Agricola
Calgachus’ speech comes first, and it is considerably longer than the one Tacitus attributes to Agricola. Expertly crafted and containing psychological and political insights, it is full of heroic lan guage and brilliant rhetoric including the famous ‘they create desolation and call it peace’ ( Ag . 30). It is difficult not to be moved by it. While Tacitus may express dismay at bad emperors or lament the departure from Republican ideals, it is important to remember that Rome's foreign policy during the times of the Republic was hardly any less aggressive and expansionist than during the Empire, and Tacitus achieved virtually the highest office he could under the imperial system; neither he nor his contemporaries could have given an account of the Republic uncorrupted and at peace, if it ever was. 6 Central to this speech are the ideas of liberty and slavery. Calgachus denounces Romans for enslaving Britons, by force or by cunning, urging his fellow tribesmen to take a stand. In doing so he underplays the risk of a defeat at the hands of the enemy that proved victorious on many occasions before and overplays the likelihood of a revolt among Roman auxiliaries, whom he expects to turn on their masters. Agricola’s speech is, on the other hand, far more economical. Recognizing that Roman forces are outnumbered, and lacking good knowledge of the terrain, he defends the decision to finally engage in a set battle (of which his avoidance to this point is another mark of skill) on a principle that ‘no army and no general can safely turn their back’ ( Ag. 33). Whereas Calgachus barely alludes to a possibility of defeat, Agricola soberly admits the risk concluding stoically that ‘safety and renown are to be sought in the same field. And, if we must perish, it would be no mean glory to fall where land and nature end ’ ( Ag. 33) ’ . It would only be fair to say that the speech fully reflects the qualities for which Agricola is praised by Tacitus, i.e. prudence and restraint, and which are implicitly condemned in the speech of his adversary. Such a contrast must obviously be deliberate considering that Tacitus was at liberty to put almost any words in the mouths of the two leaders. Bearing in mind the outcome of the battle, with Agricola showing great resilience and skill, and scoring a well-deserved and impressive victory, it seems clear that Tacitus believes Agricol a’s conduct to be superior. Importantly, the humiliation experienced by the Caledonians is all the greater, as they suffer defeat from those very auxiliaries who, as Calgachus hoped, would instead turn on their commanders. There is irony in this, as it was Calgachus himself who, in his speech before the battle, lamented that in a household the new slave is abused by the old ones, who enforce their master’s will ( Ag . 31). The irony is without any doubt calculated. Later, Tacitus states his joy that Agricola died before the carnage of Domitian’s final days, expressing collective guilt: ‘soon ours were the hands that led Helvidius to the cell . . . it was we who were drenched with Senecio’s innocent blood ( Ag . 45). ’
6 Percival 1980.
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