Re: ARCHAEOLOGY VERSUS TACITUS' AGRICOLA was to Paul Burke Re: Grænlendinga þáttur

From: Kendall K. Down (webmaster_at_diggingsonline.com)
Date: 03/17/05 

Date: Thu, 17 Mar 2005 06:54:41 GMT

In message <f27h31953tjj8b8476m078itlm831i4kd5@4ax.com>
          Doug Weller <dweller@ramtops.removethisdemon.co.uk> wrote:

> Far from
> claiming that Tacitus invented every detail, therefore, I would like to
> suggest that he might have rearranged the order of events to create a more
> satisfying story-line.

The problem with this theory is that Tacitus was writing at a time when many
people - and not just common soldiers who may, perhaps, have been
illiterate, but important people - were alive who could remember the events
of Agricola's life and possibly even taken part in some of them. Is it
really plausible to suppose that such people would, upon reading Tacitus,
smack their foreheads and exclaim, "Gosh! My memory is really slipping. Of
course Agricola founded that fort in which I was commander before he
arrived. Of course Agricola fought battle X at which I was present before
battle W at which I was also present. Of course he circumnavigated Britain
after XYZ even though I had a drink with the captain before XYZ."

Ken Down 

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