This
evidence
of his death threw them
into despair.
into despair.
Tacitus
Their desire must be not to take Rome but to save
it. They would gain richer rewards and far more glory if they could
show that they had saved the senate and people of Rome without
shedding a drop of blood. Such considerations as these calmed their
excitement, and it was not long before the legions arrived.
Alarmed at the repute of this augmented army, Vitellius' Guards 61
began to waver. There was no one to encourage them to fight, while
many urged them to desert, being eager to hand over their companies or
squadrons to the enemy and by such a gift to secure the victor's
gratitude for the future. These also let the Flavians know that the
next camp at Interamna[166] had a garrison of four hundred cavalry.
Varus was promptly sent off with a light marching force, and the few
who offered resistance were killed. The majority threw away their arms
and begged for quarter. Some escaped to the main camp[167] and spread
universal panic by exaggerating the strength and prowess of the enemy,
in order to mitigate the disgrace of losing the fort. In the Vitellian
camp all offences went unpunished: desertion met with sure reward.
Their loyalty soon gave way and a competition in treachery began.
Tribunes and centurions deserted daily, but not the common soldiers,
who had grown stubbornly faithful to Vitellius. At last, however,
Priscus and Alfenus[168] abandoned the camp and returned to Vitellius,
thus finally releasing all the others from any obligation to blush for
their treachery.
About the same time Fabius Valens[169] was executed in his prison 62
at Urbinum, and his head was exhibited to Vitellius' Guards to show
them that further hope was vain. For they cherished a belief that
Valens had made his way into Germany, and was there mustering his old
force and fresh troops as well.
This evidence of his death threw them
into despair. The Flavian army was vastly inspirited by it and
regarded Valens' death as the end of the war.
Valens had been born at Anagnia of an equestrian family. He was a man
of loose morality, not without intellectual gifts, who by indulging in
frivolity posed as a wit. In Nero's time he had acted in a
harlequinade at the Juvenalian Games. [170] At first he pleaded
compulsion, but afterwards he acted voluntarily, and his performances
were rather clever than respectable. Rising to the command of a
legion, he supported Verginius[171] and then defamed his character. He
murdered Fonteius Capito,[171] whose loyalty he had undermined--or
perhaps because he had failed to do so. He betrayed Galba and remained
faithful to Vitellius, a merit to which the treachery of others served
as a foil.
Now that their hopes were crushed on all sides, the Vitellians 63
prepared to go over to the enemy. But even at this crisis they saved
their honour by marching down with their standards and colours to the
plains below Narnia, where the Flavian army was drawn up in full
armour ready for battle in two deep lines on either side of the road.
The Vitellians marched in between and were surrounded. Antonius then
spoke to them kindly and told them to remain, some at Narnia and some
at Interamna. He also left behind some of the victorious legions,
which were strong enough to quell any outbreak but would not molest
them so long as they remained quiet.
FOOTNOTES:
[160] See chap. 55.
it. They would gain richer rewards and far more glory if they could
show that they had saved the senate and people of Rome without
shedding a drop of blood. Such considerations as these calmed their
excitement, and it was not long before the legions arrived.
Alarmed at the repute of this augmented army, Vitellius' Guards 61
began to waver. There was no one to encourage them to fight, while
many urged them to desert, being eager to hand over their companies or
squadrons to the enemy and by such a gift to secure the victor's
gratitude for the future. These also let the Flavians know that the
next camp at Interamna[166] had a garrison of four hundred cavalry.
Varus was promptly sent off with a light marching force, and the few
who offered resistance were killed. The majority threw away their arms
and begged for quarter. Some escaped to the main camp[167] and spread
universal panic by exaggerating the strength and prowess of the enemy,
in order to mitigate the disgrace of losing the fort. In the Vitellian
camp all offences went unpunished: desertion met with sure reward.
Their loyalty soon gave way and a competition in treachery began.
Tribunes and centurions deserted daily, but not the common soldiers,
who had grown stubbornly faithful to Vitellius. At last, however,
Priscus and Alfenus[168] abandoned the camp and returned to Vitellius,
thus finally releasing all the others from any obligation to blush for
their treachery.
About the same time Fabius Valens[169] was executed in his prison 62
at Urbinum, and his head was exhibited to Vitellius' Guards to show
them that further hope was vain. For they cherished a belief that
Valens had made his way into Germany, and was there mustering his old
force and fresh troops as well.
This evidence of his death threw them
into despair. The Flavian army was vastly inspirited by it and
regarded Valens' death as the end of the war.
Valens had been born at Anagnia of an equestrian family. He was a man
of loose morality, not without intellectual gifts, who by indulging in
frivolity posed as a wit. In Nero's time he had acted in a
harlequinade at the Juvenalian Games. [170] At first he pleaded
compulsion, but afterwards he acted voluntarily, and his performances
were rather clever than respectable. Rising to the command of a
legion, he supported Verginius[171] and then defamed his character. He
murdered Fonteius Capito,[171] whose loyalty he had undermined--or
perhaps because he had failed to do so. He betrayed Galba and remained
faithful to Vitellius, a merit to which the treachery of others served
as a foil.
Now that their hopes were crushed on all sides, the Vitellians 63
prepared to go over to the enemy. But even at this crisis they saved
their honour by marching down with their standards and colours to the
plains below Narnia, where the Flavian army was drawn up in full
armour ready for battle in two deep lines on either side of the road.
The Vitellians marched in between and were surrounded. Antonius then
spoke to them kindly and told them to remain, some at Narnia and some
at Interamna. He also left behind some of the victorious legions,
which were strong enough to quell any outbreak but would not molest
them so long as they remained quiet.
FOOTNOTES:
[160] See chap. 55.
