It is
more likely that his motives were mercenary, since both law
and custom still imposed some restrictions upon a senator's
participation in 'business'.
more likely that his motives were mercenary, since both law
and custom still imposed some restrictions upon a senator's
participation in 'business'.
Tacitus
How much that may benefit the country and make you famous it
lies with you--under Providence--to decide. You need not be afraid
that I may seem to flatter you. It is more of an insult than a
compliment to be chosen to succeed Vitellius. It is not against the
powerful intellect of the sainted Augustus that we are in revolt; not
against the cautious prudence of the old Tiberius; nor even against a
long-established imperial family like that of Caligula, Claudius or
Nero. You even gave way to Galba's ancient lineage. To remain inactive
any longer, to leave your country to ruin and disgrace, that would be
sheer sloth and cowardice, even if such slavery were as safe for you
as it would be dishonourable. The time is long past when you could be
merely _suspected_ of ambition: the throne is now your only refuge.
Have you forgotten Corbulo's murder? [396] He was a man of better
family than we, I admit, but so was Nero more nobly born than
Vitellius. A man who is feared always seems illustrious enough to
those who fear him. That an army can make an emperor Vitellius himself
has proved. He had neither experience nor military reputation, but
merely rose on Galba's unpopularity. Even Otho fell not by the
strategy or strength of his opponent, but by his own precipitate
despair. And to-day he seems a great and desirable emperor, when
Vitellius is disbanding his legions, disarming his Guards, and daily
sowing fresh seeds of civil war. Why, any spirit or enthusiasm which
his army had is being dissipated in drunken debauches: for they
imitate their master. But you, in Judaea, in Syria, in Egypt, you have
nine fresh legions. War has not weakened nor mutiny demoralized them.
The men are trained to discipline and have already won a foreign
war. [397] Besides these, you can rely on the strength of your
fleet,[398] and of your auxiliaries both horse and foot, on the
faithful allegiance of foreign princes,[399] and on your own
unparalleled experience.
'For ourselves I make but one claim. Let us not rank below Valens 77
and Caecina. Nor must you despise my help because you do not encounter
my rivalry. I prefer myself to Vitellius and you to myself. Your house
has received the insignia of a triumph. [400] You have two young sons,
one of whom is already old enough to fill the throne, and in his first
years of service made a name for himself in the German army. [401] It
would be absurd for me not to give way to one whose son I should
adopt, were I emperor myself. Apart from this, we shall stand on a
different footing in success and in failure, for if we succeed I shall
have such honour as you grant me: of the risk and the dangers we shall
share the burden equally. Or rather, do what is better still. Dispose
your armies yourself and leave me the conduct of the war, and the
uncertainties of battle.
'At this moment the defeated are far more strictly disciplined than
their conquerors. Indignation, hatred, the passion for revenge, all
serve to steel our courage. Theirs is dulled by pride and mutiny. The
course of the war will soon bring to light the hidden weakness of
their party, and reopen all its festering sores. I rely on your
vigilance, your economy, your wisdom, and still more on the indolence,
ignorance, and cruelty of Vitellius. Above all, our cause is far safer
in war than in peace, for those who plan rebellion have rebelled
already. '
At the end of Mucianus' speech the others all pressed round with 78
new confidence, offering their encouragement and quoting the answers
of soothsayers and the movements of the stars. Nor was Vespasian
uninfluenced by superstition. In later days, when he was master of
the world, he made no secret of keeping a soothsayer called Seleucus
to help him by his advice and prophecy. Early omens began to recur to
his memory. A tall and conspicuous cypress on his estate had once
suddenly collapsed: on the next day it had risen again on the same
spot to grow taller and broader than ever. The soothsayers had agreed
that this was an omen of great success, and augured the height of fame
for the still youthful Vespasian. At first his triumphal honours, his
consulship, and the name he won by his Jewish victory seemed to have
fulfilled the promise of this omen. But having achieved all this, he
began to believe that it portended his rise to the throne.
On the frontier of Judaea and Syria[402] lies a hill called Carmel. A
god of the same name is there worshipped according to ancient ritual.
There is no image or temple: only an altar where they reverently
worship. Once when Vespasian was sacrificing on this altar, brooding
on his secret ambition, the priest, Basilides, after a minute
inspection of the omens said to him: 'Whatever it is which you have in
mind, Vespasian, whether it is to build a house or to enlarge your
estate, or to increase the number of your slaves, there is granted to
you a great habitation, vast acres, and a multitude of men. ' Rumour
had immediately seized on this riddle and now began to solve it.
Nothing was more talked of, especially in Vespasian's presence: such
conversation is the food of hope.
Having come to a definite decision they departed, Mucianus to Antioch,
Vespasian to Caesarea. The former is the capital of Syria, the latter
of Judaea. [403]
The first offer of the throne to Vespasian was made at Alexandria, 79
where Tiberius Alexander with great promptitude administered the oath
of allegiance to his troops on the first of July. This was usually
celebrated as his day of accession, although it was not until the
third that the Jewish army took the oath in his presence. So eager was
their enthusiasm that they would not even wait for the arrival of
Titus, who was on his way back from Syria, where he had been
conducting the negotiations between his father and Mucianus.
What happened was all due to the impulse of the soldiers: there was no
set speech, no formal assembly of the troops. They were still 80
discussing the time and the place, and trying to decide the hardest
point of all, who should speak first, and while their minds were still
busy with hopes and fears, reasons and chances, Vespasian happened to
come out of his quarters. A few of the soldiers, forming up in the
usual way to salute their general, saluted him as emperor. The others
promptly rushed up calling him Caesar and Augustus, and heaping on him
all the imperial titles. Their fears at once gave way to confidence.
Vespasian himself, unchanged by the change of fortune, showed no sign
of vanity or arrogance. As soon as he had recovered from the dazzling
shock of his sudden elevation, he addressed them in simple soldier
fashion, and received a shower of congratulations from every quarter.
Mucianus, who had been waiting for this, administered the oath of
allegiance to his eager troops, and then entered the theatre at
Antioch, where the Greeks ordinarily hold their debates. There, as the
fawning crowd came flocking in, he addressed them in their own tongue.
For he could speak elegant Greek, and had the art of making the most
of all he said or did. What most served to inflame the excitement of
the province and of the army, was his statement that Vitellius had
determined to transfer the German legions to peaceful service in the
rich province of Syria, and to send the Syrian legions to endure the
toil and rigours of a winter in Germany. The provincials were
accustomed to the soldiers' company and liked to have them quartered
there, and many were bound to them by ties of intimacy and kinship,
while the soldiers in their long term of service had come to know and
love their old camp like a home.
Before the 15th of July the whole of Syria had sworn allegiance. 81
The party also gained the support of Sohaemus,[404] with all the
resources of his kingdom and a considerable force, and of
Antiochus,[404] the richest of the subject princes, who owed his
importance to his ancestral treasures. Before long Agrippa, too,
received a secret summons from his friends at home, and leaving
Rome[405] without the knowledge of Vitellius, sailed as fast as he
could to join Vespasian. His sister Berenice[406] showed equal
enthusiasm for the cause. She was then in the flower of her youth and
beauty, and her munificent gifts to Vespasian quite won the old man's
heart. Indeed, every province on the seaboard as far as Asia and
Achaia, and inland to Pontus and Armenia swore allegiance to
Vespasian, but their governors were without troops, for as yet no
legions had been assigned to Cappadocia. [407]
A meeting was held at Berytus[408] to discuss the general situation.
To this came Mucianus with all his officers and the most distinguished
of his centurions and soldiers, besides the elite of the Jewish army
in full uniform. All these cavalry and infantry, and the pageant of
the subject princes, vying with each other in splendour, gave the
meeting an air of imperial grandeur.
The first step was to levy new troops and to recall the veterans 82
to the standards. Some of the strongest towns were told off to
manufacture arms. New gold and silver were coined at Antioch. All
these works were promptly carried out, each in the proper place, by
competent officials. Vespasian came and inspected them himself,
encouraging good work by his praises and rousing the inefficient
rather by example than compulsion, always more ready to see the merits
than the faults of his friends. Many were rewarded by receiving
commands in the auxiliary forces or posts as imperial agents. [409]
Still more were raised to senatorial rank. They were mostly men of
distinction who soon rose high, and with others success atoned for any
lack of merit. A donation for the troops had been mentioned by
Mucianus in his first speech, but in very guarded terms. Even
Vespasian offered for the civil war a lower figure than others gave in
time of peace, for he had set his face with admirable firmness against
largess to the soldiers, and his army was none the worse for it.
Envoys were dispatched to Parthia and Armenia to secure that the
legions, while engaged in the civil war, should not be exposed to
attack in the rear. [410] It was arranged that Titus should carry on
the war in Judaea, while Vespasian held the keys of Egypt. [411]
Against Vitellius it seemed sufficient to send a part of their forces
under the command of Mucianus. He would have Vespasian's name behind
him and the irresistible force of destiny. Letters were written to
all the armies and their generals with instructions that they should
try to win over those of the Guards who were hostile to Vitellius by
promising them renewal of service.
Meanwhile, Mucianus, who acted the part more of a partner than a 83
subordinate, moved forward without the encumbrance of baggage, neither
marching so slowly as to look like holding back, nor so rapidly as not
to allow time for rumours to spread. He realized that his force was
small, and that the less people saw the more they would believe of it.
However, he had a solid column following in support, composed of the
Sixth legion and some picked detachments numbering 13,000 men. [412] He
had ordered the fleet to move from Pontus to Byzantium, for he was
half-minded to leave Moesia and with his whole force to hold
Dyrrachium, at the same time using his fleet to dominate the Italian
sea. He would thus secure Greece and Asia in his rear, which would
otherwise be at the mercy of Vitellius, unless furnished with troops.
Vitellius also would himself be in doubt what points of the Italian
coast to defend, if Mucianus with his ships threatened both Brundisium
and Tarentum and the whole coastline of Calabria and Lucania.
Thus the provinces rang from end to end with the preparations for 84
ships, soldiers and arms. But the heaviest burden was the raising of
money. 'Funds,' said Mucianus, 'are the sinews of war,'[413] and in
his investigations he cared for neither justice nor equity, but solely
for the amount of the sum. Informers abounded, and pounced on every
rich man as their prey. This intolerable oppression, excused by the
necessities of war, was allowed to continue even in peace. It was not
so much that Vespasian at the beginning of his reign had made up his
mind to maintain unjust decisions, but fortune spoilt him; he had
learnt in a bad school and made a bold use of his lessons. Mucianus
also contributed from his private means, of which he was generous, as
he hoped to get a high rate of interest out of the country. Others
followed his example, but very few had his opportunity of recovering
their money.
In the meantime Vespasian's progress was accelerated by the 85
enthusiasm with which the Illyrian army[414] espoused his cause. The
Third set the example to the other legions of Moesia, the Eighth and
the Seventh Claudian, both strongly attached to Otho, although they
had not been present at the battle. On their arrival at Aquileia[415]
they had mobbed the couriers who brought the news of Otho's fall, and
torn to pieces the standards bearing Vitellius' name, finally looting
the camp-chest and dividing the money among themselves. These were
hostile acts. Alarmed at what they had done they began to reflect
that, while their conduct needed excuse before Vitellius, they could
make a merit of it with Vespasian. Accordingly, the three Moesian
legions addressed letters to the Pannonian army,[416] inviting their
co-operation, and meanwhile prepared to meet refusal with force.
Aponius Saturninus, the Governor of Moesia, took this opportunity to
attempt an abominable crime. He sent a centurion to murder Tettius
Julianus,[417] who commanded the Seventh legion, alleging the
interests of his party as a cloak for a personal quarrel. Julianus
heard of his danger and, taking some guides who knew the country,
escaped into the wilds of Moesia and got as far as Mount Haemus. [418]
After that he meddled no more in civil war. Starting to join
Vespasian, he prolonged his journey by various expedients, retarding
or hastening his pace according to the nature of the news he received.
In Pannonia the Thirteenth legion and the Seventh Galbian had not 86
forgotten their feelings after the battle of Bedriacum. They lost no
time in joining Vespasian's cause, being chiefly instigated by
Antonius Primus. This man was a criminal who had been convicted of
fraud[419] during Nero's reign. Among the many evils of the war was
his recovery of senatorial rank. Galba gave him command of the
Seventh legion, and he was believed to have written repeatedly to Otho
offering his services as general to the party. But, as Otho took no
notice of him, he was without employment in the war. When Vitellius'
cause began to decline, he joined Vespasian and proved an acquisition.
He was a man of great physical energy and a ready tongue; an artist in
calumny, invaluable in riots and sedition. Light-fingered and
free-handed, he was intolerable in peace, but by no means contemptible
in war. The union of the Moesian and Pannonian armies soon attracted
the troops in Dalmatia to the cause. Tampius Flavianus and Pompeius
Silvanus, the two ex-consuls who governed respectively Pannonia and
Dalmatia,[420] were wealthy old gentlemen who had no thought of
rising. But the imperial agent in Pannonia, Cornelius Fuscus, was a
vigorous young man of good family. In his early youth a desire to make
money[421] had led him to resign his senatorial rank. He had headed
the townsmen of his colony in declaring for Galba, and his services
had won him a position as imperial agent. [422] Then he joined
Vespasian's party, giving a keen stimulus to the war; for, being
attracted more by danger itself than by its prizes, he always disliked
what was certain and long established, preferring everything that was
new and dangerous and doubtful. So the Vespasian party used all their
efforts to fan every spark of discontent throughout the empire.
Letters were sent to the Fourteenth in Britain and to the First in
Spain,[423] since both these legions had stood for Otho against
Vitellius. In Gaul, too, letters were scattered broadcast. All in an
instant the war was in full flame. The armies of Illyricum openly
revolted, and all the others were ready to follow the first sign of
success.
FOOTNOTES:
[391] i. e. he was crucified.
[392] See note 30.
[393] Cp. i. 79.
[394] This hope was fulfilled (chap. 85).
[395] See i. 89.
[396] Under Nero, after brilliant service in Armenia and
Parthia. Nero was jealous and afraid of him. So is Vitellius
jealous of Vespasian.
[397] Against the Jews.
[398] From the Pontus. Cp. ii. 83.
[399] See note 216; and cp. chap. 81.
[400] For his victories in Britain under the auspices of
Claudius, who nominally shared with him the command of the
expedition, A. D. 43.
[401] Titus, who was now thirty, had served as _Tribunus
militum_ under his father in Germany and in Britain.
[402] More exactly of Galilee and Phoenicia.
[403] This is of course from the Roman point of view. Caesarea
was the seat of the procurator. That Jerusalem was the
national capital Tacitus recognizes in Book V.
[404] See note 216.
[405] He had started for Rome with Titus (chap. 1), and
continued his journey when Titus turned back.
[406] See note 205.
[407] Cappadocia was under a procurator of equestrian rank
until Vespasian some years later was forced to send out troops
and a military governor.
[408] Beyrut.
[409] _Procuratio_ covers the governorship of an imperial
province such as Judaea, the post of financial agent in an
imperial province where there was a military governor
(_legatus Caesaris_), and the position of collector of
imperial taxes in a senatorial province. _Praefectura_, may
mean either a command in the auxiliary infantry or the
governorship of certain imperial provinces. Here the former
seems the more probable sense.
[410] They would treat with Vologaeses, king of Parthia, and
Tiridates of Armenia, and keep an eye on them. This they did
with such success that Vologaeses offered Vespasian 40,000
cavalry.
[411] Alexandria and Pelusium.
[412] i. e. besides the Sixth Ferrata he had detachments from
the other two legions in Syria, and from the three in Judaea.
Cp. notes 163 and 164.
[413] Borrowing this platitude from Cicero, who got it from
the Greek.
[414] i. e. the legions in Moesia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia (cp.
note 3).
[415] Cp. note 286.
[416] XIII Gemina and VII Galbiana (see below).
[417] See i. 79.
[418] The Balkan range.
[419] He was concerned in the forgery of a will: see _Ann. _
xiv. 40, where he is called 'a man of ready daring'.
[420] These were imperial provinces, each governed by a
_legatus Caesaris_ and a _procurator_, the former a military,
the latter a financial officer.
[421] Reading _quaestus cupidine_ (Grotius). The reading of
the Medicean manuscript is _quietis cupidine_. But Fuscus, as
the sequel shows, had little taste for a quiet life.
It is
more likely that his motives were mercenary, since both law
and custom still imposed some restrictions upon a senator's
participation in 'business'. In the _Annals_ (xvi. 17) Tacitus
says that Annaeus Mela abstained from seeking public office,
because he 'hoped to find a shorter road to wealth' by
entering, as Fuscus did, the imperial civil service. The
statement that Fuscus loved danger better than money does not
imply any rooted antipathy to the latter.
[422] i. e. in Pannonia.
[423] Cp. chaps. 66 and 67.
VITELLIUS IN ROME
While[424] Vespasian and his generals were showing such activity 87
in the provinces, Vitellius grew more contemptible and indolent every
day. Halting at every town or country house that offered any
attractions, he made his way to Rome with a heavy marching column of
sixty thousand troops, demoralized by loose discipline, and an even
greater number of menials as well as those camp-followers who are more
troublesome than any slaves. Besides these he had the vast retinue of
his generals and friends, which not even the strictest discipline
could have kept under control. This mob was further encumbered by
senators and knights, who came from Rome to meet him, some from fear,
some from servility; and gradually all the others followed, so as not
to be left behind by themselves. There flocked in, too, a crowd of
low-bred buffoons, actors and chariot-drivers, who had gained
Vitellius' acquaintance by various dishonest services. He delighted in
such discreditable connexions. To furnish supplies for this host not
only were the colonies and country towns laid under contribution, but
the farmers as well. The crops were just ripe and the fields were
ravaged like an enemy's country.
Many murderous affrays took place among the soldiers, for after 88
the mutiny at Ticinum[425] there were ceaseless quarrels between the
legions and the auxiliaries. They only united to harry the villagers.
The worst bloodshed took place at the seventh milestone from Rome.
Here Vitellius had ready-cooked food served to each of the soldiers,
as is done with gladiators in training, and the common people flocked
out from Rome and wandered all over the camp. Some of these visitors
indulged in a cockney practical joke,[426] and stole some of the
soldiers' swords, quietly cutting their belts while their attention
was diverted. Then they kept asking them, 'Have you got your sword
on? ' The troops were not used to being laughed at, and refused to
tolerate it. They charged the defenceless crowd. Amongst others the
father of one of the soldiers was killed while in his son's company.
When it was discovered who he was, and the news spread, they shed no
more innocent blood. Still there was some panic in the city as the
first soldiers arrived and began to roam the streets. They mostly made
for the Forum, anxious to see the spot where Galba had fallen. [427]
They themselves were a sufficiently alarming sight with their rough
skin coats and long pikes. Unused to towns, they failed to pick their
way in the crowd; or they would slip on the greasy streets, or collide
with some one and tumble down, whereupon they took to abuse and before
long to violence. Their officers, too, terrified the city by sweeping
along the streets with their bands of armed men.
After crossing the Mulvian bridge, Vitellius himself had been 89
riding on a conspicuous horse, wearing his sword and general's
uniform, with the senate and people trooping in front of him. However,
as this looked too much like an entry into a captured city, his
friends persuaded him to change into civilian dress and walk on foot.
At the head of his column were carried the eagles of four legions,
surrounded by the colours belonging to the detachments of four other
legions. [428] Next came the standards of twelve regiments of
auxiliary horse, then the files of infantry and the cavalry behind
them. Then came thirty-four cohorts of auxiliaries, arranged according
to their nationality or the nature of their weapons. In front of the
eagles came the camp prefects and tribunes, and the senior
centurions,[429] all dressed in white. The other centurions marched
each at the head of his company, glittering with their armour and
decorations. Gaily, too, shone the soldiers' medals[430] and their
chains of honour. It was a noble spectacle, an army worthy of a better
emperor. Thus Vitellius entered the Capitol, where he embraced his
mother and conferred on her the title of Augusta.
On the following day Vitellius delivered a grandiloquent eulogy on 90
his own merits. He might have been addressing the senate and people of
some other state, for he extolled his own industry and self-control,
although each member of his audience had seen his infamy for himself,
and the whole of Italy had witnessed during his march the shameful
spectacle of his sloth and luxury. However, the thoughtless crowd
could not discriminate between truth and falsehood. They had learnt
the usual flatteries by heart and chimed in with loud shouts of
applause. They insisted in the face of his protests that he should
take the title of Augustus. But neither his refusal nor their
insistence made much difference. [431]
In Rome nothing passes without comment, and it was regarded as a 91
fatal omen that Vitellius took office as high priest, and issued his
encyclical on public worship on the 18th of July, which, as the
anniversary of the disasters on the Cremera and the Allia,[432] had
long been considered an unlucky day. But his ignorance of all civil
and religious precedent was only equalled by the incapacity of his
freedmen and friends. He seemed to live in a society of drunkards.
However, at the consular elections he canvassed for his candidates
like a common citizen. [433] In everything he courted the favour of the
lowest classes, attending performances in the theatre and backing his
favourite at the races. This would undoubtedly have made him popular
had his motives been good, but the memory of his former life made his
conduct seem cheap and discreditable. He constantly attended the
senate, even when the debates were on trivial matters. It once
happened that Helvidius Priscus,[434] then praetor-elect, opposed
Vitellius' policy. At first the emperor showed annoyance, but was
content to appeal to the tribunes of the people to come to the rescue
of his slighted authority. Afterwards, when his friends, fearing that
his resentment might be deep-seated, tried to smooth matters, he
replied that there was nothing strange in two senators disagreeing on
a question of public policy: he himself had often opposed even such a
man as Thrasea. Most people laughed at the impudence of this
comparison; others were gratified that he had selected Thrasea, and
not some court favourite, as an example of real distinction. [435]
Vitellius had given the command of the Guards to Publilius 92
Sabinus, who had commanded an auxiliary cohort,[436] and Julius
Priscus, hitherto only a centurion. Priscus owed his rise to Valens'
support, Sabinus to that of Caecina. The rivalry between Valens and
Caecina left Vitellius no authority at all. They managed the
government between them. They had long felt the strain of mutual
dislike. During the war they had concealed it. Lately it had been
fanned by dishonest friends and by life in the city, which so easily
breeds quarrels. They were constant rivals, comparing their respective
popularity, the number of their retinue, the size of the crowds that
came to wait upon them. Meanwhile Vitellius let his favour alternate
between them, for personal influence is not to be trusted beyond a
certain limit. Meanwhile, they both feared and despised the emperor
himself, who thus veered between sudden brusqueness and unseasonable
flattery. However, they were not in the least deterred from seizing on
the houses, gardens, and funds in the emperor's patronage, while the
crowd of miserable and needy nobles, whom Galba had recalled from
exile with their children, derived no assistance from the emperor's
liberality. He earned the approval both of the upper classes and of
the people by granting to the restored full rights over their
freedmen. [437] But the freed slaves with characteristic meanness did
all they could to invalidate the edict. They would hide their money
with some obscure friend or in a rich patron's safe. Some, indeed, had
passed into the imperial household and become more influential than
their masters.
As for the soldiers, the Guards' barracks were crowded, and the 93
overflow spread through the city, finding shelter in colonnades and
temples. They ceased to recognize any head-quarters, to go on guard,
or to keep themselves in training, but fell victims to the attractions
of city life and its unmentionable vices, until they deteriorated both
physically and morally through idleness and debauchery. A number of
them even imperilled their lives by settling in the pestilent Vatican
quarter, thus increasing the rate of mortality. They were close to the
Tiber, and the Germans and Gauls, who were peculiarly liable to
disease and could ill stand the heat, ruined their constitutions by
their immoderate use of the river. [438] Moreover, the generals, either
for bribes or to earn popularity, tampered with the rules of the
service, enrolling sixteen regiments of Guards[439] and four for the
city garrison, each composed of a thousand men. In enlisting these
troops Valens put himself forward as superior to Caecina, whose life
he claimed to have saved. It is true, indeed, that his arrival had
consolidated the party, and by his successful engagement he had
silenced the current criticism of their slow marching. Besides which
the whole of the army of Lower Germany was attached to Valens, and
this is said to be the reason why Caecina's loyalty first wavered.
Whatever indulgence Vitellius showed to his generals, he allowed 94
still more licence to the troops. Each man chose his service. However
unfit, he might enlist in the Guards, if he preferred it. On the
other hand, good soldiers were allowed, if they wished, to remain in
the legions or the auxiliary cavalry. Many wished to do this who
suffered from ill health and complained of the climate. However, the
best soldiers were thus withdrawn from the legions and from the
cavalry; and the Guards were robbed of their prestige when twenty
thousand men were thus not so much selected for service with them as
drafted at random from the whole army.
While Vitellius was addressing the troops, they demanded the execution
of three Gallic chieftains, Asiaticus, Flavus, and Rufinus, on the
ground that they had fought for Vindex. [440] Vitellius never checked
these outcries. For, apart from the innate cowardice of his nature, he
knew that his donation to the soldiers was nearly due, and that he had
no money for it; so he freely granted all their other demands. The
imperial freedmen were forced to contribute a sort of tax,
proportionate to the number of their slaves. Meanwhile, his one
serious occupation was extravagance. He built stables for
chariot-drivers, filled the arena with gorgeous shows of gladiators
and wild beasts, and fooled away his money as though he had more than
he wanted.
Moreover, Valens and Caecina celebrated Vitellius' birthday[441] 95
by holding gladiatorial shows in every quarter of Rome on a scale of
magnificence hitherto unknown. Vitellius then gratified the rabble and
scandalized all decent people by building altars in the Martian Plain,
and holding a funeral service in honour of Nero. Victims were killed
and burnt in public: the torch was applied by the Augustales, members
of the college which Tiberius Caesar had founded in honour of the
Julian family, just as Romulus similarly commemorated King Tatius.
It was not yet four months since Vitellius' victory, and yet his
freedman Asiaticus was as bad as a Polyclitus or a Patrobius,[442] or
any of the favourites whose names were hated in earlier days. At this
court no one strove to rise by honesty or capacity. There was only one
road to power. By lavish banquets, costly profusion, and feats of
gastronomy, you had to try and satisfy Vitellius' insatiable gluttony.
He himself, without thought for the morrow, was well content to enjoy
the present. It is believed that he squandered nine hundred million
sesterces[443] in these brief months. Truly it shows Rome's greatness
and misfortune, that she endured Otho and Vitellius both in the same
year, and suffered humiliation of every kind at the hands of men like
Vinius and Fabius,[444] Icelus and Asiaticus, until at last they gave
way to Mucianus and Marcellus--a change of men but not of manners.
The first news of rebellion which reached Vitellius came from 96
Aponius Saturninus,[445] who, before himself going over to Vespasian's
side, wrote to announce the desertion of the Third legion. But a
sudden crisis makes a man nervous: Aponius did not tell the whole
story. So the emperor's flattering friends began to explain it all
away: what was the defection of a single legion, while the loyalty of
the other armies remained unshaken? Vitellius himself used the same
language to the soldiers. He accused the men, who had been recently
discharged from the Guards,[446] of spreading false rumours, and kept
assuring them there was no fear of civil war. All mention of Vespasian
was suppressed, and soldiers were sent round the city to frighten
people into silence, which, of course, did more than anything else to
make them talk.
Vitellius, nevertheless, sent for reinforcements from Germany, 97
Britain, and the Spanish provinces, though with a lack of urgency
which was intended to conceal his straits. The provinces and their
governors showed the same want of enthusiasm. Hordeonius Flaccus,[447]
who had suspicions of the Batavi, was distracted with a war of his
own,[448] while Vettius Bolanus[449] never had Britain under complete
control: nor was the loyally of either beyond doubt. The Spanish
provinces, where there was at the time no consular governor,[450] were
equally slow. The three officers in command of the legions held an
equal authority, and if Vitellius' cause had prospered, would have
each outbid the other for his favour: but they all shared the resolve
to leave his misfortunes alone. In Africa the legion and auxiliaries
enlisted by Clodius Macer, and subsequently disbanded by Galba,[451]
took service again at Vitellius' orders, and at the same time all the
young men of the province eagerly enlisted. Vitellius had been an
honest and popular pro-consul in Africa, while Vespasian had been
distrusted and disliked. The provincials took this as an earnest of
their reigns; but experience proved them wrong.
The military legate Valerius Festus[452] at first loyally seconded 98
the enthusiasm of the province. After a while he began to waver. In
his official letters and edicts he still acknowledged Vitellius, while
in secret communication with Vespasian and ready to support whichever
party proved successful. In Raetia and the Gallic provinces some
centurions and men carrying letters and edicts from Vespasian were
taken prisoners and sent to Vitellius, who had them executed. But most
of these envoys escaped capture either by their own ingenuity or the
loyal help of friends. Thus, while Vitellius' plans were known,
Vespasian's were for the most part still a secret. This was partly due
to Vitellius' negligence, but also to the fact that the garrisons on
the Pannonian Alps stopped all messengers. By sea, too, the
Etesian[453] winds from the north-west favoured ships sailing
eastward, but hindered the voyage from the East.
Terrified at last by the imminence of invasion and the alarming 99
news that reached him from all quarters, Vitellius instructed Caecina
and Valens to prepare for war. Caecina was sent on ahead, Valens, who
was just recovering from a serious illness, being delayed by his weak
state of health. Great, indeed, was the change in the appearance of
the German army as it marched out of Rome. There was neither energy in
their muscles nor fire in their hearts. Slowly the column straggled
on, their horses spiritless, their arms neglected. The men grumbled at
the sun, the dust, the weather, and were as ready to quarrel as they
were unwilling to work. To these disadvantages were added Caecina's
inveterate self-seeking and his newly-acquired indolence. An overdose
of success had made him slack and self-indulgent, or, if he was
plotting treachery, this may have been one of his devices for
demoralizing the army. It has often been believed that it was Flavius
Sabinus[454] who, using Rubrius Gallus as his agent, tampered with
Caecina's loyalty by promising that, if he came over, Vespasian would
ratify any conditions. It may have occurred also to Caecina to
remember his quarrels and rivalry with Valens, and to consider that,
as he did not stand first with Vitellius, he had better acquire credit
and influence with the new emperor.
After taking an affectionate and respectful farewell of Vitellius, 100
Caecina dispatched a body of cavalry to occupy Cremona. He soon
followed with the detachments of the First, Fourth, Fifteenth, and
Sixteenth legions in the van. The centre was composed of the Fifth and
Twenty-second, and in the rear of the column came the Twenty-first
Rapax and the First Italian legion, with detachments from the three
legions of Britain and a select force of auxiliaries. When Caecina had
started, Valens wrote instructions to the legions belonging to his old
command[455] to await him on the march, saying that he and Caecina had
arranged this. Caecina, however, took advantage of being on the spot,
and pretended that this plan had been altered so as to enable them to
meet the first outbreak of the war with their full strength. So some
legions were hurried forward to Cremona[456] and part of the force was
directed upon Hostilia. [457] Caecina himself turned aside to Ravenna
on the pretext of giving instructions to the fleet. Thence he
proceeded to Patavium[458] to secure secrecy for his treacherous
designs. For Lucilius Bassus, whom Vitellius, from a prefect of
auxiliary cavalry had raised to the supreme command of the two fleets
at Ravenna and Misenum, felt aggrieved at not being immediately given
the praefecture of the Guards, and sought in dastardly treachery the
remedy for his unjustifiable annoyance. It can never be known whether
he influenced Caecina or whether one was as dishonest as the other.
There is seldom much to choose between rascals. The historians[459] 101
who compiled the records of this war in the days of the Flavian
dynasty were led by flattery into adducing as the causes of the
rebellion patriotism and the interests of peace. We cannot think them
right. Apart from the innate disloyalty of the rebels and the loss
of character after Galba's betrayal, they seem to have been led by
jealousy and rivalry into sacrificing Vitellius himself for fear that
they might lose the first place in his favour. Thus when Caecina
joined his army,[460] he used every device to undermine the staunch
fidelity of the centurions and soldiers to Vitellius. Bassus found
the same task less difficult, for the fleet remembered that they had
lately been in Otho's service, and were therefore already on the
brink of rebellion.
FOOTNOTES:
[424] The narrative is here resumed from chap. 72.
[425] See chap. 68.
[426] The word 'cockney' may perhaps be admitted here to
express that which is characteristic of the metropolitan
masses. Similarly Petronius speaks of a man as 'a fountain of
cockney humour' (_urbanitatis vernaculae fontem_).
[427] They were cast for the part of Galba's avengers.
[428] Only detachments of these latter four were present, so
they had not got their eagles.
[429] Under the empire there were six tribunes to each legion,
and they took command on the march and on the field, acting
under the orders of the _legatus legionis_. The ten centurions
of the _pilani_ or front rank each commanded his cohort.
[430] See note 107.
[431] The end was so near.
[432] At Cremera, near Veii, the Fabii died like heroes, 477 B. C. ,
and on the Allia the Gauls won their victory over Rome,
390 B. C. The day was called Alliensis, and no work was to be
done on it (Livy, vi. 1).
[433] See chap. 71. At this time the emperor had in theory
only the right of nominating candidates for the consulships,
but it was obviously unnecessary for him to do more. The
alliteration in this sentence is Tacitus'.
[434] See iv. 4 f.
[435] Thrasea, Helvidius' father-in-law, was an honoured
member of the Stoic opposition who had been executed by Nero
A. D. 66. Here Vitellius is posing as an ordinary senator. If
he had opposed so distinguished a man as Thrasea, why should
not Helvidius oppose him? Thrasea's end gives the remark a
slightly sinister tone.
[436] See note 346.
[437] A patron apparently could claim support from his
freedmen if he was in want, as these restored exiles certainly
were, since their property had been confiscated and was
irrecoverable. In exile they had of course lost their rights.
[438] This probably includes bathing as well as drinking.
[439] Since Tiberius there had been only nine, and Vespasian
restored that number.
[440] See i. 6.
[441] Probably September 24. He was 54.
[442] Cp. i. 37, 49.
[443] About nine million pounds. Not to be taken too literally.
[444] Valens.
[445] Governor of Moesia (see chap. 85).
[446] See chap.
lies with you--under Providence--to decide. You need not be afraid
that I may seem to flatter you. It is more of an insult than a
compliment to be chosen to succeed Vitellius. It is not against the
powerful intellect of the sainted Augustus that we are in revolt; not
against the cautious prudence of the old Tiberius; nor even against a
long-established imperial family like that of Caligula, Claudius or
Nero. You even gave way to Galba's ancient lineage. To remain inactive
any longer, to leave your country to ruin and disgrace, that would be
sheer sloth and cowardice, even if such slavery were as safe for you
as it would be dishonourable. The time is long past when you could be
merely _suspected_ of ambition: the throne is now your only refuge.
Have you forgotten Corbulo's murder? [396] He was a man of better
family than we, I admit, but so was Nero more nobly born than
Vitellius. A man who is feared always seems illustrious enough to
those who fear him. That an army can make an emperor Vitellius himself
has proved. He had neither experience nor military reputation, but
merely rose on Galba's unpopularity. Even Otho fell not by the
strategy or strength of his opponent, but by his own precipitate
despair. And to-day he seems a great and desirable emperor, when
Vitellius is disbanding his legions, disarming his Guards, and daily
sowing fresh seeds of civil war. Why, any spirit or enthusiasm which
his army had is being dissipated in drunken debauches: for they
imitate their master. But you, in Judaea, in Syria, in Egypt, you have
nine fresh legions. War has not weakened nor mutiny demoralized them.
The men are trained to discipline and have already won a foreign
war. [397] Besides these, you can rely on the strength of your
fleet,[398] and of your auxiliaries both horse and foot, on the
faithful allegiance of foreign princes,[399] and on your own
unparalleled experience.
'For ourselves I make but one claim. Let us not rank below Valens 77
and Caecina. Nor must you despise my help because you do not encounter
my rivalry. I prefer myself to Vitellius and you to myself. Your house
has received the insignia of a triumph. [400] You have two young sons,
one of whom is already old enough to fill the throne, and in his first
years of service made a name for himself in the German army. [401] It
would be absurd for me not to give way to one whose son I should
adopt, were I emperor myself. Apart from this, we shall stand on a
different footing in success and in failure, for if we succeed I shall
have such honour as you grant me: of the risk and the dangers we shall
share the burden equally. Or rather, do what is better still. Dispose
your armies yourself and leave me the conduct of the war, and the
uncertainties of battle.
'At this moment the defeated are far more strictly disciplined than
their conquerors. Indignation, hatred, the passion for revenge, all
serve to steel our courage. Theirs is dulled by pride and mutiny. The
course of the war will soon bring to light the hidden weakness of
their party, and reopen all its festering sores. I rely on your
vigilance, your economy, your wisdom, and still more on the indolence,
ignorance, and cruelty of Vitellius. Above all, our cause is far safer
in war than in peace, for those who plan rebellion have rebelled
already. '
At the end of Mucianus' speech the others all pressed round with 78
new confidence, offering their encouragement and quoting the answers
of soothsayers and the movements of the stars. Nor was Vespasian
uninfluenced by superstition. In later days, when he was master of
the world, he made no secret of keeping a soothsayer called Seleucus
to help him by his advice and prophecy. Early omens began to recur to
his memory. A tall and conspicuous cypress on his estate had once
suddenly collapsed: on the next day it had risen again on the same
spot to grow taller and broader than ever. The soothsayers had agreed
that this was an omen of great success, and augured the height of fame
for the still youthful Vespasian. At first his triumphal honours, his
consulship, and the name he won by his Jewish victory seemed to have
fulfilled the promise of this omen. But having achieved all this, he
began to believe that it portended his rise to the throne.
On the frontier of Judaea and Syria[402] lies a hill called Carmel. A
god of the same name is there worshipped according to ancient ritual.
There is no image or temple: only an altar where they reverently
worship. Once when Vespasian was sacrificing on this altar, brooding
on his secret ambition, the priest, Basilides, after a minute
inspection of the omens said to him: 'Whatever it is which you have in
mind, Vespasian, whether it is to build a house or to enlarge your
estate, or to increase the number of your slaves, there is granted to
you a great habitation, vast acres, and a multitude of men. ' Rumour
had immediately seized on this riddle and now began to solve it.
Nothing was more talked of, especially in Vespasian's presence: such
conversation is the food of hope.
Having come to a definite decision they departed, Mucianus to Antioch,
Vespasian to Caesarea. The former is the capital of Syria, the latter
of Judaea. [403]
The first offer of the throne to Vespasian was made at Alexandria, 79
where Tiberius Alexander with great promptitude administered the oath
of allegiance to his troops on the first of July. This was usually
celebrated as his day of accession, although it was not until the
third that the Jewish army took the oath in his presence. So eager was
their enthusiasm that they would not even wait for the arrival of
Titus, who was on his way back from Syria, where he had been
conducting the negotiations between his father and Mucianus.
What happened was all due to the impulse of the soldiers: there was no
set speech, no formal assembly of the troops. They were still 80
discussing the time and the place, and trying to decide the hardest
point of all, who should speak first, and while their minds were still
busy with hopes and fears, reasons and chances, Vespasian happened to
come out of his quarters. A few of the soldiers, forming up in the
usual way to salute their general, saluted him as emperor. The others
promptly rushed up calling him Caesar and Augustus, and heaping on him
all the imperial titles. Their fears at once gave way to confidence.
Vespasian himself, unchanged by the change of fortune, showed no sign
of vanity or arrogance. As soon as he had recovered from the dazzling
shock of his sudden elevation, he addressed them in simple soldier
fashion, and received a shower of congratulations from every quarter.
Mucianus, who had been waiting for this, administered the oath of
allegiance to his eager troops, and then entered the theatre at
Antioch, where the Greeks ordinarily hold their debates. There, as the
fawning crowd came flocking in, he addressed them in their own tongue.
For he could speak elegant Greek, and had the art of making the most
of all he said or did. What most served to inflame the excitement of
the province and of the army, was his statement that Vitellius had
determined to transfer the German legions to peaceful service in the
rich province of Syria, and to send the Syrian legions to endure the
toil and rigours of a winter in Germany. The provincials were
accustomed to the soldiers' company and liked to have them quartered
there, and many were bound to them by ties of intimacy and kinship,
while the soldiers in their long term of service had come to know and
love their old camp like a home.
Before the 15th of July the whole of Syria had sworn allegiance. 81
The party also gained the support of Sohaemus,[404] with all the
resources of his kingdom and a considerable force, and of
Antiochus,[404] the richest of the subject princes, who owed his
importance to his ancestral treasures. Before long Agrippa, too,
received a secret summons from his friends at home, and leaving
Rome[405] without the knowledge of Vitellius, sailed as fast as he
could to join Vespasian. His sister Berenice[406] showed equal
enthusiasm for the cause. She was then in the flower of her youth and
beauty, and her munificent gifts to Vespasian quite won the old man's
heart. Indeed, every province on the seaboard as far as Asia and
Achaia, and inland to Pontus and Armenia swore allegiance to
Vespasian, but their governors were without troops, for as yet no
legions had been assigned to Cappadocia. [407]
A meeting was held at Berytus[408] to discuss the general situation.
To this came Mucianus with all his officers and the most distinguished
of his centurions and soldiers, besides the elite of the Jewish army
in full uniform. All these cavalry and infantry, and the pageant of
the subject princes, vying with each other in splendour, gave the
meeting an air of imperial grandeur.
The first step was to levy new troops and to recall the veterans 82
to the standards. Some of the strongest towns were told off to
manufacture arms. New gold and silver were coined at Antioch. All
these works were promptly carried out, each in the proper place, by
competent officials. Vespasian came and inspected them himself,
encouraging good work by his praises and rousing the inefficient
rather by example than compulsion, always more ready to see the merits
than the faults of his friends. Many were rewarded by receiving
commands in the auxiliary forces or posts as imperial agents. [409]
Still more were raised to senatorial rank. They were mostly men of
distinction who soon rose high, and with others success atoned for any
lack of merit. A donation for the troops had been mentioned by
Mucianus in his first speech, but in very guarded terms. Even
Vespasian offered for the civil war a lower figure than others gave in
time of peace, for he had set his face with admirable firmness against
largess to the soldiers, and his army was none the worse for it.
Envoys were dispatched to Parthia and Armenia to secure that the
legions, while engaged in the civil war, should not be exposed to
attack in the rear. [410] It was arranged that Titus should carry on
the war in Judaea, while Vespasian held the keys of Egypt. [411]
Against Vitellius it seemed sufficient to send a part of their forces
under the command of Mucianus. He would have Vespasian's name behind
him and the irresistible force of destiny. Letters were written to
all the armies and their generals with instructions that they should
try to win over those of the Guards who were hostile to Vitellius by
promising them renewal of service.
Meanwhile, Mucianus, who acted the part more of a partner than a 83
subordinate, moved forward without the encumbrance of baggage, neither
marching so slowly as to look like holding back, nor so rapidly as not
to allow time for rumours to spread. He realized that his force was
small, and that the less people saw the more they would believe of it.
However, he had a solid column following in support, composed of the
Sixth legion and some picked detachments numbering 13,000 men. [412] He
had ordered the fleet to move from Pontus to Byzantium, for he was
half-minded to leave Moesia and with his whole force to hold
Dyrrachium, at the same time using his fleet to dominate the Italian
sea. He would thus secure Greece and Asia in his rear, which would
otherwise be at the mercy of Vitellius, unless furnished with troops.
Vitellius also would himself be in doubt what points of the Italian
coast to defend, if Mucianus with his ships threatened both Brundisium
and Tarentum and the whole coastline of Calabria and Lucania.
Thus the provinces rang from end to end with the preparations for 84
ships, soldiers and arms. But the heaviest burden was the raising of
money. 'Funds,' said Mucianus, 'are the sinews of war,'[413] and in
his investigations he cared for neither justice nor equity, but solely
for the amount of the sum. Informers abounded, and pounced on every
rich man as their prey. This intolerable oppression, excused by the
necessities of war, was allowed to continue even in peace. It was not
so much that Vespasian at the beginning of his reign had made up his
mind to maintain unjust decisions, but fortune spoilt him; he had
learnt in a bad school and made a bold use of his lessons. Mucianus
also contributed from his private means, of which he was generous, as
he hoped to get a high rate of interest out of the country. Others
followed his example, but very few had his opportunity of recovering
their money.
In the meantime Vespasian's progress was accelerated by the 85
enthusiasm with which the Illyrian army[414] espoused his cause. The
Third set the example to the other legions of Moesia, the Eighth and
the Seventh Claudian, both strongly attached to Otho, although they
had not been present at the battle. On their arrival at Aquileia[415]
they had mobbed the couriers who brought the news of Otho's fall, and
torn to pieces the standards bearing Vitellius' name, finally looting
the camp-chest and dividing the money among themselves. These were
hostile acts. Alarmed at what they had done they began to reflect
that, while their conduct needed excuse before Vitellius, they could
make a merit of it with Vespasian. Accordingly, the three Moesian
legions addressed letters to the Pannonian army,[416] inviting their
co-operation, and meanwhile prepared to meet refusal with force.
Aponius Saturninus, the Governor of Moesia, took this opportunity to
attempt an abominable crime. He sent a centurion to murder Tettius
Julianus,[417] who commanded the Seventh legion, alleging the
interests of his party as a cloak for a personal quarrel. Julianus
heard of his danger and, taking some guides who knew the country,
escaped into the wilds of Moesia and got as far as Mount Haemus. [418]
After that he meddled no more in civil war. Starting to join
Vespasian, he prolonged his journey by various expedients, retarding
or hastening his pace according to the nature of the news he received.
In Pannonia the Thirteenth legion and the Seventh Galbian had not 86
forgotten their feelings after the battle of Bedriacum. They lost no
time in joining Vespasian's cause, being chiefly instigated by
Antonius Primus. This man was a criminal who had been convicted of
fraud[419] during Nero's reign. Among the many evils of the war was
his recovery of senatorial rank. Galba gave him command of the
Seventh legion, and he was believed to have written repeatedly to Otho
offering his services as general to the party. But, as Otho took no
notice of him, he was without employment in the war. When Vitellius'
cause began to decline, he joined Vespasian and proved an acquisition.
He was a man of great physical energy and a ready tongue; an artist in
calumny, invaluable in riots and sedition. Light-fingered and
free-handed, he was intolerable in peace, but by no means contemptible
in war. The union of the Moesian and Pannonian armies soon attracted
the troops in Dalmatia to the cause. Tampius Flavianus and Pompeius
Silvanus, the two ex-consuls who governed respectively Pannonia and
Dalmatia,[420] were wealthy old gentlemen who had no thought of
rising. But the imperial agent in Pannonia, Cornelius Fuscus, was a
vigorous young man of good family. In his early youth a desire to make
money[421] had led him to resign his senatorial rank. He had headed
the townsmen of his colony in declaring for Galba, and his services
had won him a position as imperial agent. [422] Then he joined
Vespasian's party, giving a keen stimulus to the war; for, being
attracted more by danger itself than by its prizes, he always disliked
what was certain and long established, preferring everything that was
new and dangerous and doubtful. So the Vespasian party used all their
efforts to fan every spark of discontent throughout the empire.
Letters were sent to the Fourteenth in Britain and to the First in
Spain,[423] since both these legions had stood for Otho against
Vitellius. In Gaul, too, letters were scattered broadcast. All in an
instant the war was in full flame. The armies of Illyricum openly
revolted, and all the others were ready to follow the first sign of
success.
FOOTNOTES:
[391] i. e. he was crucified.
[392] See note 30.
[393] Cp. i. 79.
[394] This hope was fulfilled (chap. 85).
[395] See i. 89.
[396] Under Nero, after brilliant service in Armenia and
Parthia. Nero was jealous and afraid of him. So is Vitellius
jealous of Vespasian.
[397] Against the Jews.
[398] From the Pontus. Cp. ii. 83.
[399] See note 216; and cp. chap. 81.
[400] For his victories in Britain under the auspices of
Claudius, who nominally shared with him the command of the
expedition, A. D. 43.
[401] Titus, who was now thirty, had served as _Tribunus
militum_ under his father in Germany and in Britain.
[402] More exactly of Galilee and Phoenicia.
[403] This is of course from the Roman point of view. Caesarea
was the seat of the procurator. That Jerusalem was the
national capital Tacitus recognizes in Book V.
[404] See note 216.
[405] He had started for Rome with Titus (chap. 1), and
continued his journey when Titus turned back.
[406] See note 205.
[407] Cappadocia was under a procurator of equestrian rank
until Vespasian some years later was forced to send out troops
and a military governor.
[408] Beyrut.
[409] _Procuratio_ covers the governorship of an imperial
province such as Judaea, the post of financial agent in an
imperial province where there was a military governor
(_legatus Caesaris_), and the position of collector of
imperial taxes in a senatorial province. _Praefectura_, may
mean either a command in the auxiliary infantry or the
governorship of certain imperial provinces. Here the former
seems the more probable sense.
[410] They would treat with Vologaeses, king of Parthia, and
Tiridates of Armenia, and keep an eye on them. This they did
with such success that Vologaeses offered Vespasian 40,000
cavalry.
[411] Alexandria and Pelusium.
[412] i. e. besides the Sixth Ferrata he had detachments from
the other two legions in Syria, and from the three in Judaea.
Cp. notes 163 and 164.
[413] Borrowing this platitude from Cicero, who got it from
the Greek.
[414] i. e. the legions in Moesia, Pannonia, and Dalmatia (cp.
note 3).
[415] Cp. note 286.
[416] XIII Gemina and VII Galbiana (see below).
[417] See i. 79.
[418] The Balkan range.
[419] He was concerned in the forgery of a will: see _Ann. _
xiv. 40, where he is called 'a man of ready daring'.
[420] These were imperial provinces, each governed by a
_legatus Caesaris_ and a _procurator_, the former a military,
the latter a financial officer.
[421] Reading _quaestus cupidine_ (Grotius). The reading of
the Medicean manuscript is _quietis cupidine_. But Fuscus, as
the sequel shows, had little taste for a quiet life.
It is
more likely that his motives were mercenary, since both law
and custom still imposed some restrictions upon a senator's
participation in 'business'. In the _Annals_ (xvi. 17) Tacitus
says that Annaeus Mela abstained from seeking public office,
because he 'hoped to find a shorter road to wealth' by
entering, as Fuscus did, the imperial civil service. The
statement that Fuscus loved danger better than money does not
imply any rooted antipathy to the latter.
[422] i. e. in Pannonia.
[423] Cp. chaps. 66 and 67.
VITELLIUS IN ROME
While[424] Vespasian and his generals were showing such activity 87
in the provinces, Vitellius grew more contemptible and indolent every
day. Halting at every town or country house that offered any
attractions, he made his way to Rome with a heavy marching column of
sixty thousand troops, demoralized by loose discipline, and an even
greater number of menials as well as those camp-followers who are more
troublesome than any slaves. Besides these he had the vast retinue of
his generals and friends, which not even the strictest discipline
could have kept under control. This mob was further encumbered by
senators and knights, who came from Rome to meet him, some from fear,
some from servility; and gradually all the others followed, so as not
to be left behind by themselves. There flocked in, too, a crowd of
low-bred buffoons, actors and chariot-drivers, who had gained
Vitellius' acquaintance by various dishonest services. He delighted in
such discreditable connexions. To furnish supplies for this host not
only were the colonies and country towns laid under contribution, but
the farmers as well. The crops were just ripe and the fields were
ravaged like an enemy's country.
Many murderous affrays took place among the soldiers, for after 88
the mutiny at Ticinum[425] there were ceaseless quarrels between the
legions and the auxiliaries. They only united to harry the villagers.
The worst bloodshed took place at the seventh milestone from Rome.
Here Vitellius had ready-cooked food served to each of the soldiers,
as is done with gladiators in training, and the common people flocked
out from Rome and wandered all over the camp. Some of these visitors
indulged in a cockney practical joke,[426] and stole some of the
soldiers' swords, quietly cutting their belts while their attention
was diverted. Then they kept asking them, 'Have you got your sword
on? ' The troops were not used to being laughed at, and refused to
tolerate it. They charged the defenceless crowd. Amongst others the
father of one of the soldiers was killed while in his son's company.
When it was discovered who he was, and the news spread, they shed no
more innocent blood. Still there was some panic in the city as the
first soldiers arrived and began to roam the streets. They mostly made
for the Forum, anxious to see the spot where Galba had fallen. [427]
They themselves were a sufficiently alarming sight with their rough
skin coats and long pikes. Unused to towns, they failed to pick their
way in the crowd; or they would slip on the greasy streets, or collide
with some one and tumble down, whereupon they took to abuse and before
long to violence. Their officers, too, terrified the city by sweeping
along the streets with their bands of armed men.
After crossing the Mulvian bridge, Vitellius himself had been 89
riding on a conspicuous horse, wearing his sword and general's
uniform, with the senate and people trooping in front of him. However,
as this looked too much like an entry into a captured city, his
friends persuaded him to change into civilian dress and walk on foot.
At the head of his column were carried the eagles of four legions,
surrounded by the colours belonging to the detachments of four other
legions. [428] Next came the standards of twelve regiments of
auxiliary horse, then the files of infantry and the cavalry behind
them. Then came thirty-four cohorts of auxiliaries, arranged according
to their nationality or the nature of their weapons. In front of the
eagles came the camp prefects and tribunes, and the senior
centurions,[429] all dressed in white. The other centurions marched
each at the head of his company, glittering with their armour and
decorations. Gaily, too, shone the soldiers' medals[430] and their
chains of honour. It was a noble spectacle, an army worthy of a better
emperor. Thus Vitellius entered the Capitol, where he embraced his
mother and conferred on her the title of Augusta.
On the following day Vitellius delivered a grandiloquent eulogy on 90
his own merits. He might have been addressing the senate and people of
some other state, for he extolled his own industry and self-control,
although each member of his audience had seen his infamy for himself,
and the whole of Italy had witnessed during his march the shameful
spectacle of his sloth and luxury. However, the thoughtless crowd
could not discriminate between truth and falsehood. They had learnt
the usual flatteries by heart and chimed in with loud shouts of
applause. They insisted in the face of his protests that he should
take the title of Augustus. But neither his refusal nor their
insistence made much difference. [431]
In Rome nothing passes without comment, and it was regarded as a 91
fatal omen that Vitellius took office as high priest, and issued his
encyclical on public worship on the 18th of July, which, as the
anniversary of the disasters on the Cremera and the Allia,[432] had
long been considered an unlucky day. But his ignorance of all civil
and religious precedent was only equalled by the incapacity of his
freedmen and friends. He seemed to live in a society of drunkards.
However, at the consular elections he canvassed for his candidates
like a common citizen. [433] In everything he courted the favour of the
lowest classes, attending performances in the theatre and backing his
favourite at the races. This would undoubtedly have made him popular
had his motives been good, but the memory of his former life made his
conduct seem cheap and discreditable. He constantly attended the
senate, even when the debates were on trivial matters. It once
happened that Helvidius Priscus,[434] then praetor-elect, opposed
Vitellius' policy. At first the emperor showed annoyance, but was
content to appeal to the tribunes of the people to come to the rescue
of his slighted authority. Afterwards, when his friends, fearing that
his resentment might be deep-seated, tried to smooth matters, he
replied that there was nothing strange in two senators disagreeing on
a question of public policy: he himself had often opposed even such a
man as Thrasea. Most people laughed at the impudence of this
comparison; others were gratified that he had selected Thrasea, and
not some court favourite, as an example of real distinction. [435]
Vitellius had given the command of the Guards to Publilius 92
Sabinus, who had commanded an auxiliary cohort,[436] and Julius
Priscus, hitherto only a centurion. Priscus owed his rise to Valens'
support, Sabinus to that of Caecina. The rivalry between Valens and
Caecina left Vitellius no authority at all. They managed the
government between them. They had long felt the strain of mutual
dislike. During the war they had concealed it. Lately it had been
fanned by dishonest friends and by life in the city, which so easily
breeds quarrels. They were constant rivals, comparing their respective
popularity, the number of their retinue, the size of the crowds that
came to wait upon them. Meanwhile Vitellius let his favour alternate
between them, for personal influence is not to be trusted beyond a
certain limit. Meanwhile, they both feared and despised the emperor
himself, who thus veered between sudden brusqueness and unseasonable
flattery. However, they were not in the least deterred from seizing on
the houses, gardens, and funds in the emperor's patronage, while the
crowd of miserable and needy nobles, whom Galba had recalled from
exile with their children, derived no assistance from the emperor's
liberality. He earned the approval both of the upper classes and of
the people by granting to the restored full rights over their
freedmen. [437] But the freed slaves with characteristic meanness did
all they could to invalidate the edict. They would hide their money
with some obscure friend or in a rich patron's safe. Some, indeed, had
passed into the imperial household and become more influential than
their masters.
As for the soldiers, the Guards' barracks were crowded, and the 93
overflow spread through the city, finding shelter in colonnades and
temples. They ceased to recognize any head-quarters, to go on guard,
or to keep themselves in training, but fell victims to the attractions
of city life and its unmentionable vices, until they deteriorated both
physically and morally through idleness and debauchery. A number of
them even imperilled their lives by settling in the pestilent Vatican
quarter, thus increasing the rate of mortality. They were close to the
Tiber, and the Germans and Gauls, who were peculiarly liable to
disease and could ill stand the heat, ruined their constitutions by
their immoderate use of the river. [438] Moreover, the generals, either
for bribes or to earn popularity, tampered with the rules of the
service, enrolling sixteen regiments of Guards[439] and four for the
city garrison, each composed of a thousand men. In enlisting these
troops Valens put himself forward as superior to Caecina, whose life
he claimed to have saved. It is true, indeed, that his arrival had
consolidated the party, and by his successful engagement he had
silenced the current criticism of their slow marching. Besides which
the whole of the army of Lower Germany was attached to Valens, and
this is said to be the reason why Caecina's loyalty first wavered.
Whatever indulgence Vitellius showed to his generals, he allowed 94
still more licence to the troops. Each man chose his service. However
unfit, he might enlist in the Guards, if he preferred it. On the
other hand, good soldiers were allowed, if they wished, to remain in
the legions or the auxiliary cavalry. Many wished to do this who
suffered from ill health and complained of the climate. However, the
best soldiers were thus withdrawn from the legions and from the
cavalry; and the Guards were robbed of their prestige when twenty
thousand men were thus not so much selected for service with them as
drafted at random from the whole army.
While Vitellius was addressing the troops, they demanded the execution
of three Gallic chieftains, Asiaticus, Flavus, and Rufinus, on the
ground that they had fought for Vindex. [440] Vitellius never checked
these outcries. For, apart from the innate cowardice of his nature, he
knew that his donation to the soldiers was nearly due, and that he had
no money for it; so he freely granted all their other demands. The
imperial freedmen were forced to contribute a sort of tax,
proportionate to the number of their slaves. Meanwhile, his one
serious occupation was extravagance. He built stables for
chariot-drivers, filled the arena with gorgeous shows of gladiators
and wild beasts, and fooled away his money as though he had more than
he wanted.
Moreover, Valens and Caecina celebrated Vitellius' birthday[441] 95
by holding gladiatorial shows in every quarter of Rome on a scale of
magnificence hitherto unknown. Vitellius then gratified the rabble and
scandalized all decent people by building altars in the Martian Plain,
and holding a funeral service in honour of Nero. Victims were killed
and burnt in public: the torch was applied by the Augustales, members
of the college which Tiberius Caesar had founded in honour of the
Julian family, just as Romulus similarly commemorated King Tatius.
It was not yet four months since Vitellius' victory, and yet his
freedman Asiaticus was as bad as a Polyclitus or a Patrobius,[442] or
any of the favourites whose names were hated in earlier days. At this
court no one strove to rise by honesty or capacity. There was only one
road to power. By lavish banquets, costly profusion, and feats of
gastronomy, you had to try and satisfy Vitellius' insatiable gluttony.
He himself, without thought for the morrow, was well content to enjoy
the present. It is believed that he squandered nine hundred million
sesterces[443] in these brief months. Truly it shows Rome's greatness
and misfortune, that she endured Otho and Vitellius both in the same
year, and suffered humiliation of every kind at the hands of men like
Vinius and Fabius,[444] Icelus and Asiaticus, until at last they gave
way to Mucianus and Marcellus--a change of men but not of manners.
The first news of rebellion which reached Vitellius came from 96
Aponius Saturninus,[445] who, before himself going over to Vespasian's
side, wrote to announce the desertion of the Third legion. But a
sudden crisis makes a man nervous: Aponius did not tell the whole
story. So the emperor's flattering friends began to explain it all
away: what was the defection of a single legion, while the loyalty of
the other armies remained unshaken? Vitellius himself used the same
language to the soldiers. He accused the men, who had been recently
discharged from the Guards,[446] of spreading false rumours, and kept
assuring them there was no fear of civil war. All mention of Vespasian
was suppressed, and soldiers were sent round the city to frighten
people into silence, which, of course, did more than anything else to
make them talk.
Vitellius, nevertheless, sent for reinforcements from Germany, 97
Britain, and the Spanish provinces, though with a lack of urgency
which was intended to conceal his straits. The provinces and their
governors showed the same want of enthusiasm. Hordeonius Flaccus,[447]
who had suspicions of the Batavi, was distracted with a war of his
own,[448] while Vettius Bolanus[449] never had Britain under complete
control: nor was the loyally of either beyond doubt. The Spanish
provinces, where there was at the time no consular governor,[450] were
equally slow. The three officers in command of the legions held an
equal authority, and if Vitellius' cause had prospered, would have
each outbid the other for his favour: but they all shared the resolve
to leave his misfortunes alone. In Africa the legion and auxiliaries
enlisted by Clodius Macer, and subsequently disbanded by Galba,[451]
took service again at Vitellius' orders, and at the same time all the
young men of the province eagerly enlisted. Vitellius had been an
honest and popular pro-consul in Africa, while Vespasian had been
distrusted and disliked. The provincials took this as an earnest of
their reigns; but experience proved them wrong.
The military legate Valerius Festus[452] at first loyally seconded 98
the enthusiasm of the province. After a while he began to waver. In
his official letters and edicts he still acknowledged Vitellius, while
in secret communication with Vespasian and ready to support whichever
party proved successful. In Raetia and the Gallic provinces some
centurions and men carrying letters and edicts from Vespasian were
taken prisoners and sent to Vitellius, who had them executed. But most
of these envoys escaped capture either by their own ingenuity or the
loyal help of friends. Thus, while Vitellius' plans were known,
Vespasian's were for the most part still a secret. This was partly due
to Vitellius' negligence, but also to the fact that the garrisons on
the Pannonian Alps stopped all messengers. By sea, too, the
Etesian[453] winds from the north-west favoured ships sailing
eastward, but hindered the voyage from the East.
Terrified at last by the imminence of invasion and the alarming 99
news that reached him from all quarters, Vitellius instructed Caecina
and Valens to prepare for war. Caecina was sent on ahead, Valens, who
was just recovering from a serious illness, being delayed by his weak
state of health. Great, indeed, was the change in the appearance of
the German army as it marched out of Rome. There was neither energy in
their muscles nor fire in their hearts. Slowly the column straggled
on, their horses spiritless, their arms neglected. The men grumbled at
the sun, the dust, the weather, and were as ready to quarrel as they
were unwilling to work. To these disadvantages were added Caecina's
inveterate self-seeking and his newly-acquired indolence. An overdose
of success had made him slack and self-indulgent, or, if he was
plotting treachery, this may have been one of his devices for
demoralizing the army. It has often been believed that it was Flavius
Sabinus[454] who, using Rubrius Gallus as his agent, tampered with
Caecina's loyalty by promising that, if he came over, Vespasian would
ratify any conditions. It may have occurred also to Caecina to
remember his quarrels and rivalry with Valens, and to consider that,
as he did not stand first with Vitellius, he had better acquire credit
and influence with the new emperor.
After taking an affectionate and respectful farewell of Vitellius, 100
Caecina dispatched a body of cavalry to occupy Cremona. He soon
followed with the detachments of the First, Fourth, Fifteenth, and
Sixteenth legions in the van. The centre was composed of the Fifth and
Twenty-second, and in the rear of the column came the Twenty-first
Rapax and the First Italian legion, with detachments from the three
legions of Britain and a select force of auxiliaries. When Caecina had
started, Valens wrote instructions to the legions belonging to his old
command[455] to await him on the march, saying that he and Caecina had
arranged this. Caecina, however, took advantage of being on the spot,
and pretended that this plan had been altered so as to enable them to
meet the first outbreak of the war with their full strength. So some
legions were hurried forward to Cremona[456] and part of the force was
directed upon Hostilia. [457] Caecina himself turned aside to Ravenna
on the pretext of giving instructions to the fleet. Thence he
proceeded to Patavium[458] to secure secrecy for his treacherous
designs. For Lucilius Bassus, whom Vitellius, from a prefect of
auxiliary cavalry had raised to the supreme command of the two fleets
at Ravenna and Misenum, felt aggrieved at not being immediately given
the praefecture of the Guards, and sought in dastardly treachery the
remedy for his unjustifiable annoyance. It can never be known whether
he influenced Caecina or whether one was as dishonest as the other.
There is seldom much to choose between rascals. The historians[459] 101
who compiled the records of this war in the days of the Flavian
dynasty were led by flattery into adducing as the causes of the
rebellion patriotism and the interests of peace. We cannot think them
right. Apart from the innate disloyalty of the rebels and the loss
of character after Galba's betrayal, they seem to have been led by
jealousy and rivalry into sacrificing Vitellius himself for fear that
they might lose the first place in his favour. Thus when Caecina
joined his army,[460] he used every device to undermine the staunch
fidelity of the centurions and soldiers to Vitellius. Bassus found
the same task less difficult, for the fleet remembered that they had
lately been in Otho's service, and were therefore already on the
brink of rebellion.
FOOTNOTES:
[424] The narrative is here resumed from chap. 72.
[425] See chap. 68.
[426] The word 'cockney' may perhaps be admitted here to
express that which is characteristic of the metropolitan
masses. Similarly Petronius speaks of a man as 'a fountain of
cockney humour' (_urbanitatis vernaculae fontem_).
[427] They were cast for the part of Galba's avengers.
[428] Only detachments of these latter four were present, so
they had not got their eagles.
[429] Under the empire there were six tribunes to each legion,
and they took command on the march and on the field, acting
under the orders of the _legatus legionis_. The ten centurions
of the _pilani_ or front rank each commanded his cohort.
[430] See note 107.
[431] The end was so near.
[432] At Cremera, near Veii, the Fabii died like heroes, 477 B. C. ,
and on the Allia the Gauls won their victory over Rome,
390 B. C. The day was called Alliensis, and no work was to be
done on it (Livy, vi. 1).
[433] See chap. 71. At this time the emperor had in theory
only the right of nominating candidates for the consulships,
but it was obviously unnecessary for him to do more. The
alliteration in this sentence is Tacitus'.
[434] See iv. 4 f.
[435] Thrasea, Helvidius' father-in-law, was an honoured
member of the Stoic opposition who had been executed by Nero
A. D. 66. Here Vitellius is posing as an ordinary senator. If
he had opposed so distinguished a man as Thrasea, why should
not Helvidius oppose him? Thrasea's end gives the remark a
slightly sinister tone.
[436] See note 346.
[437] A patron apparently could claim support from his
freedmen if he was in want, as these restored exiles certainly
were, since their property had been confiscated and was
irrecoverable. In exile they had of course lost their rights.
[438] This probably includes bathing as well as drinking.
[439] Since Tiberius there had been only nine, and Vespasian
restored that number.
[440] See i. 6.
[441] Probably September 24. He was 54.
[442] Cp. i. 37, 49.
[443] About nine million pounds. Not to be taken too literally.
[444] Valens.
[445] Governor of Moesia (see chap. 85).
[446] See chap.
