Note 34 — Chapter I · ADVANCE OF THE ROMANS TO THE FIRTHS OF FORTH AND CLYDE.

Tacit. Hist. lib. iii. c. 45. Tacitus, in his Life of Agricola, implies that Vettius did nothing, and was not equal to his position; but in his sketch of the previous governors it is manifest that he endeavours to enhance the fame of his hero by lessening the merits of his predecessors. The account of the war is taken from his History, where, although he does not name Vettius, it is plain that the events there narrated happened during his government, and this accords with the lines of Statius (see Note 38), which, making due allowance for a panegyrist, certainly imply a war, the result of which had reflected credit upon him. The allusion to the Rex Britannus, from whom he took the ‘thorax,’ is curious. Venusius is probably meant.