While they were
riding about aimlessly without any suspicion of danger, they were
suddenly attacked by the Third legion[176] and its native auxiliaries.
riding about aimlessly without any suspicion of danger, they were
suddenly attacked by the Third legion[176] and its native auxiliaries.
Tacitus
He restored Cadius Rufus, Pedius Blaesus, and
_Saevinus Proculus_[170] to their seats in the senate. They had been
convicted during Claudius' and Nero's reigns of extortion in the
provinces. In pardoning them the name of their offence was changed,
and their greed appeared as 'treason'. For so unpopular was the law of
treason that it sapped the force of better statutes. [171]
Otho next tried to win over the municipalities and provincial 78
towns by similar bribes. At the colonies of Hispalis and Emerita[172]
he enrolled new families of settlers, granted the franchise to the
whole community of the Lingones,[173] and made over certain Moorish
towns as a gift to the province of Baetica. Cappadocia and Africa were
also granted new privileges, as showy as they were short-lived. All
these grants are excused by the exigences of the moment and the
impending crisis, but he even found time to remember his old amours
and passed a measure through the senate restoring Poppaea's
statues. [174] He is believed also to have thought of celebrating
Nero's memory as a means of attracting public sympathy. Some persons
actually erected statues of Nero, and there were times when the
populace and the soldiers, by way of enhancing his fame and dignity,
saluted him as Nero Otho. However, he refused to commit himself. He
was ashamed to accept the title, yet afraid to forbid its use.
While the whole of Rome was intent upon the civil war, foreign 79
affairs were neglected. Consequently a Sarmatian tribe called the
Rhoxolani,[175] who had cut up two cohorts of auxiliaries in the
previous winter, now formed the still more daring scheme of invading
Moesia. Inspirited by success, they assembled nearly 9,000 mounted
men, all more intent on plunder than on fighting.
While they were
riding about aimlessly without any suspicion of danger, they were
suddenly attacked by the Third legion[176] and its native auxiliaries.
On the Roman side everything was ready for a battle: the Sarmatians
were scattered over the country; some in their greed for plunder were
heavily laden, and their horses could scarcely move on the slippery
roads. They were caught in a trap and cut to pieces. It is quite
extraordinary how all a Sarmatian's courage is, so to speak, outside
himself. Fighting on foot, no one is more cowardly; but their cavalry
charge would break almost any troops. On this occasion it was raining
and the ground was greasy with thaw; their pikes and their long
swords, needing both hands to wield, were useless; their horses
slipped and they were encumbered by the heavy coat of mail which all
their chiefs and nobles wear. Being made of iron plates and a very
hard kind of leather, it is impenetrable to blows, but most
inconvenient for any one who is knocked down by a charge of the enemy
and tries to get up. Besides, they sank into the deep, soft snow. The
Roman soldiers in their neat leather jerkins, armed with javelin and
lance, and using, if need be, their light swords, sprang on the
unarmed Sarmatians (they never carry shields) and stabbed them at
close quarters. A few, surviving the battle, hid themselves in the
marshes, and there perished miserably from the severity of the winter
and their wounds. When the news of this reached Rome, Marcus Aponius,
the governor of Moesia, was granted a triumphal statue,[177] while the
commanding officers of the legions, Fulvius Aurelius, Tettius
Julianus, and Numisius Lupus, received the insignia of consular rank.
Otho was delighted and took all the credit to himself, as if he had
been the successful general, and had himself employed his officers and
armies to enlarge the empire.
In the meantime a riot broke out in an unexpected quarter, and, 80
though trivial at first, nearly ended in the destruction of Rome. Otho
had given orders that the Seventeenth cohort[178] should be summoned
from the colony of Ostia to the city, and Varius Crispinus, a tribune
of the guards, was instructed to provide them with arms. Anxious to
carry out his instructions undisturbed while the camp was quiet, he
arranged that the arsenal was to be opened and the cohort's wagons
loaded after nightfall. The hour aroused suspicion; the motive was
questioned; his choice of a quiet moment resulted in an uproar.
_Saevinus Proculus_[170] to their seats in the senate. They had been
convicted during Claudius' and Nero's reigns of extortion in the
provinces. In pardoning them the name of their offence was changed,
and their greed appeared as 'treason'. For so unpopular was the law of
treason that it sapped the force of better statutes. [171]
Otho next tried to win over the municipalities and provincial 78
towns by similar bribes. At the colonies of Hispalis and Emerita[172]
he enrolled new families of settlers, granted the franchise to the
whole community of the Lingones,[173] and made over certain Moorish
towns as a gift to the province of Baetica. Cappadocia and Africa were
also granted new privileges, as showy as they were short-lived. All
these grants are excused by the exigences of the moment and the
impending crisis, but he even found time to remember his old amours
and passed a measure through the senate restoring Poppaea's
statues. [174] He is believed also to have thought of celebrating
Nero's memory as a means of attracting public sympathy. Some persons
actually erected statues of Nero, and there were times when the
populace and the soldiers, by way of enhancing his fame and dignity,
saluted him as Nero Otho. However, he refused to commit himself. He
was ashamed to accept the title, yet afraid to forbid its use.
While the whole of Rome was intent upon the civil war, foreign 79
affairs were neglected. Consequently a Sarmatian tribe called the
Rhoxolani,[175] who had cut up two cohorts of auxiliaries in the
previous winter, now formed the still more daring scheme of invading
Moesia. Inspirited by success, they assembled nearly 9,000 mounted
men, all more intent on plunder than on fighting.
While they were
riding about aimlessly without any suspicion of danger, they were
suddenly attacked by the Third legion[176] and its native auxiliaries.
On the Roman side everything was ready for a battle: the Sarmatians
were scattered over the country; some in their greed for plunder were
heavily laden, and their horses could scarcely move on the slippery
roads. They were caught in a trap and cut to pieces. It is quite
extraordinary how all a Sarmatian's courage is, so to speak, outside
himself. Fighting on foot, no one is more cowardly; but their cavalry
charge would break almost any troops. On this occasion it was raining
and the ground was greasy with thaw; their pikes and their long
swords, needing both hands to wield, were useless; their horses
slipped and they were encumbered by the heavy coat of mail which all
their chiefs and nobles wear. Being made of iron plates and a very
hard kind of leather, it is impenetrable to blows, but most
inconvenient for any one who is knocked down by a charge of the enemy
and tries to get up. Besides, they sank into the deep, soft snow. The
Roman soldiers in their neat leather jerkins, armed with javelin and
lance, and using, if need be, their light swords, sprang on the
unarmed Sarmatians (they never carry shields) and stabbed them at
close quarters. A few, surviving the battle, hid themselves in the
marshes, and there perished miserably from the severity of the winter
and their wounds. When the news of this reached Rome, Marcus Aponius,
the governor of Moesia, was granted a triumphal statue,[177] while the
commanding officers of the legions, Fulvius Aurelius, Tettius
Julianus, and Numisius Lupus, received the insignia of consular rank.
Otho was delighted and took all the credit to himself, as if he had
been the successful general, and had himself employed his officers and
armies to enlarge the empire.
In the meantime a riot broke out in an unexpected quarter, and, 80
though trivial at first, nearly ended in the destruction of Rome. Otho
had given orders that the Seventeenth cohort[178] should be summoned
from the colony of Ostia to the city, and Varius Crispinus, a tribune
of the guards, was instructed to provide them with arms. Anxious to
carry out his instructions undisturbed while the camp was quiet, he
arranged that the arsenal was to be opened and the cohort's wagons
loaded after nightfall. The hour aroused suspicion; the motive was
questioned; his choice of a quiet moment resulted in an uproar.
