AGRICOLA—AGRICULTURE. 
  
  
  
appropriations of territory made by the victorious 
military leaders in the latter times of the republic, in 
order to reward their soldiers, and establish exclu- 
sively military colonies. In these the private rights 
of the previous occupants were often disregarded. 
AGRI'COLA, GNAEUS or CNEIUS JULIUS, a Roman 
of the imperial times, distinguished not less by his 
great abilities as a statesman and a soldier than by 
the beauty of his private character, was born at Forum 
Julii (now Fréjus in Provence), 37 A. D. Having served 
with distinction in Britain, Asia, and Aquitania, and 
gone through the round of civil offices, he was, in 
77 A.D., elected consul, and in the following year 
proceeded as governor to Britain—the scene of his 
military and civil administration during the next 
seven years. He was the first Roman general who 
effectually subdued the island, and the only one 
who displayed as much genius and success in training 
the inhabibants to the amenities of civilisation as in 
breaking their rude force in war. In his seventh 
and last campaign (84 A.p.), his decisive victory 
over the Caledonians under Galgacus, at the foot of 
the Grampians, established the Roman dominion 
in Britain to that extent northward. At the close 
of this campaign, his fleet circumnavigated the 
coast, for the first time, discovering Britain to be 
an island. Among the works executed by A. 
  
  
  
during his administration, were a chain of forts 
between the Solway and the Tyme, and another 
botween the Clyde and Forth. Numerous traces 
of his operations are still to be found in Anglesey 
and North Wales, and in Galloway, Fife, Perth- 
shire, and Angus. The news of A’s successes 
inflamed the jealousy of Domitian, and he was 
speedily recalled. Thenceforth he lived in retire- 
ment ; and when the vacant proconsulships of Asia 
and Africa lay within his choice, he prudently 
declined promotion. The jealousy of the emperor, 
however, is supposed to have hastened his death, 
which took place at the early age of 55. His life, 
by his son-in-law Tacitus, has always been regarded 
as one of the choicest specimens of biography in 
literature. 
AGRICOLA, JomN (whose true name Was 
Schnitter or Schneider, but who was also called 
Magister Islebius and John Eisleben, after the name 
of his native town), born 1492, was one of the most 
zealous founders of Protestantism. Having studied 
at Wittenberg and Leipsic, he was sent (1525) by 
Luther, who highly appreciated his talents and 
learning, to Frankfort-on-the-Main, to institute 
there, at the desire of the magistrates, the Protestant 
worship. On his return, he resided as a teacher and 
preacher in his native town of Eisleben, till 1536. 
In 1537, he became a professor at Wittenberg, 
where the Antinomian controversy, already begun 
between him and Luther and Melancthon, broke 
out openly. See ANTINOMIANISM. The troubles 
in which he was thus involved obliged him to 
withdraw (1538) to Berlin, where he was reduced 
to extreme want, and was thus induced to make a 
recantation, never altogether sincere. He then found 
a protector in the Elector John of Brandenburg, 
who appointed him preacher to the court and 
general superintendent. He made great exertions 
for the spread of the Protestant doctrine in the 
Brandenburg states ; butb ere his death, which took 
place at Berlin, 22d September 1566, he had become 
as much hated for his share in the drawing up of 
the Augsburg Intertm (. V.), a8 he had formerly 
been for his Antinomian opinions. Besides his 
numerous theological writings, his country possesses 
a truly national work of his, entitled Die Gemenen 
Deutschen Spriichworter mit threr auslegung (Common 
German Proverbs, with their Explanation ; Hagenau, 
80 
1592 ; and a very complete but somewhat altered 
edition at Wittenberg, 1592). The patriotic feelings, 
pure morals, and pithy language of this book, have 
procured for it one of the first places among the 
German works of that age. 
AGRICOLA, RuporpHus, one of the most 
learned and remarkable men of the 15th c., and a 
chief instrument in transplanting the taste for litera- 
ture, just revived in Italy, into his native country of 
Glermany, was born, 1443, in the village of Baflo,near 
Groningen. His name was properly Rolef Huys- 
mann (i.e., houseman or husbandman), which was 
Latinised by him into A., after the usage of the time. 
He was also called Frisius, and Rudolf of Groningen, 
from his native place; and sometimes Rudolf of 
Ziloha, from the monastery of Silo, where he spent 
some time. Having been first a disciple of Thomas & 
Kempis at Zwolle, he went to Louvain, then to Paris, 
and thence to Italy, where, during the years 1476 
and 1477, he attended the lectures of the most cele- 
brated men of his age. Here he entered into a close 
friendship with Dalberg, who afterwards became 
Bishop of Worms. He was the first German who 
distinguished himself in Ttaly in public speaking and 
lecturing, and this he did not only by his erudition, 
but by the elegance of his language and the correct- 
ness of his pronunciation. He likewise acquired 
reputation as an accomplished musician ; and his 
pieces were popular throughout Italy. On his return 
to Germany, he endeavoured, in connection with 
several of his former co-disciples and friends, among 
whom were Alexander Hegius and Rudolphus Lange, 
to promote a taste for literature and eloquence in 
Germany. Several cities of Holland vainly strove 
with each other to obtain his presence, by offering 
him public functions; but not even the brilliant 
overtures made to him by the court of the emperor 
Maximilian L., to which he had repaired in connec- 
ton with affairs of the town of Groningen, could 
induce him to renounce his independence. At 
length yielding (1483) to the solicitations of Dalberg, 
who was now chancellor to the Elector Palatine, 
and Bishop of Worms, he established himself in the 
Palatinate, where he sojourned alternately at Heidel- 
bere and Worms, dividing his time between private 
studies and public lectures, and enjoying high popu- 
larity. He distinguished himself also as a painter ; 
and at the age of 40 set with ardour to learn 
Hebrew, in order to study theology. He went again 
(1484) with Dalberg into Italy, and died shortly 
after his return to Germany (on the 28th October 
1485). His fame rests chiefly on the personal influ- 
ence he exerted. His compositions, which are 
written in Latin, are neither so numerous nor SO 
important as those of many of his learned contem- 
poraries. The first nearly complete edition of them 
was that published by Alard (2 vols,, Cologne, 1539). 
Consult Tresling, Vita et Merita E. A. (Grioningen, 
1830). 
A'GRICULTURE (Lat. ager, a field, and colo, I 
till) is the art of rearing those plants and animals 
that are best suited to supply the wants of man. 
Man has found the earth, in almost every clime, 
covered with vegetation, yet this often yields little 
that he can use. The spontaneous growth of nature 
affording but a limited quantity of food, he at first 
attempts to supply the deficiency by capturing the 
wild animals, which often feed upon what is unsuited 
for his sustenance. Sometimes, however, the most 
fertile lands under luxuriant forests, or other natural 
vegetation, only support a small number of animals. 
In the most favourable circumstances, a given area 
of territory cannot maintain many of the human 
family, so long as they depend upon the natural 
  
  
  
  
  
  
vegetation or on the chase. It is only after those 
  
  
  
  
  
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