However, the
distance
was so great that events outran his
instructions.
instructions.
Tacitus
So he gave orders that all the statues of
Galba, which had been thrown down during the civil war, should be
replaced for worship throughout the country towns. This was a thing
that had long been desired, and in their ambitious imaginations it
assumed an undue importance.
The question then arose where they should choose their seat of war. 8
The best place seemed to be Verona. The open country round it was
suited for the manoeuvres of the cavalry, in which their strength
lay: and they would gain both prestige and profit by wresting from
Vitellius a strongly garrisoned town. On the road they occupied
Vicetia. [32] In itself this was a very small matter, since there was
only a moderate force in the town, but it gained considerable
importance from the reflection that it was Caecina's birthplace: the
enemy's general had thus lost his native town. But Verona was well
worth while. The inhabitants could aid the party with encouragement
and funds: the army was thrust midway between Raetia and the Julian
Alps,[33] and had thus blocked all passages by that route for the
German armies.
This move had been made either without the knowledge or against the
orders of Vespasian. His instructions were to suspend operations at
Aquileia and wait for the arrival of Mucianus. He had further added
this consideration, that so long as he held Egypt and the key to the
corn-supply,[34] as well as the revenue of the richest provinces,[35]
he could reduce Vitellius' army to submission from sheer lack of money
and provisions. Mucianus had sent letter after letter with the same
advice, pointing to the prospect of a victory without bloodshed or
bereavement, and using other similar pretexts to conceal his real
motive. This was ambition. He wanted to keep all the glory of the war
to himself.
However, the distance was so great that events outran his
instructions.
Antonius accordingly made a sudden sally against the enemy's 9
outposts, and after a slight skirmish, in which they tested each
other's temper, both sides withdrew without advantage. Soon after,
Caecina entrenched a strong position between a Veronese village called
Hostilia[36] and the marshes of the river Tartaro. Here he was safe,
with the river in his rear and the marsh to guard his flanks. Had he
added loyalty to his other advantages, he might have employed the full
strength of the Vitellian forces to crush the enemy's two legions,
before they were reinforced by the Moesian army, or, at least, have
forced them to retire in ignominious flight and abandon Italy. But
Caecina used various pretexts for delay, and at the outset of the war
treacherously yielded all his advantages to the enemy. While it was
open to him to rout them by force of arms, he preferred to pester them
with letters and to wait until his intermediaries had settled the
terms of his treason. In the meantime, Aponius Saturninus arrived with
the Seventh Claudian legion,[37] commanded by the tribune[38]
Vipstanus Messala, a distinguished member of a famous family, and the
only man who brought any honesty to this war. [39] To these forces,
still only three legions and no match for the Vitellians, Caecina
addressed his letters. He criticized their rash attempt to sustain a
lost cause, and at the same time praised the courage of the German
army in the highest terms. His allusions to Vitellius were few and
casual, and he refrained from insulting Vespasian. In fact he used no
language calculated either to seduce or to terrorize the enemy. The
Flavian generals made no attempt to explain away their former defeat.
They proudly championed Vespasian, showing their loyalty to the cause,
their confidence in the army, and their hostile prejudice[40] against
Vitellius. To the tribunes and centurions they held out the hope of
retaining all the favours they had won from Vitellius, and they urged
Caecina himself in plain terms to desert. These letters were both
read before a meeting of the Flavian army, and served to increase
their confidence, for while Caecina wrote mildly and seemed afraid of
offending Vespasian, their own generals had answered contemptuously
and scoffed at Vitellius.
Galba, which had been thrown down during the civil war, should be
replaced for worship throughout the country towns. This was a thing
that had long been desired, and in their ambitious imaginations it
assumed an undue importance.
The question then arose where they should choose their seat of war. 8
The best place seemed to be Verona. The open country round it was
suited for the manoeuvres of the cavalry, in which their strength
lay: and they would gain both prestige and profit by wresting from
Vitellius a strongly garrisoned town. On the road they occupied
Vicetia. [32] In itself this was a very small matter, since there was
only a moderate force in the town, but it gained considerable
importance from the reflection that it was Caecina's birthplace: the
enemy's general had thus lost his native town. But Verona was well
worth while. The inhabitants could aid the party with encouragement
and funds: the army was thrust midway between Raetia and the Julian
Alps,[33] and had thus blocked all passages by that route for the
German armies.
This move had been made either without the knowledge or against the
orders of Vespasian. His instructions were to suspend operations at
Aquileia and wait for the arrival of Mucianus. He had further added
this consideration, that so long as he held Egypt and the key to the
corn-supply,[34] as well as the revenue of the richest provinces,[35]
he could reduce Vitellius' army to submission from sheer lack of money
and provisions. Mucianus had sent letter after letter with the same
advice, pointing to the prospect of a victory without bloodshed or
bereavement, and using other similar pretexts to conceal his real
motive. This was ambition. He wanted to keep all the glory of the war
to himself.
However, the distance was so great that events outran his
instructions.
Antonius accordingly made a sudden sally against the enemy's 9
outposts, and after a slight skirmish, in which they tested each
other's temper, both sides withdrew without advantage. Soon after,
Caecina entrenched a strong position between a Veronese village called
Hostilia[36] and the marshes of the river Tartaro. Here he was safe,
with the river in his rear and the marsh to guard his flanks. Had he
added loyalty to his other advantages, he might have employed the full
strength of the Vitellian forces to crush the enemy's two legions,
before they were reinforced by the Moesian army, or, at least, have
forced them to retire in ignominious flight and abandon Italy. But
Caecina used various pretexts for delay, and at the outset of the war
treacherously yielded all his advantages to the enemy. While it was
open to him to rout them by force of arms, he preferred to pester them
with letters and to wait until his intermediaries had settled the
terms of his treason. In the meantime, Aponius Saturninus arrived with
the Seventh Claudian legion,[37] commanded by the tribune[38]
Vipstanus Messala, a distinguished member of a famous family, and the
only man who brought any honesty to this war. [39] To these forces,
still only three legions and no match for the Vitellians, Caecina
addressed his letters. He criticized their rash attempt to sustain a
lost cause, and at the same time praised the courage of the German
army in the highest terms. His allusions to Vitellius were few and
casual, and he refrained from insulting Vespasian. In fact he used no
language calculated either to seduce or to terrorize the enemy. The
Flavian generals made no attempt to explain away their former defeat.
They proudly championed Vespasian, showing their loyalty to the cause,
their confidence in the army, and their hostile prejudice[40] against
Vitellius. To the tribunes and centurions they held out the hope of
retaining all the favours they had won from Vitellius, and they urged
Caecina himself in plain terms to desert. These letters were both
read before a meeting of the Flavian army, and served to increase
their confidence, for while Caecina wrote mildly and seemed afraid of
offending Vespasian, their own generals had answered contemptuously
and scoffed at Vitellius.
