Tacitus: The Histories Part 15

[370] See i. 60.

[371] See chap. 43.

[372] See i. 59, 64, ii. 27.

[373] _Augusta Taurinorum_.

[374] Little St. Bernard.

[375] See i. 65. The legions there might make common cause with them.

[376] They had suffered once already (see i. 65, 66).

[377] This meant about 200 to every man who had done sixteen years' service.

[378] i.e. the Eleventh to Dalmatia, the Seventh to Pannonia.

[379] Literally, enjoy dinner-parties beginning at an early hour, i.e. before two o'clock. This was considered 'fast'.

[380] The word here used by Tacitus, _pervigilia_, properly denotes all-night religious festivals. But--like Irish wakes--such festivals tended to deteriorate, and the word acquired a sinister sense.

[381] See i. 6 and 8.

[382] Because they had seized one of Verginius' slaves, as described in the last chapter.

[383] The revolt of Civilis described in Book IV. His force included Roman legionaries as well as Batavians, Gauls, and Germans.

[384] The word 'rex' had still an 'unroman' sound.

[385] Cremona was sacked and burnt in the following October (cp. iii. 32 f.).

[386] Literally, the tribunes of the legions and the prefects of the auxiliaries.

[387] A friend told Plutarch that he had seen on this battle-field a pile of corpses so high that they reached the pediment of an ancient temple which stood there.

[388] Suetonius attributes to him the remark, 'A dead enemy smells good, a dead Roman better.'

[389] Their names are given i. 77.

[390] Dio tells us that he and his father were murdered by Nero's slave Helios. He was probably related to M. Licinius Cra.s.sus Frugi, who was convicted of treason against Nero (see note 79), and to Piso, Galba's adopted successor.

THE REVOLT OF VESPASIAN

When once his couriers brought news from Syria and Judaea that the 73 East had sworn allegiance to him, Vitellius' vanity and indolence reached a pitch which is almost incredible. For already, though the rumours were still vague and unreliable, Vespasian's name was in everybody's mouth, and the mention of him often roused Vitellius to alarm. Still, he and his army seemed to reck of no rival: they at once broke out into the unbridled cruelty, debauchery and oppression of some outlandish court.

Vespasian, on the other hand, was meditating war and reckoning all 74 his forces both distant and near at hand. He had so much attached his troops to himself, that when he dictated to them the oath of allegiance and prayed that 'all might be well' with Vitellius, they listened in silence. Mucia.n.u.s' feelings were not hostile to him, and were strongly sympathetic to t.i.tus. Tiberius Alexander,[392] the Governor of Egypt, had made common cause with him. The Third legion,[393] since it had crossed from Syria into Moesia, he could reckon as his own, and there was good hope that the other legions of Illyria would follow its lead.[394] The whole army, indeed, was incensed at the arrogance of Vitellius' soldiers: truculent in appearance and rough of tongue, they scoffed at all the other troops as their inferiors. But a war of such magnitude demands delay. High as were his hopes, Vespasian often calculated his risks. He realized that it would be a critical day for him when he committed his sixty summers and his two young sons to the chances of war. In his private ambitions a man may feel his way and take less or more from fortune's hands according as he feels inclined, but when one covets a throne there is no alternative between the zenith of success and headlong ruin.

Moreover, he always kept in view the strength of the German army, 75 which, as a soldier, he realized. His own legions, he knew, had no experience of civil war, while Vitellius' troops were fresh from victory: and the defeated party were richer in grievances than in troops. Civil strife had undermined the loyalty of the troops: there was danger in each single man. What would be the good of all his horse and foot, if one or two traitors should seek the reward the enemy offered and a.s.sa.s.sinate him then and there? It was thus that Scribonia.n.u.s[395] had been killed in Claudius' reign, and his murderer, Volaginius, raised from a common soldier to the highest rank. It is easier to move men in the ma.s.s than to take precautions against them singly.

These anxieties made Vespasian hesitate. Meanwhile the other 76 generals and his friends continued to encourage him. At last Mucia.n.u.s after several private interviews went so far as to address him in public. 'Everybody,' he said, 'who plans some great exploit is bound to consider whether his enterprise serves both the public interest and his own reputation, and whether it is easily practicable or, at any rate, not impossible. He must also weigh the advice which he gets. Are those who offer it ready to run the risk themselves? And, if fortune favours, who gains the glory? I myself, Vespasian, call you to the throne. 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 n.o.bly born than Vitellius. A man who is feared always seems ill.u.s.trious 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 pa.s.sion 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 Mucia.n.u.s' 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 superst.i.tion. 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 G.o.d 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 mult.i.tude 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, Mucia.n.u.s 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 prompt.i.tude 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 t.i.tus, who was on his way back from Syria, where he had been conducting the negotiations between his father and Mucia.n.u.s.

What happened was all due to the impulse of the soldiers: there was no set speech, no formal a.s.sembly 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 t.i.tles. 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.

Mucia.n.u.s, 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 a.s.signed to Cappadocia.[407]

A meeting was held at Berytus[408] to discuss the general situation.

To this came Mucia.n.u.s 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 Mucia.n.u.s 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 t.i.tus 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 Mucia.n.u.s. 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, Mucia.n.u.s, who acted the part more of a partner than a 83 subordinate, moved forward without the enc.u.mbrance 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 Mucia.n.u.s 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 Mucia.n.u.s, '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. Mucia.n.u.s 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 Julia.n.u.s,[417] who commanded the Seventh legion, alleging the interests of his party as a cloak for a personal quarrel. Julia.n.u.s 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, r.e.t.a.r.ding 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 Bedriac.u.m. 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 Flavia.n.u.s and Pompeius Silva.n.u.s, 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 Illyric.u.m openly revolted, and all the others were ready to follow the first sign of success.