No More Learning

At Altinum a garrison was left behind to guard their
communications against the fleet at Ravenna, for the news of its
desertion had not as yet arrived. Pressing forward, they won Patavium
and Ateste[28] for the party. At the latter place they learnt that
three cohorts of Vitellius' auxiliary infantry and a regiment of
cavalry, known as Sebosus' Horse,[29] were established at Forum
Alieni,[30] where they had constructed a bridge. [31] The report added
that they were off their guard, so this seemed a good opportunity to
attack them. They accordingly rushed the position at dawn, and cut
down many of the men without their weapons. Orders had been given
that, after a few had been killed, the rest should be terrorized into
desertion. Some surrendered at once, but the majority succeeded in
destroying the bridge, and thus checked the enemy's pursuit. The first
bout had gone in the Flavians' favour.

When the news spread to Poetovio, the Seventh Galbian and the 7
Thirteenth Gemina hurried in high spirits to Patavium under the
command of Vedius Aquila. At Patavium they were given a few days'
rest, during which Minicius Justus, the camp-prefect of the Seventh
legion, who endeavoured to enforce a standard of discipline too severe
for civil war, had to be rescued from the fury of his troops and sent
to Vespasian. Antonius conceived that his party would gain in
prestige, if they showed approval of Galba's government, and stood for
the revival of his cause. So he gave orders that all the statues of
Galba, which had been thrown down during the civil war, should be
replaced for worship throughout the country towns. This was a thing
that had long been desired, and in their ambitious imaginations it
assumed an undue importance.


The question then arose where they should choose their seat of war. 8
The best place seemed to be Verona.
The open country round it was
suited for the manoeuvres of the cavalry, in which their strength
lay: and they would gain both prestige and profit by wresting from
Vitellius a strongly garrisoned town. On the road they occupied
Vicetia. [32] In itself this was a very small matter, since there was
only a moderate force in the town, but it gained considerable
importance from the reflection that it was Caecina's birthplace: the
enemy's general had thus lost his native town. But Verona was well
worth while. The inhabitants could aid the party with encouragement
and funds: the army was thrust midway between Raetia and the Julian
Alps,[33] and had thus blocked all passages by that route for the
German armies.

This move had been made either without the knowledge or against the
orders of Vespasian. His instructions were to suspend operations at
Aquileia and wait for the arrival of Mucianus. He had further added
this consideration, that so long as he held Egypt and the key to the
corn-supply,[34] as well as the revenue of the richest provinces,[35]
he could reduce Vitellius' army to submission from sheer lack of money
and provisions. Mucianus had sent letter after letter with the same
advice, pointing to the prospect of a victory without bloodshed or
bereavement, and using other similar pretexts to conceal his real
motive. This was ambition. He wanted to keep all the glory of the war
to himself. However, the distance was so great that events outran his
instructions.

Antonius accordingly made a sudden sally against the enemy's 9
outposts, and after a slight skirmish, in which they tested each
other's temper, both sides withdrew without advantage. Soon after,
Caecina entrenched a strong position between a Veronese village called
Hostilia[36] and the marshes of the river Tartaro. Here he was safe,
with the river in his rear and the marsh to guard his flanks. Had he
added loyalty to his other advantages, he might have employed the full
strength of the Vitellian forces to crush the enemy's two legions,
before they were reinforced by the Moesian army, or, at least, have
forced them to retire in ignominious flight and abandon Italy.