Agr. 9.1Revertentem ab lēgātiōne legiōnis dīvus Vespasiānus inter patriciōs adscīvit;When he returned from commanding the legion, the deified Vespasian enrolled him among the patricians; Agr. 9.1ac deinde prōvinciae Aquītāniae praeposuit, splendidae inprīmīs dignitātis administrātiōne ac spē cōnsulātūs, cui dēstinārat.and then put him in charge of the province of Aquitania, a post of especially splendid distinction both for its administration and for the hope of the consulship, for which he had marked him out. Agr. 9.2Crēdunt plērīque mīlitāribus ingeniīs subtīlitātem dēesse, quia castrēnsis iūrisdictiō sēcūra et obtūsior ac plūra manū agēns calliditātem forī nōn exerceat.Many believe that military men lack subtlety, because the jurisdiction of the camp, being free from care and rather blunt and doing most things by force, does not exercise the shrewdness of the courts. Agr. 9.3Agricola nātūrālī prūdentiā, quamvīs inter togātōs, facile iūstēque agēbat.Agricola, through his natural good sense, although among civilians, acted with ease and justice. Agr. 9.3Iam vērō tempora cūrārum remissiōnumque dīvīsa: ubi conventūs ac iūdicia poscerent, gravis intentus, sevērus et saepius misericors: ubi officiō satis factum, nūlla ultrā potestātis persōna;Moreover, his times of business and of relaxation were kept apart: when assizes and trials demanded it, he was grave, attentive, stern and yet more often merciful; when his duty had been done, there was no longer any mask of power; Agr. 9.3trīstitiam et adrogantiam et avāritiam exuerat.he had shed gloominess, arrogance and greed.
Agr. 9.4Nec illī, quod est rārissimum, aut facilitās auctōritātem aut sevēritās amōrem dēminuit.Nor in his case, which is very rare, did his affability diminish his authority or his strictness the affection felt for him. Agr. 9.4Integritātem atque abstinentiam in tantō virō referre iniūria virtūtum fuerit.To mention integrity and self-restraint in so great a man would be an insult to his virtues. Agr. 9.5Nē fāmam quidem, cui saepe etiam bonī indulgent, ostentandā virtūte aut per artem quaesīvit: procul ab aemulātiōne adversus collēgās, procul ā contentiōne adversus prōcūrātōrēs, et vincere inglōrium et atterī sordidum arbitrābātur.He did not even seek fame, to which even good men often yield, by parading his virtue or by artifice: far from rivalry with his colleagues, far from strife with the procurators, he thought it inglorious to win and degrading to be worn down. Agr. 9.6Minus triennium in eā lēgātiōne dētentus ac statim ad spem cōnsulātūs revocātus est, comitante opīniōne Britanniam eī prōvinciam darī, nūllīs in hoc suīs sermōnibus, sed quia pār vidēbātur.He was kept in that command for less than three years and then at once recalled to the prospect of the consulship, while general opinion attended him that Britain was being given to him as his province, not from any talk of his own on the matter, but because he seemed equal to it.
Agr. 9.7Haud semper errat fāma;Rumour does not always err; Agr. 9.7aliquandō et ēlēgit.sometimes it even chooses. Agr. 9.7Cōnsul ēgregiae tum speī fīliam iuvenī mihi dēspondit ac post cōnsulātum collocāvit, et statim Britanniae praepositus est, adiectō pontificātūs sacerdōtiō.As consul he betrothed his daughter, a girl of excellent promise even then, to me as a young man, and after his consulship gave her to me in marriage, and was at once put in charge of Britain, with the priesthood of the pontificate added.