Valens' departure having dispirited the troops at Ariminum, 42
Cornelius Fuscus[107] advanced his force and, stationing
Liburnian[108] cruisers along the adjoining coast, invested the town
by land and sea.
Cornelius Fuscus[107] advanced his force and, stationing
Liburnian[108] cruisers along the adjoining coast, invested the town
by land and sea.
Tacitus
[104] If he had
hurried forward on his march he might have been in time to save
Caecina's faltering loyalty, or to have joined the legions before the
critical engagement was fought. Many, indeed, advised him to avoid
Ravenna and to make his way by obscure by-roads to Hostilia or
Cremona. Others wanted him to send to Rome for the Guards and to break
through the enemy's lines with a strong force. Valens himself, with
helpless indecision, let the time for action go by while he took
advice; and then rejecting the advice he was offered, chose the middle
course, which is always the worst in a crisis, and thus failed both in
courage and in caution.
He wrote to Vitellius demanding reinforcements, and there arrived 41
three cohorts of Guards and a regiment of cavalry from Britain, too
many to slip through unobserved and too few to force a passage. But
even in such a crisis as this Valens' reputation was as unsavoury as
ever. He was still believed to use violence in the pursuit of illicit
pleasures, and to betray the confidence of his hosts by seducing their
wives and families. He had money and authority to help him, and the
feverish impatience of one whose star is on the wane. At last the
arrival of the reinforcements revealed the perversity of his strategy.
He had too few men to assume the offensive, even if they had been
unquestionably loyal, and their loyalty was under grave suspicion.
However, their sense of decency and respect for the general restrained
them for a while, though such ties are soon broken when troops are
disinclined for danger and indifferent to disgrace. [105] Fearing
trouble, he sent the Guards forward to Ariminum[106] with the cavalry
to secure the rear. Valens himself, with a few companions, whose
loyalty had survived misfortune, turned off into Umbria and thence to
Etruria, where he learnt the result of the battle of Cremona.
Thereupon he formed a plan, which was far from cowardly and might have
had alarming consequences, if it had succeeded. He was to seize ships
and cross to some point on the coast of Narbonnese Gaul, whence he
could rouse the provinces of Gaul and the native German tribes, and
thus raise forces for a fresh outbreak of war.
Valens' departure having dispirited the troops at Ariminum, 42
Cornelius Fuscus[107] advanced his force and, stationing
Liburnian[108] cruisers along the adjoining coast, invested the town
by land and sea. The Flavians thus occupied the Umbrian plain and the
sea-board of Picenum; and the Apennines now divided Italy between
Vitellius and Vespasian.
Valens, embarking from the Bay of Pisa, was either becalmed on a slow
sea or caught by an unfavourable wind and had to put in at the harbour
of Hercules Monoecus. [109] Stationed in the neighbourhood was Marius
Maturus, the Governor of the Maritime Alps,[110] who had remained
loyal to Vitellius, and, though surrounded by enemies, had so far been
faithful to his oath of allegiance. He gave Valens a friendly welcome
and strongly advised him not to venture rashly into Narbonnese Gaul.
This alarmed Valens, who found also that his companions' loyalty was
yielding to their fears. For Valerius Paulinus, the imperial agent 43
in the province, was an energetic soldier who had been friendly with
Vespasian in old days, and had lately sworn all the surrounding
communities to his cause. Having summoned to his flag all the Guards
discharged by Vitellius,[111] who needed no persuasion to resume the
war, he was now holding the colony of Forum Julii,[112] the key to the
command of the sea. His influence carried the more weight since Forum
Julii was his native town and, having once been an officer in the
Guards, he was respected by the men. Besides this, the inhabitants
supported their fellow citizen, and in the hope of future
aggrandizement rendered enthusiastic service to the party. When the
news of these efficient preparations, somewhat exaggerated by rumour,
came to the ears of the Vitellians, who were already in some doubt,
Fabius Valens returned to the ships with four men of the Body Guard,
three of his friends and three centurions, while Maturus and the rest
preferred to remain and swear allegiance to Vespasian. As for Valens,
though he felt safer at sea than among the cities on the coast, he was
still full of doubts for the future, since he was certain what he had
to avoid but quite uncertain whom he could trust. Eventually a gale
drove him upon the Stoechades,[113] some islands belonging to
Marseilles, and there he was overtaken by the cruisers which Paulinus
had sent in pursuit.
FOOTNOTES:
[94] The story returns again to ii. 101.
[95] La Riccia.
hurried forward on his march he might have been in time to save
Caecina's faltering loyalty, or to have joined the legions before the
critical engagement was fought. Many, indeed, advised him to avoid
Ravenna and to make his way by obscure by-roads to Hostilia or
Cremona. Others wanted him to send to Rome for the Guards and to break
through the enemy's lines with a strong force. Valens himself, with
helpless indecision, let the time for action go by while he took
advice; and then rejecting the advice he was offered, chose the middle
course, which is always the worst in a crisis, and thus failed both in
courage and in caution.
He wrote to Vitellius demanding reinforcements, and there arrived 41
three cohorts of Guards and a regiment of cavalry from Britain, too
many to slip through unobserved and too few to force a passage. But
even in such a crisis as this Valens' reputation was as unsavoury as
ever. He was still believed to use violence in the pursuit of illicit
pleasures, and to betray the confidence of his hosts by seducing their
wives and families. He had money and authority to help him, and the
feverish impatience of one whose star is on the wane. At last the
arrival of the reinforcements revealed the perversity of his strategy.
He had too few men to assume the offensive, even if they had been
unquestionably loyal, and their loyalty was under grave suspicion.
However, their sense of decency and respect for the general restrained
them for a while, though such ties are soon broken when troops are
disinclined for danger and indifferent to disgrace. [105] Fearing
trouble, he sent the Guards forward to Ariminum[106] with the cavalry
to secure the rear. Valens himself, with a few companions, whose
loyalty had survived misfortune, turned off into Umbria and thence to
Etruria, where he learnt the result of the battle of Cremona.
Thereupon he formed a plan, which was far from cowardly and might have
had alarming consequences, if it had succeeded. He was to seize ships
and cross to some point on the coast of Narbonnese Gaul, whence he
could rouse the provinces of Gaul and the native German tribes, and
thus raise forces for a fresh outbreak of war.
Valens' departure having dispirited the troops at Ariminum, 42
Cornelius Fuscus[107] advanced his force and, stationing
Liburnian[108] cruisers along the adjoining coast, invested the town
by land and sea. The Flavians thus occupied the Umbrian plain and the
sea-board of Picenum; and the Apennines now divided Italy between
Vitellius and Vespasian.
Valens, embarking from the Bay of Pisa, was either becalmed on a slow
sea or caught by an unfavourable wind and had to put in at the harbour
of Hercules Monoecus. [109] Stationed in the neighbourhood was Marius
Maturus, the Governor of the Maritime Alps,[110] who had remained
loyal to Vitellius, and, though surrounded by enemies, had so far been
faithful to his oath of allegiance. He gave Valens a friendly welcome
and strongly advised him not to venture rashly into Narbonnese Gaul.
This alarmed Valens, who found also that his companions' loyalty was
yielding to their fears. For Valerius Paulinus, the imperial agent 43
in the province, was an energetic soldier who had been friendly with
Vespasian in old days, and had lately sworn all the surrounding
communities to his cause. Having summoned to his flag all the Guards
discharged by Vitellius,[111] who needed no persuasion to resume the
war, he was now holding the colony of Forum Julii,[112] the key to the
command of the sea. His influence carried the more weight since Forum
Julii was his native town and, having once been an officer in the
Guards, he was respected by the men. Besides this, the inhabitants
supported their fellow citizen, and in the hope of future
aggrandizement rendered enthusiastic service to the party. When the
news of these efficient preparations, somewhat exaggerated by rumour,
came to the ears of the Vitellians, who were already in some doubt,
Fabius Valens returned to the ships with four men of the Body Guard,
three of his friends and three centurions, while Maturus and the rest
preferred to remain and swear allegiance to Vespasian. As for Valens,
though he felt safer at sea than among the cities on the coast, he was
still full of doubts for the future, since he was certain what he had
to avoid but quite uncertain whom he could trust. Eventually a gale
drove him upon the Stoechades,[113] some islands belonging to
Marseilles, and there he was overtaken by the cruisers which Paulinus
had sent in pursuit.
FOOTNOTES:
[94] The story returns again to ii. 101.
[95] La Riccia.
