Agricola ( book ) The Agricola ( , lit . " On the life and character of Julius Agricola " ) is a book by the Roman historian Tacitus , written , which recounts the life of his father - in - law Gnaeus Julius Agricola , an eminent Roman general . It also covers , briefly , the geography and ethnography of ancient Britain . As in the " Germania " , Tacitus favorably contrasts the liberty of the native Britons to the corruption and tyranny of the Empire ; the book also contains eloquent and vicious polemics against the rapacity and greed of Rome . Summary . After the assassination of Domitian in 96AD , and amid the predictable turmoil of the regime change , Tacitus used his new - found freedom to publish this , his first historical work . During the reign of Domitian , Agricola , a faithful imperial general , had been the most important general involved in the conquest of a great part of Britain . The proud tone of the " Agricola " recalls the style of the " laudationes funebres " ( funeral speeches ) . A quick résumé of the career of Agricola prior to his mission in Britain is followed by a narration of the conquest of the island . There is a geographical and ethnological digression , taken not only from notes and memories of Agricola but also from the " De Bello Gallico " of Julius Caesar . The content is so varied as to go beyond the limits of a simple biography , but the narration , whatever its form , serves to exalt the subject of the biography . Tacitus exalts the character of his father - in - law , by showing how — as governor of Roman Britain and commander of the army — he attends to matters of state with fidelity , honesty , and competence , even under the government of the hated Emperor Domitian . Critiques of Domitian and of his regime of spying and repression come to the fore at the work ' s conclusion . Agricola remained uncorrupted ; in disgrace under Domitian , he died without seeking the glory of an ostentatious martyrdom . Tacitus condemns the suicide of the Stoics as of no benefit to the state . Tacitus makes no clear statement as to whether the death of Agricola was from natural causes or ordered by Domitian , although he does say that rumors were voiced in Rome that Agricola was poisoned on the Emperor ' s orders . Themes . For Tacitus , Agricola served as an example of how , even under despotism , it was possible to behave correctly , avoiding the opposite extremes of servility and useless opposition . The work can be viewed as an apologia for a large part of the governing class : people who , not desiring martyrdom , had collaborated with the Flavian family and had made a valid contribution to lawmaking , to provincial government , to the enlargement of the limits of the empire and to the defence of its borders . On the other hand , the work may well have been a plea to the recently re - instated Stoics not to harass and oppose the new regime in a time of great instability . The work has a strong anti - despotic tone . Tacitus sets the despotism of Domitian against the merits of Agricola : an incorruptible officer and a great commander , who fitted the model of the " mos maiorum " ( " the custom of the forefathers " , the presumed superior morality of an earlier time ) . The writer implicitly says that , as the Empire should be accepted as a necessary evil , one has to keep one ' s dignity without mixing up one ' s own responsibility with the responsibility of an arbitrary despot like Domitian . One can be an honest and scrupulous officer , doing his job with serenity and in collaboration with the regime , keeping his job and keeping the interest of the state , waiting for a better age , when a writer would be able to write in freedom . Style . The " Agricola " mixes various literary genres . It is an elegy evolved into a biography , a " laudatio funebris " mixed with historical and ethnographical material . For this reason , the book contains portions written in different styles . The exordium , the speeches , and the final peroration show strong influence from Cicero , probably derived from Tacitus ' s own training in rhetoric . In the narrative and ethnographical portions , two models of the historical style can be seen : that of Sallust ( with incongruities , archaism , parataxis and sobriety ) and that of Livy ( with oratorical style : wide , fluid , hypotactic and dramatic ) .