For with the best of motives,
indiscretion
often lands men
in disaster.
in disaster.
Tacitus
The houses were all shut,
the streets almost deserted, and everybody looked depressed. The
soldiers, too, hung their heads, though they were more sulky than
sorry for what they had done. Their prefects, Licinius Proculus and
Plotius Firmus, harangued them by companies, the one mildly, the other
harshly, for they were men of different natures. They concluded by
announcing that the men were to receive five thousand sesterces[180]
apiece. After that Otho ventured to enter the camp. The tribunes and
centurions each flinging away the insignia of his rank,[181] crowded
round him begging for a safe discharge. Stung by the disgrace of this,
the troops soon quieted down, and even went the length of demanding
that the ringleaders should be punished. In the general disturbance
Otho's position was difficult. The soldiers were by no means 83
unanimous. The better sort wanted him to put a stop to the prevalent
insubordination, but the great bulk of them liked faction-fighting and
emperors who had to court their favour, and with the prospect of
rioting and plunder were ready enough for civil war. He realized,
also, that one who wins a throne by violence cannot keep it by
suddenly trying to enforce the rigid discipline of earlier days.
However, the danger of the crisis both for the city and the senate
seriously alarmed him, so he finally delivered himself as follows:--
'Fellow soldiers, I have not come to fan the fire of your affection
for me, or to instil courage into your hearts: in both those qualities
you are more than rich. No, I have come to ask you to moderate your
courage and to set some bounds to your affection. These recent
disturbances did not originate in those passions of greed or violence,
which so often cause dissension in an army; nor was it that you
feared some danger and tried to shirk it. The sole cause was your
excessive loyalty, which you displayed with more ardour than
judgement.
For with the best of motives, indiscretion often lands men
in disaster. We are preparing for war. Do you imagine that we could
publish all our dispatches, and discuss our plans in the presence of
the whole army, when we have to devise a systematic campaign and keep
up with the rapid changes of the situation? There are things a soldier
ought to know, but there is much of which he must be ignorant. It is
necessary for the maintenance of strict discipline and of the
general's authority that even his tribunes and centurions should often
obey blindly. If every one is going to inquire into his motives,
discipline is done for, and his authority falls to the ground. Suppose
in actual warfare you are called to arms at dead of night: shall a few
drunken blackguards--for I cannot believe that many lost their heads
in the recent panic--go and stain their hands with their officers'
blood, and then break into the general's tent?
'Now I know you did it to protect me, but the riot and the 84
darkness and the general confusion might easily have provided an
opportunity to kill me. Suppose Vitellius and his satellites had their
choice of the state of mind they would pray to find us in; what more
could they desire than mutiny and dissension, the men insubordinate to
the centurions, and the centurions to their superior officers, and the
whole force, horse and foot alike, rushing in headlong confusion to
their ruin? Good soldiering, my comrades, consists in obedience, not
in scrutinizing the general's orders; and the army which is most
orderly in peace is most courageous on the field of battle. Yours are
the swords and the courage; you must leave it to me to plan the
campaign, and to direct your valour. The culprits were but few, and
only two are to be punished; the rest of you must blot out all memory
of that discreditable night. No army must ever hear again such words
spoken against the senate. It is the brain of the empire and the glory
of all the provinces. Why, in Heaven's name, the very Germans
themselves, whom Vitellius is stirring up with all his might against
us, would not dare to call its members into question! Shall it be said
that Italy's own sons, the real soldiery of Rome, are clamouring to
murder and massacre the very senators whose lustre it is that throws
into the shade the obscure and vulgar adherents of Vitellius?
the streets almost deserted, and everybody looked depressed. The
soldiers, too, hung their heads, though they were more sulky than
sorry for what they had done. Their prefects, Licinius Proculus and
Plotius Firmus, harangued them by companies, the one mildly, the other
harshly, for they were men of different natures. They concluded by
announcing that the men were to receive five thousand sesterces[180]
apiece. After that Otho ventured to enter the camp. The tribunes and
centurions each flinging away the insignia of his rank,[181] crowded
round him begging for a safe discharge. Stung by the disgrace of this,
the troops soon quieted down, and even went the length of demanding
that the ringleaders should be punished. In the general disturbance
Otho's position was difficult. The soldiers were by no means 83
unanimous. The better sort wanted him to put a stop to the prevalent
insubordination, but the great bulk of them liked faction-fighting and
emperors who had to court their favour, and with the prospect of
rioting and plunder were ready enough for civil war. He realized,
also, that one who wins a throne by violence cannot keep it by
suddenly trying to enforce the rigid discipline of earlier days.
However, the danger of the crisis both for the city and the senate
seriously alarmed him, so he finally delivered himself as follows:--
'Fellow soldiers, I have not come to fan the fire of your affection
for me, or to instil courage into your hearts: in both those qualities
you are more than rich. No, I have come to ask you to moderate your
courage and to set some bounds to your affection. These recent
disturbances did not originate in those passions of greed or violence,
which so often cause dissension in an army; nor was it that you
feared some danger and tried to shirk it. The sole cause was your
excessive loyalty, which you displayed with more ardour than
judgement.
For with the best of motives, indiscretion often lands men
in disaster. We are preparing for war. Do you imagine that we could
publish all our dispatches, and discuss our plans in the presence of
the whole army, when we have to devise a systematic campaign and keep
up with the rapid changes of the situation? There are things a soldier
ought to know, but there is much of which he must be ignorant. It is
necessary for the maintenance of strict discipline and of the
general's authority that even his tribunes and centurions should often
obey blindly. If every one is going to inquire into his motives,
discipline is done for, and his authority falls to the ground. Suppose
in actual warfare you are called to arms at dead of night: shall a few
drunken blackguards--for I cannot believe that many lost their heads
in the recent panic--go and stain their hands with their officers'
blood, and then break into the general's tent?
'Now I know you did it to protect me, but the riot and the 84
darkness and the general confusion might easily have provided an
opportunity to kill me. Suppose Vitellius and his satellites had their
choice of the state of mind they would pray to find us in; what more
could they desire than mutiny and dissension, the men insubordinate to
the centurions, and the centurions to their superior officers, and the
whole force, horse and foot alike, rushing in headlong confusion to
their ruin? Good soldiering, my comrades, consists in obedience, not
in scrutinizing the general's orders; and the army which is most
orderly in peace is most courageous on the field of battle. Yours are
the swords and the courage; you must leave it to me to plan the
campaign, and to direct your valour. The culprits were but few, and
only two are to be punished; the rest of you must blot out all memory
of that discreditable night. No army must ever hear again such words
spoken against the senate. It is the brain of the empire and the glory
of all the provinces. Why, in Heaven's name, the very Germans
themselves, whom Vitellius is stirring up with all his might against
us, would not dare to call its members into question! Shall it be said
that Italy's own sons, the real soldiery of Rome, are clamouring to
murder and massacre the very senators whose lustre it is that throws
into the shade the obscure and vulgar adherents of Vitellius?
