For almost half a century the standard English commentary on Tacitus’ Agricola has been that by R. M. Ogilvie and Sir Ian Richmond, which was published in 1967. It began life as a revision of the commentary produced by J. G. C. Anderson in 1922, which itself was a revision of the commentary by H. Furneaux published in 1898, when the United States and Spain were at war with each other and the British fought at Omdurman.

The present commentary differs from that of Ogilvie and Richmond in three principal ways. First, it is not a revision of any predecessor but is an entirely new and independent work. The text, for example, is different from, and considerably more open to conjecture than, others currently available. Second, the commentary lacks the heavy archaeological content which characterised their book and which was in many ways intellectually misleading: Tacitus in his biography of Agricola provides very few specific details of events or localities which can be illustrated by reference to evidence on the ground; for the most part he talks in general terms, designed to portray his father-in-law as an ideal military commander and provincial governor. Readers should therefore not turn to the present book for the latest information on Roman Britain, which is in any case a scholarly field subject to rapid change and revision. Third, and most important, the main aim throughout has been to explain the nature and meaning of Tacitus’ Latin. In keeping with the general principles of the series Cambridge Greek and Latin Classics, an effort has been made to provide ‘all the guidance with grammatical and syntactical matters’ needed by today's undergraduate and graduate students. At the same time, it is hoped that the work will not be deemed negligible by fellow scholars. If there has been no reluctance in quoting parallels, that is partly to illustrate the texture of Tacitus’ language, partly to correct any misleading inferences that may be drawn from the commentary of H. Heubner (1984), who wrote without the benefit of modern computerised search programmes and the like.

1 Clarorum uirorum facta moresque posteris tradere, antiquitus usitatum, ne nostris quidem temporibus (quamquam incuriosa suorum) aetas omisit quotiens magna aliqua ac nobilis uirtus uicit ac supergressa est uitium paruis magnisque ciuitatibus commune: ignorantiam recti et inuidiam. 2sed apud priores ut agere digna memoratu pronum magisque in aperto erat, ita celeberrimus quisque ingenio ad prodendam uirtutis memoriam sine gratia aut ambitione bonae tantum conscientiae pretio ducebatur. 3ac plerique suam ipsi uitam narrare fiduciam potius morum quam adrogantiam arbitrati sunt, nec id Rutilio et Scauro citra fidem aut obtrectationi fuit: adeo uirtutes iisdem temporibus optime aestimantur quibus facillime gignuntur. 4at nunc narraturo mihi uitam defuncti hominis uenia opus fuit quam non petissem incusaturus: tam saeua et infesta uirtutibus tempora. 2 legimus, cum Aruleno Rustico Paetus Thrasea, Herennio Senecioni Priscus Heluidius laudati essent, capitale fuisse, neque in ipsos modo auctores sed in libros quoque eorum saeuitum, delegato triumuiris ministerio ut monumenta clarissimorum ingeniorum in comitio ac foro urerentur. 2scilicet illo igne uocem populi Romani et libertatem senatus et conscientiam generis humani aboleri arbitrabantur, expulsis insuper sapientiae professoribus atque omni bona arte in exilium acta, ne quid usquam honestum occurreret. 3dedimus profecto grande patientiae documentum; et, sicut uetus aetas uidit quid ultimum in libertate esset, ita nos quid in seruitute, adempto per inquisitiones etiam loquendi audiendique commercio. memoriam quoque ipsam cum uoce perdidissemus, si tam in nostra potestate esset obliuisci quam tacere.

3 Nunc demum redit animus; et, quamquam primo statim beatissimi saeculi ortu Nerua Caesar res olim dissociabiles miscuerit – principatum ac libertatem – augeatque cotidie felicitatem temporum Nerua Traianus, nec spem modo ac uotum securitas publica, sed ipsius uoti fiduciam ac robur aetas suaserit, natura tamen infirmitatis humanae tardiora sunt remedia quam mala; et, ut corpora nostra lente augescunt, cito extinguuntur, sic ingenia studiaque oppresseris facilius quam reuocaueris: subit quippe etiam ipsius inertiae dulcedo, et inuisa primo desidia postremo amatur. 2quid si per quindecim annos, grande mortalis aeui spatium, multi fortuitis casibus, promptissimus quisque saeuitia principis interciderunt, pauci et (ut ita dixerim) non modo aliorum sed etiam nostri superstites sumus, exemptis e media uita tot annis, quibus iuuenes ad senectutem, senes prope ad ipsos exactae aetatis terminos per silentium uenimus? 3non tamen pigebit uel incondita ac rudi uoce memoriam prioris seruitutis ac testimonium praesentium bonorum composuisse. hic interim liber, honori Agricolae soceri mei destinatus, professione pietatis aut laudatus erit aut excusatus.