FOOTNOTES:
[9] Probably those who owned one million sesterces, the
property qualification for admission to the senate.
[9] Probably those who owned one million sesterces, the
property qualification for admission to the senate.
Tacitus
It had divulged a secret of state:
an emperor could be made elsewhere than at Rome. Still the senate was
satisfied. They had immediately taken advantage of their liberty and
were naturally emboldened against a prince who was new to the throne
and, moreover, absent. The highest class of the knights[9] seconded
the senate's satisfaction. Respectable citizens, who were attached as
clients or freedmen to the great families, and had seen their patrons
condemned or exiled, now revived their hopes. The lowest classes, who
had grown familiar with the pleasures of the theatre and the circus,
the most degraded of the slaves, and Nero's favourites who had
squandered their property and lived on his discreditable bounty, all
showed signs of depression and an eager greed for news.
The troops in the city[10] had long been inured to the allegiance 5
of the Caesars, and it was more by the pressure of intrigue than of
their own inclination that they came to desert Nero. They soon
realized that the donation promised in Galba's name was not to be paid
to them, and that peace would not, like war, offer opportunity for
great services and rich rewards. Since they also saw that the new
emperor's favour had been forestalled by the army which proclaimed
him, they were ripe for revolution and were further instigated by
their rascally Praefect Nymphidius Sabinus, who was plotting to be
emperor himself. His design was as a matter of fact detected and
quashed, but, though the ringleader was removed, many of the troops
still felt conscious of their treason and could be heard commenting on
Galba's senility and avarice. His austerity--a quality once admired
and set high in soldiers' estimation--only annoyed troops whose
contempt for the old methods of discipline had been fostered by
fourteen years of service under Nero. They had come to love the
emperors' vices as much as they once reverenced their virtues in older
days. Moreover Galba had let fall a remark, which augured well for
Rome, though it spelt danger to himself. 'I do not buy my soldiers,'
he said, 'I select them. ' And indeed, as things then stood, his words
sounded incongruous.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Probably those who owned one million sesterces, the
property qualification for admission to the senate.
[10] This includes 'The Guards' (_cohortes praetoriae_) and
'The City Garrison' (_cohortes urbanae_), and possibly also
the _cohortes vigilum_, who were a sort of police corps and
fire brigade.
GALBA'S POSITION
Galba was old and ill. Of his two lieutenants Titus Vinius was the 6
vilest of men and Cornelius Laco the laziest. Hated as he was for
Vinius' crimes and despised for Laco's inefficiency, between them
Galba soon came to ruin. His march from Spain was slow and stained
with bloodshed. He executed Cingonius Varro, the consul-elect, and
Petronius Turpilianus, an ex-consul, the former as an accomplice of
Nymphidius, the latter as one of Nero's generals. They were both
denied any opportunity of a hearing or defence--and might as well have
been innocent. On his arrival at Rome the butchery of thousands of
unarmed soldiers[11] gave an ill omen to his entry, and alarmed even
the men who did the slaughter. The city was filled with strange
troops. A legion had been brought from Spain,[12] and the regiment of
marines enrolled by Nero still remained. [11] Moreover there were
several detachments from Germany, Britain, and Illyricum,[13] which
had been selected by Nero, dispatched to the Caspian Pass[14] for the
projected war against the Albanians, and subsequently recalled to aid
in crushing the revolt of Vindex. [15] These were all fine fuel for a
revolution, and, although their favour centred on nobody in
particular, there they were at the disposal of any one who had
enterprise.
It happened by chance that the news of the death of Clodius Macer 7
and of Fonteius Capito arrived in Rome simultaneously. Macer,[16] who
was undoubtedly raising a disturbance in Africa, was put to death by
the imperial agent Trebonius Garutianus, acting under Galba's orders:
Capito[17] had made a similar attempt in Germany and was killed by two
officers, Cornelius Aquinus and Fabius Valens, without waiting for
instructions. While Capito had a foul reputation for extortion and
loose living, some people yet believed that he had withheld his hand
from treason.
an emperor could be made elsewhere than at Rome. Still the senate was
satisfied. They had immediately taken advantage of their liberty and
were naturally emboldened against a prince who was new to the throne
and, moreover, absent. The highest class of the knights[9] seconded
the senate's satisfaction. Respectable citizens, who were attached as
clients or freedmen to the great families, and had seen their patrons
condemned or exiled, now revived their hopes. The lowest classes, who
had grown familiar with the pleasures of the theatre and the circus,
the most degraded of the slaves, and Nero's favourites who had
squandered their property and lived on his discreditable bounty, all
showed signs of depression and an eager greed for news.
The troops in the city[10] had long been inured to the allegiance 5
of the Caesars, and it was more by the pressure of intrigue than of
their own inclination that they came to desert Nero. They soon
realized that the donation promised in Galba's name was not to be paid
to them, and that peace would not, like war, offer opportunity for
great services and rich rewards. Since they also saw that the new
emperor's favour had been forestalled by the army which proclaimed
him, they were ripe for revolution and were further instigated by
their rascally Praefect Nymphidius Sabinus, who was plotting to be
emperor himself. His design was as a matter of fact detected and
quashed, but, though the ringleader was removed, many of the troops
still felt conscious of their treason and could be heard commenting on
Galba's senility and avarice. His austerity--a quality once admired
and set high in soldiers' estimation--only annoyed troops whose
contempt for the old methods of discipline had been fostered by
fourteen years of service under Nero. They had come to love the
emperors' vices as much as they once reverenced their virtues in older
days. Moreover Galba had let fall a remark, which augured well for
Rome, though it spelt danger to himself. 'I do not buy my soldiers,'
he said, 'I select them. ' And indeed, as things then stood, his words
sounded incongruous.
FOOTNOTES:
[9] Probably those who owned one million sesterces, the
property qualification for admission to the senate.
[10] This includes 'The Guards' (_cohortes praetoriae_) and
'The City Garrison' (_cohortes urbanae_), and possibly also
the _cohortes vigilum_, who were a sort of police corps and
fire brigade.
GALBA'S POSITION
Galba was old and ill. Of his two lieutenants Titus Vinius was the 6
vilest of men and Cornelius Laco the laziest. Hated as he was for
Vinius' crimes and despised for Laco's inefficiency, between them
Galba soon came to ruin. His march from Spain was slow and stained
with bloodshed. He executed Cingonius Varro, the consul-elect, and
Petronius Turpilianus, an ex-consul, the former as an accomplice of
Nymphidius, the latter as one of Nero's generals. They were both
denied any opportunity of a hearing or defence--and might as well have
been innocent. On his arrival at Rome the butchery of thousands of
unarmed soldiers[11] gave an ill omen to his entry, and alarmed even
the men who did the slaughter. The city was filled with strange
troops. A legion had been brought from Spain,[12] and the regiment of
marines enrolled by Nero still remained. [11] Moreover there were
several detachments from Germany, Britain, and Illyricum,[13] which
had been selected by Nero, dispatched to the Caspian Pass[14] for the
projected war against the Albanians, and subsequently recalled to aid
in crushing the revolt of Vindex. [15] These were all fine fuel for a
revolution, and, although their favour centred on nobody in
particular, there they were at the disposal of any one who had
enterprise.
It happened by chance that the news of the death of Clodius Macer 7
and of Fonteius Capito arrived in Rome simultaneously. Macer,[16] who
was undoubtedly raising a disturbance in Africa, was put to death by
the imperial agent Trebonius Garutianus, acting under Galba's orders:
Capito[17] had made a similar attempt in Germany and was killed by two
officers, Cornelius Aquinus and Fabius Valens, without waiting for
instructions. While Capito had a foul reputation for extortion and
loose living, some people yet believed that he had withheld his hand
from treason.
