Agr. 4.1Gnaeus Iūlius Agricola, vetere et inlūstrī Foroiūliēnsium colōniā ortus, utrumque avum prōcūrātōrem Caesarum habuit, quae equestris nōbilitās est.Gnaeus Julius Agricola, born in the old and famous colony of Forum Julii, had as each of his grandfathers an imperial procurator, which is the nobility of the equestrian order. Agr. 4.1Pater illī Iūlius Graecīnus senātōriī ōrdinis, studiō ēloquentiae sapientiaeque notus, iīsque ipsīs virtūtibus īram Gāī Caesaris meritus: namque M. Sīlānum accūsāre iussus et, quia abnuerat, interfectus est.His father, Julius Graecinus, was of senatorial rank, known for his devotion to eloquence and philosophy, and by those very virtues he earned the anger of Gaius Caesar: for he was ordered to accuse Marcus Silanus and, because he had refused, was put to death. Agr. 4.2Māter Iūlia Procilla fuit, rārae castitātis.His mother was Julia Procilla, a woman of rare chastity. Agr. 4.2In huius sinū indulgentiāque ēducātus per omnem honestārum artium cultum pueritiam adulēscentiamque trānsēgit.Brought up in her lap and under her tender care, he passed his boyhood and youth in the cultivation of every honourable art. Agr. 4.3Arcēbat eum ab inlecebrīs peccantium praeter ipsīus bonam integramque nātūram, quod statim parvulus sēdem ac magistram studiōrum Massiliam habuit, locum Graecā cōmitāte et prōvinciālī parsimōniā mīxtum ac bene compositum.What kept him from the allurements of wrongdoers, besides his own good and sound nature, was that while still a little boy he had as the seat and mistress of his studies Massilia, a place where Greek refinement and provincial thrift were mingled and well blended.
Agr. 4.4Memoriā teneō solitum ipsum narrāre sē prīmā in iuventā studium philosophiae ācrius, ultrāque quam concessum Rōmānō ac senātōrī, hausisse, nī prūdentia mātris incēnsum ac flagrantem animum coercuisset.I remember that he himself used to tell how in his early youth he would have drunk in the study of philosophy more keenly, and further than is allowed to a Roman and a senator, had not his mother's good sense restrained his kindled and blazing spirit. Agr. 4.5Scīlicet sublīme et ērēctum ingenium pulchritūdinem ac speciem magnae excelsaeque glōriae vehementius quam cautē adpetēbat.Naturally his lofty and aspiring nature reached for the beauty and splendour of great and exalted glory with more eagerness than caution. Agr. 4.5Mox mītigāvit ratiō et aetās, retinuitque, quod est difficillimum, ex sapientiā modum.Soon reason and age calmed him, and he retained from philosophy, which is the most difficult thing, a sense of measure.