Book 79: "The Agricola and The Germania" by Tacitus
Sunday, August 27th, 2006 18:06![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kittiwakeBritain yields gold, silver, and other metals, to make it worth conquering. Its seas, too, produce pearls, but they are of a dark, bluish-grey colour. Some think that the natives are unskilful in gathering them; for whereas in the Indian Ocean the oysters are torn alive and breathing from the rocks, in Britain they are collected as the sea throws them up. I find it easier to believe that the pearls are of inferior quality than that people miss a chance of making a larger profit.
In "The Agricola", Tacitus covers the life and career of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who was Governor of Britain between 78 and 84 A.D. In "The Germania" he is writing about the character and customs of the germanic tribes living north of the frontier of the Roman Empire.
This Penguin Classics edition includes an interesting introduction, but the maps included could have been bigger; the names of the tribes are so small and close together that it is very hard to find the one you are looking for.
In "The Agricola", Tacitus covers the life and career of his father-in-law, Gnaeus Julius Agricola, who was Governor of Britain between 78 and 84 A.D. In "The Germania" he is writing about the character and customs of the germanic tribes living north of the frontier of the Roman Empire.
This Penguin Classics edition includes an interesting introduction, but the maps included could have been bigger; the names of the tribes are so small and close together that it is very hard to find the one you are looking for.
