Eager for Glory

by Philip Lindsay Powell

  60 Bowman, CAH, 1996, p. 356.

  61 See Duncan Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, Vol. 3, Part 1, Boston, 2003, p. 3, citing Dio 51.20.6–7.

  62 See Duncan Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, Vol. 1, Part 1, Boston, 1987, p. 77 and pp. 126–30; Suetonius, Augustus 52; Tacitus, Annales 4.37.

  63 See Fishwick, Vol. 3, 1, 7; Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 4.111; Ptolemy 2.6.3; Pomponius Mela 3.13.

  64 Goudineau, CAH, 1996, p. 499.

  65 Dio 54.32.1; Duncan Fishwick, The Imperial Cult in the Latin West, Vol. 3, Part 3, Boston, 2003, p. 123 argues that the temple on the sanctuary site was not erected until after Hadrian had visited Tres Galliae in 121 CE.

  66 See Chapter 7, note 198.

  67 Florus 30.21–31; Velleius Paterculus 2.97.2.

  68 Austin et al. 1995, p. 126 write that Peter Brunt suggested Augustan expansionism; see Peter Brunt in P.D.A. Garnsey and C.R. Whittaker (eds.), Imperialism in the Ancient World, Cambridge, 1978, p. 175f.

  69 J.-S. Kühlborn, “Schlagkraft: Die Feldzüge unter Augustus und Tiberius in Nordwestdeutschland,” in L. Wamser et al., Die Römer zwischen Alpen und Nordmeer, Düsseldorf, 2000, pp. 27–29.

  70 O.A.W. Dilke, Greek and Roman Maps, Baltimore, 1998, pp. 39–53; Helmut Signon, Agrippa: Freund und Mitregent des Kaisers Augustus, Frankfurt, 1978, pp. 210–215.

  71 Examples: Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 6.25–28; Strabo 7.1.2.

  72 Pliny the Elder, Naturalis Historia 3.2.

  73 Wells 1972, p. 6.

  74 Austin et al. 1995, pp. 126–7.

  75 Wells 1972, p. 7.

  76 Vergil, Aeneid 1.279–286.

  77 Austin et al. 1995, pp. 126–7.

  78 Sex. Vistilius was a praetor who served under Drusus and later transferred to his brother, Tacitus, Annals 6.9. His sister Vistilia married Corbulo the Elder: B. Kavanagh, “The Elder Corbulo and the Seating Incident”, Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 53, 2004, pp. 379–384.

  79 Suetonius, Divus Augustus 25.

  80 Signon 1978, pp. 49–51 and pp. 159–166.

  81 Tacitus, Germania 1.5.

  82 Tacitus, Germania 1.5.

  83 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 1.1 is the earliest surviving use of the term Germani; see also Tacitus, Germania 1.2 and Strabo 7.1.2.

  84 Tacitus, Germania 1.4 proposes the Germanic peoples were racially ‘pure’ being unmixed through intermarriage with other races.

  85 H. Steuer, “Warrior Bands, war lords and the birth of tribes and states in the first millenium AD in Middle Europe,” in T. Otto (ed.), Warfare and Society: Archaeological and Social Anthropological Perspectives, Aarhus, 2006, p. 228–230.

  86 Tacitus, Germania 38–43.3; Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.1–3; Dio 39.48, 52.22.6; Ptolemy 2.10; Strabo 4.3.4.

  87 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.4; Tacitus, Germania 16.1.

  88 H. Jahnkun, “Siedlung, Wirtschaft und Gesellschaftsordnung der germanischen Stämme in der Zeit der römischen Angriffskriege”, in H. Temporini & W. Haase (eds.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel d. neueren Forschung, Vol. II.5.1, Stuttgart, 1976, pp. 78–82, see fig. 5 on p. 79.

  89 Tacitus, Germania 14.2.

  90 Tacitus, Germania 7.1.

  91 Tacitus, Germania 14.1–4.

  92 Wells 1972, pp. 29–30.

  93 Strabo 7.1.4; cf. Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.13.

  94 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 6.23; Tacitus, Annales 12.27; Festus 37.39. I am indebted to Michael James Taylor for locating the references. B.D. Shaw, “Bandits in the Roman Empire”, Past and Present 105, 1984, pp. 3–52.

  95 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 6.23, “Latrocinia nullam habent infamiam, quae extra fines cuiusque civitatis fiunt, atque ea iuventutis exercendae ac desidiae minuendae causa fieri praedicant”.

  96 Tacitus, Germania 1.5.

  97 Dio 54.25.1.

  98 Eutropius 7.9.

  99 Legio XIX; a graffito on a pottery sherd, and an inscription on a helmet, provide evidence of the presence of Legio XIII Gemina in Nijmegen under Drusus. Auxiliaries recruited by Drusus: see Chapter 2, note 262 and Chapter 3, note 17.

  100 Wells 1972, pp. 134–136.

  101 Wells 1972, pp. 127–128, see fig. 6.

  102 C. Rüger, “Roman Germany,” in CAH, 1996, p. 525.

  103 Wells 1972, p. 128.

  104 Rüger, CAH, 1996, p. 525.

  105 C. S. Sommer, “Why There? The Positioning of Forts Along the Riverine Frontiers,” in The Army and Frontiers of Rome, JRA Supplement 74, 2009, pp. 103–114 argues that the placement of forts on many sites on the Danube River was not designed to control access points such as roads and bridges, since they do not offer good lines of surveillance, but to give the army the best vantage to control lengths of the river. The precursor for this in my view was the line of fortresses established by Drusus on the Rhine River.

  106 Florus 2.30.26: “In Rheni quidem ripa quinquaginta amplius castella dixerit. Bonam et Gesoriacum pontibus iunxit classibusque firmavit” – Florus is frequently disbelieved by modern historians on the basis that a fraction of this number of sites have been found through excavation, however, as N. Reed, “Drusus and the Classis Britannica,” Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 24/2, 1975, p. 315 argues, instead of discounting the claim, we should be prepared to accept it until evidence categorically refutes it: just because we have not found them does not mean they are not there. Wells 1972, p. 97; H. von Petrikovits, Das römische Rheinland Archäologische Forschungen seit 1945, Köln, 1961, pp. 33–34.

  107 Florus 2.30.27; for a discussion on the identification of Borma or Bonna and Gesoriacum see Wells 1972, p. 137, and Reed 1975, pp. 315–323.

  108 Wells 1972, p. 97; for datings based on glass and bronze finds see H.J. Eggers, “Zur absoluten Chronologie der Kaizerzeit im freien Germanien,” in H. Temporini & W. Haase (eds.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt: Geschichte und Kultur Roms im Spiegel d. neueren Forschung, Vol. II.5.1, Stuttgart, 1976, pp. 21–24.

  109 Wells 1972, p. 97; Bingen: Wells 1972, Appendix II, p. 283; Bonn: Wells 1972, pp. 136–137; Koblenz: Wells 1972, pp. 137–138; Strasbourg: Wells 1972, pp. 147–148.

  110 Paul MacKendrick, Romans on the Rhine: Archaeology in Germany, New York, 1970, p. 69.

  111 Wells 1972, pp. 138–145.

  112 Wells 1972, p. 146.

  113 Wells 1972, p. 146.

  114 Tacitus, Germania 28.

  115 Tacitus, Germania 28.

  116 Wells 1972, p. 135.

  117 Wells 1972, p. 135.

  118 Petrikovits 1961, pp. 17–26, 31–33: see fig. 2, p. 18 for ground plan and Wells 1972, p. 129 fig. 6.

  119 Wells 1972, p. 128.

  120 Wells 1972, p. 132.

  121 Wells 1972, p. 132.

  122 Tacitus, Annales 1.45.

  123 Wells 1972, pp. 123–127.

  124 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.10; Dio 55.24.7–8; Tacitus, Germania 29.

  125 Tacitus, Germania 29; N. Roymans, Ethnic Identity and Imperial Power: the Batavians in the Early Roman Empire, Amsterdam, 2004, p. 24.

  126 Roymans 2004, p. 24, p. 91.

  127 Tacitus, Germania 29.

  128 Dio 55.24.7, 60.20; Tacitus, Germania 29.

  129 Dio 55.24.7.

  130 Dio 55.24.8; Tacitus, Germania 29.

  131 Dio 55.24.8.

  132 Tacitus, Germania 29.

  133 Tacitus, Germania 29. Their unfailing reliability and ruthlessness in a battle against the Caledonii is described in Tacitus, Agricola 36.

  134 Roymans 2000, p. 96.

  135 Tacitus, Germania 29.

  136 Roymans 2000, pp. 98–99.

  137 Roymans 2000, p. 219.

  138 Wells 1972, p. 121, map as fig 4. on p. 117.

  139 Wells 1972, p. 123.

  140 W.J.H. Willems, “Roman Face Masks from the Kops Plateau, Nijmegen, The Netherlands,” JRES 3, 1992, pp. 57–66; H. van Enckevort and J.H.W. Willems, “Roman Cavalry Helmets in Ritual Hordes from the
Kops Plateau, Nijmegen, The Netherlands”, JRES 5, 1994, pp. 125–137.

  141 Tacitus, Annales 2.8.1; Suetonius, Claudius 1.

  142 Suetonius, Claudius 1: “Is Drusus in quaesturae praeturaeque honore dux Raetici, deinde Germanici belli Oceanum septemtrionalem primus Romanorum ducum navigavit transque Rhenum fossas navi et immensi operis effecit, quae nunc adhuc Drusinae vocantur”.

  143 Suetonius, Claudius 1.

  144 Tacitus, Annales 2.8.1: “Iamque classis advenerat, cum praemisso commeatu et distributis in legiones ac socios navibus fossam, cui Drusianae nomen, ingressus precatusque Drusum patrem ut se eadem ausum libens placatusque exemplo ac memoria consiliorum atque operum iuvaret, lacus inde et Oceanum usque ad Amisiam flumen secunda navigatione pervehitur”. Germanicus used the same invasion route as his father in the campaign of 16 CE.

  145 Tacitus, Annales 13.53: “Paulinus Pompeius et L. Vetus ea tempestate exercitui praeerant. ne tamen segnem militem attinerent, ille inchoatum ante tres et sexaginta annos a Druso aggerem coercendo Rheno absolvit…”.

  146 Tacitus, Historiae 5.19.

  147 Tacitus, Historiae 5.19.

  148 R.L. Hohlfelder, Christopher Brandon, and John Peter Oleson, “Constructing the Harbour of Caesarea Palaestina, Israel: New Evidence from the ROMACONS Field Campaign of October 2005” in The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology 36.2 (2007), pp. 409–415. K.G. Holum, R.L. Hohlfelder, R.J. Bull, and A. Raban, King Herod’s Dream: Caesearea on the Sea, New York, 1988, p. 101.

  149 On constructing moles see M. Vitruvius Pollo who, around 25 BCE, wrote the influential De Architectura and describes hydraulic concrete (2.6.1) and how to build harbours with wooden formworks (5.12.2–6). Holum et al. 1988, p. 101 and 105 with isometric cutaway reconstruction as fig. 64 on p. 103 and artist’s painting as fig. 65 on p. 104. The authors note that spruce, pine, fir and poplar were identified by botanists among the timbers found.

  150 Tacitus, Annales 13.53; Wells 1972, p. 115. K.D. White, Greek and Roman Technology, Ithaca, New York, 1984, p. 110 notes that the subject of ancient Greek and Roman canal building has received “scant attention” but he documents seventeen examples known from archaeology or classical texts in Table 6.

  151 For a range of hypotheses see K. Huisman, “De Drususgrachten: een Nieuwe Hypothese,” Westerheem 44, 1995, pp. 188–194; B. Makaske, G.J. Maas and D.G. van Smeerdijk, “The age and origin of the Gelderse Ijssel,” Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 87–4, 2008, pp. 323–337; Wells 1972, pp. 101–116.

  152 Carvium: AE 1939, nos. 129 and 130 – the tombstone of M. Mallius is in the Valkhof Museum, Nijmegen. Arnhem-Meinerswijk: W.J.H. Willems, “Arnhem-Meinerswijk: een Nieuw Castellum aan de Rijn,” Westerheem 29, 1980, pp. 334–348.

  153 Makaske et al. 2008, p. 327: critics object that the researchers did not dig deep enough.

  154 Wells 1972, p. 116.

  155 Suetonius, Claudius 1: he uses the plural fossae Drusianae, which has led some to interpret that there were at least two canals, but Wells argues that this is a literary device: Wells 1972, p. 115–116.

  156 Huisman 1995, pp. 188–194.

  157 Wells 1972, p. 110 cites CIL 13.8811, 8810, 8815 and 12086a.

  158 Wells 1972, p. 105, see also map as fig. 3 on p. 102.

  159 Wells 1972, pp. 107–108.

  160 Josephus, The Jewish War 3.5.5.

  161 Suetonius, Claudius 2.1.6.

  162 Suetonius, Divus Augustus 71.3: “Nos, mi Tiberi, Quinquatrus satis iucunde egimus; lusimus enim per omnis dies forumque aleatorium calfecimus. Frater tuus magnis clamoribus rem gessit; ad summam tamen perdidit non multum, sed ex magnis detrimentis praeter spem paulatim retractum est. Ego perdidi viginti milia nummum meo nomine, sed cum effuse in lusu liberalis fuissem, ut soleo plerumque. Nam si quas manus remisi cuique exegissem aut retinuissem quod cuique donavi, vicissem vel quinquaginta milia. Sed hoc malo; benignitas enim mea me ad caelestem gloriam efferent”. This is the only personal letter that survives describing Drusus the Elder in life.

  163 Suetonius, Divus Augustus 25.

  164 Dio 54.25.1–2; CIL 1.2 244. Drusus the Younger: it is generally accepted that Tiberius’ son was born to Vipsania on 7 October 14 BCE (Seager 1972, p. 25), though there are some who argue for 15 BCE.

  Chapter 4: Drusus the Explorer

  1 On the continuing problem with “feuds between the Gallic chieftains”, see Suetonius, Tiberius 9.1.

  2 G. Wolff, Becoming Roman: The Origins of Provincial Civilisation in Gaul, Cambridge, 1998, p. 21. The find of a hoard in Port-Haliguen, Quiberon in which the portrait of Augustus on every one of the asses is scored as evidence of disquiet among some parts of the the Gallic population – Jean-Baptiste Giard, “Le trésor de Port-Haliguen: Contribution à l’étude du monnayage d’Auguste,” Revue Numismatique vol. 6, issue 9, 1967, p. 121; Patrick Gaillon and Michael Jones, The Bretons, Oxford, 1991, p. 77.

  3 Livy, Periochae 138: “A Druso census actus est”; Livy, Periochae 139: “Ciuitates Germaniae cis Rhenum et trans Rhenum positae oppugnantur a Druso, et tumultus, qui ob censum exortus in Gallia erat, conponitur”.

  4 Wolff 1998, p. 39.

  5 Austin et al. 1995, pp. 149–155.

  6 Le Bohec 1994, p. 48.

  7 Maureen Carroll, Romans Celts and Germans: The German Provinces of Rome, Stroud, 2001, p. 34.

  8 Drinkwater 1983, p. 132.

  9 Watson 1969, p. 85

  10 Le Bohec 1994, p. 53.

  11 Watson 1969, p. 146.

  12 A.H.M. Jones, “The Roman Civil Service (Clerical and Sub-Clerical Grades),” JRS XXXIX, 1949, 44ff.; Le Bohec 1994, p. 23.

  13 Le Bohec 1994, p. 56.

  14 Watson 1969, p. 85.

  15 Le Bohec 1994, pp. 21–22.

  16 Dio 54.32.1.

  17 The question of the date of the inauguration of the altar continues to fuel debate among scholars, with some favouring in 10 BCE others 12 BCE. It seems to me most likely that the groundbreaking ceremony took place in 12 BCE in order for it to be ready in time for consecration in 10 BCE.

  18 Drinkwater 1983, p. 131.

  19 Dio 54.32.2.

  20 Dio 54.32.2.

  21 Dio 54.32.2; cf. Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.19.

  22 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.18.

  23 Tacitus, Annales 2.6: “insula Batavorum in quam convenirent praedicta, ob facilis adpulsus accipiendisque copiis et transmittendum ad bellum opportuna. nam Rhenus uno alveo continuus aut modicas insulas circumveniens apud principium agri Batavi velut in duos amnis dividitur, servatque nomen et violentiam cursus, qua Germaniam praevehitur, donec Oceano misceatur: ad Gallicam ripam latior et placidior adfluens (verso cognomento Vahalem accolae dicunt), mox id quoque vocabulum mutat Mosa flumine eiusque inmenso ore eundem in Oceanum effunditur”.

  24 Tacitus, Annales 2.5: “at si mare intretur, promptam ipsis possessionem et hostibus ignotam, simul bellum maturius incipi legionesque et commeatus pariter vehi; integrum equitem equosque per ora et alveos fluminum media in Germania fore”. This is a rare articulation in Latin literature of the strategic intent of an operational plan deployed by the Roman army leadership.

  25 Tacitus, Annales 2.6: “mille naves sufficere visae properataeque, aliae breves, angusta puppi proraque et lato utero, quo facilius fluctus tolerarent; quaedam planae carinis, ut sine noxa siderent; plures adpositis utrimque gubernaculis, converso ut repente remigio hinc vel illinc adpellerent; multae pontibus stratae, super quas tormenta veherentur, simul aptae ferendis equis aut commeatui; velis habiles, citae remis augebantur alacritate militum in speciem ac terrorem”. The descriptions of the different types of ships suggest Tacitus was drawing from a well-informed source – Pliny the Elder? – or from original military reports.

  26 See Frank Lepper and Sheppard Frere, Trajan’s Column, Sutton, 1988, scenes 2 and 3, 33 through 35, and 46 to 47.

  27 Lepper and Frere 1988, scenes 4–5 and 48.

  28 Lepper and Frere 1988, p. 82.

  29 Paul Johnstone and Seán McGrail, The Sea-craft of
Prehistory, 1989, p. 89.

  30 Angus Konstam, The History of Shipwrecks, 2002, pp. 68–69, which includes a cut-away reconstruction.

  31 Richard A. Gabriel, “Masters of the Mediterranean,” Military History, December 2007: http://www.historynet.com/the-roman-navy-masters-of-the-mediterranean.htm

  32 D.B. Saddington, “Classes: The Evolution of the Roman Imperial Fleets,” CRA, pp. 201–217; Lawrence Keppie, “The Army and Navy,” CAH, pp. 376–377.

  33 Tacitus, Annales 2.6.

  34 Richard A. Gabriel, “Masters of the Mediterranean,”Military History, December 2007.

  35 Chester G. Starr, The Roman Imperial Navy, 1941, p. 203, note 69.

  36 Czysz et al. 2005, pp. 493–494; http://www2.rgzm.de/navis/ships/ship037/ship037Engl.htm

  37 The reconstruction ‘Oberstimm 1’ was built between January 2007 and March 2008 by historians from the University of Hamburg and boatbuilders from the shipyard of Jugend in Arbeit Hamburg e.V. At launch it was named Victoria. See R. Asskamp and C. Schäfer (eds.), Projekt Römerschiff: Nachbau und Erprobung für die Ausstellung Imperium – Konflikt – Mythos. 2000 Jahre Varusschlacht, Hamburg, 2009.

  38 Terra X – Schliemanns Erbe: Der Limes, ZDF, broadcast 5 April 2009: http://terra-x.zdf.de/ZDFde/inhalt/11/0,1872,7552299,00.html

  39 http://www2.rgzm.de/navis/Ships/Ship101/Navisnachbau1Engl.htm

  40 Measurements are based on the lines of Mainz 5 and the shape of Mainz 1. Unlike ships built for the Mediterranean Sea, the Mainz ships had no keelson but instead had a mast-frame, which is cut thicker in the middle and features a hole for the mast. In the ancient world mast-frames were often placed in ships north of the Alps. The Museum notes “besides the measuring unit of the Pes Drusianus the mast frame proves that the Roman shipbuilders, which built the Mainz ships belonged to the provincial population north of the Alps”.

  41 Tacitus, Annales 2.6.

  42 For the calculations see John Peddie, Invasion, Gloucester, 1987, pp. 38–40.

  43 Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.22; Tacitus, Annales 2.6.

  44 It is likely that the legions engaged in the campaign were not full size, as the winter camps had to be guarded, provisions for the following year’s campaign organized and provincial police duties carried out.

  45 W.J.H. Willems, “Early Roman Camps on the Kops Plateau at Nijmegen (NL)”, in Valerie A. Maxfield et al (eds.), Proceedings of the XVth International Congress of Roman Frontier Studies, Exeter, 1989, pp. 210–214.