum victīs perfugium clauderētur.The Britons too, as was heard from prisoners, were dumbfounded at the sight of the fleet, as if, now that the secret places of their sea had been laid open, their last refuge in defeat were being closed. Agr. 25.3Ad manūs et arma conversī Caledoniam incolentēs populī, parātū magnō, maiōre fāmā, utī mōs est dē ignōtīs, obpugnāre ultrō castella adortī, metum ut prōvocantēs addiderant;The peoples inhabiting Caledonia turned to arms and action, with great preparation, magnified by greater rumour, as is usual with the unknown, and by going so far as to attack our forts they had increased alarm, as men who take the offensive; Agr. 25.3regrediendumque citrā Bodotriam et excēdendum potius quam pellerentur ignāvī speciē prūdentium admonēbant, cum interim cognōscit hostīs plūribus agminibus inruptūrōs.and the cowardly, posing as the prudent, were advising that they should go back to this side of the Bodotria and withdraw rather than be driven out, when meanwhile Agricola learns that the enemy are about to attack in several columns.
Agr. 25.4Ac nē superante numerō et perītiā locōrum circumīrētur, dīvīsō et ipse in trīs partēs exercitū incessit.And so that he should not be surrounded by their superior numbers and knowledge of the country, he too divided his army into three parts and advanced.