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

by Publius Cornelius Tacitus

  [44] Nullam caedem Otho maiore laetitia excepisse, nullum caput tam insatiabilibus oculis perlustrasse dicitur, seu tum primum levata omni sollicitudine mens vacare gaudio coeperat, seu recordatio maiestatis in Galba, amicitiae in Tito Vinio quamvis immitem animum imagine tristi confuderat, Pisonis ut inimici et aemuli caede laetari ius fasque credebat. praefixa contis capita gestabantur inter signa cohortium iuxta aquilam legionis, certatim ostentantibus cruentas manus qui occiderant, qui interfuerant, qui vere qui falso ut pulchrum et memorabile facinus iactabant. plures quam centum viginti libellos praemium exposcentium ob aliquam notabilem illa die operam Vitellius postea invenit, omnisque conquiri et interfici iussit, non honori Galbae, sed tradito principibus more munimentum ad praesens, in posterum ultionem.

  44 No other murder, according to report, gave Otho greater joy; on no other head did he gaze with such insatiable eyes. The reason may have been that now his mind was first free from anxiety and so open to joy, or else that in the case of Galba the memory of his treason, and in the case of Titus Vinius the recollection of his friendship, distressed with gloomy visions even his cruel mind; but over the murder of Piso, his enemy and rival, he thought it lawful and right to rejoice. The victims’ heads were displayed on poles among the standards of the cohorts side by side with the eagle of the legion, while those who had committed the murders, those who had been present, and those who, whether truly or falsely, boasted of their share in what they regarded as a splendid and memorable act, vied in exhibiting their bloody hands. More than one hundred and twenty petitions demanding rewards for some notable deed done that day were afterwards found by Vitellius; their authors he ordered to be hunted out and killed without exception, not that he wished to honour Galba, but he acted according to the traditional custom of emperors in thus securing protection for the time being and vengeance for the future.

  [45] Alium crederes senatum, alium populum: ruere cuncti in castra, anteire proximos, certare cum praecurrentibus, increpare Galbam, laudare militum iudicium, exosculari Othonis manum; quantoque magis falsa erant quae fiebant, tanto plura facere. nec aspernabatur singulos Otho, avidum et minacem militum animum voce vultuque temperans. Marium Celsum, consulem designatum et Galbae usque in extremas res amicum fidumque, ad supplicium expostulabant, industriae eius innocentiaeque quasi malis artibus infensi. caedis et praedarum initium et optimo cuique perniciem quaeri apparebat, sed Othoni nondum auctoritas inerat ad prohibendum scelus: iubere iam poterat. ita simulatione irae vinciri iussum et maiores poenas daturum adfirmans praesenti exitio subtraxit.

  45 The senate and the people seemed wholly changed: all rushed to the camp, striving to pass those next them and to overtake those before; they inveighed against Galba, praised the soldiers’ decision, covered Otho’s hand with kisses, the extravagance of their acts being in direct proportion to their falsity. Otho did not rebuff individuals, while he sought to check the eager and threatening temper of the soldiers by his words and look. They demanded for punishment Marius Celsus, consul elect, who had been Galba’s faithful friend even to the very end; for they hated his energy and upright character as if they were vicious qualities. It was clear that they wished to begin murder, plunder, and the destruction of every honest citizen, but Otho had not yet the influence to forbid crimes: he could, however, already order them. Therefore, pretending to be angry, he ordered the arrest of Celsus, and by declaring that he was to suffer punishment, saved him from immediate death.

  [46] Omnia deinde arbitrio militum acta: praetorii praefectos sibi ipsi legere, Plotium Firmum e manipularibus quondam, tum vigilibus praepositum et incolumi adhuc Galba partis Othonis secutum; adiungitur Licinius Proculus, intima familiaritate Othonis suspectus consilia eius fovisse. urbi Flavium Sabinum praefecere, iudicium Neronis secuti, sub quo eandem curam obtinuerat, plerisque Vespasianum fratrem in eo respicientibus. flagitatum ut vacationes praestari centurionibus solitae remitterentur; namque gregarius miles ut tributum annuum pendebat. quarta pars manipuli sparsa per commeatus aut in ipsis castris vaga, dum mercedem centurioni exolveret, neque modum oneris quisquam neque genus quaestus pensi habebat: per latrocinia et raptus aut servilibus ministeriis militare otium redimebant. tum locupletissimus quisque miles labore ac saevitia fatigari donec vacationem emeret. ubi sumptibus exhaustus socordia insuper elanguerat, inops pro locuplete et iners pro strenuo in manipulum redibat, ac rursus alius atque alius, eadem egestate ac licentia corrupti, ad seditiones et discordias et ad extremum bella civilia ruebant. sed Otho ne vulgi largitione centurionum animos averteret, fiscum suum vacationes annuas exoluturum promisit, rem haud dubie utilem et a bonis postea principibus perpetuitate disciplinae firmatam. Laco praefectus, tamquam in insulam seponeretur, ab evocato, quem ad caedem eius Otho praemiserat, confossus; in Marcianum Icelum ut in libertum palam animadversum.

  46 The soldiers’ will was henceforth supreme. The praetorians chose their own prefects, — Plotius Firmus, formerly a common soldier, but later chief of the city police, and a partisan of Otho even while Galba lived; as his associate they gave him Licinius Proculus, whose intimacy with Otho made men suspect that he had favoured his plans. As Prefect of the City they selected Flavius Sabinus, thus following Nero’s choice, for Sabinus had held the same office under Nero, while many in doing so had an eye on his brother Vespasian. The troops also demanded that the payments usually made to centurions to secure furloughs should be abolished, since they amounted to an annual tax on the common soldiers. A quarter of each company would be away on furlough or loafing about the camp itself, provided the soldiers paid the centurion his price, and no one cared how the burden pressed on the soldiers or how they got their money; in reality it was through highway robbery, petty thieving, and by menial occupations that the soldiers purchased rest from military service. Moreover the richest soldiers would be cruelly assigned to the most fatiguing labour until they bought relief. Then, impoverished and demoralized by idleness, the soldier would return to his company poor instead of well-to-do and lazy instead of energetic; so ruined one after another by the same poverty and lack of discipline, they were ready to rush into mutiny and dissension, and finally into civil war. But Otho wished to avoid alienating the centurions by generosity to the rank and file, and so he promised that the imperial treasury should pay for the annual furloughs, a procedure which was undoubtedly useful and which later was established by good emperors as a fixed rule of the service. The prefect Laco, who had been ostensibly banished to an island, was assassinated by a retired soldier whom Otho had despatched to kill him. Marcianus Icelus, being only a freedman, was publicly executed.

  [47] Exacto per scelera die novissimum malorum fuit laetitia. vocat senatum praetor urbanus, certant adulationibus ceteri magistratus, adcurrunt patres: decernitur Othoni tribunicia potestas et nomen Augusti et omnes principum honores, adnitentibus cunctis abolere convicia ac probra, quae promisce iacta haesisse animo eius nemo sensit; omisisset offensas an distulisset brevitate imperii in incerto fuit. Otho cruento adhuc foro per stragem iacentium in Capitolium atque inde in Palatium vectus concedi corpora sepulturae cremarique permisit. Pisonem Verania uxor ac frater Scribonianus, Titum Vinium Crispina filia composuere, quaesitis redemptisque capitibus, quae venalia interfectores servaverant.

  47 The day was spent in crimes, and the worst evil was the joy felt over the crimes. The senate was called together by the city praetor; the other magistrates vied in flattery; the senators hurried to their places, and voted Otho the tribunitian power, the title Augustus, and all the honours granted the other emperors; for all did their best to blot out the memory of their former abuse and insults, nor did anyone discover to his sorrow that these random utterances had found lodgment in Otho’s mind; whether he had forgotten them or put off his vengeance his reign was to short to show. He was then carried through the heaps of dead bodies, first to the Capitol and then to the Palatine; after that he allowed the bodies to be given up for burial and burning. Piso was laid to rest by his wife Verania and his brother Scribonianus, Titus Vinius by his daughter Cri
spina, after they had discovered and redeemed their heads, which the assassins had kept for profit.

  [48] Piso unum et tricensimum aetatis annum explebat, fama meliore quam fortuna. fratres eius Magnum Claudius, Crassum Nero interfecerant: ipse diu exul, quadriduo Caesar, properata adoptione ad hoc tantum maiori fratri praelatus est ut prior occideretur. Titus Vinius quinquaginta septem annos variis moribus egit. pater illi praetoria familia, maternus avus e proscriptis. prima militia infamis: legatum Calvisium Sabinum habuerat, cuius uxor mala cupidine visendi situm castrorum, per noctem militari habitu ingressa, cum vigilias et cetera militiae munia eadem lascivia temptasset, in ipsis principiis stuprum ausa, et criminis huius reus Titus Vinius arguebatur. igitur iussu G. Caesaris oneratus catenis, mox mutatione temporum dimissus, cursu honorum inoffenso legioni post praeturam praepositus probatusque servili deinceps probro respersus est tamquam scyphum aureum in convivio Claudii furatus, et Claudius postera die soli omnium Vinio fictilibus ministrari iussit. sed Vinius proconsulatu Galliam Narbonensem severe integreque rexit; mox Galbae amicitia in abruptum tractus, audax, callidus, promptus et, prout animum intendisset, pravus aut industrius, eadem vi. testamentum Titi Vinii magnitudine opum inritum, Pisonis supremam voluntatem paupertas firmavit.

  48 Piso was near the end of his thirty-first year; his reputation had been better than his fortune. His brother Magnus had been put to death by Claudius, his brother Crassus by Nero. He himself, long an exile, was Caesar for four days; the only advantage he gained over his elder brother by his hasty adoption was that he was killed before him. Titus Vinius lived fifty-seven years; his character varied at different times. His father was of a praetorian family, his maternal grandfather one of the proscribed. He had disgraced himself in his first military service under the legate Calvisius Sabinus, whose wife, prompted by a shameful desire to see the camp, entered it at night disguised as a soldier. After she had interfered with the guard and the other soldiers on duty with unfailing effrontery, she had the hardihood to commit adultery in the general’s headquarters. Titus Vinius was charged with complicity in this crime and therefore was ordered by Caligula to be heavily loaded with chains. Later, when times changed, he was released; and then, advancing in office without interruption, he was appointed to the command of a legion after he had been praetor; and though he won success in this position, he later smirched his reputation by an act worthy of a slave; for he was charged with stealing a golden cup at a dinner given by Claudius, so that the next day Claudius ordered Vinius alone to be served with earthenware. But as proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis, Vinius ruled his province with strictness and honesty. Later, through friendship with Galba he was carried to a dangerous height. He was bold, cunning, efficient, wicked or virtuous, according to his inclination at the time; but he always showed the same vigour. His great riches made his will void, but Piso’s poverty secured the fulfilment of his last wishes.

  [49] Galbae corpus diu neglectum et licentia tenebrarum plurimis ludibriis vexatum dispensator Argius e prioribus servis humili sepultura in privatis eius hortis contexit. caput per lixas calonesque suffixum laceratumque ante Patrobii tumulum (libertus in Neronis punitus a Galba fuerat) postera demum die repertum et cremato iam corpori admixtum est. hunc exitum habuit Servius Galba, tribus et septuaginta annis quinque principes prospera fortuna emensus et alieno imperio felicior quam suo. vetus in familia nobilitas, magnae opes: ipsi medium ingenium, magis extra vitia quam cum virtutibus. famae nec incuriosus nec venditator; pecuniae alienae non adpetens, suae parcus, publicae avarus; amicorum libertorumque, ubi in bonos incidisset, sine reprehensione patiens, si mali forent, usque ad culpam ignarus. sed claritas natalium et metus temporum obtentui, ut, quod segnitia erat, sapientia vocaretur. dum vigebat aetas militari laude apud Germanas floruit. pro consule Africam moderate, iam senior citeriorem Hispaniam pari iustitia continuit, maior privato visus dum privatus fuit, et omnium consensu capax imperii nisi imperasset.

  49 Galba’s body was long neglected and abused with a thousand insults under the licence of darkness. Finally Argius, his steward, one of his former slaves, gave it humble burial in his master’s private garden. Galba’s head, which had been fixed on a pole and maltreated by camp-followers and servants, was finally found the next day before the tomb of Petrobius — he was one of Nero’s freedmen whom Galba had punished — and was placed with the body which had already been burned. This was the end of Servius Galba. He had lived seventy-three years, through the reigns of five emperors, with good fortune, and he was happier under the rule of others than in his own. His family was of the ancient nobility and possessed great wealth. Galba himself was of mediocre genius, being rather free from faults than possessing virtues. He was neither careless of reputation nor one who cared to boast of it. He was not greedy for another’s property; he was frugal with his own, stingy with the state’s. Kindly and complacent toward friends and freedmen, if he found them honest; if they were dishonest, he was blind even to a fault. But his high birth and the terror which the times inspired masked the truth, so that men called wisdom what was really indolence. While he was vigorous physically, he enjoyed a reputation for his military service in the German provinces. As proconsul he governed Africa with moderation and, when he was already an old man, ruled Hither Spain with the same uprightness. He seemed too great to be a subject so long as he was subject, and all would have agreed that he was equal to the imperial office if he had never held it.

  [50] Trepidam urbem ac simul atrocitatem recentis sceleris, simul veteres Othonis mores paventem novus insuper de Vitellio nuntius exterruit, ante caedem Galbae suppressus ut tantum superioris Germaniae exercitum descivisse crederetur. tum duos omnium mortalium impudicitia ignavia luxuria deterrimos velut ad perdendum imperium fataliter electos non senatus modo et eques, quis aliqua pars et cura rei publicae, sed vulgus quoque palam maerere. nec iam recentia saevae pacis exempla sed repetita bellorum civilium memoria captam totiens suis exercitibus urbem, vastitatem Italiae, direptiones provinciarum, Pharsaliam Philippos et Perusiam ac Mutinam, nota publicarum cladium nomina, loquebantur. prope eversum orbem etiam cum de principatu inter bonos certaretur, sed mansisse G. Iulio, mansisse Caeare Augusto victore imperium; mansuram fuisse sub Pompeio Brutoque rem publicam: nunc pro Othone an pro Vitellio in templa ituros? utrasque impias preces, utraque detestanda vota inter duos, quorum bello solum id scires, deteriorem fore qui vicisset. erant qui Vespasianum et arma Orientis augurarentur, et ut potior utroque Vespasianus, ita bellum aliud atque alias cladis horrebant. et ambigua de Vespasiano fama, solusque omnium ante se principum in melius mutatus est.

  50 Rome was in a state of excitement and horror-stricken not only at the recent outrageous crime, but also at the thought of Otho’s former character. Now it was terrified in addition by news with regard to Vitellius, which had been suppressed before Galba’s death, so that the citizens believed that only the army of Upper Germany had mutinied. Then the thought that two men, the worst in the world for their shamelessness, indolence, and profligacy, had been apparently chosen by fate to ruin the empire, caused open grief not only to the senators and knights who had some share and interest in the state, but even to the common people. Their talk was no longer of the recent horrors of a bloody peace, but they recalled memories of the civil wars and spoke of the many times the city had been captured by Roman armies, of the devastation of Italy, of the plundering of the provinces, of Pharsalia, Philippi, Perusia, and Mutina, names notorious for public disaster. They said that the world had been well-nigh overturned, even when the principate was the prize of honest men; but yet the empire had remained when Julius Caesar won, and had likewise remained when Augustus won; the republic would have remained if Pompey and Brutus had been successful; but now — should they go to the temples to pray for an Otho or a Vitellius? Prayers for either would be impious and vows for either detestable when, in the struggle between the two, the only thing of which men were certain was that the victor would be the worse. There were some who had forebodings of Vespasian and the armies in the Eas
t, and yet although Vespasian was a better man than Otho or Vitellius, they shuddered at another war and another massacre. Indeed Vespasian’s reputation was uncertain; he, unlike all his predecessors, was the only emperor who was changed for the better by his office.

  [51] Nunc initia causasque motus Vitelliani expediam. caeso cum omnibus copiis Iulio Vindice ferox praeda gloriaque exercitus, ut cui sine labore ac periculo ditissimi belli victoria evenisset, expeditionem et aciem, praemia quam stipendia malebat. diu infructuosam et asperam militiam toleraverant ingenio loci caelique et severitate disciplinae, quam in pace inexorabilem discordiae civium resolvunt, paratis utrimque corruptoribus et perfidia impunita. viri, arma, equi ad usum et ad decus supererant. sed ante bellum centurias tantum suas turmasque noverant; exercitus finibus provinciarum discernebantur: tum adversus Vindicem contractae legiones, seque et Gallias expertae, quaerere rursus arma novasque discordias; nec socios, ut olim, sed hostis et victos vocabant. nec deerat pars Galliarum, quae Rhenum accolit, easdem partis secuta ac tum acerrima instigatrix adversum Galbianos; hoc enim nomen fastidito Vindice indiderant. igitur Sequanis Aeduisque ac deinde, prout opulentia civitatibus erat, infensi expugnationes urbium, populationes agrorum, raptus penatium hauserunt animo, super avaritiam et adrogantiam, praecipua validiorum vitia, contumacia Gallorum inritati, qui remissam sibi a Galba quartam tributorum partem et publice donatos in ignominiam exercitus iactabant. accessit callide vulgatum, temere creditum, decimari legiones et promptissimum quemque centurionum dimitti. undique atroces nuntii, sinistra ex urbe fama; infensa Lugdunensis colonia et pertinaci pro Nerone fide fecunda rumoribus; sed plurima ad fingendum credendumque materies in ipsis castris, odio metu et, ubi viris suas respexerant, securitate.