At length
Cerialis
soothed their alarm.
Tacitus
Some of our cavalry, who
had ridden round by an easier gradient, captured several Belgic
chieftains, including their general, Valentinus.
On the next day Cerialis entered Trier. The troops clamoured 72
greedily for its destruction. 'It was the native town of Classicus and
of Tutor: these were the men who had wickedly entrapped and
slaughtered the legions. Its guilt was far worse than that of Cremona,
which had been wiped off the face of Italy for causing the victors a
single night's delay. Was the chief seat of the rebellion to be left
standing untouched on the German frontier, glorying in the spoil of
Roman armies and the blood of Roman generals? [433] The plunder could
go to the Imperial Treasury. It would be enough for them to see the
rebel town in smoking ruins; that would be some compensation for the
destruction of so many camps. ' Cerialis was afraid of soiling his
reputation if it was said that he gave his men a taste for cruelty and
riot, so he suppressed their indignation. They obeyed him, too, for
now that civil war was done with, there was less insubordination on
foreign service. Their thoughts were now distracted by the pitiful
plight of the legions who had been summoned from the country of the
Mediomatrici. [434] Miserably conscious of their guilt, they stood with
eyes rooted to the ground. When the armies met, they raised no cheer:
they had no answer for those who offered comfort and encouragement:
they skulked in their tents, shunning the light of day. It was not
fear of punishment so much as the shame of their disgrace which thus
overwhelmed them. Even the victorious army showed their bewilderment:
hardly venturing to make an audible petition, they craved pardon for
them with silent tears.
At length Cerialis soothed their alarm. He
insisted that all disasters due to dissension between officers and
men, or to the enemy's guile, were to be regarded as 'acts of
destiny'. They were to count this as their first day of service and
sworn allegiance. [435] Neither he nor the emperor would remember past
misdeeds. He then gave them quarters in his own camp, and sent round
orders that no one in the heat of any quarrel should taunt a fellow
soldier with mutiny or defeat.
Cerialis next summoned the Treviri and Lingones, and addressed 73
them as follows: 'Unpractised as I am in public speaking, for it is
only on the field that I have asserted the superiority of Rome, yet
since words have so much weight with you, and since you distinguish
good and bad not by the light of facts but by what agitators tell you,
I have decided to make a few remarks, which, as the war is practically
over, are likely to be more profitable to the audience than to
ourselves. Roman generals and officers originally set foot in your
country and the rest of Gaul from no motives of ambition, but at the
call of your ancestors, who were worn almost to ruin by dissension.
The Germans whom one party summoned to their aid had forced the yoke
of slavery on allies and enemies alike. You know how often we fought
against the Cimbri and the Teutons, with what infinite pains and with
what striking success our armies have undertaken German wars. All that
is notorious. And to-day it is not to protect Italy that we have
occupied the Rhine, but to prevent some second Ariovistus making
himself master of All Gaul. [436] Do you imagine that Civilis and his
Batavi and the other tribes across the Rhine care any more about you
than their ancestors cared about your fathers and grandfathers? The
Germans have always had the same motives for trespassing into
Gaul--their greed for gain and their desire to change homes with you.
They wanted to leave their marshes and deserts, and to make themselves
masters of this magnificently fertile soil and of you who live on it.
Of course they use specious pretexts and talk about liberty. No one
has ever wanted to enslave others and play the tyrant without making
use of the very same phrases.
had ridden round by an easier gradient, captured several Belgic
chieftains, including their general, Valentinus.
On the next day Cerialis entered Trier. The troops clamoured 72
greedily for its destruction. 'It was the native town of Classicus and
of Tutor: these were the men who had wickedly entrapped and
slaughtered the legions. Its guilt was far worse than that of Cremona,
which had been wiped off the face of Italy for causing the victors a
single night's delay. Was the chief seat of the rebellion to be left
standing untouched on the German frontier, glorying in the spoil of
Roman armies and the blood of Roman generals? [433] The plunder could
go to the Imperial Treasury. It would be enough for them to see the
rebel town in smoking ruins; that would be some compensation for the
destruction of so many camps. ' Cerialis was afraid of soiling his
reputation if it was said that he gave his men a taste for cruelty and
riot, so he suppressed their indignation. They obeyed him, too, for
now that civil war was done with, there was less insubordination on
foreign service. Their thoughts were now distracted by the pitiful
plight of the legions who had been summoned from the country of the
Mediomatrici. [434] Miserably conscious of their guilt, they stood with
eyes rooted to the ground. When the armies met, they raised no cheer:
they had no answer for those who offered comfort and encouragement:
they skulked in their tents, shunning the light of day. It was not
fear of punishment so much as the shame of their disgrace which thus
overwhelmed them. Even the victorious army showed their bewilderment:
hardly venturing to make an audible petition, they craved pardon for
them with silent tears.
At length Cerialis soothed their alarm. He
insisted that all disasters due to dissension between officers and
men, or to the enemy's guile, were to be regarded as 'acts of
destiny'. They were to count this as their first day of service and
sworn allegiance. [435] Neither he nor the emperor would remember past
misdeeds. He then gave them quarters in his own camp, and sent round
orders that no one in the heat of any quarrel should taunt a fellow
soldier with mutiny or defeat.
Cerialis next summoned the Treviri and Lingones, and addressed 73
them as follows: 'Unpractised as I am in public speaking, for it is
only on the field that I have asserted the superiority of Rome, yet
since words have so much weight with you, and since you distinguish
good and bad not by the light of facts but by what agitators tell you,
I have decided to make a few remarks, which, as the war is practically
over, are likely to be more profitable to the audience than to
ourselves. Roman generals and officers originally set foot in your
country and the rest of Gaul from no motives of ambition, but at the
call of your ancestors, who were worn almost to ruin by dissension.
The Germans whom one party summoned to their aid had forced the yoke
of slavery on allies and enemies alike. You know how often we fought
against the Cimbri and the Teutons, with what infinite pains and with
what striking success our armies have undertaken German wars. All that
is notorious. And to-day it is not to protect Italy that we have
occupied the Rhine, but to prevent some second Ariovistus making
himself master of All Gaul. [436] Do you imagine that Civilis and his
Batavi and the other tribes across the Rhine care any more about you
than their ancestors cared about your fathers and grandfathers? The
Germans have always had the same motives for trespassing into
Gaul--their greed for gain and their desire to change homes with you.
They wanted to leave their marshes and deserts, and to make themselves
masters of this magnificently fertile soil and of you who live on it.
Of course they use specious pretexts and talk about liberty. No one
has ever wanted to enslave others and play the tyrant without making
use of the very same phrases.
