Many wished to do this who
suffered from ill health and complained of the climate.
suffered from ill health and complained of the climate.
Tacitus
[437] But the freed slaves with characteristic meanness did
all they could to invalidate the edict. They would hide their money
with some obscure friend or in a rich patron's safe. Some, indeed, had
passed into the imperial household and become more influential than
their masters.
As for the soldiers, the Guards' barracks were crowded, and the 93
overflow spread through the city, finding shelter in colonnades and
temples. They ceased to recognize any head-quarters, to go on guard,
or to keep themselves in training, but fell victims to the attractions
of city life and its unmentionable vices, until they deteriorated both
physically and morally through idleness and debauchery. A number of
them even imperilled their lives by settling in the pestilent Vatican
quarter, thus increasing the rate of mortality. They were close to the
Tiber, and the Germans and Gauls, who were peculiarly liable to
disease and could ill stand the heat, ruined their constitutions by
their immoderate use of the river. [438] Moreover, the generals, either
for bribes or to earn popularity, tampered with the rules of the
service, enrolling sixteen regiments of Guards[439] and four for the
city garrison, each composed of a thousand men. In enlisting these
troops Valens put himself forward as superior to Caecina, whose life
he claimed to have saved. It is true, indeed, that his arrival had
consolidated the party, and by his successful engagement he had
silenced the current criticism of their slow marching. Besides which
the whole of the army of Lower Germany was attached to Valens, and
this is said to be the reason why Caecina's loyalty first wavered.
Whatever indulgence Vitellius showed to his generals, he allowed 94
still more licence to the troops. Each man chose his service. However
unfit, he might enlist in the Guards, if he preferred it. On the
other hand, good soldiers were allowed, if they wished, to remain in
the legions or the auxiliary cavalry.
Many wished to do this who
suffered from ill health and complained of the climate. However, the
best soldiers were thus withdrawn from the legions and from the
cavalry; and the Guards were robbed of their prestige when twenty
thousand men were thus not so much selected for service with them as
drafted at random from the whole army.
While Vitellius was addressing the troops, they demanded the execution
of three Gallic chieftains, Asiaticus, Flavus, and Rufinus, on the
ground that they had fought for Vindex. [440] Vitellius never checked
these outcries. For, apart from the innate cowardice of his nature, he
knew that his donation to the soldiers was nearly due, and that he had
no money for it; so he freely granted all their other demands. The
imperial freedmen were forced to contribute a sort of tax,
proportionate to the number of their slaves. Meanwhile, his one
serious occupation was extravagance. He built stables for
chariot-drivers, filled the arena with gorgeous shows of gladiators
and wild beasts, and fooled away his money as though he had more than
he wanted.
Moreover, Valens and Caecina celebrated Vitellius' birthday[441] 95
by holding gladiatorial shows in every quarter of Rome on a scale of
magnificence hitherto unknown. Vitellius then gratified the rabble and
scandalized all decent people by building altars in the Martian Plain,
and holding a funeral service in honour of Nero. Victims were killed
and burnt in public: the torch was applied by the Augustales, members
of the college which Tiberius Caesar had founded in honour of the
Julian family, just as Romulus similarly commemorated King Tatius.
It was not yet four months since Vitellius' victory, and yet his
freedman Asiaticus was as bad as a Polyclitus or a Patrobius,[442] or
any of the favourites whose names were hated in earlier days. At this
court no one strove to rise by honesty or capacity. There was only one
road to power. By lavish banquets, costly profusion, and feats of
gastronomy, you had to try and satisfy Vitellius' insatiable gluttony.
He himself, without thought for the morrow, was well content to enjoy
the present.
all they could to invalidate the edict. They would hide their money
with some obscure friend or in a rich patron's safe. Some, indeed, had
passed into the imperial household and become more influential than
their masters.
As for the soldiers, the Guards' barracks were crowded, and the 93
overflow spread through the city, finding shelter in colonnades and
temples. They ceased to recognize any head-quarters, to go on guard,
or to keep themselves in training, but fell victims to the attractions
of city life and its unmentionable vices, until they deteriorated both
physically and morally through idleness and debauchery. A number of
them even imperilled their lives by settling in the pestilent Vatican
quarter, thus increasing the rate of mortality. They were close to the
Tiber, and the Germans and Gauls, who were peculiarly liable to
disease and could ill stand the heat, ruined their constitutions by
their immoderate use of the river. [438] Moreover, the generals, either
for bribes or to earn popularity, tampered with the rules of the
service, enrolling sixteen regiments of Guards[439] and four for the
city garrison, each composed of a thousand men. In enlisting these
troops Valens put himself forward as superior to Caecina, whose life
he claimed to have saved. It is true, indeed, that his arrival had
consolidated the party, and by his successful engagement he had
silenced the current criticism of their slow marching. Besides which
the whole of the army of Lower Germany was attached to Valens, and
this is said to be the reason why Caecina's loyalty first wavered.
Whatever indulgence Vitellius showed to his generals, he allowed 94
still more licence to the troops. Each man chose his service. However
unfit, he might enlist in the Guards, if he preferred it. On the
other hand, good soldiers were allowed, if they wished, to remain in
the legions or the auxiliary cavalry.
Many wished to do this who
suffered from ill health and complained of the climate. However, the
best soldiers were thus withdrawn from the legions and from the
cavalry; and the Guards were robbed of their prestige when twenty
thousand men were thus not so much selected for service with them as
drafted at random from the whole army.
While Vitellius was addressing the troops, they demanded the execution
of three Gallic chieftains, Asiaticus, Flavus, and Rufinus, on the
ground that they had fought for Vindex. [440] Vitellius never checked
these outcries. For, apart from the innate cowardice of his nature, he
knew that his donation to the soldiers was nearly due, and that he had
no money for it; so he freely granted all their other demands. The
imperial freedmen were forced to contribute a sort of tax,
proportionate to the number of their slaves. Meanwhile, his one
serious occupation was extravagance. He built stables for
chariot-drivers, filled the arena with gorgeous shows of gladiators
and wild beasts, and fooled away his money as though he had more than
he wanted.
Moreover, Valens and Caecina celebrated Vitellius' birthday[441] 95
by holding gladiatorial shows in every quarter of Rome on a scale of
magnificence hitherto unknown. Vitellius then gratified the rabble and
scandalized all decent people by building altars in the Martian Plain,
and holding a funeral service in honour of Nero. Victims were killed
and burnt in public: the torch was applied by the Augustales, members
of the college which Tiberius Caesar had founded in honour of the
Julian family, just as Romulus similarly commemorated King Tatius.
It was not yet four months since Vitellius' victory, and yet his
freedman Asiaticus was as bad as a Polyclitus or a Patrobius,[442] or
any of the favourites whose names were hated in earlier days. At this
court no one strove to rise by honesty or capacity. There was only one
road to power. By lavish banquets, costly profusion, and feats of
gastronomy, you had to try and satisfy Vitellius' insatiable gluttony.
He himself, without thought for the morrow, was well content to enjoy
the present.
