The provincials were
accustomed to the soldiers' company and liked to have them quartered
there, and many were bound to them by ties of intimacy and kinship,
while the soldiers in their long term of service had come to know and
love their old camp like a home.
accustomed to the soldiers' company and liked to have them quartered
there, and many were bound to them by ties of intimacy and kinship,
while the soldiers in their long term of service had come to know and
love their old camp like a home.
Tacitus
The former is the capital of Syria, the latter
of Judaea. [403]
The first offer of the throne to Vespasian was made at Alexandria, 79
where Tiberius Alexander with great promptitude administered the oath
of allegiance to his troops on the first of July. This was usually
celebrated as his day of accession, although it was not until the
third that the Jewish army took the oath in his presence. So eager was
their enthusiasm that they would not even wait for the arrival of
Titus, who was on his way back from Syria, where he had been
conducting the negotiations between his father and Mucianus.
What happened was all due to the impulse of the soldiers: there was no
set speech, no formal assembly of the troops. They were still 80
discussing the time and the place, and trying to decide the hardest
point of all, who should speak first, and while their minds were still
busy with hopes and fears, reasons and chances, Vespasian happened to
come out of his quarters. A few of the soldiers, forming up in the
usual way to salute their general, saluted him as emperor. The others
promptly rushed up calling him Caesar and Augustus, and heaping on him
all the imperial titles. Their fears at once gave way to confidence.
Vespasian himself, unchanged by the change of fortune, showed no sign
of vanity or arrogance. As soon as he had recovered from the dazzling
shock of his sudden elevation, he addressed them in simple soldier
fashion, and received a shower of congratulations from every quarter.
Mucianus, who had been waiting for this, administered the oath of
allegiance to his eager troops, and then entered the theatre at
Antioch, where the Greeks ordinarily hold their debates. There, as the
fawning crowd came flocking in, he addressed them in their own tongue.
For he could speak elegant Greek, and had the art of making the most
of all he said or did. What most served to inflame the excitement of
the province and of the army, was his statement that Vitellius had
determined to transfer the German legions to peaceful service in the
rich province of Syria, and to send the Syrian legions to endure the
toil and rigours of a winter in Germany.
The provincials were
accustomed to the soldiers' company and liked to have them quartered
there, and many were bound to them by ties of intimacy and kinship,
while the soldiers in their long term of service had come to know and
love their old camp like a home.
Before the 15th of July the whole of Syria had sworn allegiance. 81
The party also gained the support of Sohaemus,[404] with all the
resources of his kingdom and a considerable force, and of
Antiochus,[404] the richest of the subject princes, who owed his
importance to his ancestral treasures. Before long Agrippa, too,
received a secret summons from his friends at home, and leaving
Rome[405] without the knowledge of Vitellius, sailed as fast as he
could to join Vespasian. His sister Berenice[406] showed equal
enthusiasm for the cause. She was then in the flower of her youth and
beauty, and her munificent gifts to Vespasian quite won the old man's
heart. Indeed, every province on the seaboard as far as Asia and
Achaia, and inland to Pontus and Armenia swore allegiance to
Vespasian, but their governors were without troops, for as yet no
legions had been assigned to Cappadocia. [407]
A meeting was held at Berytus[408] to discuss the general situation.
To this came Mucianus with all his officers and the most distinguished
of his centurions and soldiers, besides the elite of the Jewish army
in full uniform. All these cavalry and infantry, and the pageant of
the subject princes, vying with each other in splendour, gave the
meeting an air of imperial grandeur.
The first step was to levy new troops and to recall the veterans 82
to the standards. Some of the strongest towns were told off to
manufacture arms. New gold and silver were coined at Antioch. All
these works were promptly carried out, each in the proper place, by
competent officials. Vespasian came and inspected them himself,
encouraging good work by his praises and rousing the inefficient
rather by example than compulsion, always more ready to see the merits
than the faults of his friends. Many were rewarded by receiving
commands in the auxiliary forces or posts as imperial agents.
of Judaea. [403]
The first offer of the throne to Vespasian was made at Alexandria, 79
where Tiberius Alexander with great promptitude administered the oath
of allegiance to his troops on the first of July. This was usually
celebrated as his day of accession, although it was not until the
third that the Jewish army took the oath in his presence. So eager was
their enthusiasm that they would not even wait for the arrival of
Titus, who was on his way back from Syria, where he had been
conducting the negotiations between his father and Mucianus.
What happened was all due to the impulse of the soldiers: there was no
set speech, no formal assembly of the troops. They were still 80
discussing the time and the place, and trying to decide the hardest
point of all, who should speak first, and while their minds were still
busy with hopes and fears, reasons and chances, Vespasian happened to
come out of his quarters. A few of the soldiers, forming up in the
usual way to salute their general, saluted him as emperor. The others
promptly rushed up calling him Caesar and Augustus, and heaping on him
all the imperial titles. Their fears at once gave way to confidence.
Vespasian himself, unchanged by the change of fortune, showed no sign
of vanity or arrogance. As soon as he had recovered from the dazzling
shock of his sudden elevation, he addressed them in simple soldier
fashion, and received a shower of congratulations from every quarter.
Mucianus, who had been waiting for this, administered the oath of
allegiance to his eager troops, and then entered the theatre at
Antioch, where the Greeks ordinarily hold their debates. There, as the
fawning crowd came flocking in, he addressed them in their own tongue.
For he could speak elegant Greek, and had the art of making the most
of all he said or did. What most served to inflame the excitement of
the province and of the army, was his statement that Vitellius had
determined to transfer the German legions to peaceful service in the
rich province of Syria, and to send the Syrian legions to endure the
toil and rigours of a winter in Germany.
The provincials were
accustomed to the soldiers' company and liked to have them quartered
there, and many were bound to them by ties of intimacy and kinship,
while the soldiers in their long term of service had come to know and
love their old camp like a home.
Before the 15th of July the whole of Syria had sworn allegiance. 81
The party also gained the support of Sohaemus,[404] with all the
resources of his kingdom and a considerable force, and of
Antiochus,[404] the richest of the subject princes, who owed his
importance to his ancestral treasures. Before long Agrippa, too,
received a secret summons from his friends at home, and leaving
Rome[405] without the knowledge of Vitellius, sailed as fast as he
could to join Vespasian. His sister Berenice[406] showed equal
enthusiasm for the cause. She was then in the flower of her youth and
beauty, and her munificent gifts to Vespasian quite won the old man's
heart. Indeed, every province on the seaboard as far as Asia and
Achaia, and inland to Pontus and Armenia swore allegiance to
Vespasian, but their governors were without troops, for as yet no
legions had been assigned to Cappadocia. [407]
A meeting was held at Berytus[408] to discuss the general situation.
To this came Mucianus with all his officers and the most distinguished
of his centurions and soldiers, besides the elite of the Jewish army
in full uniform. All these cavalry and infantry, and the pageant of
the subject princes, vying with each other in splendour, gave the
meeting an air of imperial grandeur.
The first step was to levy new troops and to recall the veterans 82
to the standards. Some of the strongest towns were told off to
manufacture arms. New gold and silver were coined at Antioch. All
these works were promptly carried out, each in the proper place, by
competent officials. Vespasian came and inspected them himself,
encouraging good work by his praises and rousing the inefficient
rather by example than compulsion, always more ready to see the merits
than the faults of his friends. Many were rewarded by receiving
commands in the auxiliary forces or posts as imperial agents.
