Write A Essay

Please only use the reading to write. No extra stuff allowed. No other resources allowed. The only things can be used to cite must be from the reading. And please use some in-text citation like: For example, "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" (Line xxx) OR "xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx" (p. xx).

At least 500 words. More requirements and the reading I have attached below.

Introduction For this assignment you will read selections from Julius Caesar's account of Gauls and Germans from his ​Gallic Wars​ and from Tacitus' ​Agricola​, an account of the Roman rule of Britain, including a speech Tacitus says was made by a warrior inciting local people to rebel against the Romans. You will then work in your collaborative teams to write about a particular moment in time and place (Nimes, in Gaul, shortly after the death of Augustus) from multiple points of view. The purpose of the assignment is

1. to help you become familiar with how discourse about ethnic characteristics could be used to justify Roman conquest or make it look natural, inevitable, or a solution to a pressing local problem.

2. to practice critical analysis of sources written by Romans to investigate multiple perspectives on the experience of Roman imperial power.

I am not expecting you to do extra research in order to complete the assignment. Rather this is an opportunity for you to respond thoughtfully and even imaginatively to the discussion of Augustus on the lecture page and from the readings in ​Birth of Classical Europe​ and other course materials.

Note: In the readings, please notice especially that in paragraph 24 of the Caesar reading, Caesar says that the Gauls who have become influenced by Roman culture have become weaker than they used to be and are no longer strong enough to win in conflicts with the Germans. Tacitus makes the same kind of point in paragraph 11 of the reading. The idea of cultural circumstances being able to change the essential qualities of an ethnic group will be important to us later on in the course.

The writing assignment About 500 words, more is ok. Try to make three points in your response. Post on your team's collaboration page and submit here as a canvas assignment.

Nimes is a beautiful city in southern France. It was named after Nemausus, the god of its abundant springs, and the waters of the springs still flow through the city streets. It had submitted to Roman rule in 121 BCE. After the defeat of Cleopatra and Antony, Augustus set up a settlement in Nimes that allotted plots of land to soldiers who had served in his forces in Egypt. Coins of the city showed a crocodile chained to a palm tree to celebrate these soldiers' roles in the defeat of Cleopatra.

Coin issued during the reign of Augustus at Nimes shoing a crocodile chained to a palm tree (​image source

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In time, perhaps around 19 BCE, Augustus' associate Agrippa built a huge aqueduct to bring in water for the enlarged community. Part of the spectacular aqueduct can be seen at the ​Pont du Gard

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Pont du Gard (​image source

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%AEmes#/media/File:Augustus_colonia_nemausus_dupondius_type_4_reverse.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/N%C3%AEmes#/media/File:Augustus_colonia_nemausus_dupondius_type_4_reverse.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard#/media/File:Pont_du_Gard_BLS.jpg

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pont_du_Gard#/media/File:Pont_du_Gard_BLS.jpg

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Around 4-7 CE, a temple was dedicated to Gaius Caesar and Lucius Caesar. They were each grandsons of Augustus and had been adopted by him to be his heirs and thus inherit his position as emperor, but they had each died young. The temple still stands in the center of Nimes. It has all the typical features of a Roman temple -- especially the high platform with stairs leading up to the front (note the contrast with Greek temples, which sit on a low platform accessible from all sides).

Maison Carrée, Nimes (photo C. Connors)

Around the time of the dedication of the temple, a group of people happens to meet nearby at a public fountain with nice benches and a shrine to the Muses. Each one has their own perspective on experiencing a city that has been affected by Roman power. Chose a person from the list below, and write a monologue that describes what they are doing that day, exploring what they think about the development of the city of Nimes, and articulating anything they want to say to or ask the others in the group. What impact has the actions of Augustus detailed in the readings and ​this week's lecture page​ had on each of them? Use of your imagination to tell an impactful story is encouraged. What ways can you come up with to express your individual's experience of and perspective on Roman imperial power and local conditions in Gaul?

Along the way, please demonstrate that you have carefully read and thought about this week's course materials (and previous course materials if appropriate). Please ensure that each person in your team chooses a different person.

1. A very old Roman soldier who remembers the battles against Antony and Cleopatra in Egypt and now lives as a farmer in Nimes. He's curious about the Germans. (During his travels in Greece he's read Hesiod too)

2. A druid, very conscious of religious traditions, beliefs and practices in Gaul and curious about Roman religious beliefs and practices (and he's learned Greek to read the Odyssey).

3. A female cousin of Augustus' who has travelled to Nimes for the dedication of the temple and is very sensitive to and curious about gender issues of all kinds. Also, she's read Menander's ​Dyskolos​.

4. A young local Roman official who has some Gallic family connections with a wine business and has been involved in the building of the temple and has good communications with everything going on at Rome, including the poetry of Horace.

https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1376004/pages/8-dot-0-from-republic-to-empire

https://canvas.uw.edu/courses/1376004/pages/8-dot-0-from-republic-to-empire

5. A man whose family has been in Nimes for generations and who has rebellious attitudes comparable to those expressed by Calcagus in Tacitus' ​Agricola ​(see below).

About 500 words, more is ok. Try to make three points in your response. Post on your team's collaboration page and submit here as a canvas assignment.

Julius Caesar on the Gauls and

the Germans Julius Caesar wrote accounts of his campaigns in Gaul to justify his power and actions. Here he gives his most extensive accounts of the peoples of Gaul and Germany. What customs, values and practices among the Gauls and the Germans seem significantly different from customs, values and practices at Rome? Are there ways in which he may use these differences as a justification for the military campaigns he is carrying out?

Julius Caesar ​Gallic Wars​ Book VI (chapters 11‑20) translation by H. J. Edwards, Loeb Classical Library 1917 (​source​) (some small adjustments for clarity)

6.11 Since I have arrived at this point, it would seem to be not inappropriate to set forth the customs of Gaul and of Germany, and the difference between these nations. In Gaul, not only in every state and every canton and district, but almost in each several household, there are parties [=political factions]; and the leaders of the parties are men who in the judgment of their fellows are deemed to have the highest authority, men to whose decision and judgment the supreme issue of all cases and counsels may be referred. And this seems to have been an ordinance from ancient days, to the end that ​no man of the people should lack assistance against a more powerful neighbour; for each man refuses to allow his own folk to be oppressed and defrauded, since otherwise he has no authority among them. The same principle holds in regard to Gaul as a whole taken together; for the whole body of states is divided into two parties.

12 When Caesar arrived in Gaul the leaders of one party were the Aedui, of the other the Sequani. The Sequani, being by themselves inferior in strength — since the highest authority from ancient times rested with the Aedui, and their dependencies were extensive — had made Ariovistus and the Germans their friends, and with great sacrifices and promises had brought them to their side. Then, by several successful battles and the slaughter of all the Aeduan nobility, they had so far established their predominance as to transfer a great part of the dependents from

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the Aedui to themselves, receiving from them as hostages the children of their chief men, compelling them as a state to swear that they would entertain no design against the Sequani, occupying a part of the neighbouring territory which they had seized by force, and securing the chieftaincy of all Gaul. This was the necessity which had compelled Diviciacus to set forth on a journey to the Senate at Rome for the purpose of seeking aid; but he had returned without achieving the object. By the arrival of Caesar a change of affairs was brought about. Their hosts were restored to the Aedui, their old dependencies restored, and new ones secured through Caesar's efforts (as those who had joined in friendly relations with them found that they enjoyed a better condition and a fairer rule), and their influence and position were increased in all other respects: as a result of this, the Sequani had lost the chieftaincy. To their place the Remi had succeeded; and as it was perceived that the Remi had equal influence with Caesar, the communities which, by reason of ancient animosities, could in no way join the Aedui were handing themselves over as dependents to the Remi. These tribes the Remi carefully protected, and by this means they sought to maintain their new and suddenly acquired authority. The state of things then at the time in question was that the Aedui were regarded as by far the chief state, while the Remi held the second place in importance.

13 Throughout Gaul there are ​two classes of persons​ of definite account and dignity. As for ​the common folk, they are treated almost as slaves, venturing naught of themselves, never taken into counsel.​ The majority of them, oppressed as they are either by debt, or by the heavy weight of tribute, or by the wrongdoing of the more powerful men, commit themselves in slavery to the nobles, who have, in fact, the same rights over them as masters over slaves. Of the two classes [of privileged people] above mentioned ​one consists of Druids, the other of knights​. The Druids are concerned with divine worship, the correct performance of sacrifices, public and private, and the interpretation of ritual questions: a great number of young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold them in great honour. In fact, it is the Druids who decide in almost all disputes, public and private; and if any crime has been committed, or murder done, or there is any disposes about succession or boundaries, they also decide it, determining rewards and penalties: if any person or people does not abide by their decision, they ban such from sacrifice, which is their heaviest penalty. Those that are so banned are reckoned as impious and criminal; all men move out of their path and shun their approach and conversation, for fear they may get some harm from their contact, and no justice is done if they seek it, no distinction falls to their share. Of all these Druids one is chief, who has the highest authority among them. At his death, either any other that is preëminent in position succeeds, or, if there be several of equal standing, they strive for the primacy by the vote of the Druids, or sometimes even with armed force. These Druids, at a certain time of the year, meet within the borders of the Carnutes, whose territory is reckoned as the centre of all Gaul, and sit in conclave in a

consecrated spot. To that place come from every side all that have disputes, and they obey the decisions and judgments of the Druids. It is believed that their rule of life was discovered in Britain and transferred thence to Gaul; and to‑day those who would study the subject more accurately journey, as a rule, to Britain to learn it.

14 The Druids usually hold aloof from war, and do not pay war‑taxes with the rest; they are excused from military service and exempt from all liabilities. Tempted by these great rewards, many young men assemble of their own motion to receive their training; many are sent by parents and relatives. Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters. I believe that they have adopted the practice for two reasons — that they do not wish the rule to become common property, nor those who learn the rule to rely on writing and so neglect the cultivation of the memory; and, in fact, it does usually happen that the assistance of writing tends to relax the diligence of the student and the action of the memory. The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but after death pass from one to another; and this belief, as the fear of death is thereby cast aside, they hold to be the greatest incentive to valour. Besides this, they have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.

15 ​The other class are the knights​. These, when there is occasion, at the outbreak of a war — and before Caesar's coming this would happen well-nigh every year, in the sense that they would either be making wanton attacks themselves or repelling such attacks— are all called to military service; and according to the importance of each of them in birth and resources, so is the number of subordinates and dependents that he has about him. This is the one form of influence and power known to them.

16 The whole nation of the Gauls is greatly devoted to ritual observances, and for that reason those who are smitten with the more grievous maladies and who are engaged in the perils of battle ​either sacrifice human victims or vow to do so​, employing the Druids as ministers for such sacrifices. They believe, in effect, that, unless for a man's life a man's life be paid, the majesty of the immortal gods may not be appeased; and in public, as in private, life they observe an ordinance of sacrifices of the same kind. Others use figures of immense size, whose limbs, woven out of twigs, they fill with living men and set on fire, and the men perish in a sheet of flame. They believe that the execution of those who have been caught in the act of theft or robbery or some crime is more pleasing to the immortal gods; but when the supply of such fails they resort to the execution even of the innocent.

17 Among the gods, they most worship Mercury. There are numerous images of him; they declare him the inventor of all arts, the guide for every road and journey, and they deem him to have the greatest influence for all money-making and traffic. After him they set Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Of these deities they have almost the same idea as all other nations: Apollo drives away diseases, Minerva supplies the first principles of arts and crafts, Jupiter holds the empire of heaven, Mars controls wars. To Mars, when they have determined on a decisive battle, they dedicate as a rule whatever spoil they may take. After a victory they sacrifice such living things as they have taken, and all the other effects they gather into one place. In many states heaps of such objects are to be seen piled up in hallowed spots, and it has and often happened that a man, in defiance of religious scruple, has dared to conceal such spoils in his house or to remove them from their place, and the most grievous punishment, with torture, is ordained for such an offence.

18 The Gauls affirm that they are all descended from a common Father, Dis, and say that this is the tradition of the Druids. For that reason they determine all periods of time by the number, not of days, but of nights, and in their observance of birthdays and the beginnings of months and years day follows night. In the other ordinances of life the main difference between them and the rest of mankind is that they do not allow their own sons to approach them openly until they have grown to an age when they can bear the burden of military service, and they count it a ​disgrace for a son who is still in his boy to take his place publicly in the presence of his father​.

19 The​ men, after making due reckoning, take from their own goods a sum of money equal to the dowry they have received from their wives and place it with the dowry.​ Of each such sum account is kept between them and the profits saved; whichever of the two survives receives the portion of both together with the profits of past years. Men have the power of life and death over their wives, as over their children; and when the father of a house, who is of distinguished birth, has died, his relatives assemble, and if there be anything suspicious about his death they make inquisition of his wives as they would of slaves, and if discovery is made they put them to death with fire and all manner of excruciating tortures. Their funerals, considering the civilization of Gaul, are magnificent and expensive. ​They cast into the fire everything, even living creatures, which they believe to have been dear to the departed during life, and but a short time before the present age, only a generation since, slaves and dependents known to have been beloved by their lords used to be burnt with them at the conclusion of the funeral formalities.

20 Those states which are supposed to conduct their public administration to greater advantage have it prescribed by law that ​anyone who has learnt anything of public concern from his neighbours by rumour or report must bring the information to a magistrate and not impart it to anyone else;​ for it is recognised

that oftentimes hasty and inexperienced men are terrified by false rumours, and so are driven to crime or to decide supreme issues. Magistrates conceal what they choose, and make known what they think proper for the public. ​Speech on state questions, except by means of an assembly, is not allowed.

21 ​The Germans differ much​ from this manner of living. They have no Druids to regulate divine worship, no zeal for sacrifices. They reckon among the gods those only whom they see and by whose offices they are openly assisted — to wit, the Sun, the Fire‑god, and the Moon; of the rest they have learnt p347 not even by report. Their whole life is composed of hunting expeditions and military pursuits; from early boyhood they are zealous for toil and hardship. Those who remain longest in chastity win greatest praise among their kindred; some think that stature, some that strength and sinew are fortified thereby. Further, they deem it a most disgraceful thing to have had knowledge of a woman before the twentieth year; and there is no secrecy in the matter, for both sexes bathe in the rivers and wear skins or small cloaks of reindeer hide, leaving great part of the body bare.

22 ​For agriculture they have no zeal,​ and the greater part of their food consists of milk, cheese, and flesh. ​No man has a definite quantity of land or estate of his own​: the magistrates and chiefs every year assign to tribes and clans that have assembled together as much land and in such place as seems good to them, and compel the tenants after a year to pass on elsewhere. They adduce many reasons for that practice — the fear that they may be tempted by continuous association to substitute agriculture for their warrior zeal; that they may become zealous for the acquisition of broad territories, and so the more powerful may drive the lower sort from their holdings; that they may build with greater care to avoid the extremes of cold and heat; that some passion for money may arise to be the parent of parties and of quarrels. It is their aim to keep common people in contentment, when each man sees that his own wealth is equal to that of the most powerful.

23​Their states account it the highest praise by devastating their borders to have areas of wilderness as wide as possible around them. They think it the true sign of valour when the neighbours are driven to retire from their lands and no man dares to settle near, and at the same time they believe they will be safer thereby, having removed all fear of a sudden attack.​ When a state makes or resists aggressive war officers are chosen to direct the same, with the power of life and death. In time of peace there is no general officer of state, but the chiefs of districts and cantons do justice among their followers and settle disputes. Acts of brigandage committed outside the borders of their several states involve no disgrace; in fact, they affirm that such are committed in order to practise the young men and to diminish sloth. And when any of the chiefs has said in public assembly that he will be leader, "Let those who will follow declare it," then all who approve the cause and the man rise together to his service and promise their own assistance,

and win the general praise of the people. Any of them who have not followed, after promise, are reckoned as deserters and traitors, and in all things afterwards trust is denied to them. They do not think it right to outrage a guest; men who have come to them for any cause they protect from mischief and regard as sacred; to them the houses of all are open, with them is food shared.

24 Now there was a time in the past when the Gauls were superior in valour to the Germans and made aggressive war upon them, and because of the number of their people and the lack of land they sent colonies across the Rhine. And thus the most fertile places of Germany round the Hercynian forest (which I see was known by report to Eratosthenes and certain Greeks, who call it the Orcynian forest) were seized by the Volcae Tectosages, who settled there, and the nation maintains itself to this day in these settlements, and enjoys the highest reputation for justice and for success in war. At the present time, since they abide in the same condition of want, poverty, and hardship as the Germans, they adopt the same kind of food and bodily training. ​Upon the Gauls, however, the neighbourhood of our provinces and acquaintance with oversea commodities lavishes many articles of use or luxury; little by little they have grown accustomed to defeat, and after being conquered in many battles they do not even compare themselves in point of valour with the Germans.

25 The breadth of this Hercynian forest, above mentioned, is as much as a nine days' journey for an unencumbered person; for in no other fashion can it be determined, nor have they means to measure journeys. It begins in the borders of the Helvetii, the Nemetes, and the Rauraci, and, following the direct line of the river Danube, it extends to the borders of the Daci and the Anartes; thence it turns leftwards, through districts apart from the river, and by reason of its size touches the borders of many nations. There is no man in the Germany we know who can say that he has reached the edge of that forest, though he may have gone forward a sixty days' journey, or who has learnt in what place it begins. It is known that many kinds of wild beasts not seen in any other places breed therein, of which the following are those that differ most from the rest of the animal world and appear worthy of record.

26There is an ox shaped like a stag, from the middle of whose forehead between the ears stands forth a single horn, taller and straighter than the horns we know. From its top branches spread out just like open hands. The main features of female and of male are the same, the same the shape and the size of the horns.

27 There are also elks so‑called. Their shape and dappled skin are like unto goats, but they are somewhat larger in size and have blunted horns.They have legs without nodes or joints, and they do not lie down to sleep, nor, if any shock has causes them to fall, can they raise or uplift themselves. Trees serve them as couches; they bear against them, and thus, leaning but a little, take their rest. When hunters mark by their tracks the spot to which they are wont to betake themselves, they either

undermine all the trees in that spot at the roots or cut them so far through as to leave them just standing to outward appearance. When the elk lean against them after their fashion, their weight bears down the weakened trees and they themselves fall along with them.

28 A third specie consists of the ure-oxen [aurochs] so‑called. In size these are somewhat smaller than elephants; in appearance, colour, and shape they are as bulls. Great is their strength and great their speed, and they spare neither man nor beast once sighted. These the Germans slay zealously, by taking them in pits; by such work the young men harden themselves and by this kind of hunting train themselves, and those who have slain most of them bring the horns with them to a public place for a testimony thereof, and win great renown. But even if they are caught very young, the animals cannot be tamed or accustomed to human beings. In bulk, shape, and appearance their horns are very different from the horns of our own oxen. The natives collect them zealously and encase the edges with silver, and then at their grandest banquets use them as drinking-cups.

Tacitus on the Roman rule of

Britain The Roman historian Tacitus (c. 56-120 CE) wrote a short biographical work about Julius Agricola, the father of his wife. Agricola had served as the governor of the Roman province of Britannia from 77-85 CE. HIs career took place during the rule of Domitian (81-96), whose arrogance and paranoia made him a bad emperor in many ways. Overall Tacitus writes the work in order to explore this question: is it possible to be a good Roman under a bad emperor? Although Tacitus is writing about a period later than the moment in time for your writing assignment, you can use this text as evidence of general patterns of Roman thought about how local peoples interacted with Roman conquest and imperial control.

Tacitus,​ Agricola ​(selections)

Complete Works of Tacitus​. Tacitus. Sara Bryant. edited for Perseus. New York. : Random House, Inc. Random House, Inc. 1876. reprinted 1942 (​source​) Small adjustments have been made for clarity.

[To establish the context for Agricola's actions, Tacitus describes the environment and customs in Britain. As we have seen in other contexts including the Hippocratic writings, there is a belief that environment plays a determining role in establishing the character, values and practices of communities]

10. The geography and inhabitants of Britain, already described by many writers, I will speak of, not that my research and ability may be compared with theirs, but because the country was then for the first time thoroughly subdued. And so matters, which as being still not accurately known my predecessors embellished with their eloquence, shall now be related on the evidence of facts.

Britain, the largest of the islands which Roman geography includes, is so situated that it faces Germany on the east, Spain on the west; on the south it is even within sight of Gaul; its northern extremities, which have no shores opposite to them, are beaten by the waves of a vast open sea. The form of the entire country has been compared by Livy and Fabius Rusticus, the most graphic among ancient and modern historians, to an oblong shield or battle-axe. And this no doubt is its shape without Caledonia, so that it has become the popular description of the whole island.

There is, however, a large and irregular tract of land which juts out from its furthest shores, tapering off in a wedge-like form. Round these coasts of remotest ocean the Roman fleet then for the first time sailed, ascertained that Britain is an island, and simultaneously discovered and conquered what are called the Orcades, islands hitherto unknown. Thule too was visible in the distance, which up to that point had been hidden by the snows of winter. Those waters, they say, are sluggish, and yield with difficulty to the oar, and are not even raised by the wind as other seas. The reason, I suppose, is that lands and mountains, which are the cause and origin of storms, are here comparatively rare, and also that the vast depths of that unbroken expanse [of Ocean] are more slowly set in motion. But to investigate the nature of the ocean and the tides is no part of the present work, and many writers have discussed the subject. I would simply add, that nowhere has the sea a wider dominion, that it has many currents running in every direction, that it does not merely flow and ebb within the limits of the shore, but penetrates and winds far inland, and finds a home among hills and mountains as though in its own domain.

11. Who were the original inhabitants of Britain, whether they were indigenous or foreign, is, as usual among barbarians, little known. Their physical characteristics are various and from these conclusions may be drawn. ​The red hair and large limbs of the inhabitants of Caledonia [Scotland] point clearly to a German origin​. ​The dark complexion of the Silures, their usually curly hair, and the fact that Spain

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is the opposite shore to them, are an evidence that Iberians of a former date crossed over and occupied these parts​. ​Those who are nearest to the Gauls are also like them, either from the permanent influence of original descent, or, because in countries which run out so far to meet each other, climate has produced similar physical qualities.​ But a general survey inclines me to believe that the Gauls established themselves in an island so near to them. Their religious belief may be traced in the strongly-marked British superstition. The language differs but little; there is the same ​boldness in challenging danger, and, when it is near, the same timidity in shrinking from it​. The ​Britons, however, exhibit more spirit, as being a people whom a long peace has not yet made weak.​ Indeed we have understood that even ​the Gauls were once renowned in war​; but, after a while, sloth following on ease crept over them, and ​they lost their courage along with their freedom​. This too has happened to the long-conquered tribes of Britain; the rest are still what the Gauls once were.

12 Their strength is in infantry. Some communities fight also with the chariot. The higher in rank is the charioteer; the dependents fight. They were once ruled by kings, but are now divided under chieftains into factions and parties. Our greatest advantage in coping with communities so powerful is that they do not act together. Seldom is it that two or three states meet together to ward off a common danger. Thus, ​while they fight singly, all are conquered.

Their sky is obscured by continual rain and cloud. Severity of cold is unknown. The days exceed in length those of our part of the world; the nights are bright, and in the extreme north so short that between sunlight and dawn you can perceive but a slight distinction. It is said that, if there are no clouds in the way, the splendour of the sun can be seen throughout the night, and that the sun does not rise and set, but only crosses the heavens. The truth is, that the low shadow thrown from the flat extremities of the earth's surface does not raise the darkness to any height, and the night thus fails to reach the sky and stars.

With the exception of the olive and vine, and plants which usually grow in warmer climates, the soil will yield, and even abundantly, all ordinary produce. It ripens indeed slowly, but is of rapid growth, the cause in each case being the same, namely, the ​excessive moisture of the soil and of the atmosphere​. Britain contains gold and silver and other metals, as the prize of conquest. The ocean, too, produces pearls, but of a dusky and bluish hue. Some think that those who collect them have not the requisite skill, as in the Red Sea the living and breathing pearl is torn from the rocks, while in Britain they are gathered just as they are thrown up. I could myself more readily believe that the natural properties of the pearls are in fault than our keenness for gain.

13 The Britons themselves bear cheerfully the conscription, the taxes, and the other burdens imposed on them by the Empire, if there be no oppression. Of this they are

impatient; they are reduced to subjection, not as yet to slavery. The deified ​Julius Caesar

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the very first Roman who entered Britain with an army, though by a successful engagement he struck terror into the inhabitants and gained possession of the coast, must be regarded as having indicated rather than transmitted the acquisition to future generations. Then came the civil wars, and the arms of our leaders were turned against their country, and even when there was peace, there was a long neglect of Britain. This Augustus spoke of as policy, ​Tiberius

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as an inherited maxim. That Caius Cæsar considered an invasion of Britain is perfectly clear, but his intentions, rapidly formed, were easily changed, and his vast attempts on Germany had failed. Claudius was the first to renew the attempt, and conveyed over into the island some legions and auxiliaries, choosing Vespasian to share with him the campaign, whose approaching elevation had this beginning. Several tribes were subdued and kings made prisoners, and destiny learnt to know its favourite.

[.​.. As Rome's rule in Britain becomes more active, the local communities begin to be rebellious​]

15 ... the Britons dwelt much among themselves on the miseries of subjection, compared their wrongs, and exaggerated them in the discussion. "All we get by patience," they said, "is that heavier demands are exacted from us, as from men who will readily submit. A single king once ruled us; now two are set over us; a legate to tyrannise over our lives, a procurator to tyrannise over our property. Their quarrels and their harmony are alike ruinous to their subjects. The centurions of the one, the slaves of the other, combine violence with insult. Nothing is now safe from their avarice, nothing from their lust. In war it is the strong who plunders; now, it is for the most part by cowards and bandits that our homes are rifled, our children torn from us, the conscription enforced, as though it were for our country alone that we could not die. For, after all, what a mere handful of soldiers has crossed over, if we Britons look at our own numbers. Germany did thus actually shake off the yoke, and yet its defence was a river, not the ocean. With us, fatherland, wives, parents, are the motives to war; with them, only greed and profligacy. They will surely fly, as did the now deified ​Julius

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, if once we emulate the bravery of our ancestors. Let us not be panic-stricken at the result of one or two engagements. The miserable have more fury and greater

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resolution. Now even the gods are beginning to pity us, for they are keeping away the Roman general, and detaining his army far from us in another island. We have already taken the hardest step; we are deliberating. And indeed, in all such designs, to dare is less perilous than to be detected."

16 Rousing each other by this and like language, ​under the leadership of Boudicea,​ a woman of kingly descent (for they admit no distinction of sex in their royal successions), ​they all rose in arms​. They fell upon our troops, which were scattered on garrison duty, stormed the forts, and burst into the colony itself, the head-quarters, as they thought, of tyranny. In their rage and their triumph, they spared no variety of a barbarian's cruelty. Had not Paullinus on hearing of the outbreak in the province rendered prompt succour, Britain would have been lost. By one successful engagement, he brought it back to its former obedience, though many, troubled by the conscious guilt of rebellion and by particular dread of the legate, still clung to their arms. Excellent as he was in other respects, his policy to the conquered was arrogant, and exhibited the cruelty of one who was avenging private wrongs.

[​other governors were sent out; finally Agricola is appointed to the post]

​Some day when you are in London and you step out of the Tube station at Westminster Bridge, you will be looking up at this modern statue (erected in 1902) of the rebel queen Boudicca (see Birth of Classical Europe p. 260-261 (image source)

[​Agricola takes military and other actions to consolidate and strengthen Roman control. These are met with resistance. Just before narrating the battle of Mount Gropius (at which Agricola would destroy the resistance decisively), Tacitus narrates a speech given by the leader on the British side, Calcagus (also spelled Galcagus). What values and attitudes does Tacitus attribute to Calcagus in inventing this speech and including it in his narrative? I​s Calcagus' speech a critique or a justification of Roman power?​]

30 ... Having sent on a fleet, which by its ravages at various points might cause a vague and wide-spread alarm, Agricola advanced with a lightly equipped force, including in its ranks some Britons of remarkable bravery, whose fidelity had been tried through years of peace, as far as the Grampian mountains, which the enemy had already occupied. For the ​Britons, indeed, in no way intimidated by the result of the recent battle, had made up their minds to be either avenged or enslaved,​ and convinced at length that a common danger must be averted by union, had, by embassies and treaties, summoned forth the whole strength of all their states. More than 30,000 armed men were now to be seen, and still there were

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boadicea_and_Her_Daughters#/media/File:Boudica_statue,_Westminster_(8433726848).jpg

pressing in all the youth of the country, with all whose old age was yet hale and vigorous, men renowned in war and bearing each decorations of his own. Meanwhile, among the many leaders, one superior to the rest in valour and in birth, Galgacus by name, is said to have thus harangued the multitude gathered around him and clamouring for battle:—

31 "Whenever I consider the origin of this war and the necessities of our position, I have a sure confidence that this day, and this union of yours, will be the beginning of freedom to the whole of Britain. To all of us slavery is a thing unknown; there are no lands beyond us, and even the sea is not safe, menaced as we are by a Roman fleet. And thus in war and battle, in which the brave find glory, even the coward will find safety. Former contests, in which, with varying fortune, the Romans were resisted, still left in us a last hope of help, inasmuch as being the most renowned nation of Britain, dwelling in the very heart of the country, and out of sight of the shores of the conquered, we could keep even our eyes unpolluted by the contagion of slavery. To us who dwell on the uttermost edges of the earth and of freedom, this remote sanctuary of Britain's glory has up to this time been a defense. Now, however, the furthest limits of Britain are thrown open, and the unknown always passes for the marvelous. But there are no communities beyond us, nothing indeed but waves and rocks, and the yet more terrible Romans, from whose oppression escape is vainly sought by obedience and submission. ​Robbers of the world, having by their universal plunder exhausted the land, they ransack the sea.​ If the enemy be rich, they are greedy; if he be poor, they lust for dominion; neither the east nor the west has been able to satisfy them. Alone among men they covet with equal eagerness poverty and riches. To robbery, slaughter, plunder, they give the lying name of empire; ​they make a solitude and call it peace​.

"Nature has willed that every man's children and kindred should be his dearest objects. Yet these are torn from us by conscriptions to be slaves elsewhere. Our wives and our sisters, even though they may escape violation from the enemy, are dishonoured under the names of friendship and hospitality. Our goods and fortunes the Romans collect for their tribute, our harvests for their granaries. Our very hands and bodies, under the lash and in the midst of insult, are worn down by the toil of clearing forests and morasses. Creatures born to slavery are sold once for all, and are, moreover, fed by their masters; but ​Britain is daily purchasing, is daily feeding, her own enslaved people​. ​And as in a household the last comer among the slaves is always the butt of his companions, so we in a world long used to slavery, as the newest and the most contemptible, are marked out for destruction​. We have neither fruitful plains, nor mines, nor harbours, for the working of which we may be spared. Valour, too, and high spirit in subjects, are offensive to rulers; besides, remoteness and seclusion, while they give safety, provoke suspicion. Since then you cannot hope for quarter, take courage, I beseech you, whether it be safety or renown that you hold most precious. Under a woman's leadership

[Boudica's] the Brigantes were able to burn a colony, to storm a camp, and had not success ended in lack of action, might have thrown off the yoke. Let us, then, a fresh and unconquered people, never likely to abuse our freedom, show forthwith at the very first onset what heroes Caledonia [Scotland] has in reserve.

32 "Do you suppose that the Romans will be as brave in war as they are licentious in peace? To our strifes and discords they owe their fame, and they turn the errors of an enemy to the renown of their own army, an army which, composed as it is of every variety of nations, is held together by success and will be broken up by disaster. These Gauls and ​Germans ​, and, I blush to say, these numerous Britons, who, though they lend their lives to support a stranger's rule, have been its enemies longer than its subjects, you cannot imagine to be bound by fidelity and affection. Fear and terror there certainly are, feeble bonds of attachment; remove them, and those who have ceased to fear will begin to hate. All the incentives to victory are on our side. The Romans have no wives to kindle their courage; no parents to taunt them with flight; many have either no country or one far away. Few in number, dismayed by their ignorance, looking around upon a sky, a sea, and forests which are all unfamiliar to them; hemmed in, as it were, and enmeshed, the Gods have delivered them into our hands. Be not frightened by idle display, by the glitter of gold and of silver, which can neither protect nor wound. In the very ranks of the enemy we shall find our own forces. Britons will acknowledge their own cause; Gauls will remember past freedom; the other ​Germans ​ will abandon them, as but lately did the Usipii. Behind them there is nothing to dread. The forts are ungarrisoned; the colonies in the hands of aged men; what with disloyal subjects and oppressive rulers, the towns are ill-affected and rife with discord. On the one side you have a general and an army; on the other, tribute, the mines, and all the other penalties of an enslaved people. Whether you endure these for ever, or instantly avenge them, this field is to decide. Think, therefore, as you advance to battle, at once of your ancestors and of your posterity."

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The reading is below the requirement in the same document.