Agricola 1

Study Guide Questions for Ch. 1-9

If you are looking for the beginning of the study of Tacitus’ Agricola then you can go HERE for a brief introduction. At the bottom of the introduction you will find the links to each section of the study guide as it becomes available. If you would like to see the growing list of available book studies available for free on this site you can go HERE. Enjoy!

Virtues/Vices/Great Ideas: (Find them in the Text)

Virtue, Indulgence, Fortitude, Prudence, Temperance, Despotism

Grammar Questions: (The Information of the Text)

1. According to Tacitus, what has always been done for “famous men?”

2. What good things, for the sake of Rome, did Tacitus attribute to “Nerva Trajan?”

3. What caused Agricola’s father to lose his life?

4. Where did Agricola spend his “military apprenticeship” and whose command was he under?

5. What did Tacitus say “invaded” Agricola’s spirit?

6. What did Tacitus call “good philosophy” during the age of Nero?

7. What did Tacitus say Agricola managed to steer clear of while also not missing out on?

8. What did Tacitus say Agricola never bragged about and what did he do instead?

9. What did Tacitus say was a “common belief” about military men?

10. What did Agricola give to Tacitus right after his time as a Roman Consul?

Logic Questions: (Interpreting, Comparing/Contrasting, Reasoning)

1. Why might it be the case that a “noble character is best appreciated in those ages in which it can most readily develop?”

2. What might be inferred from the fact that during Domitian’s reign “teachers of philosophy and all honourable studies were banished?”

3. Tacitus wrote, “Idleness gradually becomes sweet, and we end by loving the sloth that at first we loathed.” What did he mean by this? 

4. What should be inferred about Julius Graecinus (Agricola’s father) from the circumstances that led to his death?

5. Tacitus said of Agricola that “he would have drunk deeper of philosophy than a Roman and a Senator properly may” had his mother not intervened. What did he mean by this? Why might too much philosophy have been bad for a Roman and especially for a senator?

6. Tactitus said that Agricola and his wife Domitia “lived in rare accord, maintained by mutual affection and unselfishness, although in such a partnership a good wife deserves more of the praise, just as a bad one deserved more of the blame.” What did Tacitus mean by saying that a wife deserves more of the praise or blame than the husband? Would you agree? Why or why not?

7. What did Tacitus mean by saying “absence of initiative” was “good philosophy” during Nero’s reign?

Rhetoric Questions: (The Analysis of Ideas in the Text)

1. What qualities are necessary in a good leader in general? List at least three qualities of good leadership that you see Tacitus attributing to Agricola in this reading. Why do you think those particular qualities are important for a good leader to have? Base upon the reading, what do you think best accounts for why and how Agricola came to have those good qualities?

2. Given what Tacitus said about it not being fitting for a Roman and a senator to drink too deeply in philosophy, do you think it is possible to have too much philosophy in one’s life? Why or why not?

Theological Analysis: (Sola Scriptura)

1. Read Philippians 2:3-4. Tacitus said that Agricola’s spirit was “invaded” by a desire for military glory. Do you think it is possible to have a desire for military glory (or have strong ambitions for greatness in general) and still be able to obey the commandments here in Philippians? Why or why not?