Agr. 40.1Igitur triumphālia ōrnāmenta et inlūstris statuae honōrem et quidquid prō triumphō datur, multō verbōrum honōre cumulāta, dēcernī in senātū iubet addīque īnsuper opīniōnem, Suriam prōvinciam Agricolae dēstinārī, vacuam tum morte Atīliī Rūfī cōnsulāris et maiōribus reservātam.So he ordered that the triumphal insignia, the honour of a distinguished statue and whatever is given in place of a triumph should be decreed in the senate, heaped up with much honourable language, and that the impression should be spread besides that the province of Syria was intended for Agricola, which was then vacant through the death of the consular Atilius Rufus and reserved for men of greater standing. Agr. 40.2Crēdidēre plērīque lībertum ex sēcrētiōribus ministeriīs missum ad Agricolam cōdicillōs, quibus eī Suria dabātur, tulisse, cum praeceptō ut, sī in Britanniā foret, trāderentur;Many believed that a freedman from the emperor's more confidential service was sent to Agricola carrying the letter by which Syria was given to him, with instructions that it should be handed over if he were still in Britain; Agr. 40.2eumque lībertum in ipsō fretō Oceanī obvium Agricolae, nē appellātō quidem eō ad Domitiānum remeāsse, sīve vērum istud, sīve ex ingeniō prīncipis fictum ac compositum est.and that this freedman met Agricola in the very straits of the Ocean and returned to Domitian without even speaking to him, whether this is true, or was invented and made up to fit the emperor's character.
Agr. 40.3Trādiderat interim Agricola successōrī suō prōvinciam quiētam tūtamque.Meanwhile Agricola had handed over to his successor a province peaceful and secure. Agr. 40.3Ac nē notābilis celebritāte et frequentiā occurrentium introitus esset, vītātō amīcōrum officiō noctū in urbem, noctū in Palātium, ita ut praeceptum erat, vēnit;And so that his entry should not be conspicuous for the crowds and numbers of people meeting him, he avoided the attentions of his friends and came into the city by night, and by night to the Palace, as he had been instructed; Agr. 40.3exceptusque brevī ōsculō et nūllō sermōne turbae servientium inmixtus est.and, received with a brief kiss and no conversation, he was lost in the crowd of courtiers. Agr. 40.4Cēterum utī mīlitāre nōmen, grave inter ōtiōsōs, aliīs virtūtibus temperāret, tranquillitātem atque ōtium penitus hausit, cultū modicus, sermōne facilis, ūnō aut alterō amīcōrum comitātus, adeō utī plērīque, quibus magnōs virōs per ambitiōnem aestimāre mōs est, vīsō aspectōque Agricolā quaererent fāmam, paucī interpretārentur.But in order to temper his military reputation, which is offensive to men of leisure, with other virtues, he drank deep of quiet and retirement, modest in dress, easy in conversation, accompanied by one or two friends, so much so that most people, who are accustomed to judge great men by their display, after seeing and observing Agricola, asked where his fame lay, and few understood it.