Gnaeus Julius Agricola

And as a consequence, soldiers from the 9th participated in most of the major conflicts in Britain— as the Romans fought to expand and consolidate their conquests on the island during these decades.

So just by way of example, they fought during the Rebellion of Boudicca in the 60s, they fought in the campaigns against the Brigantes of northern England during the 70s, and they fought in Agricola's campaigns during the late 70s and the 80s CE when Agricola sought to bring the whole of the island under Roman domination.

For a big chunk of this time, maybe from like the 70s onward, the 9th Legion was based at Eboracum, which is modern day York.

And we know this because of evidence from York, which includes things like building tiles marked with the stamps used by the legions and a bunch of inscriptions.

Really? We'll let it go for the time being.

The point here is that, you know, at this particular moment at the beginning of the film, the Romans are unable to conquer the Picts to the north, and the Picts have been unable to really drive the Romans out of Britain altogether.

Now, the Roman governor Agricola, who was not still general, not still governor at this point in time, but whatever.

The Roman governor Agricola sends the ninth out to eradicate the Picts, and he sends them with a Celtic scout, a woman named Aten.

Many other brave British leaders were dead, but the Britons still continued to give the Romans a great deal of trouble.

At last Vespasian, who was then emperor of the Romans, sent a general called Julius Agricola to see if he could subdue the people and govern the island of Britain.

Julius Agricola was a very clever soldier and a wise man.

When he had gained one or two victories over the Britons, he tried what kindness would do.

This was something the Romans had never done before.

Julius Agricola tried to understand the people.

He was just and fair.

He not only took away many of the heavy taxes which the Romans had made the British pay, but he built schools and had the people taught to read and write.

So, so he's the second of four warrior governors, uh, in the Flavian period, who are the Roman warrior governors who start conquering the, the far north of Britain.

The first one's Bolanus, then you move on to Cerialis, then Frontinus, and finally, and we'll come to the great Agricola in a second.

So, so the important thing in the governorship of Cerialis is that he's given the task by the new emperor, Vespasian, of winning martial glory for the new dynasty.

It's the end of the Julio-Claudians, Year of the Four Emperors, the Flavians.

Later, uh, uh, late- later, a, a sort of a provincial capital after Severus divides the, um, the province of Britannia in half.

Um, but it's the home of the Ninth Legion, and that's very important because it's from there we then jump through the governorship of Frontinus, and now we're into the later AD 70s into the early AD 80s, and we have, for me, one of the greatest Roman Britons, if not the greatest Roman Briton.

If you ask a Mancunian who the greatest Roman Briton is, it's Agricola, the great warrior governor, Agricola.

And Agricola is also, like Frontinus, tasked with conquering territory for the Flavians.

There were no abler ones than Trajan and Hadrian.

Nothing could be nobler than the integrity and public spirit of soldiers and administrators like Julius Agricola, the type, we cannot doubt, of other great and high-minded Roman governors, the shame and condemnation of the crowd of base and cruel ones.

And there is no more majestic monument of human jurisprudence than the system of law which grew up in the Roman law courts.

But the springs and principles which governed society had become so fatally tainted that no temporary reaction toward good and no concurrence of beneficent institutions availed to turn back the strong tide of evil tendency.

There were no abler ones than Trajan and Hadrian.

Nothing could be nobler than the integrity and public spirit of soldiers and administrators like Julius Agricola, the type, we cannot doubt, of other great and high-minded Roman governors, the shame and condemnation of the crowd of base and cruel ones.

And there is no more majestic monument of human jurisprudence than the system of law which grew up in the Roman law courts.

But the springs and principles which governed society had become so fatally tainted that no temporary reaction toward good and no concurrence of beneficent institutions availed to turn back the strong tide of evil tendency.