Agricola, a shrewd and enlightened ruler who has gradually Romanized Britain, encouraging urbanization and fostering partial self-rule in the south, is recalled in 85, after an unusually long tenure as governor.

Tacitus claims that Domitian ordered his recall because Agricola's successes outshone the Emperor's own modest victories in Germany.

The relationship between Agricola and the Emperor is unclear: on the one hand, Agricola is awarded triumphal decorations and a statue (the highest military honors apart from an actual triumph); on the other, Agricola will never again hold a civil or military post, in spite of his experience and renown.

He is offered the governorship of the province of Africa, but declines it, whether due to ill health or (as Tacitus claims) the machinations of Domitian.