His fleet sails round Britain. Scotland; he was also the first to sail round the whole country, an undertaking then of no ordinary danger, especially at the advanced season of the year when it was performed. It is a striking remark of Tacitus that the harbours of Ireland, which one or two centuries before had been visited by the Gauls, and perhaps at a still earlier period by the Carthaginians, were then better known to continental merchants by means of their commerce than to those of Britain.
The influence of the rule of Agricola on the Britons. Altogether the rule of Agricola proved as remarkable as it was certainly at variance with the usual habits and practices of Roman proconsuls. When once he had laid down the sword, he encouraged a taste among the Britons for the pleasures of civilized life; first exhorting, then assisting them to build temples and places of public resort, and commending and rewarding those who were assiduous and forward in such pursuits: in this way he hoped to subdue their restless spirit, and to give scope to their excitement in other pursuits than those of war. He also took care to have the sons of their chiefs instructed in the liberal sciences, inducing many of them to study the Roman language, which they had previously despised, to copy the manners and customs of Rome, and even to adopt the costume of its citizens. Nor were his efforts confined to the improvement and amelioration of their social position. He had learned, from the conduct of those who had preceded him in the government of Britain, how little arms avail to settle a province, if victory is followed by grievances and oppressions; he therefore displayed his superior wisdom by removing every just cause for complaint. Beginning with himself, and with those around him,
