Tacitus's Description of Ireland
"That island, compared with Britain, is of smaller dimensions, but it is larger than the islands of our own sea. In regard to soil, climate, and the character and ways…
From: 98 C.E. To: 98 C.E.
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From The Agricola by Roman historian Tacitus, c. 98 CE, translated by William Peterson, 1914.
That island, compared with Britain, is of smaller dimensions, but it is larger than the islands of our own sea. In regard to soil, climate, and the character and ways of its inhabitants, it is not markedly different from Britain; we are better informed, thanks to the trade of merchants, about the approaches to the island and its harbours.
Agricola had given shelter to one of the petty chieftains whom faction had driven from home, and under the cloak of friendship held him in reserve to be used as opportunity offered. I have often heard my father-in-law say that with one legion and a fair contingent of irregulars Hibernia could be overpowered and held, and that the feat would pay as against Britain also; for so Roman troops would be everywhere and liberty would sink, so to speak, below the horizon.
Cornelius Tacitus, Dialogus, Agricola, Germania, ed. T. E. Page and W. H. D. Rouse (London: William Heinemann, 1914), 211.
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