The text of the Agricola given here is not identical with the text presented by any of our commentators, or any other edition. Brief notes on textual problems are provided where discrepancies arise; the relevant lemmata are highlighted in yellow. Most of the discrepancies arise from the fact that the most important manuscript of the Agricola, the so-called "Jesi" manuscript, or codex Aesinas, was discovered in 1902, after the publication of two of our source commentaries. Prior to 1902 the text was based on copies of this manuscript, which inevitably had more errors than their model. (See the section entitled "Manuscripts of the Agricola" in Stuart's Introduction.) The manuscript is now owned by the Biblioteca Nazionale in Rome, where it is identified as Cod. Vitt. Em. 1631. High quality photographs of the codex Aesinas are available from the Harvard Library (for the Agricola see seq. 106-34).
The discovery of this manuscript improved our text of the Agricola considerably. However, there remain a few dozen passages where its text, which was copied in the ninth century CE, some seven centuries after Tacitus, is obviously garbled. Such passages call for editorial emendation, but editors sometimes disagree on how to fix the problem. The following table indicates differences between our text and that of two modern scholarly commentaries. The first column contains the DCC text, the second that of Woodman, the third that of Ogilvie and Richmond.
|
adsumpserit |
aetas suaserit |
adsumpserit |
|
|
ita |
ita |
sic |
|
|
intercepti |
intercepti |
intersaepti |
|
|
obsequi (inf.) |
obsequii |
obsequi (inf.) |
|
|
<iam> exuerat |
(excision) |
exuerat |
|
|
oblongo scutulo |
oblongo scutulo |
oblongae scapulae |
|
|
perinde |
proinde |
perinde |
|
|
<segetum> fecundum |
fecundum<que> |
<pecudumque> fecundum |
|
|
iterati |
tanti |
tanti |
|
|
Togidumno |
Togidumno |
Cogidumno |
|
|
in alia insula exercitum |
e- in a- ins- |
in a- ins- e- |
|
|
et ducis salute |
et ducis salute |
ducis salute [et] |
|
|
irritamenta |
invitamenta |
invitamenta |
|
|
et tanta |
tanta |
tanta |
|
|
curaque ut <haec ut> nulla |
(crux) |
curaque ut nulla |
|
|
honor et |
honor et |
honoris |
|
|
Britannia |
Britanniae |
Britannia |
|
|
nave primum |
nave primum |
nave prima |
|
|
in melius |
(crux) |
[in melius] |
|
|
impelleretur ac |
impellitur ut |
impelleretur ac |
|
|
Britannos quoque |
Britannosque |
Britannos quoque |
|
|
uno rem negante |
uno remigi imperante |
uno remigante |
|
|
ad aquam |
ad aquam |
<ubi> [ad] aquam |
|
|
utensilia |
utensilia |
utilia |
|
|
raptum ubi devertissent |
raptum ubi devertissent |
raptum exissent |
|
|
famae |
a fama |
famae |
|
|
bellaturi |
<arma in>laturi |
(crux) |
|
|
est |
est |
sunt |
|
|
imperii |
populi |
imperii |
|
|
manus |
animus <venire> |
(crux) |
|
|
pellebantur |
pelli <pro>bantur |
pellebantur |
|
|
quinquaginta |
quadraginta |
quinquaginta |
|
|
simul in frontem simul |
simul in frontem simul |
in frontem simul et |
|
|
parva ... gerentibus |
parva ... gerentibus |
[parva ... gerentibus] |
|
|
<ut> fugere |
(crux) |
fugere <enim> |
|
|
minimeque |
minime <enim> |
minimeque |
|
|
in gradu stantes |
clivo instantes |
in gradu stantes |
|
|
postquam ... nam primos |
po- ... nam pr- |
nam postquam ... primos |
|
|
silvas |
silvas |
silvas equitem |
|
|
Borestorum |
boreos totum |
Borestorum |
|
|
additque |
additque |
addique |
|
|
hausit |
duxit |
hausit |
|
|
ceterorum |
ceterorum |
eorum |
|
|
ipsam gloriam |
ipsa gloria |
ipsam gloriam |
|
|
simulatione |
simulationi |
simulatione |
|
|
oblitus est |
oblitus est |
oblitus |
|
|
animi vultu |
animi vultu |
animo vultuque |
|
|
sicuti <non licuit ei> |
sicuti <non licuit ei> |
sicut ei <non licuit> |
|
|
<notavit> |
(lacuna) |
<adflixit> |
|
|
comploratus |
comploratus |
compositus |
|
|
fama |
<ut> fama |
fama |
|
|
obruit |
obruit |
obruet |