Gnaeus Julius Agricola

Gnaeus Julius Agricola (ad 40-93), Roman statesman and general, born in Forum Julii (now Fréjus in the Var Department, France), and educated in philosophy in Massilia (Marseille). He served with distinction in the Roman provinces of Britain, Asia, and Aquitania and held numerous civil offices at Rome, ending with the consulship in 77. The following year he was appointed governor of the Roman province of Britannia. During the seven years of his administration there he attempted to subdue the native peoples, winning victories over the Ordovices in Wales and over the Caledonians in Scotland. After he had defeated the Caledonians, his fleet circumnavigated Great Britain, proving it to be an island. His success, however, is said to have aroused the jealousy of Emperor Domitian, who recalled him to Rome. The suggestion, however, that Domitian was responsible for Agricola's death is unsubstantiated. Agricola was the father-in-law of the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus, whose work De Vita Iulii Agricolae is a hagiographic biography of the general.