[15] Magno cum adsensu auditus barbaro ritu et patriis execrationibus universos adigit. missi ad Canninefatis qui consilia sociarent. ea gens partem insulae colit, origine lingua virtute par Batavis; numero superantur. mox occultis nuntiis pellexit Britannica auxilia, Batavorum cohortis missas in Germaniam, ut supra rettulimus, ac tum Mogontiaci agentis. erat in Canninefatibus stolidae audaciae Brinno, claritate natalium insigni; pater eius multa hostilia ausus Gaianarum expeditionum ludibrium impune spreverat. igitur ipso rebellis familiae nomine placuit impositusque scuto more gentis et sustinentium umeris vibratus dux deligitur. statimque accitis Frisiis (transrhenana gens est) duarum cohortium hiberna proximo +occupata+ Oceano inrumpit. nec providerant impetum hostium milites, nec, si providissent, satis virium ad arcendum erat: capta igitur ac direpta castra. dein vagos et pacis modo effusos lixas negotiatoresque Romanos invadunt. simul excidiis castellorum imminebant, quae a praefectis cohortium incensa sunt, quia defendi nequibant. signa vexillaque et quod militum in superiorem insulae partem congregantur, duce Aquilio primipilari, nomen magis exercitus quam robur: quippe viribus cohortium abductis Vitellius e proximis Nerviorum Germanorumque pagis segnem numerum armis oneraverat.
15 His words won great applause, and he bound them all by their national oaths and barbarous rites. Men were despatched to the Canninefates to join them to their plan. The Canninefates live in part of the island; in origin, speech, and courage they are equal to the Batavians, but inferior to them in number. Presently by secret messages they won over to their cause auxiliary troops from Britain and the Batavian cohorts that had been sent into Germany, as I have stated above, and which were at that time stationed at Mogontiacum. There was among the Canninefates a man of brute courage named Brinno, who was of illustrious descent; his father had dared to commit many hostile acts and had shown his scorn for Gaius’ absurd expeditions without suffering for it. The very name of his rebellious family therefore made Brinno a favorite; and in accordance with their tribal custom the Batavians set him on a shield and, lifting him on their shoulders, chose him as their leader. He at once called in the Frisians, a tribe living across the Rhine, and assailed by sea the winter camp of two cohorts which were nearest to attack. The Roman troops had not foreseen the assault, and even if they had, they did not have enough strength to keep off the enemy: so the camp was captured and plundered. Then the enemy attacked the Roman foragers and traders who were scattered about the country as if it were a time of peace. At the same time they threatened to destroy the Roman forts, which the prefects of the cohorts burned, for they could not defend them. The Roman ensigns and standards with all the soldiers were concentrated in the upper part of the island under the leadership of Aquilius, a centurion of the first rank; but they had rather the name than the strength of an army: for when Vitellius had withdrawn the effective cohorts, he had gathered a useless crowd from the nearest cantons of the Nervii and Germans and burdened them with arms.
[16] Civilis dolo grassandum ratus incusavit ultro praefectos quod castella deseruissent: se cum cohorte, cui praeerat, Canninefatem tumultum compressurum, illi sua quisque hiberna repeterent. subesse fraudem consilio et dispersas cohortis facilius opprimi, nec Brinnonem ducem eius belli, sed Civilem esse patuit, erumpentibus paulatim indiciis, quae Germani, laeta bello gens, non diu occultaverant. ubi insidiae parum cessere, ad vim transgressus Canninefatis, Frisios, Batavos propriis cuneis componit: derecta ex diverso acies haud procul a flumine Rheno et obversis in hostem navibus, quas incensis castellis illuc adpulerant. nec diu certato Tungrorum cohors signa ad Civilem transtulit, perculsique milites improvisa proditione a sociis hostibusque caedebantur. eadem etiam
16 Thinking it best to proceed by craft, Civilis promptly rebuked the prefects for abandoning their forts, and declared that he would crush the revolt of the Canninefates with the cohort under his command; they were to return each to his winter quarters. It was clear that treachery lay behind his advice and that the cohorts when scattered could be more easily crushed; likewise it was plain that the real leader in this war was not Brinno but Civilis; the proofs of this gradually appeared, for the Germans, who delight in war, did not long conceal the facts. When treachery did not succeed, Civilis turned to force and organized the Canninefates, the Frisians, and the Batavians, each tribe in a troop by itself: the Roman line was drawn up to oppose them not far from the Rhine, and the vessels which had been brought here after the burning of the forts were turned to front the foe. The battle had not lasted long when a cohort of the Tungriº transferred its standards to Civilis, and the Roman soldiers, demoralized by this sudden betrayal, were cut down by allies and foes alike. There was the same treachery also on the part of the fleet: some of the rowers, being Batavians, by pretending a lack of skill interfered with the sailors and combatants; presently they began to row in the opposite direction and bring the sterns to the bank on which the enemy stood; finally, they killed such of the helmsmen and centurions as did not take their view, until the entire fleet of twenty-four vessels either went over to the enemy or was captured.
[17] Clara ea victoria in praesens, in posterum usui; armaque et navis, quibus indigebant, adepti magna per Germanias Galliasque fama libertatis auctores celebrabantur. Germaniae statim misere legatos auxilia offerentis: Galliarum societatem Civilis arte donisque adfectabat, captos cohortium praefectos suas in civitates remittendo, cohortibus, abire an manere mallent, data potestate. manentibus honorata militia, digredientibus spolia Romanorum offerebantur: simul secretis sermonibus admonebat malorum, quae tot annis perpessi miseram servitutem falso pacem vocarent. Batavos, quamquam tributorum expertis, arma contra communis dominos cepisse; prima acie fusum victumque Romanum. quid si Galliae iugum exuant? quantum in Italia reliquum? provinciarum sanguine provincias vinci. ne Vindicis aciem cogitarent: Batavo equite protritos Aeduos Arvernosque; fuisse inter Verginii auxilia Belgas, vereque reputantibus Galliam suismet viribus concidisse. nunc easdem omnium partis, addito si quid militaris disciplinae in castris Romanorum viguerit; esse secum veteranas cohortis, quibus nuper Othonis legiones procubuerint. servirent Syria Asiaque et suetus regibus Oriens: multos adhuc in Gallia vivere ante tributa genitos. nuper certe caeso Quintilio Varo pulsam e Germania servitutem, nec Vitellium principem sed Caesarem Augustum bello provocatum. libertatem natura etiam mutis animalibus datam, virtutem proprium hominum bonum; deos fortioribus adesse: proinde arriperent vacui occupatos, integri fessos. dum alii Vespasianum, alii Vitellium foveant, patere locum adversus utrumque.
17 This victory was glorious for the enemy at the moment and useful for the future. They gained arms and boats which they needed, and were greatly extolled as liberators throughout the German and Gallic provinces. The Germans at once sent delegations offering assistance; the Gallic provinces Civilis tried to win to an alliance by craft and gifts, sending back the captured prefects to their own states and giving the soldiers of the cohorts permission to go or stay as they pleased. Those who stayed were given honourable service in the army, those who left were offered spoils taken from the Romans. At the same time in private conversation he reminded them of the miseries that they had endured so many years while they falsely called their wretched servitude a peace. “The Batavians,” he said, “although free from tribute, have taken up arms against our common masters. In the very first engagement the Romans have been routed and defeated. What if the Gallic provinces should throw off the yoke? What forces are there left in Italy? It is by the blood of the provinces that provinces are won. Do not think of Vindex’s battle. It was the Batavian cavalry that crushed the Aedui and Averni; among the auxiliary forces of Verginiusº were Belgians, and if you consider the matter aright you will see that Gaul owed its fall to its own forces. Now all belong to the same party, and w
e have gained besides all the strength that military training in Roman camps can give; I have with me veteran cohorts before which Otho’s legions lately succumbed. Let Syria, Asia, and the East, which is accustomed to kings, play the slave; there are many still alive in Gaul who were born before tribute was known. Surely it was not long ago that slavery was driven from Germany by the killing of Quintilius Varus, and the emperor whom the Germans then challenged was not a Vitellius but a Caesar Augustus. Liberty is a gift which nature has granted even to dumb animals, but courage is the peculiar blessing of man. The gods favour the braver: on, therefore, carefree against the distressed, fresh against the weary. While some favour Vespasian and others Vitellius, the field is open against both.”
[18] sic in Gallias Germaniasque intentus, si destinata provenissent, validissimarum ditissimarumque nationum regno imminebat. At Flaccus Hordeonius primos Civilis conatus per dissimulationem aluit: ubi expugnata castra, deletas cohortis, pulsum Batavorum insula Romanum nomen trepidi nuntii adferebant, Munium Lupercum legatum (is duarum legionum hibernis praeerat) egredi adversus hostem iubet. Lupercus legionarios e praesentibus, Vbios e proximis, Trevirorum equites haud longe agentis raptim transmisit, addita Batavorum ala, quae iam pridem corrupta fidem simulabat, ut proditis in ipsa acie Romanis maiore pretio fugeret. Civilis captarum cohortium signis circumdatus, ut suo militi recens gloria ante oculos et hostes memoria cladis terrerentur, matrem suam sororesque, simul omnium coniuges parvosque liberos consistere a tergo iubet, hortamenta victoriae vel pulsis pudorem. ut virorum cantu, feminarum ululatu sonuit acies, nequaquam par a legionibus cohortibusque redditur clamor. nudaverat sinistrum cornu Batavorum ala transfugiens statimque in nos versa. sed legionarius miles, quamquam rebus trepidis, arma ordinesque retinebat. Vbiorum Trevirorumque auxilia foeda fuga dispersa totis campis palantur: illuc incubuere Germani, et fuit interim effugium legionibus in castra, quibus Veterum nomen est. praefectus alae Batavorum Claudius Labeo, oppidano certamine aemulus Civili, ne interfectus invidiam apud popularis vel, si retineretur, semina discordiae praeberet, in Frisios avehitur.
18 In this way Civilis, turning his attention eagerly toward the Germanies and the Gauls, was preparing, should his plans prove successful, to gain the kingship over the strongest and richest nations. But Hordeonius Flaccus furthered his enterprises at first by affecting to be unaware of them; when, however, terrified messengers brought word of the capture of camps, the destruction of cohorts, and the expulsion of the Roman name from the island of the Batavians, he ordered Munius Lupercus, who commanded the two legions in winter quarters, to take the field against the foe. Lupercus quickly transported to the island all the legionaries that he had, as well as the Ubii from the auxiliaries quartered close by and a body of Treviran cavalry which was not far away. He joined to these forces a squadron of Batavian cavalry, which, although already won over to the other side, still pretended to be faithful, that by betraying the Romans on the very field itself it might win a greater reward for its desertion. Civilis had the standards of the captured cohorts ranged about him that his own troops might have the evidence of their newly-won glory before their eyes and that the enemy might be terrified by the memory of their defeat; he ordered his own mother and his sisters, likewise the wives and little children of all his men, to take their stand behind his troops to encourage them to victory or to shame them if defeated. When the enemy’s line re-echoed with the men’s singing and the women’s cries, the shout with which the legions and cohorts answered was far from equal. Our left had already been exposed by the desertion of the Batavian horse, which at once turned against us. Yet the legionary troops kept their arms and maintained their ranks in spite of the alarming situation. The auxiliary forces made up of the Ubii and Treveri fled disgracefully and wandered in disorder over the country. The Germans made them the object of their attack, and so the legions meanwhile were able to escape to the camp called Vetera. Claudius Labeo, who was in command of the Batavian horse, had been a rival of Civilis in some local matter, and was consequently now removed to the Frisii, that he might not, if killed, excite his fellow-tribesmen to anger, or, if kept with the forces, sow seeds of discord.
[19] Isdem diebus Batavorum et Canninefatium cohortis, cum iussu Vitellii in urbem pergerent, missus a Civile nuntius adsequitur. intumuere statim superbia ferociaque et pretium itineris donativum, duplex stipendium, augeri equitum numerum, promissa sane a Vitellio, postulabant, non ut adsequerentur, sed causam seditioni. et Flaccus multa concedendo nihil aliud effecerat quam ut acrius exposcerent quae sciebant negaturum. spreto Flacco inferiorem Germaniam petivere ut Civili iungerentur. Hordeonius adhibitis tribunis centurionibusque consultavit num obsequium abnuentis vi coerceret; mox insita ignavia et trepidis ministris, quos ambiguus auxiliorum animus et subito dilectu suppletae legiones angebant, statuit continere intra castra militem: dein paenitentia et arguentibus ipsis qui suaserant, tamquam secuturus scripsit Herennio Gallo legionis primae legato, qui Bonnam obtinebat, ut arceret transitu Batavos: se cum exercitu tergis eorum haesurum. et opprimi poterant si hinc Hordeonius, inde Gallus, motis utrimque copiis, medios clausissent. Flaccus omisit inceptum aliisque litteris Gallum monuit ne terreret abeuntis: unde suspicio sponte legatorum excitari bellum cunctaque quae acciderant aut metuebantur non inertia militis neque hostium vi, sed fraude ducum evenire.
19 At this time a messenger dispatched by Civilis overtook the cohorts of Batavi and Canninefates which were on their way to Rome in accordance with the orders of Vitellius. They were at once puffed up with pride and insolence: they demanded a gift as a reward for their journey; they insisted on double pay and an increase in the number of cavalry; these things, it is true, had been promised by Vitellius, but the cohorts’ real purpose was not to obtain their demands, but to find an excuse for revolt. In fact by granting many of their demands Flaccus accomplished nothing except to make them insist all the more on things which they knew he would refuse. They treated him with scorn and started for Lower Germany to join Civilis. Hordeonius summoned the tribunes and centurions and consulted them as to whether he should check the disobedient troops by force; then, moved by his natural timidity and the terrors of his subordinates, who were distressed by the uncertain temper of the auxiliaries and by the fact that the legions had been filled up from a hasty levy, he decided to keep his soldiers in camp. Next, repenting of his decision and influenced by the very men who had advised it, he wrote, as though purposing to follow himself, to the commander of the First legion, Herennius Gallus, stationed at Bonn, to keep the Batavi from passing; and added that he would press hard on their rear with his troops. Indeed the Batavi might have been crushed if Hordeonius on one side and Gallus on the other had moved their troops from both directions and caught the foe between them. Flaccus abandoned the undertaking and in a second letter warned Gallus not to alarm the Batavians as they withdrew: this gave rise to the suspicion that war was being begun with the approval of the Roman commanders, and that everything that had happened or that men feared would come to pass was due not to the inactivity of the soldiers of the power of the enemy, but to treachery on the part of the generals.
[20] Batavi cum castris Bonnensibus propinquarent, praemisere qui Herennio Gallo mandata cohortium exponeret. nullum sibi bellum adversus Romanos, pro quibus totiens bellassent: longa atque inrita militia fessis patriae atque otii cupidinem esse. si nemo obsisteret, innoxium iter fore: sin arma occurrant, ferro viam inventuros. cunctantem legatum milites perpulerant fortunam proelii experiretur. tria milia legionariorum et tumultuariae Belgarum cohortes, simul paganorum lixarumque ignava sed procax ante periculum manus omnibus portis prorumpunt ut Batavos numero imparis circumfundant. illi veteres militiae in cuneos congregantur, densi undique et frontem tergaque ac latus tuti; sic tenuem nostrorum aciem perfringunt. cedentibus Belgis pellitur legio, et vallum portasque trepidi petebant. ibi plurimum cladis: cumulatae corporibus fossae, nec caede tantum et vulneribus, sed ruina et suis plerique telis interiere. victores colonia Agrippinensium vitata, nihil cetero in itinere h
ostile ausi, Bonnense proelium excusabant, tamquam petita pace, postquam negabatur, sibimet ipsi consuluissent.
20 When the Batavi were approaching the camp at Bonn, they sent a messenger ahead to set forth to Herennius Gallus the demands of the cohorts. This messenger said that they were not making war on the Romans on whose behalf they had often fought, but that they were weary of their long and profitless service and longed for their home and a life of peace. If no one opposed them they would pass without doing any harm; but if armed resistance were offered, they would find a path with the sword. When Gallus hesitated, the soldiers urged him to try the issue of battle. Three thousand legionaries and some cohorts of Belgians, which had been hastily raised, as well as a band of peasants and foragers, unwarlike but bold before they met actual danger, burst out of all the gates at once to surround the Batavi, who were inferior in numbers. But they, being veterans in service, gathered in solid columns, with their ranks closed on every side, secure on front and flanks and rear; so they broke through our thin line. When the Belgians gave way, the legion was driven back and in terror rushed for the rampart and gates of the camp. At these points there were the greatest losses: the ditches were heaped high with bodies and our men died not only by the sword and from wounds, but also from the crush and very many by their own weapons. The victors avoided Cologne and made no other hostile attempt during the rest of their march; they excused the battle at Bonn on the ground that they had asked for peace, and when this was refused, had consulted their own interests.
Complete Works of Tacitus (Delphi Classics) (Delphi Ancient Classics Book 24) Page 211