No More Learning

Soon after this, Vestricius Spurinna, on Otho's orders, brought up a
reinforcement of the Guards, leaving behind a small garrison at
Placentia, and before long, Otho sent the consul-elect, Flavius
Sabinus,[293] to take command of Macer's force. This change pleased
the soldiers, but the frequent mutinies made the generals unwilling to
assume such a perilous command.

In some of my authorities[294] I find a statement that either a 37
growing fear of war or dislike of the two emperors, whose
discreditable misconduct grew daily more notorious, led the armies to
hesitate whether they should not give up the struggle and either
themselves combine to choose an emperor or refer the choice to the
senate. This, it is suggested, was the motive of Otho's generals in
advising delay, and Paulinus in particular had high hopes, since he
was the senior ex-consul, and a distinguished general who had earned
a brilliant reputation by his operations in Britain. For my own part,
while I am ready to admit that a few people may have tacitly wished
for peace instead of civil war, or for a good and virtuous emperor
instead of two who were the worst of criminals, yet I imagine that
Paulinus was much too wise to hope that in a time of universal
corruption the people would show such moderation. Those who had
sacrificed peace in a passion for war were not likely to stop the war
from any affection for peace. Nor was it possible that armies whose
language and characteristics differed so widely should ever come to
such an agreement. As for the officers; nearly all of them were
extravagant, bankrupt, and guilty of some crime: they had not a good
enough conscience to put up with any emperor who was not as vicious as
themselves and under an obligation for their services.

The old ingrained human passion for power matured and burst into 38
prominence with the growth of the empire. With straiter resources
equality was easily preserved. But when once we had brought the world
to our feet and exterminated every rival state or king, we were left
free to covet power without fear of interruption. It was then that
strife first broke out between patricians and plebeians: at one time
arose seditious tribunes,[295] at another tyrannous consuls:[296] in
the Forum at Rome were sown the first seeds of civil war. Before long,
Marius, rising from the lowest ranks of the people, and Sulla, the
most cruel of all the nobles, crushed our liberty by force of arms and
substituted a despotism. Then came Pompey, whose aims, though less
patent, were no better than theirs. From that time onwards the one end
sought was supreme power in the state.
Even at Pharsalia and Philippi
the citizen armies did not lay down their arms. How then can we
suppose that the troops of Otho and Vitellius would have willingly
stopped the war? The same anger of heaven, the same human passions,
the same criminal motives drove them into discord. True these wars
were each settled by a single battle, but that was due to the
generals' cowardice. However, my reflections on the ancient and the
modern character have carried me too far: I must now resume the thread
of our narrative.

When Otho started for Brixellum, he left his brother Titianus in 39
nominal command, though the real power lay with the prefect Proculus.
As for Celsus and Paulinus, no use was made of their experience, and
their empty titles were used as a screen for other people's blunders.
The tribunes and centurions felt themselves in an ambiguous position,
seeing the better generals sacrificed and the worst in command. The
men were full of spirit, but preferred criticizing to carrying out
their officers' orders. It was decided to advance and encamp four
miles west of Bedriacum. Though it was spring, and rivers abounded,
the men were very foolishly allowed to suffer from want of water. Here
a council of war was held, for Otho kept sending dispatches urging
haste, and the soldiers kept clamouring for their emperor to lead
them. Many demanded that the troops stationed across the Po[297]
should be brought up. It is not so easy to decide what was the best
thing they could have done as to be sure that what they did do was the
worst. They were in marching order, not fighting trim, and their 40
objective was the confluence of the Po and the Arda,[298] sixteen
miles away. Celsus and Paulinus refused to expose their troops,
fatigued by the march and under heavy kit, to the assault of an enemy
who, while still fresh after covering barely four miles, would
certainly attack them, either while they were in the disorder of a
marching column, or when they had broken up to dig trenches.