[380] Their names would suggest
prosperity
and success, e.
Tacitus
ii.
82, note 410.
[375] Cp. ii. 4 and Book V.
[376] It had been Vespasian's original plan to starve Rome out
by holding the granaries of Egypt and Africa. See iii. 48.
[377] Cp. iii. 71.
[378] Probably from Etruria, where certain families were
credited with the requisite knowledge and skill. Claudius had
established a College of Soothsayers in Rome. They ranked
lower than the Augurs.
[379] At Ostia.
[380] Their names would suggest prosperity and success, e. g.
Salvius, Victor, Valerius, and they would carry branches of
oak, laurel, myrtle, or beech.
[381] This too was 'lucky' and a common ritualistic
requirement.
[382] The 'holy water' must come from certain streams of
special sanctity, such as the Tiber or its tributary, the
Almo. The water would be sprinkled from the 'lucky' branches.
[383] To the god Mars.
THE LOSS OF GERMANY
Meanwhile,[384] the news of Vitellius' death had spread through 54
Gaul and Germany and redoubled the vigour of the war. Civilis now
dropped all pretence and hurled himself upon the Roman Empire. The
Vitellian legions felt that even foreign slavery was preferable to
owning Vespasian's sovereignty. The Gauls too had taken heart. A
rumour had been spread that our winter camps in Moesia and Pannonia
were being blockaded by Sarmatians and Dacians:[385] similar stories
were fabricated about Britain: the Gauls began to think that the
fortune of the Roman arms was the same all the world over. But above
all, the burning of the Capitol led them to believe that the empire
was coming to an end. 'Once in old days the Gauls had captured Rome,
but her empire had stood firm since Jupiter's high-place was left
unscathed. But now, so the Druids[386] with superstitious folly kept
dinning into their ears, this fatal fire was a sign of Heaven's anger,
and meant that the Transalpine tribes were destined now to rule the
world. ' It was also persistently rumoured that the Gallic chieftains,
whom Otho had sent to work against Vitellius,[387] had agreed, before
they parted, that if Rome sank under its internal troubles in an
unbroken sequence of civil wars, they would not fail the cause of the
Gallic freedom.
[375] Cp. ii. 4 and Book V.
[376] It had been Vespasian's original plan to starve Rome out
by holding the granaries of Egypt and Africa. See iii. 48.
[377] Cp. iii. 71.
[378] Probably from Etruria, where certain families were
credited with the requisite knowledge and skill. Claudius had
established a College of Soothsayers in Rome. They ranked
lower than the Augurs.
[379] At Ostia.
[380] Their names would suggest prosperity and success, e. g.
Salvius, Victor, Valerius, and they would carry branches of
oak, laurel, myrtle, or beech.
[381] This too was 'lucky' and a common ritualistic
requirement.
[382] The 'holy water' must come from certain streams of
special sanctity, such as the Tiber or its tributary, the
Almo. The water would be sprinkled from the 'lucky' branches.
[383] To the god Mars.
THE LOSS OF GERMANY
Meanwhile,[384] the news of Vitellius' death had spread through 54
Gaul and Germany and redoubled the vigour of the war. Civilis now
dropped all pretence and hurled himself upon the Roman Empire. The
Vitellian legions felt that even foreign slavery was preferable to
owning Vespasian's sovereignty. The Gauls too had taken heart. A
rumour had been spread that our winter camps in Moesia and Pannonia
were being blockaded by Sarmatians and Dacians:[385] similar stories
were fabricated about Britain: the Gauls began to think that the
fortune of the Roman arms was the same all the world over. But above
all, the burning of the Capitol led them to believe that the empire
was coming to an end. 'Once in old days the Gauls had captured Rome,
but her empire had stood firm since Jupiter's high-place was left
unscathed. But now, so the Druids[386] with superstitious folly kept
dinning into their ears, this fatal fire was a sign of Heaven's anger,
and meant that the Transalpine tribes were destined now to rule the
world. ' It was also persistently rumoured that the Gallic chieftains,
whom Otho had sent to work against Vitellius,[387] had agreed, before
they parted, that if Rome sank under its internal troubles in an
unbroken sequence of civil wars, they would not fail the cause of the
Gallic freedom.
