Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24)

by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

  60 1 Loyalty on the one hand, famine on the other, kept the besieged hesitating between honour and disgrace. As they thus wavered, their sources of food, both usual and even unusual, failed them, for they had consumed their beasts of burden, their horses, and all other animals, which, even though unclean and disgusting, necessity forced them to use. Finally, they tore up even shrubs and roots and grasses growing in the crevices of the rocks, giving thereby a proof at once of their miseries and of their endurance, until at last they shamefully stained what might have been a splendid reputation by sending a delegation to Civilis and begging for their lives. He refused to hear their appeals until they swore allegiance to the empire of Gaul: then he stipulated for the booty of their camp and sent guards to secure the treasure, the camp followers, and the baggage, and to escort the soldiers as they left their camp empty-handed. When they had proceeded about five miles the German troops suddenly attacked and beset them as they advanced unsuspicious of any danger. The bravest were cut down where they stood, many were slain as they scattered; the rest escaped back to camp. Civilis, it is true, complained of the Germans’ action and reproached them for breaking faith shamefully. But whom this was mere pretence on his part or whether he was unable to hold their fury in check is not certainly proved. His troops plundered the camp and set it on fire; the flames consumed all who had survived the battle.

  61 1 Civilis, in accordance with a vow such as these barbarians frequently make, had dyed his hair red and let it grow long from the time he first took up arms against the Romans, but now that the massacre of the legions was finally accomplished, he cut it short; it was also said that he presented his little son with some captives to be targets for the child’s arrows and darts. However, he did not bind himself or any Batavian by an oath of allegiance to Gaul, for he relied on the resources of the Germans, and he felt that, if it became necessary to dispute the empire with the Gauls, he would have the advantage of his reputation and his superior power. Munius Lupercus, commander of a legion, was sent, among other gifts, to Veleda. This maiden of the tribe of the Bructeri enjoyed extensive authority, according to the ancient German custom, which regards many women as endowed with prophetic powers and, as the superstition grows, attributes divinity to them. At this time Veleda’s influence was at its height, since she had foretold the German success and the destruction of the legions. But Lupercus was killed on the road. A few of the centurions and tribunes of Gallic birth were reserved as hostages to assure the alliance. The winter quarters of the auxiliary infantry and cavalry and of the legions were pulled down and burned, with the sole exception of those at Mainz and Vindonissa.

  62 1 The Sixteenth legion, with the auxiliary troops that had submitted to Civilis at the same time, was ordered to move from Novaesium to the colony of the Treviri, and the day was fixed before which it was to leave camp. All the intervening time the soldiers spent amid many anxieties: the cowards were terrified by the fate of those who had been massacred at Vetera, the better troops were distressed by a sense of shame and disgrace. They asked themselves: “What kind of a march will this be? Who will lead us? Everything will be at the mercy of those whom we have made masters of life and death.” Others had no sense of disgrace and stowed about their persons their money and dearest possessions; some made ready their arms and girded on their weapons as if for battle. While they were thus occupied, the hour for departure arrived; but this proved sadder than their period of anticipation; for within the walls their humiliating condition had not been so noticeable; the open ground and the light of day disclosed their shame. The portraits of the emperors had been torn down; their standards were unadorned, while the Gauls’ ensigns glittered on every side; their line moved in silence, like a long funeral train, led by Claudius Sanctus, who was repulsive in appearance, having had one eye gouged out, and was even weaker in intellect. Their shame was doubled when another legion deserting the camp at Bonn joined their line. Moreover, now that the report that the legions had been captured was spread abroad, all who but yesterday were shuddering at the name of Rome, running from their fields and houses and pouring in from every side, displayed extravagant delight in this unusual spectacle. The squadron of Picentine horse could not endure the joy exhibited by the insulting mob, but, scorning the promises and threats of Sanctus, rode away to Mainz; on the way they happened to meet Longinus, the assassin of Vocula, whom they buried under a shower of weapons and so began the future expiation of their guilt: the legions, without changing their course, pitched camp before the walls of the Treviri.

  63 1 Civilis and Classicus, elated by their success, debated whether they should not turn Cologne over to their armies to plunder. Their natural cruelty and their greed for booty inclined them to favour the destruction of the city: in opposition were the interests of the war and the advantage of a reputation for clemency at this time when they were establishing a new empire; Civilis, moreover, was influenced also by the memory of the service done him, when at the beginning of the revolt his son had been arrested in Cologne, but had been treated with honour while in custody. Yet the tribes across the Rhine hated the city for its wealth and rapid growth; and they believed that there could be no end to the war unless this place should be a common home for all the Germans without distinction, or else the city destroyed and the Ubii scattered like the other peoples.

  64 1 So the Tencteri, a tribe separated from the colony by the Rhine, sent an embassy with orders to present their demands in an assembly of the people of Cologne. These demands the most violent of the delegates set forth thus: “We give thanks to our common gods and to Mars before all others that you have returned to the body of the German peoples and to the German name, and we congratulate you that at last you are going to be free men among free men; for until to-day the Romans have closed rivers and lands, and in a fashion heaven itself, to keep us from meeting and conferring together, or else — and this is a severer insult to men born to arms — to make us meet unarmed and almost naked, under guard and paying a price for the privilege. But to secure for ever our friendship and alliance, we demand that you take down the walls of your colony, the bulwarks of your slavery, for even wild animals forget their courage if you keep them shut up; we demand that you kill all the Romans in your territories. Liberty and masters are not easily combined together. The property of those killed is to be put into the common stock that no one may be able to hide anything or separate his own interest. Both we and you are to have the right to live on both banks, as our fathers once did. Even as Nature has always made the light of day free to all mankind, so she has made all lands open to the brave. Resume the manners and customs of your fathers, cutting off those pleasures which give the Romans more power over their subjects than their arms bestow. A people pure, untainted, forgetting your servitude, you will live the equals of any or will rule others.”

  65 1 The people of Cologne first took some time to consider the matter, and then, since fear for the future did not allow them to submit to the terms proposed and present circumstances made it impossible to reject them openly, they made the following reply: “The first opportunity of freedom we seized with more eagerness than caution that we might join ourselves with you and the other Germans who are of our own blood. But it is safer to build the walls of the town higher rather than to pull them down at the moment when the Roman armies are concentrating. All the foreigners of Italian or provincial origin within our lands have been destroyed by war or have fled each to his own home. The first settlers, established here long ago, have become allied with us by marriage, and to them as well as to their children this is their native city; nor can we think that you are so unjust as to wish us to kill our own parents, brothers, and children. We now suppress the duties and all charges that are burdens on trade: let there be free intercourse between us, but by day and without arms until by lapse of time we shall become accustomed to our new and unfamiliar rights. We will have as arbiters Civilis and Veleda, before whom all our agreements shall be ratified.” With these proposals they
first calmed the Tencteri and then sent a delegation to Civilis and Veleda with gifts which obtained from them everything that the people of Cologne desired; yet the embassy was not allowed to approach Veleda herself and address her directly: they were kept from seeing her to inspire them with more respect. She herself lived in a high tower; one of her relatives, chosen for the purpose, carried to her the questions and brought back her answers, as if he were the messenger of a god.

  66 1 Now that the power of Civilis was increased by alliance with the people of Cologne, he decided to try to win over the neighbouring peoples, or, if they refused, to attack them. He had already gained the Sunuci and had organized their young men into companies of infantry, when Claudius Labeo offered resistance with a force of the Baetasii, Tungri, and Nervii that he had hastily assembled, but he had confidence in his position because he had seized the bridge over the Meuse. The forces engaged in this narrow space without a decisive issue until the Germans swam across the river and attacked Labeo’s rear; at the same time Civilis, acting under a bold impulse or in accord with a previous arrangement, rushed to the line of the Tungri and cried in a loud voice: “We did not begin the war with the purpose of making the Batavians and the Treviri lords over the other peoples: such arrogance is far from our minds. Accept alliance with us: I am joining you, whether you wish me to be your leader or prefer me to be a common soldier.” The mass of the Tungri were moved by this appeal and were in the act of sheathing their swords when Companus and Juvenalis, two of their chief men, surrendered the whole people to him; Labeo escaped before he could be surrounded. Civilis received the submission of the Baetasii and the Nervii as well, and added them to his forces: his power was now great, for the peoples were either terrified or inclined voluntarily to his cause.

  67 1 In the meantime Julius Sabinus had destroyed all memorials of the alliance with Rome and directed that he should be saluted as Caesar; then he hurried a great and unorganized mob of his countrymen against the Sequani, a people that touched the boundaries of the Lingones and were faithful to us. The Sequani did not refuse battle; fortune favoured the better cause: the Lingones were routed. Sabinus was as prompt to flee in terror from the battle as he had been over-ready to begin it; and to spread a report of his own death he burned the country house to which he had fled for refuge, and it was generally believed that he had perished there by suicide. But I shall later tell in the proper place by what means and in what hiding-places he prolonged his life for nine years, and I shall also describe the fidelity of his friends and the noble example set by his wife Epponina. The success of the Sequani brought the impulse for war to a halt. Gradually the communities came to their senses and began to regard their duty under their treaties; in this movement the Remi took the lead by sending word through the Gallic provinces that envoys should be despatched to debate in their common interest whether the Gallic peoples preferred liberty or peace.

  68 1 But at Rome all the news from Gaul was exaggerated for the worse and caused Mucianus anxiety lest even distinguished generals — for he had already selected Gallus Annius and Petilius Cerialisº — should not be able to support the whole burden of this great war. He could not leave the city without a head; and he looked with anxiety on the unbridled passions of Domitian, while he suspected, as I have said, Primus Antonius and Varus Arrius. Varus, at the head of the praetorian guard, still had control of an armed force: Mucianus removed him, but, to avoid leaving him with no solace, placed him in charge of the supply of grain. And to pacify Domitian’s feelings, which were not unfavourable to Varus, he put in command of the praetorians Arrecinus Clemens, who was connected with Vespasian’s house by marriage and beloved by Domitian, dwelling on the fact that Clemens’s father had held the same office with distinction under Gaius Caesar, that his name was popular with the soldiers, and that Clemens himself, although of senatorial rank, was equal to the duties of prefect as well as to those of his own class. All the most eminent citizens were enrolled for the expedition, others at their own solicitation. So Domitian and Mucianus were making ready to set out, but with different feelings; Domitian being eager with youthful hope, Mucianus contriving delays to check the other’s ardour for fear that, if he once got control of the army, his youthful impetuosity and his evil counsellors would make him a peril to peace and war alike. The victorious legions, the Eighth, Eleventh, Thirteenth, and the Twenty-first, which had been of the Vitellian party, as well as the Second, lately enlisted, were led into Gaul, part over the Pennine and Cottian Alps, part over the Graian; the Fourteenth legion was called from Britain, the Sixth and First were summoned from Spain.

  So when the news of the approaching army got abroad, the Gallic states that naturally inclined to milder courses assembled among the Remi. A delegation of the Treviri was waiting for them there, led by Julius Valentinus, the most fiery advocate of war. In a studied speech he poured forth all the common charges against great empires, and heaped insults and invectives on the Roman people, being a speaker well fitted to stir up trouble and revolt, and popular with the mass of his hearers for his mad eloquence.

  69 1 But Julius Auspex, a noble of the Remi, dwelt on the power of Rome and the blessings of peace; he pointed out that even cowards can begin war, but that it can be prosecuted only at the risk of the bravest, and, moreover, the legions were already upon them; thus he restrained the most prudent of the people by considerations of reverence and loyalty, the younger men by pointing out the danger and arousing their fears: the people praised the spirit of Valentinus, but they followed the advice of Auspex. It is beyond question that the fact that the Treviri and Lingones had stood with Verginius at the time of the revolt of Vindex injured them in the eyes of the Gauls. Many were deterred by the rivalry between the Gallic provinces. “Where,” they asked, “are we to find a leader for the war?” Where look for orders and the auspices? What shall we choose for our capital if all goes well?” They had not gained the victory, but discord already prevailed; some boasted in insulting fashion of their treaties, some of their wealth and strength or of their ancient origin: in disgust at the prospects of the future, they finally chose the present state. Letters were sent to the Treviri in the name of the Gallic provinces, bidding them to refrain from armed action, and saying pardon could be obtained and that men were ready to intercede for them, if they repented: Valentinus opposed again and succeeded in closing the ears of his fellow tribesmen to these proposals; he was not, however, so active in making actual provision for war as he was assiduous in haranguing the people.

  70 1 The result was that neither the Treviri nor the Lingones nor the other rebellious people made efforts at all proportionate to the gravity of the crisis; not even the leaders consulted together, but Civilis ranged the pathless wilds of Belgium in his efforts to capture Claudius Labeo or to drive him out of the country, while Classicus spent most of his time in indolent ease, enjoying his supreme power as if it were already secured; even Tutor made no haste to occupy with troops the Upper Rhine and the passes of the Alps. In the meantime the Twenty-first legion penetrated by way of Vindonissa and Sextilius Felix entered through Raetia with some auxiliary infantry; these troops were joined by the squadron of picked horse that had originally been formed by Vitellius but which had later gone over to Vespasian’s side. These were commanded by Julius Briganticus, the son of a sister of Civilis, who was hated by his uncle and who hated his uncle in turn with all the bitter hatred that frequently exists between the closest relatives. Tutor first added to the Treviran troops a fresh levy of Vangiones, Caeracates, and Triboci, and then reinforced these with veteran foot and horse, drawn from the legionaries whom he had either corrupted by hope or overcome with fear; these forces first massacred a cohort despatched in advance by Sextilius Felix; then, when the Roman generals and armies began to draw near, they returned to their allegiance by an honourable desertion, followed by the Triboci, Vangiones, and Caeracates. Tutor, accompanied by the Treviri, avoided Mainz and withdrew to Bingium. He had confidence in this position, for he had
destroyed the bridge across the Nava, but he was assailed by some cohorts under Sextilius, whose discovery of a ford exposed him and forced him to flee. This defeat terrified the Treviri, and the common people abandoned their arms and dispersed among the fields: some of the chiefs, in their desire to seem the first to give up war, took refuge in those states that had not abandoned their alliance with Rome. The legions that had been moved from Novaesium and Bonn to the Treviri, as I have stated above, now voluntarily took the oath of allegiance to Vespasian. All this happened during the absence of Valentinus; when he returned, however, he was beside himself and wished to throw everything again into confusion and ruin; whereupon the legions withdrew among the Mediomatrici, an allied people: Valentinus and Tutor swept the Treviri again into arms, and murdered the two commanders Herennius and Numisius to strengthen the bond of their common crime by diminishing their hope of pardon.

  71 1 This was the state of war when Petilius Cerialis reached Mainz. His arrival aroused great hopes; Cerialis was himself eager for battle and better fitted by nature to despise a foe than to guard against him; he fired his soldiers by his fierce words, declaring that he would not delay a moment when he had a chance to engage the enemy. The troops that had been levied throughout Gaul he sent back to their several states, and told them to report that the legions were sufficient to sustain the empire: the allies were to return to their peaceful duties without any anxiety, since, when the Roman arms once undertook a war, that war was virtually ended. This act increased the ready submission of the Gauls; for now that they had recovered their young men they bore the burdens of the tribute more easily, and they were more ready to be obedient when they saw that they were despised. But when Civilis and Classicus heard that Tutor had been defeated, the Treviri cut to pieces, and that their foes were everywhere successful, they became alarmed and hastened to collect their scattered forces; in the meantime they sent many messages to warn Valentinus not to risk a decisive engagement. These circumstances moved Cerialis to prompter action: he despatched some officers to the Mediomatrici to direct the legions against the enemy by a more direct route, while he united the troops at Mainz with all the forces that he had brought with him; after a three days’ march he came to Rigodulum, which Valentinus had occupied with a large force of Treviri. The town was naturally protected by hills or by the Moselle; in addition Valentinus had constructed ditches and stone ramparts. But these fortifications did not deter the Roman general from ordering his infantry to assault or from sending his cavalry up the hill, since he despised his foe, believing that his own men would have more advantage from their courage than the enemy’s hastily collected forces could gain from their position. The Roman troops were delayed a little in their ascent while they were exposed to the enemy’s missiles: when they came to close quarters, the Treviri were hurled down headlong like a falling building. Moreover, some of the cavalry rode round along the lower hills and captured the noblest of the Belgians, among them their leader Valentinus.