The
eternity
of our empire, the peace of the world, your
welfare and mine, all depend upon the safety of the senate.
welfare and mine, all depend upon the safety of the senate.
Tacitus
If every one is going to inquire into his motives,
discipline is done for, and his authority falls to the ground. Suppose
in actual warfare you are called to arms at dead of night: shall a few
drunken blackguards--for I cannot believe that many lost their heads
in the recent panic--go and stain their hands with their officers'
blood, and then break into the general's tent?
'Now I know you did it to protect me, but the riot and the 84
darkness and the general confusion might easily have provided an
opportunity to kill me. Suppose Vitellius and his satellites had their
choice of the state of mind they would pray to find us in; what more
could they desire than mutiny and dissension, the men insubordinate to
the centurions, and the centurions to their superior officers, and the
whole force, horse and foot alike, rushing in headlong confusion to
their ruin? Good soldiering, my comrades, consists in obedience, not
in scrutinizing the general's orders; and the army which is most
orderly in peace is most courageous on the field of battle. Yours are
the swords and the courage; you must leave it to me to plan the
campaign, and to direct your valour. The culprits were but few, and
only two are to be punished; the rest of you must blot out all memory
of that discreditable night. No army must ever hear again such words
spoken against the senate. It is the brain of the empire and the glory
of all the provinces. Why, in Heaven's name, the very Germans
themselves, whom Vitellius is stirring up with all his might against
us, would not dare to call its members into question! Shall it be said
that Italy's own sons, the real soldiery of Rome, are clamouring to
murder and massacre the very senators whose lustre it is that throws
into the shade the obscure and vulgar adherents of Vitellius?
Vitellius has seized a few provinces and raised a sort of shadow of an
army; but the senate is on our side. Therefore, Rome is for us; they
are against her. Do you imagine that the stability of this beautiful
city consists in houses and edifices built of stone upon stone? Nay,
they are dumb inanimate things that may fall to pieces and be rebuilt
at pleasure.
The eternity of our empire, the peace of the world, your
welfare and mine, all depend upon the safety of the senate. Instituted
with solemn ceremony by the father and founder of Rome, the senate has
come down in undying continuity from the kings to the emperors; and as
we have received it from our ancestors, so let us hand it on to our
posterity. From your ranks come the senators, and from the senate come
the emperors of Rome. '
This speech, as being well calculated to provide a reprimand and a 85
sedative for the soldiers, and Otho's moderation--for he only ordered
the punishment of two men--were well received. He had calmed for a
moment the troops he could not control. Yet peace and quiet were not
restored in Rome. One could still detect the clash of arms and the
lurid face of war. Refraining from organized riot, the soldiers now
dispersed to private houses and lived in disguise, giving vent to
their bad feeling by maligning all whom nobility of birth or wealth or
any other distinction made a mark for scandal. Many, besides, believed
that some of Vitellius' soldiers had come to Rome to study the state
of party feeling. Everywhere suspicion was rife, and terror invaded
even the privacy of the home. But far greater was the alarm displayed
in public places. With every fresh piece of news that rumour brought,
men's feelings and the expression on their faces changed. They were
afraid to be found lacking in confidence when things looked doubtful,
or in joy when they went well for Otho. Above all, when the senate was
summoned to the House, they found it extraordinarily hard always to
strike the right note. Silence would argue arrogance; plain speaking
would arouse suspicion; yet flattery would be detected by Otho, who
had so lately been a private citizen, practising the art himself. So
they had to turn and twist their sentences.
discipline is done for, and his authority falls to the ground. Suppose
in actual warfare you are called to arms at dead of night: shall a few
drunken blackguards--for I cannot believe that many lost their heads
in the recent panic--go and stain their hands with their officers'
blood, and then break into the general's tent?
'Now I know you did it to protect me, but the riot and the 84
darkness and the general confusion might easily have provided an
opportunity to kill me. Suppose Vitellius and his satellites had their
choice of the state of mind they would pray to find us in; what more
could they desire than mutiny and dissension, the men insubordinate to
the centurions, and the centurions to their superior officers, and the
whole force, horse and foot alike, rushing in headlong confusion to
their ruin? Good soldiering, my comrades, consists in obedience, not
in scrutinizing the general's orders; and the army which is most
orderly in peace is most courageous on the field of battle. Yours are
the swords and the courage; you must leave it to me to plan the
campaign, and to direct your valour. The culprits were but few, and
only two are to be punished; the rest of you must blot out all memory
of that discreditable night. No army must ever hear again such words
spoken against the senate. It is the brain of the empire and the glory
of all the provinces. Why, in Heaven's name, the very Germans
themselves, whom Vitellius is stirring up with all his might against
us, would not dare to call its members into question! Shall it be said
that Italy's own sons, the real soldiery of Rome, are clamouring to
murder and massacre the very senators whose lustre it is that throws
into the shade the obscure and vulgar adherents of Vitellius?
Vitellius has seized a few provinces and raised a sort of shadow of an
army; but the senate is on our side. Therefore, Rome is for us; they
are against her. Do you imagine that the stability of this beautiful
city consists in houses and edifices built of stone upon stone? Nay,
they are dumb inanimate things that may fall to pieces and be rebuilt
at pleasure.
The eternity of our empire, the peace of the world, your
welfare and mine, all depend upon the safety of the senate. Instituted
with solemn ceremony by the father and founder of Rome, the senate has
come down in undying continuity from the kings to the emperors; and as
we have received it from our ancestors, so let us hand it on to our
posterity. From your ranks come the senators, and from the senate come
the emperors of Rome. '
This speech, as being well calculated to provide a reprimand and a 85
sedative for the soldiers, and Otho's moderation--for he only ordered
the punishment of two men--were well received. He had calmed for a
moment the troops he could not control. Yet peace and quiet were not
restored in Rome. One could still detect the clash of arms and the
lurid face of war. Refraining from organized riot, the soldiers now
dispersed to private houses and lived in disguise, giving vent to
their bad feeling by maligning all whom nobility of birth or wealth or
any other distinction made a mark for scandal. Many, besides, believed
that some of Vitellius' soldiers had come to Rome to study the state
of party feeling. Everywhere suspicion was rife, and terror invaded
even the privacy of the home. But far greater was the alarm displayed
in public places. With every fresh piece of news that rumour brought,
men's feelings and the expression on their faces changed. They were
afraid to be found lacking in confidence when things looked doubtful,
or in joy when they went well for Otho. Above all, when the senate was
summoned to the House, they found it extraordinarily hard always to
strike the right note. Silence would argue arrogance; plain speaking
would arouse suspicion; yet flattery would be detected by Otho, who
had so lately been a private citizen, practising the art himself. So
they had to turn and twist their sentences.
