[80] Dum quaeritur tempus locus quodque in re tali difficillimum est, prima vox, dum animo spes timor, ratio casus obversantur, egressum cubiculo Vespasianum pauci milites, solito adsistentes ordine ut legatum salutaturi, imperatorem salutavere: tum ceteri adcurrere, Caesarem et Augustum et omnia principatus vocabula cumulare. mens a metu ad fortunam transierat: in ipso nihil tumidum, adrogans aut in rebus novis novum fuit. ut primum tantae altitudinis obfusam oculis caliginem disiecit, militariter locutus laeta omnia et affluentia excepit; namque id ipsum opperiens Mucianus alacrem militem in verba Vespasiani adegit. tum Antiochensium theatrum ingressus, ubi illis consultare mos est, concurrentis et in adulationem effusos adloquitur, satis decorus etiam Graeca facundia, omniumque quae diceret atque ageret arte quadam ostentator. nihil aeque provinciam exercitumque accendit quam quod adseverabat Mucianus statuisse Vitellium ut Germanicas legiones in Syriam ad militiam opulentam quietamque transferret, contra Syriacis legionibus Germanica hiberna caelo ac laboribus dura mutarentur; quippe et provinciales sueto militum contubernio gaudebant, plerique necessitudinibus et propinquitatibus mixti, et militibus vetustate stipendiorum nota et familiaria castra in modum penatium diligebantur.
80 While the time, the place, and — what is in such case the most difficult thing — the person to speak the first word were being discussed, while hope and fear, plans and possibilities filled every mind, as Vespasian stepped from his quarters, a few soldiers who were drawn up in their usual order to salute him as their Legate, saluted him as Emperor. Then the rest ran up and began to call him Caesar and Augustus; they heaped on him all the titles of an emperor. Their minds suddenly turned from fears to confidence in Fortune’s favour. In Vespasian himself there was no arrogance or pride, no novelty of conduct in his new estate. The moment that he had dispelled the mist which his elevation to such a height spread before his eyes, he spoke as befitted a soldier; then he began to receive favourable reports from every quarter; for Mucianus, who was waiting only for this action, now administered to his own eager troops the oath of allegiance to Vespasian. Then he entered the theatre at Antioch, where the people regularly hold their public assemblies, and addressed the crowd which hurried there, and expressed itself in extravagant adulation. His speech was graceful enough although he spoke in Greek, for he knew how to give a certain air to all he said and did. There was nothing that angered the province and the army so much as the assertion of Mucianus that Vitellius had decided to transfer the legions of Germany to Syria, where they could enjoy a profitable and easy service, while in exchange he would assign to the troops in Syria the wintry climate and the laborious duties of Germany. For the provincials were accustomed to live with the soldiers, and enjoyed association with them; in fact, many civilians were bound to the soldiers by ties of friendship and of marriage, and the soldiers from their long service had come to love their old familiar camps as their very hearths and homes.
[81] Ante idus Iulias Syria omnis in eodem sacramento fuit. accessere cum regno Sohaemus haud spernendis viribus, Antiochus vetustis opibus ingens et servientium regum ditissimus. mox per occultos suorum nuntios excitus ab urbe Agrippa, ignaro adhuc Vitellio, celeri navigatione properaverat. nec minore animo regina Berenice partis iuvabat, florens aetate formaque et seni quoque Vespasiano magnificentia munerum grata. quidquid provinciarum adluitur mari Asia atque Achaia tenus, quantumque introrsus in Pontum et Armenios patescit, iuravere; sed inermes legati regebant, nondum additis Cappadociae legionibus. consilium de summa rerum Beryti habitum. illuc Mucianus cum legatis tribunisque et splendidissimo quoque centurionum ac militum venit, et e Iudaico exercitu lecta decora: tantum simul peditum equitumque et aemulantium inter se regum paratus speciem fortunae principalis effecerant.
81 Before the fifteenth of July all Syria had sworn the same allegiance. Vespasian’s cause was now joined also by Sohaemus with his entire kingdom, whose strength was not to be despised, and by Antiochus who had enormous ancestral wealth, and was in fact the richest of the subject princes. Presently Agrippa, summoned from Rome by private messages from his friends, while Vitellius was still unaware of his action, quickly crossed the sea and joined the cause. Queen Berenice showed equal spirit in helping Vespasian’s party: she had great youthful beauty, and commended herself to Vespasian for all his years by the splendid gifts she made him. All the provinces on the coast to the frontiers of Achaia and Asia, as well as all the inland provinces as far as Pontus and Armenia, took the oath of allegiance; but their governors had no armed forces, since Cappadocia had as yet no legions. A grand council was held at Berytus. Mucianus came there with all his lieutenants and tribunes, as well as his most distinguished centurions and soldiers; the army in Judea also sent its best representatives. This great concourse of foot and horse, with princes who rivalled one another in splendid display, made a gathering that befitted the high fortune of an emperor.
[82] Prima belli cura agere dilectus, revocare veteranos; destinantur validae civitates exercendis armorum officinis; apud Antiochensis aurum argentumque signatur, eaque cuncta per idoneos ministros suis quaeque locis festinabantur. ipse Vespasianus adire, hortari, bonos laude, segnis exemplo incitare saepius quam coercere, vitia magis amicorum quam virtutes dissimulans. multos praefecturis et procurationibus, plerosque senatorii ordinis honore percoluit, egregios viros et mox summa adeptos; quibusdam fortuna pro virtutibus fuit. donativum militi neque Mucianus prima contione nisi modice ostenderat, ne Vespasianus quidem plus civili bello obtulit quam alii in pace, egregie firmus adversus militarem largitionem eoque exercitu meliore. missi ad Parthum Armeniumque legati, provisumque ne versis ad civile bellum legionibus terga nudarentur. Titum instare Iudaeae, Vespasianum obtinere claustra Aegypti placuit: sufficere videbantur adversus Vitellium pars copiarum et dux Mucianus et Vespasiani nomen ac nihil arduum fatis. ad omnis exercitus legatosque scriptae epistulae praeceptumque ut praetorianos Vitellio infensos reciperandae militiae praemio invitarent.
82 The first business of the war was to hold levies and to recall the veterans to the colours. The strong towns were selected to manufacture arms; gold and silver were minted at Antioch; and all these preparations, each in its proper place, were quickly carried forward by expert agents. Vespasian visited each place in person, encouraged the workmen, spurring on the industrious by praise and the slow by his example, concealing his friends’ faults rather than their virtues. Many he rewarded with prefectures and procuratorships; large numbers of excellent men who later attained the highest positions he raised to senatorial rank; in the case of some good fortune took the place of merit. In his first speech Mucianus had held out hopes of only a moderate donative to the soldiers; even Vespasian did not offer more for civil war than others did in time of peace. He was firmly opposed to extravagant gifts to the soldiers and therefore had a better army. Embassies were dispatched to the Parthians and Armenians, and provision made to avoid leaving their rear exposed when the legions were drawn off to civil war. It was decided that Titus should follow up the war in Judea, Vespasian hold the keys to Egypt; and it was agreed that a part of the troops, if led by Mucianus, would be enough to deal with Vitellius, aided as they would be by the prestige of Vespasian’s name and by the fact that all things are easy for Fate. Letters were addressed to all the armies and to all their commanders, directing them to try to win over the praetorians, who hated Vitellius, by holding out to them the hope of re-entering the service.
[83] Mucianus cum expedita manu, socium magis imperii quam ministrum agens, non lento itinere, ne cunctari videretur, neque tamen properans, gliscere famam ipso spatio sinebat, gnarus modicas viris sibi et maiora credi de absentibus; sed legio sexta et tredecim vexillariorum milia ingenti agmine sequebantur. classem e Ponto Byzantium adigi iusserat, ambiguus consilii num omissa Moesia Dyrrachium pedite atque equite, simul longis navibus versum in Italiam mare clauderet, tuta pone tergum Achaia Asiaque, quas inermis exponi Vitellio, ni praesidiis firmarentur; atque ipsum Vitellium in incerto fore quam partem Italiae protegeret, si sibi Brundisium Tarentumque et Calabria
e Lucaniaeque litora infestis classibus peterentur.
83 Mucianus, bearing himself rather as a partner in empire than as a subordinate, advanced with a force in light marching order, not indeed slowly, for fear of seeming to hesitate, nor yet in haste, for he wished to let distance increase his renown, being well aware that he had only moderate forces at his disposal and conscious that men magnify what is far away. Yet the Sixth legion and thirteen thousand veterans followed after him in imposing array. He had directed the fleet in the Black Sea to concentrate at Byzantium, for he was undecided whether he should not leave Moesia to one side and occupy Dyrrachium with his foot and horse, establishing meantime a blockade in the waters around Italy with his ships-of-war. In that way he would protect Achaia and Asia in his rear, whereas they would be without protection and exposed to Vitellius, unless he left forces to guard them. He believed also that Vitellius himself would be at a loss what part of Italy to protect if he prepared to attack with his fleet Brundisium, Tarentum, and the coasts of Calabria and Lucania.
[84] Igitur navium militum armorum paratu strepere provinciae, sed nihil aeque fatigabat quam pecuniarum conquisitio: eos esse belli civilis nervos dictitans Mucianus non ius aut verum in cognitionibus, sed solam magnitudinem opum spectabat. passim delationes, et locupletissimus quisque in praedam correpti. quae gravia atque intoleranda, sed necessitate armorum excusata etiam in pace mansere, ipso Vespasiano inter initia imperii ad obtinendas iniquitates haud perinde obstinante, donec indulgentia fortunae et pravis magistris didicit aususque est. propriis quoque opibus Mucianus bellum iuvit, largus privatim, quod avidius de re publica sumeret. ceteri conferendarum pecuniarum exemplum secuti, rarissimus quisque eandem in reciperando licentiam habuerunt.
84 So then the provinces were filled with din as ships, soldiers, and arms were made ready for their needs; but nothing troubled them so much as the exaction of money. “Money,” Mucianus kept saying, “is the sinews of civil war.” And in deciding cases which came before him as judge he had an eye not for justice or truth, but only for the size of the defendants’ fortunes. Delation was rife, and all wealthy men were seized as prey. Such proceedings are an intolerable burden; nevertheless, though at the time excused by the necessities of war, they continued later in time of peace. It is true that Vespasian for his part at the beginning of his reign was not so insistent on carrying through such unjust actions; but finally, schooled by an indulgent fortune and wicked teachers, he learned and dared the like. Mucianus contributed generously to the war from his own force also; his liberality with his private means corresponding, as men remarked, to the excessive greed he showed in taking from the state. The rest of the leaders followed his example in making contributions; but only the fewest enjoyed the same licence in recovering them.
[85] Adcelerata interim Vespasiani coepta Illyrici exercitus studio transgressi in partis: tertia legio exemplum ceteris Moesiae legionibus praebuit; octava erat ac septima Claudiana, imbutae favore Othonis, quamvis proelio non interfuissent. Aquileiam progressae, proturbatis qui de Othone nuntiabant laceratisque vexillis nomen Vitellii praeferentibus, rapta postremo pecunia et inter se divisa, hostiliter egerant. unde metus et ex metu consilium, posse imputari Vespasiano quae apud Vitellium excusanda erant. ita tres Moesicae legiones per epistulas adliciebant Pannonicum exercitum aut abnuenti vim parabant. in eo motu Aponius Saturninus Moesiae rector pessimum facinus audet, misso centurione ad interficiendum Tettium Iulianum septimae legionis legatum ob simultates, quibus causam partium praetendebat. Iulianus comperto discrimine et gnaris locorum adscitis per avia Moesiae ultra montem Haemum profugit; nec deinde civili bello interfuit, per varias moras susceptum ad Vespasianum iter trahens et ex nuntiis cunctabundus aut properans.
85 Meantime Vespasian’s enterprise received a favourable impulse from the enthusiasm with which the army in Illyricum came over to his side. The Third legion set a precedent for the other legions in Moesia: these were the Eighth and the Seventh Claudiana, both loyal to the memory of Otho, although they had not taken part in the battle of Bedriacum. Having advanced as far as Aquileia, by driving off with violence the messengers who brought the news of Otho’s defeat, tearing in pieces the standards that displayed the name of Vitellius, and finally seizing the camp treasury and dividing it among themselves, they had acted like enemies. Their conduct filled them with fear, and then fear brought the reflection that acts might win them credit with Vespasian for which they would have to apologize to Vitellius. So the three legions in Moesia tried to win over the army in Pannonia by letter; at the same time they prepared to use force if the Pannonian troops refused. In this undertaking Aponius Saturninus, the governor of Moesia, tried a bold and shameful act: prompted by private hatred which he tried to conceal behind political motives, he sent a centurion to murder Tettius Julianus, legate of the Seventh legion. Julianus, however, learning of his danger, took some men who knew the country and escaped through the pathless stretches of Moesia to the district beyond Mt. Haemus. Thereafter he took no part in civil war, for although he started to join Vespasian, he kept hesitating or hurrying according to the news he received, and found various pretexts for delay.
[86] At in Pannonia tertia decima legio ac septima Galbiana, dolorem iramque Bedriacensis pugnae retinentes, haud cunctanter Vespasiano accessere, vi praecipua Primi Antonii. is legibus nocens et tempore Neronis falsi damnatus inter alia belli mala senatorium ordinem reciperaverat. praepositus a Galba septimae legioni scriptitasse Othoni credebatur, ducem se partibus offerens; a quo neglectus in nullo Othoniani belli usu fuit. labantibus Vitellii rebus Vespasianum secutus grande momentum addidit, strenuus manu, sermone promptus, serendae in alios invidiae artifex, discordiis et seditionibus potens, raptor, largitor, pace pessimus, bello non spernendus. iuncti inde Moesici ac Pannonici exercitus Dalmaticum militem traxere, quamquam consularibus legatis nihil turbantibus. Tampius Flavianus Pannoniam, Pompeius Silvanus Dalmatiam tenebant, divites senes; sed procurator aderat Cornelius Fuscus, vigens aetate, claris natalibus. prima iuventa quietis cupidine senatorium ordinem exuerat; idem pro Galba dux coloniae suae, eaque opera procurationem adeptus, susceptis Vespasiani partibus acerrimam bello facem praetulit: non tam praemiis periculorum quam ipsis periculis laetus pro certis et olim partis nova ambigua ancipitia malebat. igitur movere et quatere, quidquid usquam aegrum foret, adgrediuntur. scriptae in Britanniam ad quartadecimanos, in Hispaniam ad primanos epistulae, quod utraque legio pro Othone, adversa Vitellio fuerat; sparguntur per Gallias litterae; momentoque temporis flagrabat ingens bellum, Illyricis exercitibus palam desciscentibus, ceteris fortunam secuturis.
86 But in Pannonia the Thirteenth legion and the Seventh Galbiana, which still felt deep resentment over the battle at Bedriacum, did not delay to join Vespasian’s cause, influenced by the conspicuous violence of Primus Antonius. He had been found guilty and condemned for fraud in Nero’s reign, but, as one of the evil effects of the war, he had recovered his senatorial rank. Although Galba had put him in command of the Seventh legion, it was believed that he had written to Otho, offering his services as a leader of his cause. Since Otho paid no attention to him, he rendered no service in the war. Now that the fortunes of Vitellius began to totter, Primus followed Vespasian and gave his cause a great impulse; for he was vigorous in action, ready of speech, skilful in sowing differences among his enemies, powerful in stirring up discord and strife, ever ready to rob or to bribe — in short, he was the worst of mortals in peace, but in war a man not to be despised. Then the union of the forces in Moesia and Pannonia drew the troops in Dalmatia to follow their example, although the ex-consuls who governed the provinces took no lead in the revolt. Tampius Flavianus was the governor of Pannonia, Pompeius Silvanus of Dalmatia, both rich and old. But with them was the imperial agent Cornelius Fuscus, who was in the full vigour of life and of high birth. In his youth his desire to lead a quiet life had led him to give up his senatorial rank. Yet he had brought his own colony over to Galba’s side, and by this service had secured a procuratorship. He now adopted Vespas
ian’s cause and contributed all the fire of his enthusiasm to the war; he found his satisfaction in danger itself rather than in the rewards of danger, and preferred to certainty and advantages long secured whatever was new, uncertain, and in doubt. Therefore the leaders set to work to stir up the discontented throughout the entire empire. They addressed communications to the Fourteenth legion in Britain and to the First in Spain, for both these legions had been for Otho and opposed to Vitellius; letters were scattered broadcast through the Gallic provinces, and in a moment a great war burst into flame, as the armies in Illyricum openly revolted and all the rest prepared to follow Fortune’s lead.
[87] Dum haec per provincias a Vespasiano ducibusque partium geruntur, Vitellius contemptior in dies segniorque, ad omnis municipiorum villarumque amoenitates resistens, gravi urbem agmine petebat. sexaginta milia armatorum sequebantur, licentia corrupta; calonum numerus amplior, procacissimis etiam inter servos lixarum ingeniis; tot legatorum amicorumque comitatus inhabilis ad parendum, etiam si summa modestia regeretur. onerabant multitudinem obvii ex urbe senatores equitesque, quidam metu, multi per adulationem, ceteri ac paulatim omnes ne aliis proficiscentibus ipsi remanerent. adgregabantur e plebe flagitiosa per obsequia Vitellio cogniti, scurrae, histriones, aurigae, quibus ille amicitiarum dehonestamentis mire gaudebat. nec coloniae modo aut municipia congestu copiarum, sed ipsi cultores arvaque maturis iam frugibus ut hostile solum vastabantur.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 196