Part 15 (1/2)
[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.'