[381]
On the next day Vitellius granted an audience to the deputation of 69
the senate, which he had told to await him at Ticinum.
On the next day Vitellius granted an audience to the deputation of 69
the senate, which he had told to await him at Ticinum.
Tacitus
He had
invited Verginius to dine with him at Ticinum, and they had just sat
down to table. The conduct of officers is always determined by the
behaviour of their generals; it depends on that whether they adopt the
simple life or indulge their taste for riotous living;[379] this again
determines whether the troops are smart or disorderly. In Vitellius'
army disorder and drunkenness were universal: it was more like a
midnight orgy[380] than a properly disciplined camp. So it happened
that two of the soldiers, one belonging to the Fifth legion, the other
to the Gallic auxiliaries, in a drunken frolic challenged each other
to wrestle. The legionary fell; and when the Gaul began to exult over
him, the soldiers who had gathered round took sides, and the
legionaries, breaking out against the auxiliaries with murderous
intent, actually cut to pieces a couple of cohorts. This commotion was
only cured by another. A cloud of dust and the glitter of arms
appeared on the horizon. Suddenly a cry arose that the Fourteenth had
turned back and were marching on them. However, it was their own
rear-guard bringing up the stragglers. This discovery quieted their
alarm. Meanwhile, coming across one of Verginius' slaves, they
charged him with intending to assassinate Vitellius, and rushed off
to the banquet clamouring for Verginius' head. No one really doubted
his innocence, not even Vitellius, who always quailed at a breath of
suspicion. Yet, though it was the death of an ex-consul, their own
former general, which they demanded, it was with difficulty that they
were quieted. No one was a target for these outbreaks so often as
Verginius. He still retained the admiration and esteem of the men, but
they hated him for disdaining their offer.
[381]
On the next day Vitellius granted an audience to the deputation of 69
the senate, which he had told to await him at Ticinum. He then entered
the camp and spontaneously complimented the troops on their devotion
to him. [382] This made the auxiliaries grumble at the growing licence
and impunity allowed to the legions. So the Batavians, for fear of
some desperate outbreak, were sent back to Germany, where Fortune was
contriving for us a war that was at once both civil and foreign. [383]
The Gallic auxiliaries were also sent home. Their numbers were very
large, and had been used at the first outbreak of the rebellion for an
empty parade of force. Indeed, the imperial finances were already
embarrassed by the distribution of largess, to meet the expenses of
which Vitellius gave orders for depleting the strength of the legions
and auxiliaries. Recruiting was forbidden, and discharges offered
without restriction. This policy was disastrous for the country and
unpopular among the soldiers, who found that their turn for work and
danger came round all the more frequently, now that there were so few
to share the duties. Besides, their efficiency was demoralized by
luxury. Nothing was left of the old-fashioned discipline and the good
rules of our ancestors, who preferred to base the security of Rome on
character and not on money.
Leaving Ticinum Vitellius turned off to Cremona. There he 70
witnessed Caecina's games and conceived a wish to stand upon the field
of Bedriacum, and to see the traces of the recent victory with his own
eyes. Within six weeks of the battle, it was a disgusting and horrible
sight; mangled bodies, mutilated limbs, rotting carcasses of men and
horses, the ground foul with clotted blood. Trees and crops all
trampled down: the country-side a miserable waste. No less revolting
to all human feeling was the stretch of road which the people of
Cremona had strewn with laurel-leaves and roses, erecting altars and
sacrificing victims as if in honour of an Oriental despot.
invited Verginius to dine with him at Ticinum, and they had just sat
down to table. The conduct of officers is always determined by the
behaviour of their generals; it depends on that whether they adopt the
simple life or indulge their taste for riotous living;[379] this again
determines whether the troops are smart or disorderly. In Vitellius'
army disorder and drunkenness were universal: it was more like a
midnight orgy[380] than a properly disciplined camp. So it happened
that two of the soldiers, one belonging to the Fifth legion, the other
to the Gallic auxiliaries, in a drunken frolic challenged each other
to wrestle. The legionary fell; and when the Gaul began to exult over
him, the soldiers who had gathered round took sides, and the
legionaries, breaking out against the auxiliaries with murderous
intent, actually cut to pieces a couple of cohorts. This commotion was
only cured by another. A cloud of dust and the glitter of arms
appeared on the horizon. Suddenly a cry arose that the Fourteenth had
turned back and were marching on them. However, it was their own
rear-guard bringing up the stragglers. This discovery quieted their
alarm. Meanwhile, coming across one of Verginius' slaves, they
charged him with intending to assassinate Vitellius, and rushed off
to the banquet clamouring for Verginius' head. No one really doubted
his innocence, not even Vitellius, who always quailed at a breath of
suspicion. Yet, though it was the death of an ex-consul, their own
former general, which they demanded, it was with difficulty that they
were quieted. No one was a target for these outbreaks so often as
Verginius. He still retained the admiration and esteem of the men, but
they hated him for disdaining their offer.
[381]
On the next day Vitellius granted an audience to the deputation of 69
the senate, which he had told to await him at Ticinum. He then entered
the camp and spontaneously complimented the troops on their devotion
to him. [382] This made the auxiliaries grumble at the growing licence
and impunity allowed to the legions. So the Batavians, for fear of
some desperate outbreak, were sent back to Germany, where Fortune was
contriving for us a war that was at once both civil and foreign. [383]
The Gallic auxiliaries were also sent home. Their numbers were very
large, and had been used at the first outbreak of the rebellion for an
empty parade of force. Indeed, the imperial finances were already
embarrassed by the distribution of largess, to meet the expenses of
which Vitellius gave orders for depleting the strength of the legions
and auxiliaries. Recruiting was forbidden, and discharges offered
without restriction. This policy was disastrous for the country and
unpopular among the soldiers, who found that their turn for work and
danger came round all the more frequently, now that there were so few
to share the duties. Besides, their efficiency was demoralized by
luxury. Nothing was left of the old-fashioned discipline and the good
rules of our ancestors, who preferred to base the security of Rome on
character and not on money.
Leaving Ticinum Vitellius turned off to Cremona. There he 70
witnessed Caecina's games and conceived a wish to stand upon the field
of Bedriacum, and to see the traces of the recent victory with his own
eyes. Within six weeks of the battle, it was a disgusting and horrible
sight; mangled bodies, mutilated limbs, rotting carcasses of men and
horses, the ground foul with clotted blood. Trees and crops all
trampled down: the country-side a miserable waste. No less revolting
to all human feeling was the stretch of road which the people of
Cremona had strewn with laurel-leaves and roses, erecting altars and
sacrificing victims as if in honour of an Oriental despot.
