Latin 510 (Tacitus). Assignment for Week 2 (T 10/13 and Th 10/15)

Agr. 10-22

I’d like to linger a bit long on the way the Agricola begins and how that compares to other texts whose beginnings you may (or may not) have looked at.

We’ll translate bits and pieces of these chapters (so be prepared to do that) and, as I mentioned, please note any especially troublesome sections you want us to go over specifically.

Ponderanda

•Insofar as you can, draw a map of Britain and environs using T. as your guide. Try to locate approximately (without looking at a real map) tribes, towns, geographical points etc. mentioned by T.

•What, at this point, seems to be T.'s view of Roman imperialism? of the inhabitants of Britain?

•Read carefully O&R's discussion of the 'digression' at Agr. 10-17 (pp. 164ff). Do you agree with their interpretation? If not, what would you take issue with? Or what would you add?

Secondary reading (for Thursday 10/15): Sailor, CA 23.1 (2004) 139-77. This is available electronically through the UW Library system. Follow this link to Classical Antiquity...or browse to it through the Library homepage and ‘electronic journals’:

http://caliber.ucpress.net/toc/ca/23/1;jsessionid=juLidzDZ960f

[Note that you must be signed in to the library system to access articles electronically (in case you’re trying to do this off campus).]

This article is prolegomenal to Sailor’s recent book Writing and Empire in Tacitus (Cambridge 2008), the first chapter of which is about the Agricola.

Idle optional dithering: Read (or reread) the digression on Africa in Sallust's Jugurtha 17-19 for comparison with T. on Britain. Differences? Similarities? (esp. in [apparent] purpose and effect).