172 The Imperial Government
the detachment of some of his troops (the legion V Macedonica) for the
Armeniancampaign.Fromparallelcasesitisclearthattherecouldhavebeen
otherlettersofinstruction,thoughtheinscription,putupunderVespasian,
wouldnotemphasizeeitherthatorconsultationofNero.Forinstance,Jose-
phusrecordsthatTiberiuswrotetoL.VitelliusasgovernorofSyria,probably
in35,togivehimdetailedinstructionsontheresumptionofdiplomaticrela-
tionswithArtabanusofParthia.^56 Subsequently,HerodAntipaswrotefrom
GalileetomakeaccusationsagainstAretasofNabataea,andTiberiuswrote
toVitelliusinstructinghimtotakehisarmyagainstAretas.WhenVitellius
hadreachedJerusalem,newscameofthedeathofTiberius,andhereturned
toSyria,‘‘nolongerbeingempoweredasbeforesincecontrolofaffairshad
passedtoGaius.’’^57
Precisely the same questions arisewith the second instance, the gover-
norship of Agricola in Britain in 78–84. Nothing is said by Tacitus about
mandatafromVespasian,oraboutsubsequentinstructionsfromhim,Titus,
orDomitian,oraboutconsultationofthembyAgricola.Butthestatement
thathedidnotenshrinethereportofhiscontainmentoftheOrdovicesina
laurelledletter(18)surelyimpliesatleastthatend-of-campaignreportswere
normal.Suchreportsarenotmentionedagain,however,untilafterthevic-
toryatMonsGraupius,whentheywerefollowedbythevoteoftriumphalia
ornamenta(triumphaldistinctions)andofastatuebytheSenate—andaletter
ofrecallfromDomitian(39–40).ButifthereisanytruthinDio’sconfused
reportthatTitushadgainedanimperatorialacclamationasaresultofAgri-
cola’ssuccessesinBritain,theremusthavebeenreportstohimtoo.^58 Tacitus’
accounthoweverprovidesnopositivereasontobelievethattheconsolida-
tionofnorthernWales,theadvanceintosouthernScotlandanduptheeast
coast, the battle of Mons Graupius or, on the diplomatic side, the recep-
tionofafugitivechieffromIreland(24)orthedemandforhostagesfrom
tribesinScotland(38)followedanyspecificimperialplanorinstructions.It
isareasonablespeculation,butonlyaspeculation,thatAgricola23mightre-
flectadecisionbyTitusthatAgricolashouldhaltontheForth-Clydeline,
thenreversedbyDomitian.^59 TherecallofAgricola,combinedwiththevery
cleararchaeologicalevidencefortheestablishmentofthelegionaryfortress
- Josephus,Ant.18,4,4(96).Forthedate,seeTacitus,Ann.6,31–37,andDio58,26.
- Josephus,Ant.18,5,1(115);5,3(120–24).
- Dio66,20,undera.d.79,andmentioningthefifteenthacclamation,correctlydated
tothatyear,togetherwiththecircumnavigationofBritain,whichhappenedinAgricola’s
sixthyear(83). - Forthisview,S.S.Frere,Britannia^2 (1978),126–28.