But they were an army in
name only, not in strength, for Vitellius had withdrawn all the
efficient soldiers and had replaced them by a useless mob, who had
been drawn from the neighbouring Nervian and German villages and were
only embarrassed by their armour.
name only, not in strength, for Vitellius had withdrawn all the
efficient soldiers and had replaced them by a useless mob, who had
been drawn from the neighbouring Nervian and German villages and were
only embarrassed by their armour.
Tacitus
[247]
His father had been a senior centurion in the army. From his early
youth Helvidius devoted his great intellectual powers to the higher
studies, not as many people do, with the idea of using a philosopher's
reputation as a cloak for indolence,[248] but rather to fortify
himself against the caprice of fortune when he entered public life. He
became a follower of that school of philosophy[249] which holds that
honesty is the one good thing in life and sin the only evil, while
power and rank and other such external things, not being qualities of
character, are neither good nor bad. He had risen no higher than the
rank of quaestor when Paetus Thrasea chose him for his son-in-law,[250]
and of Thrasea's virtues he absorbed none so much as his independence.
As citizen, senator, husband, son-in-law, friend, in every sphere of
life he was thoroughly consistent, always showing contempt for money,
stubborn persistence in the right, and courage in the face of danger.
Some people thought him too ambitious, for even with philosophers 6
the passion for fame is often their last rag of infirmity. After
Thrasea's fall Helvidius was banished, but he returned to Rome under
Galba and proceeded to prosecute Eprius Marcellus,[251] who had
informed against his father-in-law. This attempt to secure a revenge,
as bold as it was just, divided the senate into two parties, for the
fall of Marcellus would involve the ruin of a whole army of similar
offenders. At first the struggle was full of recrimination, as the
famous speeches on either side testify; but after a while, finding
that Galba's attitude was doubtful and that many of the senators
begged him to desist, Helvidius dropped the prosecution. On his action
in this matter men's comments varied with their character, some
praising his moderation, others asking what had become of his
tenacity.
To return to the senate: at the same meeting at which they voted
powers to Vespasian they also decided to send a deputation to address
him. This gave rise to a sharp dispute between Helvidius Priscus and
Eprius Marcellus. The former thought the members of the deputation
ought to be nominated by magistrates acting under oath; Marcellus
demanded their selection by lot. The consul-designate had already 7
spoken in favour of the latter method, but Marcellus' motive was
personal vanity, for he was afraid that if others were chosen he
would seem slighted. Their exchange of views gradually grew into a
formal and acrimonious debate. Helvidius inquired why it was that
Marcellus was so afraid of the magistrates' judgement, seeing that he
himself had great advantages of wealth and of eloquence over many
others. Could it be the memory of his misdeeds that so oppressed him?
The fall of the lot could not discern character: but the whole point
of submitting people to the vote and to scrutiny by the senate was to
get at the truth about each man's life and reputation. In the interest
of the country, and out of respect to Vespasian, it was important that
he should be met by men whom the senate considered beyond reproach,
men who would give the emperor a taste for honest language. Vespasian
had been a friend of Thrasea, Soranus, and Sentius,[252] and even
though there might be no need to punish their prosecutors, still it
would be wrong to put them forward. Moreover, the senate's selection
would be a sort of hint to the emperor whom to approve and whom to
avoid. 'Good friends are the most effective instruments of good
government. Marcellus ought to be content with having driven Nero to
destroy so many innocent people. Let him enjoy the impunity and the
profit he has won from that, and leave Vespasian to more honest
advisers. '
Marcellus replied that the opinion which was being impugned was not 8
his own. The consul-designate had already advised them to follow the
established precedent, which was that deputations should be chosen by
lot, so that there should be no room for intrigue or personal
animosity. Nothing had happened to justify them in setting aside such
an ancient system. Why turn a compliment to the emperor into a slight
upon some one else? Anybody could do homage. What they had to avoid
was the possibility that some people's obstinacy might irritate the
emperor at the outset of his reign, while his intentions were
undecided and he was still busy watching faces and listening to what
was said. 'I have not forgotten,' he went on, 'the days of my youth or
the constitution which our fathers and grandfathers established. [253]
But while admiring a distant past, I support the existing state of
things. I pray for good emperors, but I take them as they come. As for
Thrasea, it was not my speech but the senate's verdict which did for
him. Nero took a savage delight in farces like that trial, and,
really, the friendship of such an emperor cost me as much anxiety as
banishment did to others. In fine, Helvidius may be as brave and as
firm as any Brutus or Cato; I am but a senator and we are all slaves
together. Besides, I advise my friend not to try and get an upper hand
with our emperor or to force his tuition on a man of ripe years,[254]
who wears the insignia of a triumph and is the father of two grown
sons. Bad rulers like absolute sovereignty, and even the best of them
must set some limit to their subjects' independence. '
This heated interchange of arguments found supporters for both views.
The party which wanted the deputies chosen by lot eventually
prevailed, since even the moderates were anxious to observe the
precedent, and all the most prominent members tended to vote with
them, for fear of encountering ill-feeling if they were selected.
This dispute was followed by another. The Praetors, who in those 9
days administered the Treasury,[255] complained of the spread of
poverty in the country and demanded some restriction of expenditure.
The consul-designate said that, as the undertaking would be so vast
and the remedy so difficult, he was in favour of leaving it for the
emperor. Helvidius maintained that it ought to be settled by the
senate's decision. When the consuls began to take each senator's
opinion, Vulcacius Tertullinus, one of the tribunes, interposed his
veto, on the ground that they could not decide such an important
question in the emperor's absence. Helvidius had previously moved that
the Capitol should be restored at the public cost, and with the
assistance of Vespasian. The moderates all passed over this suggestion
in silence and soon forgot it, but there were others who took care to
remember it. [256]
It was at this time that Musonius Rufus[257] brought an action 10
against Publius Celer on the ground that it was only by perjury that
he had secured the conviction of Soranus Barea. [258] It was felt that
this trial restarted the hue and cry against professional accusers.
But the defendant was a rascal of no importance who could not be
sheltered, and, moreover, Barea's memory was sacred. Celer had set up
as a teacher of philosophy and then committed perjury against his
pupil Barea, thus treacherously violating the very principles of
friendship which he professed to teach. The case was put down for the
next day's meeting. [259] But now that a taste for revenge was aroused,
people were all agog to see not so much Musonius and Publius as
Priscus and Marcellus and the rest in court.
Thus the senate quarrelled; the defeated party nursed their 11
grievances; the winners had no power to enforce their will; law was in
abeyance and the emperor absent. This state of things continued until
Mucianus arrived in Rome and took everything into his own hands. This
shattered the supremacy of Antonius and Varus, for, though Mucianus
tried to show a friendly face towards them, he was not very
successful in concealing his dislike. But the people of Rome, having
acquired great skill in detecting strained relations, had already
transferred their allegiance. Mucianus was now the sole object of
their flattering attentions. And he lived up to them. He surrounded
himself with an armed escort, and kept changing his house and gardens.
His display, his public appearances, the night-watch that guarded him,
all showed that he had adopted the style of an emperor while forgoing
the title. The greatest alarm was aroused by his execution of
Calpurnius Galerianus, a son of Caius Piso. [260] He had attempted no
treachery, but his distinguished name and handsome presence had made
the youth a subject of common talk, and the country was full of
turbulent spirits who delighted in revolutionary rumours and idly
talked of his coming to the throne. Mucianus gave orders that he
should be arrested by a body of soldiers, and to avoid a conspicuous
execution in the heart of the city, they marched him forty miles along
the Appian road, where they severed his veins and let him bleed to
death. Julius Priscus, who had commanded the Guards under Vitellius,
committed suicide, more from shame than of necessity. Alfenus Varus
survived the disgrace of his cowardice. [261] Asiaticus,[262] who was a
freedman, paid for his malign influence by dying the death of a
slave. [263]
FOOTNOTES:
[228] Because they were taken for members of Vitellius' German
auxiliary cohorts.
[229] Cp. iii. 86 sub fin.
[230] Cp. iii. 6.
[231] See iii. 76.
[232] These three towns are all on the Appian Way, Bovillae
ten miles from Rome, Aricia sixteen, Tarracina fifty-nine, on
the coast.
[233] Cp. iii. 12.
[234] Gallica.
[235] Capua had adhered to Vitellius. Tarracina had been held
for Vespasian (cp. iii. 57).
[236] See iii. 77.
[237] The insignia of equestrian rank (cp. i. 13).
[238] The chief of these were the powers of tribune,
pro-consul, and censor, and the title of Augustus (cp. i. 47,
ii. 55).
[239] Vindex had risen in Gaul; Galba in Spain; Vitellius in
Germany; Antonius Primus in the Danube provinces (Illyricum);
Vespasian and Mucianus in Judaea, Syria, and Egypt.
[240] This was necessary in the absence of Vespasian and Titus.
[241] See vol. i, note 339.
[242] A triumph could, of course, be held only for victories
over a foreign enemy. Here the pretext was the repulse of the
Dacians (iii. 46).
[243] Vitellius' son-in-law (cp. i. 59).
[244] In the text some words seem to be missing here, but the
general sense is clear.
[245] Cp. ii. 91.
[246] If Tacitus ever told the story of his banishment and
death, his version has been lost with the rest of his history
of Vespasian's reign.
[247] In Samnium.
[248] i. e. shirking the duties of public life.
[249] i. e. the Stoic.
[250] See ii. 91.
[251] Cp. ii. 53.
[252] Soranus, like Thrasea, was a Stoic who opposed the
government mainly on moral grounds. The story of their end is
told in the _Annals_, Book XVI. Sentius was presumably another
member of their party.
[253] He refers to Augustus' regularization of the principate.
[254] Fifty-nine.
[255] The administration of this office was changed several
times in the first century of the empire. Here we have a
reversion to Augustus' second plan. Trajan restored Augustus'
original plan--also adopted by Nero--of appointing special
Treasury officials from the ex-praetors.
[256] His offence lay in assigning to the emperor a merely
secondary position.
[257] His ill-timed advocacy of Stoicism is mentioned iii. 81.
[258] Described in the _Annals_, xvi. 32.
[259] The description of this is postponed to chap. 40. Celer
was convicted.
[260] C. Piso had conspired against Nero, A. D. 65.
[261] They had both abandoned their camp at Narnia (cp. iii. 61).
[262] Cp. ii. 57.
[263] i. e. he was crucified.
THE REVOLT OF CIVILIS AND THE BATAVI
The growing rumour of a reverse in Germany[264] had not as yet 12
caused any alarm in Rome. People alluded to the loss of armies, the
capture of the legions' winter quarters, the defection of the Gallic
provinces as matters of indifference. I must now go back and explain
the origin of this war, and of the widespread rebellion of foreign and
allied tribes which now broke into flame.
The Batavi were once a tribe of the Chatti,[265] living on the further
bank of the Rhine. But an outbreak of civil war had driven them across
the river, where they settled in a still unoccupied district on the
frontier of Gaul and also in the neighbouring island, enclosed on one
side by the ocean and on the other three sides by the Rhine. [266]
There they fared better than most tribes who ally themselves to a
stronger power. Their resources are still intact, and they have only
to contribute men and arms for the imperial army. [267] After a long
training in the German wars, they still further increased their
reputation in Britain, where their troops had been sent, commanded
according to an ancient custom by some of the noblest chiefs. There
still remained behind in their own country a picked troop of horsemen
with a peculiar knack of swimming, which enabled them to make a
practice[268] of crossing the Rhine with unbroken ranks without losing
control of their horses or their weapons.
Of their chieftains two outshone the rest. These were Julius 13
Paulus and Julius Civilis, both of royal stock. Paulus had been
executed by Fonteius Capito on a false charge of rebellion. [269] On
the same occasion Civilis was sent in chains to Nero. Galba, however,
set him free, and under Vitellius he again ran great risk of his life,
when the army clamoured for his execution. [270] This gave him a motive
for hating Rome, and our misfortunes fed his hopes. He was, indeed,
far cleverer than most barbarians, and professed to be a second
Sertorius or Hannibal, because they all three had the same physical
defect. [271] He was afraid that if he openly rebelled against the
Roman people they would treat him as an enemy, and march on him at
once, so he pretended to be a keen supporter of Vespasian's party.
This much was true, that Antonius Primus had written instructing him
to divert the auxiliaries whom Vitellius had summoned, and to delay
the legions on the pretence of a rising in Germany. Moreover,
Hordeonius Flaccus[272] had given him the same advice in person, for
Flaccus was inclined to support Vespasian and anxious for the safety
of Rome, which was threatened with utter disaster, if the war were to
break out afresh and all these thousands of troops come pouring into
Italy.
Having thus made up his mind to rebel, Civilis concealed in the 14
meantime his ulterior design, and while intending to guide his
ultimate policy by future events, proceeded to initiate the rising as
follows. The young Batavians were by Vitellius' orders being pressed
for service, and this burden was being rendered even more irksome than
it need have been by the greed and depravity of the recruiting
officers. They took to enrolling elderly men and invalids so as to get
bribes for excusing them: or, as most of the Batavi are tall and
good-looking in their youth, they would seize the handsomest boys for
immoral purposes. This caused bad feeling; an agitation was organized,
and they were persuaded to refuse service. Accordingly, on the pretext
of giving a banquet, Civilis summoned the chief nobles and the most
determined of the tribesmen to a sacred grove. Then, when he saw them
excited by their revelry and the late hour of the night, he began to
speak of the glorious past of the Batavi and to enumerate the wrongs
they had suffered, the injustice and extortion and all the evils of
their slavery. 'We are no longer treated,' he said, 'as we used to be,
like allies, but like menials and slaves. Why, we are never even
visited by an imperial Governor[273]--irksome though the insolence of
his staff would be. We are given over to prefects and centurions; and
when these subordinates have had their fill of extortion and of
bloodshed, they promptly find some one to replace them, and then there
are new pockets to fill and new pretexts for plunder. Now conscription
is upon us: children are to be torn from parents, brother from
brother, never, probably, to meet again. And yet the fortunes of Rome
were never more depressed. Their cantonments contain nothing but loot
and a lot of old men. Lift up your eyes and look at them. There is
nothing to fear from legions that only exist on paper. [274] And we are
strong. We have infantry and cavalry: the Germans are our kinsmen: the
Gauls share our ambition. Even the Romans will be grateful if we go to
war. [275] If we fail, we can claim credit for supporting Vespasian: if
we succeed, there will be no one to call us to account. '
His speech was received with great approval, and he at once bound 15
them all to union, using the barbarous ceremonies and strange oaths of
his country. They then sent to the Canninefates to join their
enterprise. This tribe inhabits part of the Island,[276] and though
inferior in numbers to the Batavi, they are of the same race and
language and the same courageous spirit. Civilis next sent secret
messages to win over the Batavian troops, which after serving as Roman
auxiliaries in Britain had been sent, as we have already seen,[277] to
Germany and were now stationed at Mainz. [278]
One of the Canninefates, Brinno by name, was a man of distinguished
family and stubborn courage. His father had often ventured acts of
hostility, and had with complete impunity shown his contempt for
Caligula's farcical expedition. [279] To belong to such a family of
rebels was in itself a recommendation. He was accordingly placed on a
shield, swung up on the shoulders of his friends, and thus elected
leader after the fashion of the tribe. Summoning to his aid the
Frisii[280]--a tribe from beyond the Rhine--he fell upon two cohorts
of auxiliaries whose camp lay close to the neighbouring shore. [281]
The attack was unexpected, and the troops, even if they had foreseen
it, were not strong enough to offer resistance: so the camp was taken
and looted. They then fell on the Roman camp-followers and traders,
who had gone off in all directions as if peace were assured. Finding
the forts now threatened with destruction, the Roman officers set fire
to them, as they had no means of defence. All the troops with their
standards and colours retired in a body to the upper end of the
island, led by Aquilius, a senior centurion.
But they were an army in
name only, not in strength, for Vitellius had withdrawn all the
efficient soldiers and had replaced them by a useless mob, who had
been drawn from the neighbouring Nervian and German villages and were
only embarrassed by their armour. [282]
Civilis thought it best to proceed by guile, and actually ventured 16
to blame the Roman officers for abandoning the forts. He could, he
told them, with the cohort under his command, suppress the outbreak of
the Canninefates without their assistance: they could all go back to
their winter-quarters. However, it was plain that some treachery
underlay his advice--it would be easier to crush the cohorts if they
were separated--and also that Civilis, not Brinno, was at the head of
this war. Evidence of this gradually leaked out, as the Germans loved
war too well to keep the secret for long. Finding his artifice
unsuccessful, Civilis tried force instead, forming the Canninefates,
Frisii and Batavi into three separate columns. [283] The Roman line
faced them in position near the Rhine bank. [284] They had brought
their ships there after the burning of the forts, and these were now
turned with their prows towards the enemy. Soon after the engagement
began a Tungrian cohort deserted to Civilis, and the Romans were so
startled by this unexpected treachery that they were cut to pieces by
their allies and their enemies combined. Similar treachery occurred in
the fleet. Some of the rowers, who were Batavians, feigning clumsiness
tried to impede the sailors and marines in the performance of their
functions, and after a while openly resisted them and turned the
ships' sterns towards the enemy's bank. Finally, they killed the
pilots and centurions who refused to join them, and thus all the
twenty-four ships of the flotilla either deserted to the enemy or were
captured by them.
This victory made Civilis immediately famous and proved 17
subsequently very useful. Having now got the ships and the weapons
which they needed, he and his followers were enthusiastically
proclaimed as champions of liberty throughout Germany and Gaul. The
German provinces immediately sent envoys with offers of help, while
Civilis endeavoured by diplomacy and by bribery to secure an alliance
with the Gauls. He sent back the auxiliary officers whom he had taken
prisoner, each to his own tribe, and offered the cohorts the choice of
either going home or remaining with him. Those who remained were given
an honourable position in his army: and those who went home received
presents out of the Roman spoil. At the same time Civilis talked to
them confidentially and reminded them of the miseries they had endured
for all these years, in which they had disguised their wretched
slavery under the name of peace. 'The Batavi,' he would say, 'were
excused from taxation, and yet they have taken arms against the common
tyrant. In the first engagement the Romans were routed and beaten.
What if Gaul throws off the yoke? What forces are there left in Italy?
It is with the blood of provincials that their provinces are won.
Don't think of the defeat of Vindex. Why, it was the Batavian cavalry
which trampled on the Aedui and Arverni,[285] and there were Belgic
auxiliaries in Verginius' force. The truth is that Gaul succumbed to
her own armies. But now we are all united in one party, fortified,
moreover, by the military discipline which prevails in Roman camps:
and we have on our side the veterans before whom Otho's legions lately
bit the dust. Let Syria and Asia play the slave: the East is used to
tyrants: but there are many still living in Gaul who were born before
the days of tribute. [286] Indeed, it is only the other day[287] that
Quintilius Varus was killed, when slavery was driven out of Germany,
and they brought into the field not the Emperor Vitellius but Caesar
Augustus himself. Why, liberty is the natural prerogative even of dumb
animals: courage is the peculiar attribute of man. Heaven helps the
brave. Come, then, fall upon them while your hands are free and theirs
are tied, while you are fresh and they are weary. Some of them are for
Vespasian, others for Vitellius; now is your chance to crush both
parties at once. '
Civilis thus had his eye on Gaul and Germany and aspired, had his 18
project prospered, to become king of two countries, one pre-eminent in
wealth and the other in military strength.
FOOTNOTES:
[264] Cp. iii. 46.
[265] One of the greatest and most warlike of the German
tribes living in the modern Hessen-Nassau and Waldeck. Tacitus
describes them at length in his _Germania_.
[266] i. e. a stretch of land about sixty miles in length, from
Nymwegen to the Hook of Holland, enclosed by the diverging
mouths of the Rhine, the northern of which is now called the
Lek, the southern the Waal (in Tacitus' time Vahalis). The
name Betuwe is still applied to the eastern part of this
island.
[267] In the _Germania_ Tacitus says that, like weapons, they
are kept exclusively for use in war, and are spared the
indignity of taxation.
[268] Some such word as _peritus_ or _exercitus_ must be
supplied at the end of this chapter.
[269] Probably during the revolt of Vindex. Capito governed
Lower Germany.
[270] Cp. i. 59.
[271] The loss of an eye.
[272] Governor of Upper Germany.
[273] As a subordinate division of Lower Germany the Batavian
district would be administered by 'prefects' subordinate to
the imperial legate.
[274] Vitellius had reduced the strength of the legions (cp. ii. 94).
[275] Because it would weaken the position of Vitellius.
[276] They lived north of the Batavi, between the Zuider Zee
and the North Sea.
[277] ii. 29.
[278] Mogontiacum.
[279] Caligula's only trophy had been helmetfuls of stones and
shells from the sea-shore of Germany.
[280] Living in Friesland, north-east of the Zuider Zee.
[281] Reading _applicata_ (Andresen) instead of _occupata_,
which gives no sense. The camp was probably somewhere near
Katwyk.
[282] The Nervii were a Gallic tribe living on the Sambre,
with settlements at Cambray, Tournay, Bavay. Ritter's
alteration of _Germanorum_ to _Cugernorum_ is very probably
right. They lived about a dozen miles west of Vetera, and are
thus a likely recruiting-ground. They were of German origin,
so if _Germanorum_ is right, the reference will still be to
them and the Tungri and other German Settlements on the east
of the Rhine.
[283] See ii. 42, note 301. Here, however, it is not
improbable that the word _cuneus_ means a V-shaped formation.
Tacitus' phrase in _Germ. _ 6 is generally taken to mean that
the Germans fought in wedge-formation. The separation of the
three tribes in three columns was also typical of German
tactics. The presence of kinsmen stimulated courage.
[284] Presumably at the eastern end of the island, near either
Nymwegen or Arnheim.
[285] The Aedui lived in Bourgogne and Nivernois, between the
Loire and the Saône; the Arverni in Auvergne, north-west of
the Cevennes. Both had joined Vindex.
[286] 'Many' must be an exaggeration, since Augustus' census
of Gaul took place 27 B. C. , ninety-five years ago.
[287] Sixty years ago, to be exact.
THE MUTINY OF THE BATAVIAN COHORTS
Hordeonius Flaccus at first furthered Civilis' schemes by shutting his
eyes to them. But when messengers kept arriving in panic with news
that a camp had been stormed, cohorts wiped out, and not a Roman left
in the Batavian Island, he instructed Munius Lupercus, who commanded
the two legions[288] in winter-quarters,[289] to march against the
enemy. Lupercus lost no time in crossing the river,[290] taking the
legions whom he had with him, some Ubii[291] who were close at hand,
and the Treviran cavalry who were stationed not far away. To this
force he added a regiment of Batavian cavalry, who, though their
loyalty had long ago succumbed, still concealed the fact, because they
hoped their desertion would fetch a higher price, if they actually
betrayed the Romans on the field. Civilis set the standards of the
defeated cohorts[292] round him in a ring to keep their fresh honours
before the eyes of his men, and to terrify the enemy by reminding them
of their disaster. He also gave orders that his own mother and sisters
and all the wives and small children of his soldiers should be
stationed in the rear to spur them to victory or shame them if they
were beaten. [293] When his line raised their battle-cry, the men
singing and the women shrieking, the legions and their auxiliaries
replied with a comparatively feeble cheer, for their left wing had
been exposed by the desertion of the Batavian cavalry, who promptly
turned against us. However, despite the confusion, the legionaries
gripped their swords and kept their places. Then the Ubian and
Treviran auxiliaries broke in shameful flight and went wandering all
over the country. The Germans pressed hard on their heels and
meanwhile the legions could make good their escape into the camp,
which was called 'Castra Vetera'. [294] Claudius Labeo, who commanded
the Batavian cavalry, had opposed Civilis as a rival in some petty
municipal dispute. Civilis was afraid that, if he killed him, he might
offend his countrymen, while if he spared him his presence would give
rise to dissension; so he sent him off by sea to the Frisii.
It was at this time that the cohorts of Batavians and 19
Canninefates, on their way to Rome under orders from Vitellius,
received the message which Civilis had sent to them. [295] They
promptly fell into a ferment of unruly insolence and demanded a
special grant as payment for their journey, double pay, and an
increase in the number of their cavalry. [296] Although all these
things had been promised by Vitellius they had no hope of obtaining
them, but wanted an excuse for rebellion. Flaccus made many
concessions, but the only result was that they redoubled their vigour
and demanded what they felt sure he would refuse. Paying no further
heed to him they made for Lower Germany, to join Civilis. Flaccus
summoned the tribunes and centurions and debated with them whether he
should use force to punish this defiance of authority. After a while
he gave way to his natural cowardice and the fears of his
subordinates, who were distressed by the thought that the loyalty of
the auxiliaries was doubtful and that the legions had been recruited
by a hurried levy. It was decided, therefore, to keep the soldiers in
camp. [297] However, he soon changed his mind when he found himself
criticized by the very men whose advice he had taken. He now seemed
bent on pursuit, and wrote to Herennius Gallus in command of the First
legion, who was holding Bonn, telling him to bar the path of the
Batavians, and promising that he and his army would follow hard upon
their heels. The rebels might certainly have been crushed had Flaccus
and Gallus each advanced their forces from opposite directions and
thus surrounded them. But Flaccus soon gave up the idea, and wrote
another letter to Gallus, warning him to let the rebels pass
undisturbed. This gave rise to a suspicion that the generals were
purposely promoting the war; and all the disasters which had already
occurred or were feared in the future, were attributed not to the
soldiers' inefficiency or the strength of the enemy, but to the
treachery of the generals.
On nearing the camp at Bonn, the Batavians sent forward a 20
messenger to explain their intentions to Herennius Gallus. Against the
Romans, for whom they had fought so often, they had no wish to make
war: but they were worn out after a long and unprofitable term of
service and wanted to go home and rest. If no one opposed them they
would march peaceably by; but if hostility was offered they would find
a passage at the point of the sword. Gallus hesitated, but his men
induced him to risk an engagement. Three thousand legionaries, some
hastily recruited Belgic auxiliaries, and a mob of peasants and
camp-followers, who were as cowardly in action as they were boastful
before it, came pouring out simultaneously from all the gates, hoping
with their superior numbers to surround the Batavians. But these were
experienced veterans. They formed up into columns[298] in deep
formation that defied assault on front, flank, or rear. They thus
pierced our thinner line. The Belgae giving way, the legion was driven
back and ran in terror to reach the trench and the gates of the camp.
It was there that we suffered the heaviest losses. The trenches were
filled with dead, who were not all killed by the blows of the enemy,
for many were stifled in the press or perished on each other's swords.
The victorious cohorts avoided Cologne and marched on without
attempting any further hostilities. For the battle at Bonn they
continued to excuse themselves. They had asked for peace, they said,
and when peace was persistently refused, had merely acted in
self-defence.
FOOTNOTES:
[288] V Alaudae and XV Primigenia, both depleted.
[289] At Vetera.
[290] Waal.
[291] They lived round their chief town, known since A. D. 50
as Colonia Agrippinensis, now Cologne (cp. i. 56, note 106).
[292] See chap. 16.
[293] This was a German custom. We read in the _Germania_ that
in battle 'they keep their dearest close at hand, where the
women's cries and the wailing of their babies can be heard'.
[294] This means, of course, simply The Old Camp, but, as
Tacitus treats Vetera as a proper name, it has been kept in
the translation. It was probably on the Rhine near Xanten and
Fürstenberg, some sixty-six miles north of Cologne.
[295] Cp. i. 59; ii. 97; iv. 15.
[296] Who got better pay for lighter service.
[297] i. e. at Mainz, Bonn, Novaesium and Vetera.
[298] See note 283.
THE SIEGE OF VETERA
After the arrival of these veteran cohorts Civilis was now at the 21
head of a respectable army. But being still uncertain of his plans,
and engaged in reckoning up the Roman forces, he made all who were
with him swear allegiance to Vespasian, and sent envoys to the two
legions, who after their defeat in the former engagement[299] had
retired into Vetera, asking them to take the same oath. The answer
came back that they never followed the advice either of a traitor or
of an enemy: Vitellius was their emperor, and they would keep their
allegiance and their arms for him so long as they had breath in their
bodies. A Batavian deserter need not try to decide the destiny of
Rome; he should rather expect the punishment he richly deserved. When
this was reported to Civilis he flew into a passion, and called the
whole Batavian people to take arms. They were joined by the Bructeri
and Tencteri,[300] and Germany was summoned to come and share the
plunder and the glory.
Threatened with this gathering storm, Munius Lupercus and Numisius 22
Rufus, who were in command of the two legions, proceeded to strengthen
the ramparts and walls. They pulled down the buildings near the
military camp, which had grown into a small town during the long years
of peace, fearing that the enemy might make use of them. But they
omitted to provide a sufficient store of provisions for the camp, and
authorized the soldiers to make up the deficiency by looting, with the
result that what might have supplied their needs for a long time was
consumed in a few days. Meanwhile Civilis advanced, himself holding
the centre with the flower of the Batavi: on both banks of the Rhine
he massed large bands of Germans to strike terror into the enemy: the
cavalry galloped through the fields, while the ships were
simultaneously moved up the stream. Here could be seen the colours of
veteran Roman cohorts, there the figures of beasts which the Germans
had brought from their woods and groves, as their tribes do when they
go to battle. It seemed both a civil and a savage war at once; and
this strange confusion astounded the besieged. The hopes of the
assailants rose when they saw the circumference of the ramparts, for
there were barely five thousand Roman soldiers to defend a camp which
had been laid out to hold two legions. [301] However, a large number of
camp-followers had collected there on the break-up of peace, and
remained to give what assistance they could to the military
operations.
The camp was built partly on the gentle slope of a hill and partly 23
on the level ground. Augustus had believed that it would serve as a
base of operations and a check upon the German tribes: as for their
actually coming to assault our legions, such a disaster never
occurred to him. Consequently no trouble had been taken in choosing
the site or erecting defences: the strength of the troops had always
seemed sufficient.
The Batavians and the Germans from across the Rhine[302] now formed up
tribe by tribe--the separation was designed to show their individual
prowess--and opened fire from a distance. Finding that most of their
missiles fell harmlessly on to the turrets and pinnacles of the walls,
and that they were being wounded by stones hurled from above, they
charged with a wild shout and surged up to the rampart, some using
scaling-ladders, others climbing over their comrades who had formed a
'tortoise'. But no sooner had some of them begun to scale the wall,
than they were hurled down by the besieged, who thrust at them with
sword and shield, and buried under a shower of stakes and javelins.
The Germans are always impetuous at the beginning of an action and
over-confident when they are winning; and on this occasion their greed
for plunder even steeled them to face difficulties. They actually
attempted to use siege-engines, with which they were quite unfamiliar.
But though they had no skill themselves, some of the deserters and
prisoners showed them how to build a sort of bridge or platform of
timber, on to which they fitted wheels and rolled it forward. Thus
some of them stood on this platform and fought as though from a mound,
while others, concealed inside, tried to undermine the walls. However,
stones hurled from catapults soon destroyed this rude engine. Then
they began to get ready hurdles and mantlets, but the besieged shot
blazing spears on to them from engines, and even attacked the
assailants themselves with fire-darts. At last they gave up all hope
of an assault and resolved to try a waiting policy, being well aware
that the camp contained only a few days' provisions and a large number
of non-combatants. They hoped that famine would breed treason, and
counted, besides, on the wavering loyalty of the slaves and the usual
hazards of war to aid them.
Meanwhile, Flaccus,[303] who had received news of the siege of 24
Vetera, dispatched a party to recruit auxiliaries in Gaul, and gave
Dillius Vocula, in command of the Twenty-second, a force of picked
soldiers from his two legions. [304] Vocula was to hurry by forced
marches along the bank of the Rhine, while Flaccus himself was to
approach by water, since he was in bad health and unpopular with his
men. Indeed, they grumbled openly that he had let the Batavian cohorts
get away from Mainz, had connived at Civilis' schemes, and invited the
Germans to join the alliance. Vespasian, they said, owed his rise more
to Flaccus than to all the assistance of Antonius Primus or of
Mucianus, for overt hatred and hostility can be openly crushed, but
treachery and deceit cannot be detected, much less parried. While
Civilis took the field himself and arranged his own fighting line,
Hordeonius lay on a couch in his bedroom and gave whatever orders
best suited the enemy's convenience. Why should all these companies
of brave soldiers be commanded by one miserable old invalid? Let them
rather kill the traitor and free their brave hearts and good hopes
from the incubus of such an evil omen. Having worked on each other's
feelings by these complaints, they were still further incensed by the
arrival of a letter from Vespasian. As this could not be concealed,
Flaccus read it before a meeting of the soldiers, and the messengers
who brought it were sent to Vitellius in chains.
With feelings thus appeased the army marched on to Bonn, the 25
head-quarters of the First legion. There the men were still more
indignant with Flaccus, on whom they laid the blame of their recent
defeat. [305] It was by his orders, they argued, that they had taken
the field against the Batavians on the understanding that the legions
from Mainz were in pursuit. But no reinforcements had arrived and his
treachery was responsible for their losses. The facts, moreover, were
unknown to the other armies, nor was any report sent to their emperor,
although this treacherous outbreak could have been nipped in the bud
by the combined aid of all the provinces. In answer Flaccus read out
to the army copies of all the letters which he had sent from time to
time all over Gaul and Britain and Spain to ask for assistance, and
introduced the disastrous practice of having all letters delivered to
the standard-bearers of the legions, who read them to the soldiers
before the general had seen them. He then gave orders that one of the
mutineers should be put in irons, more by way of vindicating his
authority than because one man was especially to blame. Leaving Bonn,
the army moved on to Cologne, where they were joined by large numbers
of Gallic auxiliaries, who at first zealously supported the Roman
cause: later, when the Germans prospered, most of the tribes took arms
against us, actuated by hopes of liberty and an ambition to establish
an empire of their own when once they had shaken off the yoke.
Meanwhile the army's indignation steadily increased. The imprisonment
of a single soldier was not enough to terrify them, and, indeed, the
prisoner actually accused the general of complicity in crime, alleging
that he himself had carried messages between Flaccus and Civilis. 'It
is because I can testify to the truth,' he said, 'that Flaccus wants
to get rid of me on a false charge. ' Thereupon Vocula, with admirable
self-possession, mounted the tribunal and, in spite of the man's
protestations, ordered him to be seized and led away to prison. This
alarmed the disaffected, while the better sort obeyed him promptly.
The army then unanimously demanded that Vocula should lead them, and
Flaccus accordingly resigned the chief command to him. However, 26
there was much to exasperate their disaffection. They were short both
of pay and of provisions: the Gauls refused either to enlist or to pay
tribute: drought, usually unknown in that climate, made the Rhine
almost too low for navigation, and thus hampered their commissariat:
patrols had to be posted at intervals all along the bank to prevent
the Germans fording the river: and in consequence of all this they had
less food and more mouths to eat it. To the ignorant the lowness of
the river seemed in itself an evil omen, as though the ancient
bulwarks of the empire were now failing them. In peace they would have
called it bad luck or the course of nature: now it was 'fate' and 'the
anger of heaven'.
His father had been a senior centurion in the army. From his early
youth Helvidius devoted his great intellectual powers to the higher
studies, not as many people do, with the idea of using a philosopher's
reputation as a cloak for indolence,[248] but rather to fortify
himself against the caprice of fortune when he entered public life. He
became a follower of that school of philosophy[249] which holds that
honesty is the one good thing in life and sin the only evil, while
power and rank and other such external things, not being qualities of
character, are neither good nor bad. He had risen no higher than the
rank of quaestor when Paetus Thrasea chose him for his son-in-law,[250]
and of Thrasea's virtues he absorbed none so much as his independence.
As citizen, senator, husband, son-in-law, friend, in every sphere of
life he was thoroughly consistent, always showing contempt for money,
stubborn persistence in the right, and courage in the face of danger.
Some people thought him too ambitious, for even with philosophers 6
the passion for fame is often their last rag of infirmity. After
Thrasea's fall Helvidius was banished, but he returned to Rome under
Galba and proceeded to prosecute Eprius Marcellus,[251] who had
informed against his father-in-law. This attempt to secure a revenge,
as bold as it was just, divided the senate into two parties, for the
fall of Marcellus would involve the ruin of a whole army of similar
offenders. At first the struggle was full of recrimination, as the
famous speeches on either side testify; but after a while, finding
that Galba's attitude was doubtful and that many of the senators
begged him to desist, Helvidius dropped the prosecution. On his action
in this matter men's comments varied with their character, some
praising his moderation, others asking what had become of his
tenacity.
To return to the senate: at the same meeting at which they voted
powers to Vespasian they also decided to send a deputation to address
him. This gave rise to a sharp dispute between Helvidius Priscus and
Eprius Marcellus. The former thought the members of the deputation
ought to be nominated by magistrates acting under oath; Marcellus
demanded their selection by lot. The consul-designate had already 7
spoken in favour of the latter method, but Marcellus' motive was
personal vanity, for he was afraid that if others were chosen he
would seem slighted. Their exchange of views gradually grew into a
formal and acrimonious debate. Helvidius inquired why it was that
Marcellus was so afraid of the magistrates' judgement, seeing that he
himself had great advantages of wealth and of eloquence over many
others. Could it be the memory of his misdeeds that so oppressed him?
The fall of the lot could not discern character: but the whole point
of submitting people to the vote and to scrutiny by the senate was to
get at the truth about each man's life and reputation. In the interest
of the country, and out of respect to Vespasian, it was important that
he should be met by men whom the senate considered beyond reproach,
men who would give the emperor a taste for honest language. Vespasian
had been a friend of Thrasea, Soranus, and Sentius,[252] and even
though there might be no need to punish their prosecutors, still it
would be wrong to put them forward. Moreover, the senate's selection
would be a sort of hint to the emperor whom to approve and whom to
avoid. 'Good friends are the most effective instruments of good
government. Marcellus ought to be content with having driven Nero to
destroy so many innocent people. Let him enjoy the impunity and the
profit he has won from that, and leave Vespasian to more honest
advisers. '
Marcellus replied that the opinion which was being impugned was not 8
his own. The consul-designate had already advised them to follow the
established precedent, which was that deputations should be chosen by
lot, so that there should be no room for intrigue or personal
animosity. Nothing had happened to justify them in setting aside such
an ancient system. Why turn a compliment to the emperor into a slight
upon some one else? Anybody could do homage. What they had to avoid
was the possibility that some people's obstinacy might irritate the
emperor at the outset of his reign, while his intentions were
undecided and he was still busy watching faces and listening to what
was said. 'I have not forgotten,' he went on, 'the days of my youth or
the constitution which our fathers and grandfathers established. [253]
But while admiring a distant past, I support the existing state of
things. I pray for good emperors, but I take them as they come. As for
Thrasea, it was not my speech but the senate's verdict which did for
him. Nero took a savage delight in farces like that trial, and,
really, the friendship of such an emperor cost me as much anxiety as
banishment did to others. In fine, Helvidius may be as brave and as
firm as any Brutus or Cato; I am but a senator and we are all slaves
together. Besides, I advise my friend not to try and get an upper hand
with our emperor or to force his tuition on a man of ripe years,[254]
who wears the insignia of a triumph and is the father of two grown
sons. Bad rulers like absolute sovereignty, and even the best of them
must set some limit to their subjects' independence. '
This heated interchange of arguments found supporters for both views.
The party which wanted the deputies chosen by lot eventually
prevailed, since even the moderates were anxious to observe the
precedent, and all the most prominent members tended to vote with
them, for fear of encountering ill-feeling if they were selected.
This dispute was followed by another. The Praetors, who in those 9
days administered the Treasury,[255] complained of the spread of
poverty in the country and demanded some restriction of expenditure.
The consul-designate said that, as the undertaking would be so vast
and the remedy so difficult, he was in favour of leaving it for the
emperor. Helvidius maintained that it ought to be settled by the
senate's decision. When the consuls began to take each senator's
opinion, Vulcacius Tertullinus, one of the tribunes, interposed his
veto, on the ground that they could not decide such an important
question in the emperor's absence. Helvidius had previously moved that
the Capitol should be restored at the public cost, and with the
assistance of Vespasian. The moderates all passed over this suggestion
in silence and soon forgot it, but there were others who took care to
remember it. [256]
It was at this time that Musonius Rufus[257] brought an action 10
against Publius Celer on the ground that it was only by perjury that
he had secured the conviction of Soranus Barea. [258] It was felt that
this trial restarted the hue and cry against professional accusers.
But the defendant was a rascal of no importance who could not be
sheltered, and, moreover, Barea's memory was sacred. Celer had set up
as a teacher of philosophy and then committed perjury against his
pupil Barea, thus treacherously violating the very principles of
friendship which he professed to teach. The case was put down for the
next day's meeting. [259] But now that a taste for revenge was aroused,
people were all agog to see not so much Musonius and Publius as
Priscus and Marcellus and the rest in court.
Thus the senate quarrelled; the defeated party nursed their 11
grievances; the winners had no power to enforce their will; law was in
abeyance and the emperor absent. This state of things continued until
Mucianus arrived in Rome and took everything into his own hands. This
shattered the supremacy of Antonius and Varus, for, though Mucianus
tried to show a friendly face towards them, he was not very
successful in concealing his dislike. But the people of Rome, having
acquired great skill in detecting strained relations, had already
transferred their allegiance. Mucianus was now the sole object of
their flattering attentions. And he lived up to them. He surrounded
himself with an armed escort, and kept changing his house and gardens.
His display, his public appearances, the night-watch that guarded him,
all showed that he had adopted the style of an emperor while forgoing
the title. The greatest alarm was aroused by his execution of
Calpurnius Galerianus, a son of Caius Piso. [260] He had attempted no
treachery, but his distinguished name and handsome presence had made
the youth a subject of common talk, and the country was full of
turbulent spirits who delighted in revolutionary rumours and idly
talked of his coming to the throne. Mucianus gave orders that he
should be arrested by a body of soldiers, and to avoid a conspicuous
execution in the heart of the city, they marched him forty miles along
the Appian road, where they severed his veins and let him bleed to
death. Julius Priscus, who had commanded the Guards under Vitellius,
committed suicide, more from shame than of necessity. Alfenus Varus
survived the disgrace of his cowardice. [261] Asiaticus,[262] who was a
freedman, paid for his malign influence by dying the death of a
slave. [263]
FOOTNOTES:
[228] Because they were taken for members of Vitellius' German
auxiliary cohorts.
[229] Cp. iii. 86 sub fin.
[230] Cp. iii. 6.
[231] See iii. 76.
[232] These three towns are all on the Appian Way, Bovillae
ten miles from Rome, Aricia sixteen, Tarracina fifty-nine, on
the coast.
[233] Cp. iii. 12.
[234] Gallica.
[235] Capua had adhered to Vitellius. Tarracina had been held
for Vespasian (cp. iii. 57).
[236] See iii. 77.
[237] The insignia of equestrian rank (cp. i. 13).
[238] The chief of these were the powers of tribune,
pro-consul, and censor, and the title of Augustus (cp. i. 47,
ii. 55).
[239] Vindex had risen in Gaul; Galba in Spain; Vitellius in
Germany; Antonius Primus in the Danube provinces (Illyricum);
Vespasian and Mucianus in Judaea, Syria, and Egypt.
[240] This was necessary in the absence of Vespasian and Titus.
[241] See vol. i, note 339.
[242] A triumph could, of course, be held only for victories
over a foreign enemy. Here the pretext was the repulse of the
Dacians (iii. 46).
[243] Vitellius' son-in-law (cp. i. 59).
[244] In the text some words seem to be missing here, but the
general sense is clear.
[245] Cp. ii. 91.
[246] If Tacitus ever told the story of his banishment and
death, his version has been lost with the rest of his history
of Vespasian's reign.
[247] In Samnium.
[248] i. e. shirking the duties of public life.
[249] i. e. the Stoic.
[250] See ii. 91.
[251] Cp. ii. 53.
[252] Soranus, like Thrasea, was a Stoic who opposed the
government mainly on moral grounds. The story of their end is
told in the _Annals_, Book XVI. Sentius was presumably another
member of their party.
[253] He refers to Augustus' regularization of the principate.
[254] Fifty-nine.
[255] The administration of this office was changed several
times in the first century of the empire. Here we have a
reversion to Augustus' second plan. Trajan restored Augustus'
original plan--also adopted by Nero--of appointing special
Treasury officials from the ex-praetors.
[256] His offence lay in assigning to the emperor a merely
secondary position.
[257] His ill-timed advocacy of Stoicism is mentioned iii. 81.
[258] Described in the _Annals_, xvi. 32.
[259] The description of this is postponed to chap. 40. Celer
was convicted.
[260] C. Piso had conspired against Nero, A. D. 65.
[261] They had both abandoned their camp at Narnia (cp. iii. 61).
[262] Cp. ii. 57.
[263] i. e. he was crucified.
THE REVOLT OF CIVILIS AND THE BATAVI
The growing rumour of a reverse in Germany[264] had not as yet 12
caused any alarm in Rome. People alluded to the loss of armies, the
capture of the legions' winter quarters, the defection of the Gallic
provinces as matters of indifference. I must now go back and explain
the origin of this war, and of the widespread rebellion of foreign and
allied tribes which now broke into flame.
The Batavi were once a tribe of the Chatti,[265] living on the further
bank of the Rhine. But an outbreak of civil war had driven them across
the river, where they settled in a still unoccupied district on the
frontier of Gaul and also in the neighbouring island, enclosed on one
side by the ocean and on the other three sides by the Rhine. [266]
There they fared better than most tribes who ally themselves to a
stronger power. Their resources are still intact, and they have only
to contribute men and arms for the imperial army. [267] After a long
training in the German wars, they still further increased their
reputation in Britain, where their troops had been sent, commanded
according to an ancient custom by some of the noblest chiefs. There
still remained behind in their own country a picked troop of horsemen
with a peculiar knack of swimming, which enabled them to make a
practice[268] of crossing the Rhine with unbroken ranks without losing
control of their horses or their weapons.
Of their chieftains two outshone the rest. These were Julius 13
Paulus and Julius Civilis, both of royal stock. Paulus had been
executed by Fonteius Capito on a false charge of rebellion. [269] On
the same occasion Civilis was sent in chains to Nero. Galba, however,
set him free, and under Vitellius he again ran great risk of his life,
when the army clamoured for his execution. [270] This gave him a motive
for hating Rome, and our misfortunes fed his hopes. He was, indeed,
far cleverer than most barbarians, and professed to be a second
Sertorius or Hannibal, because they all three had the same physical
defect. [271] He was afraid that if he openly rebelled against the
Roman people they would treat him as an enemy, and march on him at
once, so he pretended to be a keen supporter of Vespasian's party.
This much was true, that Antonius Primus had written instructing him
to divert the auxiliaries whom Vitellius had summoned, and to delay
the legions on the pretence of a rising in Germany. Moreover,
Hordeonius Flaccus[272] had given him the same advice in person, for
Flaccus was inclined to support Vespasian and anxious for the safety
of Rome, which was threatened with utter disaster, if the war were to
break out afresh and all these thousands of troops come pouring into
Italy.
Having thus made up his mind to rebel, Civilis concealed in the 14
meantime his ulterior design, and while intending to guide his
ultimate policy by future events, proceeded to initiate the rising as
follows. The young Batavians were by Vitellius' orders being pressed
for service, and this burden was being rendered even more irksome than
it need have been by the greed and depravity of the recruiting
officers. They took to enrolling elderly men and invalids so as to get
bribes for excusing them: or, as most of the Batavi are tall and
good-looking in their youth, they would seize the handsomest boys for
immoral purposes. This caused bad feeling; an agitation was organized,
and they were persuaded to refuse service. Accordingly, on the pretext
of giving a banquet, Civilis summoned the chief nobles and the most
determined of the tribesmen to a sacred grove. Then, when he saw them
excited by their revelry and the late hour of the night, he began to
speak of the glorious past of the Batavi and to enumerate the wrongs
they had suffered, the injustice and extortion and all the evils of
their slavery. 'We are no longer treated,' he said, 'as we used to be,
like allies, but like menials and slaves. Why, we are never even
visited by an imperial Governor[273]--irksome though the insolence of
his staff would be. We are given over to prefects and centurions; and
when these subordinates have had their fill of extortion and of
bloodshed, they promptly find some one to replace them, and then there
are new pockets to fill and new pretexts for plunder. Now conscription
is upon us: children are to be torn from parents, brother from
brother, never, probably, to meet again. And yet the fortunes of Rome
were never more depressed. Their cantonments contain nothing but loot
and a lot of old men. Lift up your eyes and look at them. There is
nothing to fear from legions that only exist on paper. [274] And we are
strong. We have infantry and cavalry: the Germans are our kinsmen: the
Gauls share our ambition. Even the Romans will be grateful if we go to
war. [275] If we fail, we can claim credit for supporting Vespasian: if
we succeed, there will be no one to call us to account. '
His speech was received with great approval, and he at once bound 15
them all to union, using the barbarous ceremonies and strange oaths of
his country. They then sent to the Canninefates to join their
enterprise. This tribe inhabits part of the Island,[276] and though
inferior in numbers to the Batavi, they are of the same race and
language and the same courageous spirit. Civilis next sent secret
messages to win over the Batavian troops, which after serving as Roman
auxiliaries in Britain had been sent, as we have already seen,[277] to
Germany and were now stationed at Mainz. [278]
One of the Canninefates, Brinno by name, was a man of distinguished
family and stubborn courage. His father had often ventured acts of
hostility, and had with complete impunity shown his contempt for
Caligula's farcical expedition. [279] To belong to such a family of
rebels was in itself a recommendation. He was accordingly placed on a
shield, swung up on the shoulders of his friends, and thus elected
leader after the fashion of the tribe. Summoning to his aid the
Frisii[280]--a tribe from beyond the Rhine--he fell upon two cohorts
of auxiliaries whose camp lay close to the neighbouring shore. [281]
The attack was unexpected, and the troops, even if they had foreseen
it, were not strong enough to offer resistance: so the camp was taken
and looted. They then fell on the Roman camp-followers and traders,
who had gone off in all directions as if peace were assured. Finding
the forts now threatened with destruction, the Roman officers set fire
to them, as they had no means of defence. All the troops with their
standards and colours retired in a body to the upper end of the
island, led by Aquilius, a senior centurion.
But they were an army in
name only, not in strength, for Vitellius had withdrawn all the
efficient soldiers and had replaced them by a useless mob, who had
been drawn from the neighbouring Nervian and German villages and were
only embarrassed by their armour. [282]
Civilis thought it best to proceed by guile, and actually ventured 16
to blame the Roman officers for abandoning the forts. He could, he
told them, with the cohort under his command, suppress the outbreak of
the Canninefates without their assistance: they could all go back to
their winter-quarters. However, it was plain that some treachery
underlay his advice--it would be easier to crush the cohorts if they
were separated--and also that Civilis, not Brinno, was at the head of
this war. Evidence of this gradually leaked out, as the Germans loved
war too well to keep the secret for long. Finding his artifice
unsuccessful, Civilis tried force instead, forming the Canninefates,
Frisii and Batavi into three separate columns. [283] The Roman line
faced them in position near the Rhine bank. [284] They had brought
their ships there after the burning of the forts, and these were now
turned with their prows towards the enemy. Soon after the engagement
began a Tungrian cohort deserted to Civilis, and the Romans were so
startled by this unexpected treachery that they were cut to pieces by
their allies and their enemies combined. Similar treachery occurred in
the fleet. Some of the rowers, who were Batavians, feigning clumsiness
tried to impede the sailors and marines in the performance of their
functions, and after a while openly resisted them and turned the
ships' sterns towards the enemy's bank. Finally, they killed the
pilots and centurions who refused to join them, and thus all the
twenty-four ships of the flotilla either deserted to the enemy or were
captured by them.
This victory made Civilis immediately famous and proved 17
subsequently very useful. Having now got the ships and the weapons
which they needed, he and his followers were enthusiastically
proclaimed as champions of liberty throughout Germany and Gaul. The
German provinces immediately sent envoys with offers of help, while
Civilis endeavoured by diplomacy and by bribery to secure an alliance
with the Gauls. He sent back the auxiliary officers whom he had taken
prisoner, each to his own tribe, and offered the cohorts the choice of
either going home or remaining with him. Those who remained were given
an honourable position in his army: and those who went home received
presents out of the Roman spoil. At the same time Civilis talked to
them confidentially and reminded them of the miseries they had endured
for all these years, in which they had disguised their wretched
slavery under the name of peace. 'The Batavi,' he would say, 'were
excused from taxation, and yet they have taken arms against the common
tyrant. In the first engagement the Romans were routed and beaten.
What if Gaul throws off the yoke? What forces are there left in Italy?
It is with the blood of provincials that their provinces are won.
Don't think of the defeat of Vindex. Why, it was the Batavian cavalry
which trampled on the Aedui and Arverni,[285] and there were Belgic
auxiliaries in Verginius' force. The truth is that Gaul succumbed to
her own armies. But now we are all united in one party, fortified,
moreover, by the military discipline which prevails in Roman camps:
and we have on our side the veterans before whom Otho's legions lately
bit the dust. Let Syria and Asia play the slave: the East is used to
tyrants: but there are many still living in Gaul who were born before
the days of tribute. [286] Indeed, it is only the other day[287] that
Quintilius Varus was killed, when slavery was driven out of Germany,
and they brought into the field not the Emperor Vitellius but Caesar
Augustus himself. Why, liberty is the natural prerogative even of dumb
animals: courage is the peculiar attribute of man. Heaven helps the
brave. Come, then, fall upon them while your hands are free and theirs
are tied, while you are fresh and they are weary. Some of them are for
Vespasian, others for Vitellius; now is your chance to crush both
parties at once. '
Civilis thus had his eye on Gaul and Germany and aspired, had his 18
project prospered, to become king of two countries, one pre-eminent in
wealth and the other in military strength.
FOOTNOTES:
[264] Cp. iii. 46.
[265] One of the greatest and most warlike of the German
tribes living in the modern Hessen-Nassau and Waldeck. Tacitus
describes them at length in his _Germania_.
[266] i. e. a stretch of land about sixty miles in length, from
Nymwegen to the Hook of Holland, enclosed by the diverging
mouths of the Rhine, the northern of which is now called the
Lek, the southern the Waal (in Tacitus' time Vahalis). The
name Betuwe is still applied to the eastern part of this
island.
[267] In the _Germania_ Tacitus says that, like weapons, they
are kept exclusively for use in war, and are spared the
indignity of taxation.
[268] Some such word as _peritus_ or _exercitus_ must be
supplied at the end of this chapter.
[269] Probably during the revolt of Vindex. Capito governed
Lower Germany.
[270] Cp. i. 59.
[271] The loss of an eye.
[272] Governor of Upper Germany.
[273] As a subordinate division of Lower Germany the Batavian
district would be administered by 'prefects' subordinate to
the imperial legate.
[274] Vitellius had reduced the strength of the legions (cp. ii. 94).
[275] Because it would weaken the position of Vitellius.
[276] They lived north of the Batavi, between the Zuider Zee
and the North Sea.
[277] ii. 29.
[278] Mogontiacum.
[279] Caligula's only trophy had been helmetfuls of stones and
shells from the sea-shore of Germany.
[280] Living in Friesland, north-east of the Zuider Zee.
[281] Reading _applicata_ (Andresen) instead of _occupata_,
which gives no sense. The camp was probably somewhere near
Katwyk.
[282] The Nervii were a Gallic tribe living on the Sambre,
with settlements at Cambray, Tournay, Bavay. Ritter's
alteration of _Germanorum_ to _Cugernorum_ is very probably
right. They lived about a dozen miles west of Vetera, and are
thus a likely recruiting-ground. They were of German origin,
so if _Germanorum_ is right, the reference will still be to
them and the Tungri and other German Settlements on the east
of the Rhine.
[283] See ii. 42, note 301. Here, however, it is not
improbable that the word _cuneus_ means a V-shaped formation.
Tacitus' phrase in _Germ. _ 6 is generally taken to mean that
the Germans fought in wedge-formation. The separation of the
three tribes in three columns was also typical of German
tactics. The presence of kinsmen stimulated courage.
[284] Presumably at the eastern end of the island, near either
Nymwegen or Arnheim.
[285] The Aedui lived in Bourgogne and Nivernois, between the
Loire and the Saône; the Arverni in Auvergne, north-west of
the Cevennes. Both had joined Vindex.
[286] 'Many' must be an exaggeration, since Augustus' census
of Gaul took place 27 B. C. , ninety-five years ago.
[287] Sixty years ago, to be exact.
THE MUTINY OF THE BATAVIAN COHORTS
Hordeonius Flaccus at first furthered Civilis' schemes by shutting his
eyes to them. But when messengers kept arriving in panic with news
that a camp had been stormed, cohorts wiped out, and not a Roman left
in the Batavian Island, he instructed Munius Lupercus, who commanded
the two legions[288] in winter-quarters,[289] to march against the
enemy. Lupercus lost no time in crossing the river,[290] taking the
legions whom he had with him, some Ubii[291] who were close at hand,
and the Treviran cavalry who were stationed not far away. To this
force he added a regiment of Batavian cavalry, who, though their
loyalty had long ago succumbed, still concealed the fact, because they
hoped their desertion would fetch a higher price, if they actually
betrayed the Romans on the field. Civilis set the standards of the
defeated cohorts[292] round him in a ring to keep their fresh honours
before the eyes of his men, and to terrify the enemy by reminding them
of their disaster. He also gave orders that his own mother and sisters
and all the wives and small children of his soldiers should be
stationed in the rear to spur them to victory or shame them if they
were beaten. [293] When his line raised their battle-cry, the men
singing and the women shrieking, the legions and their auxiliaries
replied with a comparatively feeble cheer, for their left wing had
been exposed by the desertion of the Batavian cavalry, who promptly
turned against us. However, despite the confusion, the legionaries
gripped their swords and kept their places. Then the Ubian and
Treviran auxiliaries broke in shameful flight and went wandering all
over the country. The Germans pressed hard on their heels and
meanwhile the legions could make good their escape into the camp,
which was called 'Castra Vetera'. [294] Claudius Labeo, who commanded
the Batavian cavalry, had opposed Civilis as a rival in some petty
municipal dispute. Civilis was afraid that, if he killed him, he might
offend his countrymen, while if he spared him his presence would give
rise to dissension; so he sent him off by sea to the Frisii.
It was at this time that the cohorts of Batavians and 19
Canninefates, on their way to Rome under orders from Vitellius,
received the message which Civilis had sent to them. [295] They
promptly fell into a ferment of unruly insolence and demanded a
special grant as payment for their journey, double pay, and an
increase in the number of their cavalry. [296] Although all these
things had been promised by Vitellius they had no hope of obtaining
them, but wanted an excuse for rebellion. Flaccus made many
concessions, but the only result was that they redoubled their vigour
and demanded what they felt sure he would refuse. Paying no further
heed to him they made for Lower Germany, to join Civilis. Flaccus
summoned the tribunes and centurions and debated with them whether he
should use force to punish this defiance of authority. After a while
he gave way to his natural cowardice and the fears of his
subordinates, who were distressed by the thought that the loyalty of
the auxiliaries was doubtful and that the legions had been recruited
by a hurried levy. It was decided, therefore, to keep the soldiers in
camp. [297] However, he soon changed his mind when he found himself
criticized by the very men whose advice he had taken. He now seemed
bent on pursuit, and wrote to Herennius Gallus in command of the First
legion, who was holding Bonn, telling him to bar the path of the
Batavians, and promising that he and his army would follow hard upon
their heels. The rebels might certainly have been crushed had Flaccus
and Gallus each advanced their forces from opposite directions and
thus surrounded them. But Flaccus soon gave up the idea, and wrote
another letter to Gallus, warning him to let the rebels pass
undisturbed. This gave rise to a suspicion that the generals were
purposely promoting the war; and all the disasters which had already
occurred or were feared in the future, were attributed not to the
soldiers' inefficiency or the strength of the enemy, but to the
treachery of the generals.
On nearing the camp at Bonn, the Batavians sent forward a 20
messenger to explain their intentions to Herennius Gallus. Against the
Romans, for whom they had fought so often, they had no wish to make
war: but they were worn out after a long and unprofitable term of
service and wanted to go home and rest. If no one opposed them they
would march peaceably by; but if hostility was offered they would find
a passage at the point of the sword. Gallus hesitated, but his men
induced him to risk an engagement. Three thousand legionaries, some
hastily recruited Belgic auxiliaries, and a mob of peasants and
camp-followers, who were as cowardly in action as they were boastful
before it, came pouring out simultaneously from all the gates, hoping
with their superior numbers to surround the Batavians. But these were
experienced veterans. They formed up into columns[298] in deep
formation that defied assault on front, flank, or rear. They thus
pierced our thinner line. The Belgae giving way, the legion was driven
back and ran in terror to reach the trench and the gates of the camp.
It was there that we suffered the heaviest losses. The trenches were
filled with dead, who were not all killed by the blows of the enemy,
for many were stifled in the press or perished on each other's swords.
The victorious cohorts avoided Cologne and marched on without
attempting any further hostilities. For the battle at Bonn they
continued to excuse themselves. They had asked for peace, they said,
and when peace was persistently refused, had merely acted in
self-defence.
FOOTNOTES:
[288] V Alaudae and XV Primigenia, both depleted.
[289] At Vetera.
[290] Waal.
[291] They lived round their chief town, known since A. D. 50
as Colonia Agrippinensis, now Cologne (cp. i. 56, note 106).
[292] See chap. 16.
[293] This was a German custom. We read in the _Germania_ that
in battle 'they keep their dearest close at hand, where the
women's cries and the wailing of their babies can be heard'.
[294] This means, of course, simply The Old Camp, but, as
Tacitus treats Vetera as a proper name, it has been kept in
the translation. It was probably on the Rhine near Xanten and
Fürstenberg, some sixty-six miles north of Cologne.
[295] Cp. i. 59; ii. 97; iv. 15.
[296] Who got better pay for lighter service.
[297] i. e. at Mainz, Bonn, Novaesium and Vetera.
[298] See note 283.
THE SIEGE OF VETERA
After the arrival of these veteran cohorts Civilis was now at the 21
head of a respectable army. But being still uncertain of his plans,
and engaged in reckoning up the Roman forces, he made all who were
with him swear allegiance to Vespasian, and sent envoys to the two
legions, who after their defeat in the former engagement[299] had
retired into Vetera, asking them to take the same oath. The answer
came back that they never followed the advice either of a traitor or
of an enemy: Vitellius was their emperor, and they would keep their
allegiance and their arms for him so long as they had breath in their
bodies. A Batavian deserter need not try to decide the destiny of
Rome; he should rather expect the punishment he richly deserved. When
this was reported to Civilis he flew into a passion, and called the
whole Batavian people to take arms. They were joined by the Bructeri
and Tencteri,[300] and Germany was summoned to come and share the
plunder and the glory.
Threatened with this gathering storm, Munius Lupercus and Numisius 22
Rufus, who were in command of the two legions, proceeded to strengthen
the ramparts and walls. They pulled down the buildings near the
military camp, which had grown into a small town during the long years
of peace, fearing that the enemy might make use of them. But they
omitted to provide a sufficient store of provisions for the camp, and
authorized the soldiers to make up the deficiency by looting, with the
result that what might have supplied their needs for a long time was
consumed in a few days. Meanwhile Civilis advanced, himself holding
the centre with the flower of the Batavi: on both banks of the Rhine
he massed large bands of Germans to strike terror into the enemy: the
cavalry galloped through the fields, while the ships were
simultaneously moved up the stream. Here could be seen the colours of
veteran Roman cohorts, there the figures of beasts which the Germans
had brought from their woods and groves, as their tribes do when they
go to battle. It seemed both a civil and a savage war at once; and
this strange confusion astounded the besieged. The hopes of the
assailants rose when they saw the circumference of the ramparts, for
there were barely five thousand Roman soldiers to defend a camp which
had been laid out to hold two legions. [301] However, a large number of
camp-followers had collected there on the break-up of peace, and
remained to give what assistance they could to the military
operations.
The camp was built partly on the gentle slope of a hill and partly 23
on the level ground. Augustus had believed that it would serve as a
base of operations and a check upon the German tribes: as for their
actually coming to assault our legions, such a disaster never
occurred to him. Consequently no trouble had been taken in choosing
the site or erecting defences: the strength of the troops had always
seemed sufficient.
The Batavians and the Germans from across the Rhine[302] now formed up
tribe by tribe--the separation was designed to show their individual
prowess--and opened fire from a distance. Finding that most of their
missiles fell harmlessly on to the turrets and pinnacles of the walls,
and that they were being wounded by stones hurled from above, they
charged with a wild shout and surged up to the rampart, some using
scaling-ladders, others climbing over their comrades who had formed a
'tortoise'. But no sooner had some of them begun to scale the wall,
than they were hurled down by the besieged, who thrust at them with
sword and shield, and buried under a shower of stakes and javelins.
The Germans are always impetuous at the beginning of an action and
over-confident when they are winning; and on this occasion their greed
for plunder even steeled them to face difficulties. They actually
attempted to use siege-engines, with which they were quite unfamiliar.
But though they had no skill themselves, some of the deserters and
prisoners showed them how to build a sort of bridge or platform of
timber, on to which they fitted wheels and rolled it forward. Thus
some of them stood on this platform and fought as though from a mound,
while others, concealed inside, tried to undermine the walls. However,
stones hurled from catapults soon destroyed this rude engine. Then
they began to get ready hurdles and mantlets, but the besieged shot
blazing spears on to them from engines, and even attacked the
assailants themselves with fire-darts. At last they gave up all hope
of an assault and resolved to try a waiting policy, being well aware
that the camp contained only a few days' provisions and a large number
of non-combatants. They hoped that famine would breed treason, and
counted, besides, on the wavering loyalty of the slaves and the usual
hazards of war to aid them.
Meanwhile, Flaccus,[303] who had received news of the siege of 24
Vetera, dispatched a party to recruit auxiliaries in Gaul, and gave
Dillius Vocula, in command of the Twenty-second, a force of picked
soldiers from his two legions. [304] Vocula was to hurry by forced
marches along the bank of the Rhine, while Flaccus himself was to
approach by water, since he was in bad health and unpopular with his
men. Indeed, they grumbled openly that he had let the Batavian cohorts
get away from Mainz, had connived at Civilis' schemes, and invited the
Germans to join the alliance. Vespasian, they said, owed his rise more
to Flaccus than to all the assistance of Antonius Primus or of
Mucianus, for overt hatred and hostility can be openly crushed, but
treachery and deceit cannot be detected, much less parried. While
Civilis took the field himself and arranged his own fighting line,
Hordeonius lay on a couch in his bedroom and gave whatever orders
best suited the enemy's convenience. Why should all these companies
of brave soldiers be commanded by one miserable old invalid? Let them
rather kill the traitor and free their brave hearts and good hopes
from the incubus of such an evil omen. Having worked on each other's
feelings by these complaints, they were still further incensed by the
arrival of a letter from Vespasian. As this could not be concealed,
Flaccus read it before a meeting of the soldiers, and the messengers
who brought it were sent to Vitellius in chains.
With feelings thus appeased the army marched on to Bonn, the 25
head-quarters of the First legion. There the men were still more
indignant with Flaccus, on whom they laid the blame of their recent
defeat. [305] It was by his orders, they argued, that they had taken
the field against the Batavians on the understanding that the legions
from Mainz were in pursuit. But no reinforcements had arrived and his
treachery was responsible for their losses. The facts, moreover, were
unknown to the other armies, nor was any report sent to their emperor,
although this treacherous outbreak could have been nipped in the bud
by the combined aid of all the provinces. In answer Flaccus read out
to the army copies of all the letters which he had sent from time to
time all over Gaul and Britain and Spain to ask for assistance, and
introduced the disastrous practice of having all letters delivered to
the standard-bearers of the legions, who read them to the soldiers
before the general had seen them. He then gave orders that one of the
mutineers should be put in irons, more by way of vindicating his
authority than because one man was especially to blame. Leaving Bonn,
the army moved on to Cologne, where they were joined by large numbers
of Gallic auxiliaries, who at first zealously supported the Roman
cause: later, when the Germans prospered, most of the tribes took arms
against us, actuated by hopes of liberty and an ambition to establish
an empire of their own when once they had shaken off the yoke.
Meanwhile the army's indignation steadily increased. The imprisonment
of a single soldier was not enough to terrify them, and, indeed, the
prisoner actually accused the general of complicity in crime, alleging
that he himself had carried messages between Flaccus and Civilis. 'It
is because I can testify to the truth,' he said, 'that Flaccus wants
to get rid of me on a false charge. ' Thereupon Vocula, with admirable
self-possession, mounted the tribunal and, in spite of the man's
protestations, ordered him to be seized and led away to prison. This
alarmed the disaffected, while the better sort obeyed him promptly.
The army then unanimously demanded that Vocula should lead them, and
Flaccus accordingly resigned the chief command to him. However, 26
there was much to exasperate their disaffection. They were short both
of pay and of provisions: the Gauls refused either to enlist or to pay
tribute: drought, usually unknown in that climate, made the Rhine
almost too low for navigation, and thus hampered their commissariat:
patrols had to be posted at intervals all along the bank to prevent
the Germans fording the river: and in consequence of all this they had
less food and more mouths to eat it. To the ignorant the lowness of
the river seemed in itself an evil omen, as though the ancient
bulwarks of the empire were now failing them. In peace they would have
called it bad luck or the course of nature: now it was 'fate' and 'the
anger of heaven'.
