The Works Of Tacitus - Vol. 4

Tacitus

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THE WORKS OF TACITUS.

IN FOUR VOLUMES.

To which are prefixed, Political DISCOURSES UponThat AUTHOR.

VOL IV. The SECOND EDITION, corrected.

LONDON:

Printed for T. WOODWARD, and J. PEELE; And Sold by J. OSBORN, at the Golden Ball, in Pater-nosterRow.

M.DCC.XXXVII.

THE HISTORY OF TACITUS.

BOOK III.

The SUMMARY.

THE Forces of VESPASIAN, at the instigation of ANTONIUS PRIMUS and under his leading,arrive in Italy. Military transactions in several places, and some lightencounters. The Fleet at Ravenna revolts to VESPASIAN. CÆCINA discovers his treasonable purposes, butis seized and imprisoned by his own soldiers. The battle at Bedriacum; the armyof VITELLIUS overthrown, yet,strengthened by the accession of fresh Legions, renew the battle, even in thenight, but are again overcome. The Camp at Cremona assaulted, at last taken bystorm. The great slaughter there. Cremona itself sacked and burnt down. VITELLIUS the while drowned inluxury; his feats of cruelty: he orders PUBLIUSSABINUS to be put in bonds, JUNIUSBLÆSUS to be slain. FABIUSVALENS advances against ANTONIUS, but learns the late overthrow, and fliesattended only by a few: he istaken at sea. Commotions in Britain, in Germany, inDacia. VESPASIAN ’s Generals marchtowards Rome. VITELLIUS orders thepasses of the Appennine to be guarded, but anon, weary of the war, makes atreaty of pacification with SABINUS,VESPASIAN ’s brother. The treaty broken by the violence of the Germansoldiers: They force SABINUS to seekrefuge in the Capitol, besiege him there, storm the Capitol, and burn it toashes. The exploits of LUCIUSVITELLIUS, the Emperor’s brother, in Campania. The whole Forces of VESPASIAN arrive at Rome; which,after much resistance and many encounters, they enter: The terrible havock andlicentiousness which ensue. The tragical death of VITELLIUS. These transactions all of the same Year.

WITH fortune more propitious and greater fidelity did theLeaders of VESPASIAN’S party pursue their measures for war.At Petovio, the winter quarters of the thirteenth Legion, they met forconsultation, and there deliberated, “Whether to content themselves with onlyguarding the passes of the Pannonian Alps, till their forces from all quartersbehind them had advanced in a body to join them; or, by a resolution moredaring, march forward and venture a struggle for Italy.” They who held itadviseable to await the arrival of succours, and to protract the war, magnified“the might and renown of the German Legions. Moreover there had since arrivedwith VITELLIUS the chief strength of the army in Britain.With themselves they had a smaller number of Legions; these Legions were latelyrouted, and though in words they were undaunted and terrible, yet still in menonce vanquishedless bravery was found. But by securing the Alps,they should have leisure to expect MUCIANUS advancing withthe bands of the East. To VESPASIAN there would stillremain the command of the Sea, of Fleets, and of the Provinces, allaffectionate to his cause; a fource whence he might raise materials ampleenough even for another and a fresh war. Thus, by a prudent and salutary delay,new forces would certainly accrue, and of the former none would be lost.”

IN answer to these reasonings, ANTONIUSPRIMUS (who in truth from the beginning, had with infinite ardour incitedthe war) argued, “That to themselves dispatch was altogether advantageous, andonly pernicious to VITELLIUS. A greater share of sloth andindolence had possessed the conquerors, than of valour and ferocity; as men nolonger inured to the regularity of a camp and prepared for feats of war, butseparated over all the great Towns of Italy, resigned to idleness and ease, anddreadful to none but their hosts. Nay, the more furious and stern they formerlyhad been, with the more greediness they swallowed pleasures so ravishing andnew. Moreover, by haunting the Theatres and the Circus, and following thedelightful pastimes at Rome, they were utterly softened and debauched, or bydiseases utterly wasted.But, were time allowed them, their ancient vigourwould still return, by their application to the cares and pursuits of war. Notfar from them lay Germany, from whence a sure recruit of forces; beyond theChannel, Britain; just by, France; as also both Spains; from all a ready supplyof men, and horses, and contributions; Italy too itself in their possession,with the immense treasures of Rome. And should they resolve, for prevention, torecur to offensive arms, they were furnished with two fleets, and the Illyriansea was open. What would then avail the streights and defence of the mountains?what the protracting of the war till another summer? Where, in the interval,was money to be had, where provisions? Doubtless, much better it were toimprove the occasion presented by the soldiery; for that the Pannonian Legions,who had been deceived rather than vanquished, were impatient to signalize theirvengeance; and with them the armies of Mœsia had brought forces diminished byno defeat. If upon the number of men stress were to be laid, rather than uponthe number of Legions, in this host was to be found superior strength, nothingdissolute, and, from a sense of disgrace, discipline amended. The horse, intruth, were not even then defeated, but, though the issue proved unfortunate,hadrouted the cavalry of VITELLIUS. Yes, two Squadrons from Pannonia and Mœsia, in that fight, pierced quitethrough the ranks of the enemy. At present were united the banners of sixteenSquadrons; a body, who, with the shock and thunder of the onset, nay, with thevery cloud raised by them, will not fail to overwhelm and cover yonder troopsof horsemen and their horses, both become unacquainted with feats of war. Thesame measures which I advise, if I am not restrained, I will pursue. You whoare yet free to follow fortune on either side, stay and with you detain theLegions. To me a few Cohorts lightly equipt will be sufficient. Anon you willhear that I have opened my way into Italy, and shaken the power of VITELLIUS. You will then be glad to follow, and travel inthe track of one who had conquered for you.”

THESE and the like strains he uttered with eyes dartingfire, with a voice fierce and vehement, to be thence further heard, (for intothe Council the Centurions and several soldiers had conveyed themselves) andwith such effect, that he moved and influenced even such as were most cautiousand provident. The crowd and the rest loaded him with praises, and scorning theresolutions of the others as cold and spiritless, extolled him as the onlybrave man, the only vigorous leader. This renown of his he first acquired inthe latemilitary assembly, where the letters from VESPASIAN were publicly recited. For, there he reasonednot, like most others, in a stile equivocal and obscure, with intent to wrestthe interpretation hither and thither, as interest should require: He appearedto have fallen into the subject of debate with openness of expression, freefrom all disguise, and hence became more acceptable to the soldiers, since hethus offered himself as a sharer in their lot, whether of guilt or ofglory.

THE SECOND TO HIM, IN AUTHORITY, WAS, CORNELIUSFUSCUS THE PROCURATOR. HE TOO WAS WONT TO TREAT VITELLIUS WITH IMPLACABLE INVECTIVES, AND THEREFORE HAD LEFTHIMSELF NO ROOM FOR HOPE UPON ILL SUCCESS. TITUS AMPIUSFLAVIANUS, A MAN BOTH BY NATURE AND OLD AGE SLOW AND IRRESOLUTE, PROVOKEDTHE SUSPICION OF THE SOLDIERS, AS IF HE TOO WELL REMEMBERED HIS AFFINITY WITH VITELLIUS; AS LIKEWISE, FOR THAT HAVING UPON THE FIRSTUPROAR OF THE LEGIONS BETAKEN HIMSELF TO FLIGHT, AND THEN OF HIS OWN MEREMOTION RETURNED, HE WAS BELIEVED TO WATCH AN OCCASION FOR EXECUTING SOMETRAITEROUS PURPOSE. FOR, FLAVIANUS, AFTER DESERTINGPANNONIA, AND ARRIVING IN ITALY AT A DISTANCE FROM HAZARD, GAVE WAY TO APASSION FOR PUBLIC INNOVATIONS; WHENCE HE WAS PROMPTED TO RESUME THE COMMAND OFLIEUTENANT GENERAL, AND TO IMBROIL HIMSELF IN THE STRIFE OF CIVIL ARMS. HE WASEXCITED BY THE PERSUASIONS OF CORNELIUSFUSCUS, OUT OF NO NEED THAT HE HAD OF ANY VIGOURWHICH WAS IN FLAVIANUS, BUT ONLY FOR THE LUSTRE OF ACONSULAR NAME, AS AN HONOURABLE PRETENCE TO RECOMMEND A PARTY, JUST LABOURINGTO RISE.

NOW TO RENDER THE MARCH INTO ITALY SECURE AND SUCCESSFUL, LETTERSWERE SENT TO APONIUS SATURNINUS, TO FOLLOW IN HASTE, WITHHIS ARMY FROM MŒSIA. AND THAT THE PROVINCES THUS BEREFT OF THEIR ARMIES MIGHTNOT LYE EXPOSED TO THE INROADS OF THE BARBAROUS NATIONS ADJOINING, THE CHIEFSOF THE PEOPLE JAZYGES (A NATION OF THE SARMATÆANS) THAT IS, THOSE AMONGST THEMWHO SWAY THEIR COMMUNITY, WERE TAKEN INTO A FELLOWSHIP IN THE WAR, AND RETAINEDIN PAY. THEY ALSO OFFERED THEIR POPULACE TO THE SERVICE, AND THEIR POWER OFHORSE, IN WHICH ONLY THEIR WHOLE FORCE LIES. THIS CIVILITY WAS REJECTED, LESTWHILST WE WERE ENGAGED IN STRUGGLES AT HOME, THEY SHOULD UNDERTAKE TO ASSAIL USFROM WITHOUT, OR PERHAPS UPON LARGER REWARD FROM THE OPPOSITE SIDE, RENOUNCEALL REGARD TO TRUST AND OBLIGATION. INTO THE PARTY WERE DRAWN SIDO AND ITALICUS, KINGS OF THE SUEVIANS,NOTED FOR THEIR LONG REVERENCE AND CONSTANT DUTY TO THE ROMANS; AS THEIR PEOPLETOO WERE MORE OBSERVANT OF THEIR PLIGHTED FAITH. ON THE SIDE TOWARDS RHÆTIAGUARDS OF AUXILIARIES WERE POSTED, AS A COUNTRY BREATHING GREAT HOSTILITY TOTHE CAUSE, AND UNDER THE GOVERNMENT OF PORTIUS SEPTIMINUS THE PROCURATOR, A MAN IN HIS FIDELITY TO VITELLIUS STEDFAST AND INCORRUPTIBLE. SEXTILIUSFELIX WAS THEREFORE SENT AWAY WITH THE SQUADRON OF HORSE STILED AURIANA, EIGHT COHORTS, AND THE YOUTH OF NORICUM UNDERARMS, TO POSSESS HIMSELF OF THE BANK OF THE OENUS, A RIVER FLOWING BETWEENRHÆTIA AND NORICUM. BUT, WHILE NEITHER SIDE WOULD VENTURE AN ENGAGEMENT, THEGRAND COMPETITION WAS DETERMINED ELSEWHERE.

WHILST ANTONIUS, with great dispatch, conducted a bodyof Vexillaries taken from the Cohorts, and part of the horse, to invade Italy,he was accompanied by ARIUS VARUS, an officer signal forbravery in war; which renowned character, he derived from having served under CORBULO, and been engaged in the successful atchievementsof that great Captain in Armenia. The same man was said, in secret conferenceswith NERO to have accused CORBULO, andblackened his merit and great qualities. Hence by favour infamously gained, herose to the rank of a principal Centurion; a promotion which for the presentproved matter of joy, but, as it was wickedly obtained, turned afterwards tohis overthrow. Now ANTONIUS and VARUS, when once they had taken possession of Aquileia, were admitted into all theneighbouring Towns, and particularly received at Opitergium and Altinum, withmany demonstrations of joy. In Altinum a garrison was left to oppose the Fleetat Ravenna; for of its revolt news were not yetarrived. Then they strengthened their party with theaddition of Padua and Ateste. There they learnt that three Cohorts of VITELLIUS, with the Squadron of horse called Scriboniana, had erected a bridge at Forum Alienum, andwere posted there. To assail this band, lying void of circumspection (for thistoo was reported) the opportunity was gladly taken. At the dawn of day theysuddenly encountered and subdued them, most of them unarmed. Previous ordershad been given to the assailants, to content themselves with the slaughter of afew, and by terror to constrain the rest to exchange their allegiance. Therewere indeed some who instantly surrendered: The greater part, by flying andbreaking the bridge, escaped the violence of the foe.

AFTER the victory was grown public, and as to the partyof VESPASIAN the first actions of the war had provedprosperous, there arrived at Padua two Legions, both zealous for that cause,the seventh sirnamed Galbiana, with the thirteenth named Gemina, and VEDIUS AQUILA itsCommander. There a few days were allowed for repose: The while, MINUCIUS JUSTUS, Camp Marshal of the seventh Legion, was sentaway to VESPASIAN, and thus snatched from the fury of thesoldiers, for that he exerted an authority over them more rigorous than suitedwith a civil war. ANTONIUS at this time accomplished athing, which having been long wished, was through popular constructionheightened into a feat of high glory, by causeing theStatues of GALBA, which by the violence and vicissitude ofthe times had been thrown down, to be restored to their wonted place andreverence in all the municipal Cities. For, he judged that by appearing toapprove the reign of GALBA, and to countenance the revivalof his party, credit would be derived upon his own.

IT WAS THEN EXAMINED, WHICH WAS THE MOST PROPER PLACE FOR THESEAT OF WAR; AND VERONA WAS PREFERRED, AS IT WAS SITUATED AMONGST SPACIOUSPLAINS, FIT FOR ENCOUNTERS OF HORSE, IN WHICH THEIR PRIME FORCE LAY: BESIDES ITWAS DEEMED AN EXPLOIT OF NOTABLE ADVANTAGE AND RENOWN, TO DEPRIVE VITELLIUS OF A COLONY SO POWERFUL AND OPULENT. IN THEIRMARCH THEY BECAME MASTERS OF VICETIA; AN ACQUISITION WHICH, THOUGH SMALL INITSELF, (FOR IT IS A CITY OF MEAN FORCE) PASSED FOR ONE OF MIGHTY MOMENT, WHENIT WAS CONSIDERED THAT IN IT CÆCINA WAS BORN, AND FROM THEGENERAL OF THE ENEMY THE PLACE OF HIS NATIVITY WAS SNATCHED. THE POSSESSION OFVERONA WAS A VALUABLE PRIZE, AND BY ITS WEALTH AND EXAMPLE STRENGTHENED THEPARTY. MOREOVER, BY THIS SITUATION, THE ARMY HAVING HEMMED IN RHÆTIA AND THEJULIAN ALPS, HAD PRECLUDED ALL ACCESSION OF FORCES FROM GERMANY: MEASURES WHICHTO VESPASIAN WERE EITHER NOT KNOWN, OR BY HIM FORBIDDEN;FOR HE ORDERED, THAT BEYOND AQUILEIA, NO EFFORTS OF WAR SHOULD BE MADE, BUTTHERE THE COMING OF MUCIANUS BE EXPECTED. TO HIS AUTHORITY HE ADDED REASONING,“THAT SINCE EGYPT, SINCE THE MAGAZINES FOR SUPPLYING ITALY WITH PROVISION,SINCE THE REVENUES OF THE MOST OPULENT PROVINCES, WERE ALL UNDER HIS POWER; THEARMY OF VITELLIUS, THROUGH WANT OF GRAIN AND PAY, MIGHT BECONSTRAINED TO COME OVER.” MUCIANUS IN REPEATED LETTERSURGED THE SAME COUNSELS, CONTENDING FOR “A VICTORY VOID OF SLAUGHTER, ANDEXEMPT FROM TEARS AND SORROW;” WITH THE LIKE FALSE COLOURINGS, BUT IN REALITYFROM A PASSION FOR GAINING ALL THE GLORY, AND STUDYING TO RESERVE FOR HIMSELFTHE INTIRE HONOUR OF THE WAR. BUT, FROM QUARTERS OF THE WORLD SO REMOTE, THESECOUNSELS ARRIVED AFTER THE AFFAIRS WERE DETERMINED.

ANTONIUS therefore making an excursion extremely sudden,assaulted the quarters of the enemy; where having in a light encounter triedtheir vigour, they parted on both sides upon equal terms. In a short space, CÆCINA pitched his camp between Hostilia, a village in theterritory of Verona, and the marshes of the river Tartarus; secure in hissituation, as behind he was defended by the river, on each side by the marsh.What he wanted was fidelity; else it was in his power, with the whole forces of VITELLIUS under his command, either to have utterlyoverwhelmed such a small band as two Legions, or driven them back again, andforced them to abandon Italy by a shameful flight. But CÆCINA framing manifold delays,traiterously sacrificed to the enemy the first season and opportunities offighting; continuing by letters to reprimand them, when by arms it was easy tohave routed them; till by the intercourse of messengers he had settled thestipulations of his disloyalty. In the mean time arrived APONIUSSATURNINUS, with the seventh Legion, named Claudiana. Over the Legion there commanded VIPSTANUS MESSALLA, inquality of Tribune, a man sprung from a race signally noble, in his own personillustrious, and the only one who upon worthy designs engaged in that war. Tothese forces, no-wise equal to those of VITELLIUS, (for asyet they were no more than three Legions) CÆCINA sentletters. In them he condemned their rashness, that men just vanquished shouldagain venture upon arms. The bravery of the German army he displayed in highflights of praise. His expressions of VITELLIUS were scantyand no other than common; and against VESPASIAN not acontumelious word was dropt. In conclusion, nothing was said tending either totempt the enemy, or to terrify them. In answer, the Leaders of VESPASIAN’S forces, without excusing their past conduct andfortune, mentioned VESPASIAN in strains very high andswelling, expressed mighty assurance in their cause, declared themselves secureof the issue, and treated VITELLIUS in the stile of enemiesavowed. To the Tribunesand Centurions they gave room to hope, that whateverfavours they had received from VITELLIUS, they should stillretain; and, in terms sufficiently plain, exhorted CÆCINA to desert. In a public assembly of the soldiers both letters were recited, andserved to heighten their confidence, since CÆCINA hadwritten in language so submissive, like one under awe of VESPASIAN; and their own Generals in a stile of scorn, withbold and open insults upon VITELLIUS.

UPON the arrival, thereafter, of two Legions, the thirdled by DILLIUS APONIANUS, the eighth by NUMISIUS LUPUS, it was judged proper to make a display of theirforces, and to draw an entrenchment round Verona. As it fell to the Legionnamed Galbiana to work upon the quarter fronting theopposite camp, the sight of some horse of their own, mistaken at a distance forthe enemy, filled them with pannic fear. In an instant they grasped their arms,and particularly against TITUS AMPIUS FLAVIANUS, whom theynow charged as a traitor, the wrath of the soldiers raged, from no indicationof guilt; but, as they had long since borne him mortal rancour, his bloody doomwas demanded with an uproar, like that of a tempest. In vehement and repeatedclamours they accused him, “as the kinsman of VITELLIUS, atraitor to OTHO, and guilty of appropriating to himself thedonative intended for them.” Liberty for defencethere was none, though in the posture of a supplicanthe implored it, with his hands humbly extended, prostrating himself again andagain, his garments rent, his face convulsed, and his bosom heaving with theemotions of anguish. To men thus enraged, even this his woe proved a freshincentive, as if by dread so excessive he bewrayed his guilt. APONIUS, as he attempted to speak, was silenced by the cries ofthe soldiers. In clamours too, and fierce noise they refused to hear the rest.To ANTONIUS only their ears were found open: For, besidesthe talent of eloquence, and his arts in soothing a multitude, he was withal ofgreat weight and estimation amongst them. He, when the sedition was growingextreme and tragical, and from bitter words and revilings they proceeded todeeds of violence and the sword, ordered FLAVIANUS to becast into irons. The soldiers perceived the evasion, and forceing away such asguarded the Tribunal, were about to perpetrate the murder. ANTONIUS opposed them with his sword drawn, with protestationsthat he himself would first perish by their hands or his own; and where-ever heespied any particular men known to him, or distinguished by the ornaments oftheir station in the army, all such he called by name to assist him. Thenturning towards the Ensigns and military Deities, he besought them, “That uponthe armies of their enemies they would rather pour that blind fury,and that spirit of dissention.” By this means thesedition came to subside, and the day now closing, they all dropped off totheir several tents. That very night FLAVIANUS departed,and, on his way to VESPASIAN, met letters from him, such asleft him no longer any cause of fear.

THE Legions, as if they had run mad with some infectiousfrenzy, next assailed APONIUS SATURNINUS, General of theforces from Mœsia, with outrage the more implacable, for that they began not asbefore, when fatigued with the toil and duty of the day, but burst into thisinsurrection at noon, provoked by certain letters dispersed abroad, which SATURNINUS was believed to have written to VITELLIUS. As amongst the soldiers of old, to surpass eachother in modesty and feats of valour was their only contention, they at thistime vied in impudence and mutinies: Hence they resolved that they would demandthe execution of APONIUS with no less boldness andviolence, than they had that of FLAVIANUS. For, as theMœsian Legions urged that in procuring vengeance to the Pannonian, theythemselves had assisted; and, as the Pannonian Legions appeared to think thatby the sedition of others their own was obliterated; both rejoiced in repeatingtheir guilt. To the gardens where SATURNINUS was retired,they straight proceed: Nor to ANTONIUS, nor to APONIANUS nor to MESSALLA, though theyused everyeffort, did he so much owe his deliverance as to ahiding place singularly obscure, by having conveyed himself into the furnacesof some baths by chance not then used. Anon having dismissed his Lictors, heretired to Padua. When the Leaders of Consular name were withdrawn, to ANTONIUS alone remained the power and sway over botharmies, by the concession of his equals, the other Commanders of Legions, andby the bent and partiality of the soldiers. Neither were there wanting thosewho believed both these seditions to have been moved by the intrigues of ANTONIUS, that upon himself alone might devolve the gloryand emoluments of the war.

NEITHER in the party of VITELLIUS were their spirits found more pacific and composed; nay, amongst them prevailedconvulsions more fatal, as their disorders arose not from suspicions harbouredby the crowd, but from the infidelity of their Leaders. The Marines at Ravenna,already wavering in their inclinations, as the greater part were natives ofDalmatia and Pannonia, (Provinces engaged to VESPASIAN )were gained over to his party by the influence of LUCILIUSBASSUS, Commander of the Fleet at that City. For the execution of thetreason the night was chosen, that the authors of the revolt only, might,unknown to the rest, assemble in the quarter of arms. BASSUS, whether he were ashamed, or whether hefeared what the issue might prove, awaited thesuccess privately at home. The Captains of the Gallies fell upon the Images of VITELLIUS, demolishing them with terrible uproar, and aftersome few who resisted were slaughtered, the rest of the crowd, from fondnessfor public changes, espoused the cause of VESPASIAN. Thenwent forth LUCILIUS, and publicly owned that from hiscounsels and orders the defection had sprung. The Fleet for their Commanderchose CORNELIUS FUSCUS, who made quick dispatch thither. BASSUS, under custody, but honourably treated, was conveyedby some light vessels to Hadria, and by MENNIUS RUFINUS, who commanded a Squadron in garison there, thrown into bonds, but presentlyreleased upon the arrival of HORMUS Freedman to VESPASIAN: For, he too was considered in the rank ofGeneral Officers.

CÆCINA, when he found that the revolt of the Navy wasdivulged, assembled in the quarter of arms all the principal Centurions and asmall number of common soldiers, whilst the rest were dispersed upon theseveral duties of the service; for, he warily chose the season of most solitudein the camp. He there extolled “the magnanimity of VESPASIAN, and the power of his party. The Fleet, the magazineof provisions, was revolted; both Spains, and all the Gauls, were enemiesdeclared; upon Rome, where nothing was found, there could be no reliance:”with the like representations concerning VITELLIUS, all in the worst colours. He then forthwith gavethem the oath to VESPASIAN, and they who were hisaccomplices setting an example, the rest, astonished and disconcerted by anevent so sudden and strange, took it after them. At the same instant the Imagesof VITELLIUS were pulled down and defaced, and messengersdispatched to acquaint ANTONIUS with the whole. But as soonas through the whole camp news of the defeat were spread, the soldiers flockedto the quarter of arms; and, as they beheld the name of VESPASIAN set up, the effigies of VITELLIUS flung down, the first effect of their surprize was a silence altogetherprofound and universal; then, in a moment, there burst out, as from one mouth,a torrent of resentment and expostulations. “Was the glory of the German Armyfallen thus low, that without fighting a battle, without receiving a wound,they should yield their hands to be bound, like men vanquished, or surrendertheir arms like captives? For, in truth, what Legions had they to dread? werethey not the Legions already routed? and even from these were wanting the firstand the fourteenth, who constituted the only strength of OTHO’S army, yet whom, in the same field, they had routed andoverthrown; that thence they themselves, yea, so many thousand men so brave andarmed, might now be presented to ANTONIUS a fugitive and exile,like a drove of slaves exposed to sale in a market: As if eight Legions were toaccrue as succours, to a single Fleet. Such was the good pleasure of BASSUS, such that of CÆCINA; that afterthey had divested the Emperor of his houses, of his gardens, of his treasures,they would also divest him of his soldiers, though in their force not impaired,in their persons no-wise maimed, but in full vigour; thus to to be rendereddespicable even in the eyes of VESPASIAN’S party. To suchas should thereafter ask them either concerning their exploits and success, ortheir losses and disasters, what answers should they be able to make?” Thesewere the cries of each, these the cries of the whole, all fiercely uttered,suitably to the indignation felt by each particular: And with the fifth Legionwho began, the rest readily concurred, in replacing the images of VITELLIUS, and putting CÆCINA in irons.For their Leaders they chose FABIUS FABULLUS, Commander ofthe fifth Legion, and CASSIUS LONGUS, Camp Marshal. CertainMarines belonging to the three light Gallies, they butchered; men unapprized ofwhat had passed, free from guilt or design, and only through hazard falling intheir way. They relinquished their camp, and breaking the bridge, marched backagain to Hostilia, from thence to Cremona, there to rejoin the first Legionnamed Italica, and the one andtwentieth sirnamed Rapax, which CÆCINA had sent forward with part of the cavalry to takepossession of Cremona.

WHEN these transactions were known to ANTONIUS, he resolved forthwith to attack the enemy thus ragingwith animosities, and divided in their sorces, ere the Leaders had recoveredauthority, the soldiers their discipline and obedience, or the Legions spiritand boldness by uniting. For he imagined that FABIUS VALENS must ere now have left Rome, and would upon learning the desertion of CÆCINA, travel with great celerity. Moreover FABIUS bore firm faith to VITELLIUS, andwas no novice in war. Besides, it was seared that a huge host of Germans wereadvancing through Rhætia; and VITELLIUS had orderedsuccours to repair out of Britain, and Gaul, and Spain; the whole a source ofwar terrible and consuming, had not ANTONIUS, in dread ofthis very thing, by hastening to engage, anticipated the victory. With hiswhole army he marched from Verona, and the next evening encamped at Bedriacum.The day following, he sent abroad his auxiliary Cohorts into the territories ofCremona, that under colour of supplying the army with provisions, they mightbecome hardened in the practice of civil plunder. The Legions were detained thewhile, to fortify the camp. He himself at the head of sout thousand horse,travelled eight miles from Bedriacum, thence to afford the Cohortsgreater security and latitude in their ravages. Thescouts, according to custom, were at a greater distance, intent upondiscoveries.

IT was now about the fifth hour of the day, when therearrived one upon a fleet horse with tidings, “that the enemy approached; beforethe rest a small band advanced; and, on every side was heard the agitation andtumult of their march.” Whilst ANTONIUS was concerting whatmeasures to take, ARRIUS VARUS forward to acquit himself anotable champion, rushed out with a party of the most resolute horse, androuted the front of the enemy, yet with small slaughter; since, as there flewmany to support their fellows, the fortune of the encouter changed, and whoeverhad been keenest in pursuing, proved only the last in flying. Nor indeed wasthis hasty step taken by the approbation of ANTONIUS, whojudged that the issue would be such as it happened. He now exhorted those abouthim, to prepare with undaunted spirit for battle, and posting his troops uponeach hand, left a passage between for the reception of VARUS and his horsemen. To the Legions orders were dispatchedto arm: Over the country notice to the Cohorts was every where given, to quittheir pillage, and hasten the several nearest ways to the combat. VARUS in the mean time, in terrible affright, had conveyedhimself into the thickest of his band, and uponthem brought general dread. Thus they who wererouted, not the wounded only, but such as had received no hurt, were allmiserably struggling under their own fears, and with ways strait andobstructed.

NO part belonging to the duty of an undaunted commanderor to that of a most courageous soldier, did ANTONIUS omitduring this consternation. Such as were dismayed he animated, such as hadrecoiled he stayed. Where-ever the greatest efforts were required, where-everany hope was presented, he readily assisted, here with counsel and orders,there with his sword; to the enemy remarkable by his voice, to his own soldiersmanifest in person. At last to such a degree of fervour he was transported,that with his javelin he transfixed a standard-bearer who was flying, andseizing the standard, with it instantly confronted the foe. An hundred, and nomore, struck with shame to desert their General, returned to the fight. Fromthe place where they fought they drew their advantage and relief; for the waywas but narrow, and the river too running behind (now that the bridge wasbroken) by its high banks and uncertain depth, interrupted the flight. Thisnecessity, or perhaps fortune, restored the forces of VESPASIAN just sinking under a defeat. Firmly compactedtogether, they sustained, with ranks close and impenetrable, the assaults of VITELLIUS his men, who pouring in, like a rash anddisorderly multitude,were instantly repulsed and dismayed. ANTONIUS urged their disorder, pursued the discomfited, brokeand overthrew such as stood. The rest, the while, betook themselves to plunder,to make captives, or to seize horses and arms, just as their severalinclinations prompted them. Such too were the shouts of joy as to reach thosewhom fear and flight had just before scattered over the country; and they nowreturned to share in the victory.

FOUR miles from Cremona were descried the refulgentEagles of two Legions, Rapax, and Italica. Thus far they had come, encouraged by the success oftheir cavalry, who, in the first encounter, had proved victorious. But whenfortune changed, they would not open their ranks, would not afford reception totheir unfortunate friends, beaten, and flying; would not advance towards theenemy, nor take the opportunity of falling upon forces spent with fighting andlong pursuit; an opportunity which probably might have rendered themvictorious. In truth, during prosperity they perceived not so sensibly the useof a General, as in adversity that they wanted him. Upon this body alreadyfluctuating and irresolute, the conquering cavalry made an onset, supported by VIPSTANUS MESSALLA with the Auxiliaries from Mœsia, who,however suddenly they had been levied, were in feats of war deemed equal to thesoldiers of the Legions. Moreover the neighbouring wallsof Cremona, the surer hopes of refuge they yieldedthem, left them so much the less spirit to maintain the conflict.

NEITHER did ANTONIUS further urgehis victory: He was mindful of the condition of his men and horses, wasted withheavy fatigue and afflicted with many wounds, in a battle which, howeversuccessful in the issue, had proved so doubtful and perillous. In the close ofthe evening arrived the whole power of VESPASIAN’S army. Asthey marched over hills of slain, and through the monuments and traces of acarnage so recent, they concluded the war to be completely finished, andinsisted to be led directly to Cremona, either to bring these vanquished forcesto surrender, or to force the place. This was the plausible language which theyused openly: But privately every particular reasoned with himself in the termsfollowing; “That the City, as it was situated in a plain, might be taken bystorm. In forcing an entrance in the dark, they should be prompted with thesame resolution, and have greater latitude for spoiling. Now if they awaitedthe return of day, presently supplications would be offered, presently peacewould be accepted; and for their toils and wounds they should only reap renownand the praise of clemency, barren gratifications; but to the Commanders ofLegions and principal Officers would accrue the wealth of Cremona: Since to thesoldiersbelonged the plunder of a town taken by the sword, asto the Leaders, when gained by surrender.” The authority of their Tribunes andCenturions they utterly slighted; and to drown the voice of any one who offeredto reason with them, they thundered with their arms, ready to renounce allcommand unless they were forthwith led on.

ANTONIUS having now conveyed himself into the crowd,after he had by his presence and authority procured silence, declared, “That ofno part of their glory, of no part of their recompence sought he to deprive menso well deserving: but between an army and its Leaders the duties were sharedand distinct. To the soldiers it appertained to dare danger, to long for thecombat. The Generals shewed their excellence in providing against exigencies,in concerting judicious measures; nay, oftener by patience and procrastination,than by haste and hazard, their success was obtained. As he had, at the perilof his life, and by the dint of his sword, promoted the late victory with allhis might, he was ready to contribute the assistance of his counsels andopinion; parts essential to a General. In truth, the difficulties to beencountered, admitted no question or doubt; namely, the night, the unknownsituation of the city, the enemy masters of it, on all hands opportunities forcircumvention and ambush. Enter, in truth, they ought not, even though thegates were thrown open, even though it were full day,till after sure search and intelligence. Would they indeed begin the assault,while yet berest of light to discover where lay the most easy and accessibleplaces, or what was the height of the walls? Or before it was determinedwhether the city were to be attacked by missive engines and flights of darts,or by works and machines for battery?” Then turning round to particulars, heenquired of each, “If with him he had brought a hatchet, a pick-ax, and otherutensils for besieging towns?” As they owned that they had not; he cried, “Withswords and spears alone can any hands possibly break through and overthrowCity-walls? Should we be constrained to throw up a rampart; should it provenecessary to shelter ourselves under pent-houses of boards, and sheds ofhurdles; must we not, in such distress, remain like the vulgar herd, everthoughtless and improvident, impotently staring at the lofty towers and strongbulwarks of our enemies? Better it is to delay for one night; and, when ourwarlike engines and machines are brought, carry with us power and victory.”

AT the same instant he dispatched to Bedriacum theattendants and followers of the camp, accompanied by the freshest of thecavalry, to bring a supply of provisions, with whatever else the presentexigency required. As the soldiers could not bear this but withimpatience and regret, an insurrection was justbeginning, when some horsemen, who had advanced close to the walls of Cremona,seized certain stragglers from thence. By them a discovery was made, “That sixLegions belonging to VITELLIUS, and the whole host whichhad quartered at Hostilia, having learnt the defeat of their fellows, had thatsame day marched thirty miles, and were just approaching arrayed for battle.”The minds of the men, otherwise stubborn and ungovernable, upon this terriblealarm, became pliant and open to the counsel of their Commander. The thirdLegion he ordered to post themselves upon the Posthumian highway. Adjoining toit, upon the left, stood the seventh, called Galbiana, inthe plain; next to this the seventh, named Claudiana, towhich a common ditch, such as the country presented, served for anentrenchment. Upon the right was placed the eighth, in fields open to the greatroad; then the thirteenth, interspersed in a close copse. Such was thedisposition of the several Eagles and Ensigns of the Legions. The soldiers wereintermixed in the dark, at the allotment of chance. Next to the third Legionstood the banner of the Prætorians; the auxiliary Cohorts upon the wings; andthe Cavalry covered the flanks and the rear. SIDO and ITALICUS from Suevia, at the head of a choice band of theirnation, served in the foremost ranks.

NOW the army of VITELLIUS, who inall discretion ought to have rested at Cremona, and, having by meat and sleeprecovered their vigour, beset the enemy next day, and pnshed them to anoverthrow, while spent and disabled with cold and fasting; yet, wanting aruler, and destitute of counsel, about the third hour of the night, rushedprecipitately upon the forces of VESPASIAN already preparedand even embattled. Under what form they came on to the assault, I dare notundertake to explain, disordered as it was by darkness and their own rage;though others have recounted, that the fourth Legion, named Macedonica, occupied the right wing; that the fifth andfifteenth, strengthened with the Vexillaries of the ninth, the second, and thetwentieth, (all three British Legions) constituted the main battle, and, thatthe sixteenth, the two and twentieth, and the first, furnished the left wing.The soldiers of those called Rapax and Italica, had mingled themselves throughout all the companies.The cavalry and auxiliary bands chose their own station. During the whole nightthe combat held uncertain, shifting, and tragical; now destructive to these,anon to those. Nothing availed bravery, nothing strength, nor, in truth, theeyes, now deprived of discernment. In both hosts the arms were alike, and thewatch word of each, by being frequently asked and repeated, became known to theother. Intermingled without distinction were the standards,just as opposite parties could seize them from theirenemies, and pull them hither and thither. Most sorely beset was the seventhLegion, one lately enrolled by GALBA. Out of it sixCenturions of principal rank were slain, and some of the ensigns were taken.The Eagle itself ATILIUS VERUS had preserved; he was chiefCenturion, who in its defence slew heaps of the enemy, and at last perishedhimself.

TO his sinking battalions ANTONIUS administered support, by calling to their assistance the body of Prætorians.They at the first encounter repulsed the foe, and anon suffered a repulse. For,the soldiers of VITELLIUS had now removed their missiveengines, and planted them upon the ridge of the Posthumian way, that thencewith more room and over the clear fields they might discharge their deadlycontents, which before flew at random, and, without annoying the foe, smote thebushes. One of amazing bulk, of the sort called Balistæ, belonging to the fifteenth Legion, overthrew the enemy’s ranks, by pouring uponthem massy stones; and destruction more extensive had followed, but for twocommon soldiers, who adventured upon an exploit of signal renown. From amongstthe slain they furnished themselves with shields, and passing undiscovered, cutthe ligatures and springs of the engines. They were indeed presentlyslaughtered, and thence their names have perished: Of the action itself, nodoubtis made. To neither side was fortune yet leaning,when the night being well nigh spent, the moon rising presented the contendingarmies to sight, but deceived the eye. More favourable however she proved tothat of VESPASIAN, as she shone upon their backs; for,against the shadows of the men and horses, thus magnified, as against theirreal bodies, the darts and arrows of the enemy were deceitfully directed, andfell ere they reached their aim. The bands of VITELLIUS, who from the reflection in front stood clear in view, were exposed, quitedefenceless and surprized, to be galled by men who thus annoyed them as it werefrom a hiding place.

ANTONIUS, therefore, now that he could distinguish hisown men, and be by them distinguished, set himself to animate them severally bydifferent instigations, some by shame and reproof, many by applause andexhortation, all by hopes and promises. The Legions from Pannonia he asked,“From what motive they had again betaken themselves to arms? This was the fieldin which they might obliterate the stain of their former disgrace; here theymight recover their glory.” Then turning to those from Mœsia, he roused them,“As the men who began the revolt, and were the first movers of the war. In vainthey had defied the powers of VITELLIUS with big words andmenaces, if they could not bear their looks and blows.” In this manner hereasoned with such as he happened to accost. To thethird Legion he discoursed more copiously, and to their memory recalled theirfeats of renown ancient and late; “How under ANTHONY theyhad overthrown the Parthians, under CORBULO the Armenians;and not long since discomfited the Sarmatians.” He next applied, with greatwrath, to the Prætorians. “For you; said he, if you conquer not now, what otherGeneral will ever receive you, what other camp will admit you, who are nolonger soldiers, but degraded? Yonder amongst the foes are your banners andyour arms, and yonder, if you are vanquished, death abides you; for, of yourshame you have already seen the end.” There ensued from every quarter cries andshoutings; and just then the third Legion, according to the Custom in Syria,paid their adoration to the rising sun.

FROM this incident a rumour flew, whether fortuitous orcontrived by the General, “That MUCIANUS was arrived, andbetween the armies mutual salutations had passed.” Instantly they pressed to acloser charge, as if really reinforced by fresh succours. In truth, VITELLIUS his host were already become looser anddisjoined; as men who, without a Leader to controul them, closed or opened justas particulars were moved by the impulse of their own fury or fear. When ANTONIUS perceived them disordered and plying, he pushedthem vehemently with astrong and condensed band; and their ranks yielding,were utterly broken: nor was it possible to restore them, as they wereembarrassed and obstructed by their own carriages and engines. The conquerorstoo, eager to pursue, covered in parties the whole way. The more signal wasthis slaughter, for that in it a son slew his father. I shall here recount thefact and the names of the men, as the same are recorded by VIPSTANUS MESSALLA. JULIUS MANSUETUS, a native of Spain,listing in the Legion called Rapax, left behind him athome a son, then a boy, who afterwards growing up, and having been under GALBA enrolled in the seventh Legion, happened here toconfront his father, and wounded him so that he fell. Whilst he rifled this hisparent just expiring, he was by him known, and knew him again. He then embracedhis pale coarse, and with a voice doleful and sad, supplicated the manes of hisfather “to be atoned, nor to hold him in horrour as a parricide; upon thepublic only the crime was to be charged; and, in a general tumult of civilarms, poor and small was the part of a single soldier.” He at the same timelifted up the body, digged a grave, and towards his parent discharged the lastduty. Such who were nearest observed what passed, as did then many more. Hencethrough the whole host the wonderful accident flew, with many wailings, andwith bitter execration upon a war thus unnaturaland barbarous. Yet with never the more reluctancethey proceeded first to butcher, then to spoil their kinsmen, their relations,nay, their brethren. They tell what a crying iniquity has been done, and doit.

UPON their approach to Cremona, there presented itself atask altogether new and immense. In the war against OTHO, the soldiers from Germany had pitched their camp quite round the walls, andquite round their camp had drawn a great trench; and to this too had sinceadded fresh bulwarks. At sight of all these the conquerors were checked, andhesitated, as in truth their Leaders were unresolved what directions to give.To proceed to the assault with an army already wasted and weary with thecontinued toils of a day and a night, were an enterprize full of difficulty;and, as no succour or refuge was nigh, it were full of danger. If they shouldreturn to Bedriacum, intolerable were the fatigue from a journey so long, andvain and abortive would then prove their victory gained. Should they here stayand encamp, this too was a course to be dreaded so near the enemy; for that bya sudden sally he might attack and distress the men when dispersed and employedin their works. Above all their apprehensions was that administered by theirown soldiers, men apter to tempt perils than to bear delays. To them allmeasures that were safe were distasteful, and in feats of temerity they placedtheir hopes; so that forall the slaughter which they suffered, for all theirgorings, and their blood spilt, they found full compensation in the lust andfruition of spoil.

TO this humour ANTONIUS yielded, andordered the soldiers, in the form of a ring, to invest the entrenchment for anequal assault. At first the conflict was maintained by distant vollies ofstones and arrows; whence the forest havock fell upon the forces of VESPASIAN, as against them blows were dealt with forcesuperior from above. Anon he assigned different stations to the severalLegions, round the ramparts and against the several gates; that by thusdividing the task into lots, the coward might be distinguished from the brave,and a competition for glory animate all. To the third Legion and the seventhbelonged the quarter facing the road to Bedriacum; as did that upon the righthand to the eighth and the seventh, named Claudiana. Theardour of the thirteenth Legion carried them directly to the Port towardsBrixia. There ensued a short respite, till from the neighbouring fields werebrought spades and pickaxes by some, by others hooks and ladders. Then raisingtheir shields over their heads, and thence forming a continued shell, under itsshelter they advanced to the foot of the bulwarks. On both sides was possessedthe military prowess of Romans: The bands of VITELLIUS hurled down quantities of mighty stones; and as the shell, thusbattered, became loose and tottering, with spears andlong poles they pierced and rent it, till they had thus quite dissolved thecontexture of the shields; then beat to the ground the men beneath, andslaughtered or maimed them with huge havock.

THE onset began to slacken and discontinue, till theLeaders who found the soldiers exhausted, and unmoved by exhortations barren ofprofit, pointed to Cremona and offered it as their spoil. Whether by HORMUS this device was started, as MESSALLA recounts, or whether more credit be due to theauthority of CAIUS PLINIUS, who charges it upon ANTONIUS; is a doubt which I cannot easily clear. I shallonly say that, even in this proceeding, horrible as it was, neither did ANTONIUS, nor did HORMUS, in the leastvary from the course of their past lives and infamy. Thus encouraged, nothingcould scare or retard the men; regardless of wounds and blood, they laboured todemolish the rampart, pressed and battered the gates, stood upon the shouldersof one another, climbed upon the shell of shields now restored, and seized theweapons in the hands of the enemy, nay, the hands too which held them. Togetherheadlong tumbled the hale and the maimed, such as were half dead with such aswere just dying, and together perished under various forms: So that here in allits ghastly views, the horrors of death were displayed.

BY the seventh Legion and the third, the fiercestconflict was maintained. The General too, ANTONIUS, with aselect detachment of Auxiliaries, exerted himself in the same quarter. When theparty of VITELLIUS were no longer able to sustain the shockof men all obstinately combined to succeed or die, and as their discharges fromabove were all dissipated by the shell of shields below; they at last hurleddown upon the assailants the missive engine itself, huge and ponderous as itwas. As this failed not to crush and overwhelm those upon whom it fell, so inits own overthrow it involved that of the pinnacles and ridge of the ramparts.At the same instant the tower adjoining yielded to the continual vollies ofstones, and fell. Whilst here the seventh Legion, formed into a band sharp infront, strove to enter, the third with their swords and axes broke the gate.That CAIUS VOLUSIUS, a soldier of the third Legion, was thefirst who forced an entrance, is apparent from the concurrence of allhistorians. He having mounted the rampart, pushed down all who resisted, and byhis hand and his voice manifesting himself to his fellows, cried aloud that thecamp was taken. The rest then burst in: for VITELLIUS hismen, now reduced to utter dismay, were already leaping with great hurry fromthe battlements. With the bodies of the slain was filled the whole spacebetween the camp and Cremona.

HERE again was presented a new scene of difficulties andfatigues, the walls of the City mighty and high, strong towers of stone, thegate secured with vast bars of iron, the soldiers already brandishing theirinstruments of destruction, the inhabitants numerous and devoted to the partyof VITELLIUS, in the town a great part of Italy assembledat the Fair now holden there upon stated days: An incident which to those whodefended it yielded matter of succour, because of the multitude; and, to thosewho attacked it, matter of stimulation, because of the prey. ANTONIUS ordered fire to be immediately set to all the mostsumptuous and beautiful buildings in the neighbourhood of the City; ifperadventure the people of Cremona might, by seeing their possessionsdestroyed, be induced to change their allegiance. Into such houses as stoodnear the walls and in height exceeded the battlements, he conveyed all hisbravest men, enow to fill the upper stories; from whence with rafters, tilesand flaming torches, they drove away all who made opposition.

ALREADY the Legions had compacted and formed themselvesinto a shell, whilst others were now pouring volleys of stones and darts, whenthe bravery of the Vitellian bands began by little and little to droop. Each,in proportion as he excelled in rank, was forward to yield to fortune: Theyfeared that, were Cremona too once stormed, there would be no longer room forpardon left, and allthe fury of the conquerors would recoil, not upon therabble of soldiers, bare and indigent, but upon the Tribunes and Centurions,men whose blood promised booty. The common men, who beyond the present thinknot, and from the lowness of their lot derive the greater safety, persisted intheir opposition. They roved through the streets, or lay retired in the houses,and sought not peace even at a time when they had dropped all efforts of war.The chief officers abolished the name and images of VITELLIUS: From CÆCINA too they removed hisbonds (for even then he was under them) and besought him to plead in theirbehalf for mercy. As he denied their suit and swelled with haughtiness andscorn, they persevered to importune him with many tears: The last instancesurely, and the highest of affliction and abasement, when so many brave menwere reduced to supplicate the succour of a traitor. Next they hung from thewalls the sacred hoods and veils from the temples; and, when ANTONIUS had ordered all violence to be stayed, they bore forththeir Eagles and Banners. After followed the sorrowful host without their arms,and with their eyes fastened to the ground. Around them gathered theconquerors, and at first insulted them with revileings, nay, were nearchastising them with blows: Yet, as it was perceived how tamely the vanquishedpresented their persons and faces to all indignities, how they had relinquishedall pride and fierceness, and bore with signalpatience all their calamities, it began to be remembered, that these were thesame men, who having gained the late victory at Bedriacum, had tempered theirsuccess with lenity. But as soon as CÆCINA approached,arrayed and attended with Lictors and the Robe of State, and passed in the pompof Consul through a lane purposely made in the throng, rage seized theconquering host. They bitterly upbraided him for his pride, and for hiscruelty; nay, such is the abhorrence naturally annexed to deeds of villainy,that they even upbraided him for his revolt. ANTONIUS checked their violence, and furnishing him with a guard, sent him away towards VESPASIAN.

THE populace of Cremona, the while, were sorelyoppressed among such a multitude of armed men. They were in truth threatenedwith a present massacre, till, by the intreaties of the Leaders, the ragingsoldiers became asswaged. ANTONIUS moreover calling anassembly, made a speech, full of high applauses upon the conquerors, full ofgentleness towards the vanquished. To Cremona his expressions boded neithermercy nor wrath. The army besides their inherent lust of plunder, werestimulated by an old rancour to seek the overthrow of that Colony. Theinhabitants were believed, even in the war against OTHO, tohave supported the cause of VITELLIUS: Soon after too, whenthe thirteenth Legion had been left to rear anAmphitheatre there, as the lower Citizens every where have spirits pert andscornful, they of Cremona had with biting and petulant jests constantlyprovoked and derided the men. To heighten this ill humour and despight thereconcurred the late combat of Gladiators presented there by CÆCINA, and that the same place had been now twice the seat ofthe war, that it had furnished the army of VITELLIUS withprovisions, that even some of the women were slain in the fight, carriedthither by their passionate zeal for the cause. Moreover by means of the Fair,the City, though in itself very rich, was filled with a display of wealth stillmore abundant. The other Leaders were all eclipsed by ANTONIUS. Upon him his signal fortune and fame drew all eyes.He, to wash himself from the stains of blood, had present recourse to a bath,where a word which he happened to drop, was quickly remarked and divulged. Ashe complained of the imperfect warmth, he added, that “it would suddenly proveabundantly hot:” A saying which, though pleasantly uttered to his slaves,turned upon him the whole odium and indignation of the Public, as if by this hehad given the watch-word for setting fire to Cremona, which was already in ablaze.

INTO it there had rushed forty-thousand men, all intheir arms; of the base retainers to the camp, still a greater number, and moreabandoned to feats of licentiousness and barbarity.No security accrued from the age of persons, none from dignity of place, andneither proved a restraint from joining acts of constupration to those ofmurder, and acts of murder to those of constupration. Men stooping under a loadof years, and matrons past their age, as they would yield no price, weredragged along in mockery and mirth. When in their way there fell any virgingrown, or lovely boy; after all the limbs of the tender prey were rent asunderby the struggles and competition of these sons of cruelty; then, in the rage ofdisappointment, with their bloody hands they butchered each other. Whilst fromthe several Temples they were carrying loads of treasure, or the sacred giftsand ornaments of massy gold, every one under a burden of his own, they werethemselves spoiled and slaughtered by others who were stronger. Some despisingthe booty which was present and obvious, by merciless tortures and stripesforced the proprietors to search out whatever they had concealed, to dig upwhatever they had buried. In their hands they bore flaming torches: These theythrew, as notable sport, into empty houses, such as they had just stripped, andinto Temples which they had first made desolate. And, as in an army differentin language and customs, an army variously composed, of Roman Citizens, ofconfederates, and of strangers; various too and different were their passionsand pursuits; and to every one some or other act ofviolence seemed right; nor was any act whatsoever forborn as unjust. Duringfour whole days did Cremona bear depredations and the flames. When under thefury of the fire all things, whether sacred or profane, had subsided, theTemple of MEPHITIS, standing without the walls, remainedintire, whether, by its situation, not exposed, or preserved by theinterposition of the Goddess.

SUCH was the end of Cremona, two hundred and eighty-sixyears after its rise. It was founded under the Consulship of TIBERIUS SEMPRONIUS and PUBLIUS CORNELIUS, when HANNIBAL was ready to fall into Italy, as a barrieragainst the Gauls on the other side the Po, or any other power meditating anirruption from beyond the Alps. Thus it grew and flourished in number ofpeople, convenience of rivers, richness of territory, and affinities with othernations of Italy; a Colony in all our foreign wars never hurt, but in our civildissentions signally unhappy. ANTONIUS, struck with shamefor the barbarity committed, which upon him was continually drawing freshabhorrence, issued a public order, “That no one should presume to hold captiveany citizen of Cremona.” Vain too and unprofitable to the soldiers had suchprey been rendered by the unanimous combination of Italy, to refuse thepurchase of such for their slaves. Thus they who had them began to murder them.When this inhumanity became known, their kindred andrelations made haste to redeem them. Shortly after the remainder of the peoplereturned to Cremona. The places of public resort, and the Temples were restoredby the liberality and contribution of the Colony. They had moreover, toencourage them, special countenance and exhortation from VESPASIAN.

NOW as through putrefaction and carcasses the ground waspolluted and noisome, the vanquishers could not long lodge upon the ruins inwhich the city was buried. They therefore retired three miles from thence, andfinding the soldiers of VITELLIUS scattered and dismayed,replaced them again, each under his former banner. Over Illyricum too theydispersed the conquered Legions; lest, as the civil War still subsisted, theymight form dangerous designs. They thereafter sent messengers into Britain andinto both Spains, there to blazon their victory; as into Gaul they alsodispatched JULIUS CALENUS a Tribune, and into Germany ALPINUS MONTANUS Commander of a Cohort, two officers chosenfor ostentation and parade, as the latter was of Treves, the former an Eduan,both partizans of VITELLIUS. At the same time, guards wereposted upon the passes of the Alps from a jealousy entertained of Germany, asif for the succour of VITELLIUS that country werearming.

NOW VITELLIUS, WHEN CÆCINA WAS DEPARTED,HAVING IN A FEW DAYS AFTER CAUSED FABIUS VALENS TO TAKE THEFIELD, ABANDONING THE FUNCTIONS OF AN EMPEROR, SMOTHERED ALL HIS CARES INVOLUPTUOUSNESS AND EXCESS, MADE NO WARLIKE PREPARATIONS, BY NO MILITARYEXERCISES PRESERVED THE VIGOUR OF THE SOLDIERS, BY NO PATHETIC HARANGUESINSPIRED THEM WITH CONFIDENCE AND ZEAL, SHEWED HIMSELF NOT IN PUBLIC, NORCOURTED THE AFFECTION OF THE PEOPLE, BUT BURIED IN THE BOWERS AND ALLEYS OF HISGARDENS, HAD IN OBLIVION EQUALLY DROWNED ALL THOUGHTS OF THINGS PAST, PRESENT,AND FUTURE; LIKE CERTAIN BEASTS SO LISTLESS AND HEAVY, THAT IF YOU THROW THEMBUT PROVENDER, LYE STILL FOR EVER, RESIGNED TO STUPIDITY AND SLUMBERING. UNDERTHIS COURSE OF SLOTH AND GLUTTONY, IN THE GROVE AT ARICINUM, HE WAS ALARMEDWITH TIDINGS OF THE DESERTION OF LUCILIUS BASSUS, AND THEDEFECTION OF THE FLEET AT RAVENNA. SOON AFTER CAME ANOTHER MELANCHOLY ACCOUNT,YET BLENDED WITH JOY, THAT CÆCINA HAD REVOLTED, BUT BY THEARMY WAS CAST INTO BONDS. IN HIS SPIRIT UNDISCERNING AND STUPID, JOY OVERCAMEANXIETY. BACK HE RETURNED TO ROME WITH MIGHTY ALACRITY AND EXULTATION, AND IN AFULL ASSEMBLY ACCUMULATED MANY PRAISES UPON THE DUTY AND DEVOTION OF THESOLDIERS. UPON PUBLIUS SABINUS, CAPTAIN OF THE PRÆTORIANGUARDS, BECAUSE OF HIS INTIMACY WITH CÆCINA, HE ORDEREDCHAINS TO BE PUT, AND IN HIS PLACE SUBSTITUTED ALPHENUSVARUS.

HE presently after met the Senate, and to them addressedhimself in a speech purposely framed, with strains very high and boasting. Tothese the Senators replied in many flights of elaborate flattery. The first whoproposed judgment to pass against CÆCINA, a judgment deadlyand terrible, was LUCIUS VITELLIUS. Immediately all therest, in a stile of indignation well studied, declared their abhorrence, “Thathe who was Consul should thus betray the Commonweal, he who was General, hisEmperor; he, upon whom had been poured riches so vast, public honours so many,betray his friend and benefactor.” Thus they appeared to complain in behalf of VITELLIUS, but in reality uttered their own just grief andresentment. In all their speeches not a man dropped the least invective againstthe opposite Leaders. They only blamed “the mistake and indiscretion of thearmies,” and with great circumspection avoided all mention of VESPASIAN. One too was found who by servile court obtained theConsulship for one day, (as so much remained of CÆCINA’S term) with infinite derision upon him who bestowed, as well as upon him whoaccepted. Upon the last day of October, ROSCIUS REGULUS began this his Magistracy, and with the day his Magistracy ended. It was bywise men observed, that never till then had one Consul been substituted toanother, till the office were first abrogated, or a law solemnly published.For there had been before a Consul for one day, CANINIUS REBILUS, during the Dictatorship of JULIUS CÆSAR, at a juncture when offices were shortened togratify such as had merited in the civil War.

DURING THESE DAYS WAS PUBLICLY KNOWN THE DEATH OF JUNIUS BLÆSUS, AND EMPLOYED THE TONGUES OF ALL MEN. CONCERNINGIT I HAVE LEARNT THE FOLLOWING ACCOUNT. VITELLIUS, WHILSTHE LABOURED UNDER A GRIEVOUS MALADY IN THE GARDENS OF SERVILIUS, PERCEIVED, DURING THE NIGHT, A TOWER IN THENEIGHBOURHOOD ILLUMINATED WITH A MULTITUDE OF LIGHTS. AS HE EXPRESSED CURIOSITYTO KNOW THE OCCASION, HE WAS INFORMED, “THAT CÆCINA TUSCUS CELEBRATEE AT HIS HOUSE A GREAT BANQUET FOR MANY GUESTS, BUT THE FOREMOST INDIGNITY WAS JUNIUS BLÆSUS. ” IN RECOUNTING PARTICULARS,TERRIBLE AGGRAVATIONS WERE MADE AND EVERY THING MISREPRESENTED, “WHAT POMPOUSPREPARATIONS AND PARADE, TO WHAT FLIGHTS OF GAYITY AND MAD REVELLINGS THEY HADLET LOOSE THEIR MINDS.” NOR WERE THERE WANTING SOME TO ARRAIGN TUSCUS HIMSELF AND OTHERS: BUT THEY CHARGED BLÆSUS AS MORE CRIMINAL THAN ALL, “THAT WHILST THE EMPERORLANGUISHED UNDER SICKNESS, HE THUS KEPT DAYS OF FESTIVITY AND REJOICING.” WHENTO SUCH AS EAGERLY WATCH THE PASSIONS AND DISGUSTS OF PRINCES, IT APPEAREDMANIFEST THAT THE EMPEROR WAS EXASPERATED, AND THAT THE DOOM OF BLÆSUS MIGHT BE ACCOMPLISHED, UPON LUCIUSVITELLIUS WAS PRESENTLY DEVOLVED THE TASK OF MAINTAINING THEACCUSATION. HE, FROM A SPIRIT OF MALIGNITY AND ENVY, BEARING SPECIAL ENMITY TO BLÆSUS, FOR THAT IN A REPUTATION GLORIOUS AND POPULAR, HESO FAR SURPASSED HIMSELF, CONTAMINATED WITH EVERY SORT OF INFAMY, WENT DIRECTLYAND OPENING THE EMPEROR’S CHAMBER, CATCHED IN HIS ARMS THE EMPEROR’S SON, ANDBEFORE HIM FELL UPON HIS KNEES. TO THE OTHER, WHO INQUIRED INTO THE CAUSE OFSUCH HIS CONFUSION, HE ANSWERED, “THAT FROM NO DREAD OF HIS OWN, FROM NOANXIETY FOR HIMSELF, HE CAME THUS TO POUR OUT HIS PRAYERS AND TEARS: NO; IT WASFOR HIS BROTHER, IT WAS FOR THE CHILDREN OF HIS BROTHER, THAT THESE PRAYERSWERE UTTERED AND THESE TEARS FLOWED. IN VAIN WAS VESPASIAN FEARED, HE WHOM SO MANY GERMAN LEGIONS, WHOM SO MANY PROVINCES ALL FAITHFUL ANDBRAVE, WHOM FINALLY TRACKS SO IMMENSE OF LAND AND SEA, CONCURRED TO REPELL ANDCONFINE TO REGIONS FAR REMOTE. IT BEHOVED HIM RATHER TO GUARD AGAINST AN ENEMYWITHIN THE WALLS OF ROME, NAY, AN ENEMY IN HIS OWN BOSOM; ONE WHO FOR HISANCESTORS BOASTED THE JUNIAN HOUSE, AND THAT OF MARKANTHONY; ONE SPRUNG FROM THE RACE OF THE CÆSARS, AND OFFICIOUSLYPRESENTING HIMSELF TO THE SOLDIERS, TO WIN THEIR AFFECTIONS BY HISCOMPLAISANCE, TO RAISE THEIR ADMIRATION OF HIS MAGNIFICENCE. UPON THIS OBJECTCENTERED THE MINDS OF ALL MEN, WHILST VITELLIUS, REGARDLESSOF FRIENDS AND ENEMIES, CHERISHEDHIS SUPPLANTER, WHO FROM AMIDST THE FROLICKS ANDWANTONNESS OF BANQUETING, BEHELD THE PAINS AND AGONIES OF THE PRINCE. UPON THEEMPEROR IT WAS INCUMBENT FOR THIS NIGHT’S INSOLENT AND ILL TIMED MIRTH, TOREPAY HIM WITH A NIGHT DOLEFUL AND DEADLY; WHENCE HE MIGHT BE CONVINCED THAT VITELLIUS STILL LIVED, THAT HE STILL REIGNED, AND, SHOULDFATE HAPPEN TO REMOVE HIM, HAD A SON TO SUCCEED HIM.”

WHILST between the iniquity proposed and fear forhimself, VITELLIUS wavered under perplexity and dismay,lest by deferring the doom of BLÆSUS he should hasten hisown, and from openly ordering the execution much public hate and horror mightensue, he sound it the best expedient to dispatch him by poison. To the guiltof this black exploit he added credit and proof, by visiting BLÆSUS in his last moments, with glaring marks of joy. He wasalso heard to drop an expression full of barbarity, by declaring (for I shallrepeat the very words) “That he had glutted his eyes by beholding the death ofhis enemy.” In BLÆSUS, besides the signal splendor of hisrace, and the elegance of his life and accomplishments, there had been foundfaith and allegiance not to be changed. He had been before courted by CÆCINA and other Grandees of the party, to join with themagainst VITELLIUS, whom even then they were casting offwhilst his cause yet prospered without check; but, with constancy unshaken,he rejected their suit, and ever shewed himself a manvoid of all stain, free from all faction, fond of no sudden elevationwhatsoever, and so much less fond of sovereignty, that he narrowly missed beingdeemed worthy of it.

FABIUS VALENS, in the mean time, at the head of a hugeand effeminate host of eunuchs and harlots, advancing with a pace too slack andindolent for one who proceeded to war, received tidings sent express, that LUCILIUS BASSUS had betrayed to the enemy the Fleet atRavenna: and, had he quickened his march, he might have prevented the defectionof CÆCINA, then halting, or at least have overtaken theLegions ere the battle had been risqued. Nor were there wanting some to advisehim, “That with a few faithful attendants, chuseing private ways, and avoidingRavenna, he should travel directly to Hostilia or Cremona.” To others it seemedmore eligible, “to send to Rome for the Prætorian Guards, and then with apowerful band force their way.” He himself, yielding to fruitlessprocrastinations, wasted, in consulting, the opportunities for acting. Anon,slighting both these counsels, and shewing neither sufficient resolution norsufficient foresight, he chose a part which in desperate exigencies is ever theworst, by following a middle course: He wrote to VITELLIUS, and desired succours.

FROM VITELLIUS came three Cohorts with the Squadron ofhorse from Britain; a number ill concerted, too great to be led by stealth, notgreat enough to break through the enemy. VALENS, even underall the distress and peril that encompassed him, forbore not to earn freshinfamy, but was branded for rioting in wicked and impure pleasures, and fordefiling the houses of his several hosts with feats of adultery andconstupration. He was invested with power, furnished with treasure, and nowexerting the last efforts of debauchery during the overthrow of his fortune. Atlast, upon the coming of the foot and horse, appeared the unhappy absurdity ofthe measures taken; since a band so small, however faithful in their adherencethey had been, were neither able to march through an enemy’s country, nor hadbrought with them perfect steadiness and fidelity. They were, however, checkedby shame, and by reverence for the presence of their General; restraints whichwere not likely to last amongst men thirsting after dangers, hardened againstall sense of reproach and dishonour. Moved with this apprehension, andretaining with himself a few, such as had not changed their affections upon thechange of fortune, he sent forward the Cohorts to Ariminum: The Cavalry heordered to guard their rear. He himself turning aside, bent his course toUmbria, and fromthence to Etruria. Having here learnt the issue ofthe battle at Cremona, he conceived a design no-wise dastardly, which, had itbeen accomplished, would have produced very terrible events: He proposed toembark for Narbon Gaul, and landing upon any part of that coast, to rouse allthe Provinces of Gaul, and all the Roman forces there, as also the severalnations of Germany, and thence a new war.

AGAINST the garrison of Ariminum, dismayed upon thedeparture of VALENS, CORNELIUS FUSCUS advanced with anarmy, and sending small gallies round the neighbouring shore, beset them byland and sea. He also possessed himself of the plains of Umbria, and of theterritories of Picenum all along the Adriatic Gulph. Thus between VESPASIAN and VITELLIUS all Italy wasshared, and the ridges of the Apennine were the common boundary. FABIUS VALENS having embarked in the Port of Pisa, was by acontrary wind, or a calm, forced to land at Monaco. Not far from thence abode MARIUS MATURUS, Procurator of the Maritime Alps, a faithfuladherent to VITELLIUS, one who, though all the countryround espoused the opposite party, had never swerved from his allegiance. Fromhim VALENS found a kind reception, but was deterred by himfrom venturing rashly into Narbon Gaul. His followers at the same time began towarp, their faith yielding to the force of fear. For intothe oath to VESPASIAN, VALERIUSPAULINUS the Procurator had drawn all the States round about; an Officerof known bravery, and VESPASIAN’S friend before hiselevation. In the Colony of Forojulium too, as a city which commanded allaccess from the sea, he held a garrison, consisting of men discharged by VITELLIUS, now again all invited to take arms, and allfrankly resuming them. So much the greater also was his sway, for thatForojulium was his native city; and amongst the Prætorians he possessed muchpersonal reverence, as having been once their Tribune. Moreover theinhabitants, through partiality to their fellow-citizen, and in prospect ofaggrandizing themselves, exerted all their might to support the party. When allthese terrible dispositions with such care settled, and by the voice of rumouramply heightened, were currently related amongst the adherents of VITELLIUS, already anxious and perplexed, FABIUS VALENS returned directly to his vessels with four of theEmperor’s body-guard, three friends, and as many Centurions. To MATURUS and the rest, if they listed to stay, and swear to VESPASIAN, full liberty was left. For what remains; to VALENS the sea doubtless yielded greater security than anyabode in cities or upon the shore; but, whilst he remained under painful doubtabout his future fortune, and rather certain what to avoid than upon what torely, he was by the violence of contrary winds drivenupon the Stechades, Islands near Marseilles. Theresome gallies, purposely sent by PAULINUS, took himprisoner.

WHEN VALENS was taken, all places followed the fortuneof the conqueror; as in Spain the example began from the first Legion named Adjutrix, which, in tenderness to the memory of OTHO, bearing despight to VITELLIUS, drew at this time along with it the tenth also and the sixth. Nor, in theProvinces of Gaul, was there any hesitation. And, as in Britain signal was theaffection found for VESPASIAN, who had, in the reign of CLAUDIUS, commanded the second Legion there, and acquittedhimself with great glory, and martial prowess; that country too acceded to hisparty; yet not without struggle and opposition from the other Legions, in whichmany Centurions and many soldiers had been promoted by VITELLIUS, and were brought with regret to change a prince whomthey had already experienced.

FROM this animosity and contest in the army, and fromthe rumours of our intestine war, continually flying, the Britons resumed theirancient defiance and hostilities, led by the sway of VENUSIUS, who, besides his inherent ferocity, and settled hateto the Roman name, was inflamed by personal enmity and rage towards Queen CARTISMANDUA. This Lady ruled over the Brigantes, mighty inthe lustre of her race. Her puissance too had been largely augmented, since hertaking of King CARACTACUS, whom by guile she hadseized, and delivering him to the Romans had thence the merit of havingembellished the triumph of the Emperor CLAUDIUS. Hence hergreat opulence, and hence the wild riot following prosperity. Rejecting VENUSIUS, who was her husband, she espoused VELLOCATUS his armour-bearer, and upon him with her personconferred her crown. By this act of reproach she wrought the presentdissolution of her house. With her husband remained the zeal and inclinationsof the State; for the adulterer was engaged the lewdness of the Queen, and allher cruelty exerted. VENUSIUS having called in succours,and gained the Brigantes themselves to revolt, reduced CARTISMANDUA to extreme peril and distress. From the Romans shethen implored a reinforcement; and indeed our Cohorts and Squadrons of horse,after several encounters with variable success, rescued the Queen herself fromimpending peril. The Kingdom continued to VENUSIUS, andupon us the war.

DURING the same conjuncture, commotions prevailed inGermany, as well through the spiritless conduct of our Generals, as through theturbulent behaviour of the Legions. Insomuch that by assaults from foreignnations, and by the perfidiousness and defection of nations allied, the Romaninterest there had well nigh been abolished. Ishall hereafter recount the story of this war, withits causes and events; for it continued long. The people of Dacia too were upin arms, a nation never well affected, and then by no awe restrained, since thearmy was withdrawn out of Mœsia. The first movements of affairs they hadwatched with attention, but in quiet: Anon, when they had learnt that all Italywas in a blaze of war, and on both sides hostile minds and hostile doings, theystormed the winter lodgments of the auxiliary Cohorts and Cavalry, and becamemasters of both banks of the Danube. They were already proceeding to demolishthe entrenchments of the Legions, had not MUCIANUS sent thesixth Legion to oppose them: For he was apprized of the victory at Cremona, andapprehended what a terrible storm of foreign violence must from each quarterensue, should the Dacians and Germans once break in through different limits.Present and assisting, as often else, so then surely was the good fortune ofthe Roman People, which thither just at that instant drew MUCIANUS, and the forces of the East; besides that, ere hecame, we had finished the contest at Cremona. FONTEIUSAGRIPPA, just arrived from Asia, where he had governed for a year withProconsular authority, was appointed Governor of Mœsia, with a supply of forcestaken out of the late army of VITELLIUS; since, to dispersethem throughthe Provinces, and hold them entangled in a waragainst foreigners, was a measure concerted to preserve domestic peace.

NOR in other nations was there composure found.Throughout Pontus, one who was a barbarian and a slave, and once Commander ofthe navy royal there, had with notable suddenness excited an uproar of arms. Itwas ANICETUS, Freedman to King POLEMON, and under him in times past mighty in power, now full of bitterness and regret,ever since the Kingdom had been changed into a Roman Province. Arrayingtherefore, in the name of VITELLIUS, the several nationsthat dwell in Pontus, and, with the prospect of spoil, seducing all such aswere extremely indigent, he saw himself Leader of no inconsiderable band, andwith great rapidity assailed and entered Trapesund, a City of Asia exceedingancient, founded by the Grecians upon the utmost confines of Pontus. There aCohort was slaughtered, the same formerly retained in the service of the King:They had thereafter been presented with the privilege of Roman Citizens, andthence in their arms and banners adhered to the usage of the Romans, yet stillfollowed the idle life and licentious spirit of Greeks. He likewise burned theFleet, and with scorn and insults scoured the sea then unguarded, as fromthence MUCIANUS had called the choice Gallies and all theMarines to Byzantium. Nay, the neighbouring Barbarians, casting off allreverenceand fear, roved about for spoil in vessels hastilybuilt, such as they call sheds, shallow in the sides, wide at bottom, andframed without bandage of iron or brass. When the sea rages, in proportion tothe swelling of the waves they heighten the shell of their boats withadditional planks, till by degrees they close above like a roof. Thus they rollamongst the surges, with both ends sharp, and formed to row indifferentlyhither or thither, with ease and safety.

THIS affair merited the attention of VESPASIAN, who, to end it, chose out a body of Vexillaries fromthe Legions, and for their Leader, VERDIUS GEMINUS, anOfficer distinguished in war. He, assailing the enemy whilst they weredisconcerted, and roaming asunder in pursuit of prey, drove them into theirvessels; then in some gallies made with dispatch, chased ANICETUS into the mouth of the river Chobus; where he reliedfor safety upon the protection of SEDOCHUS King of theLazians, an ally whom he had purchased by money and presents. And at first theKing, in defence of his supplicant, betook himself to menaces and arms; but, assoon as a recompence for his treachery was proposed, and a war threatened, ifhe refused, his fidelity vanished like that of other Barbarians: He struck abargain for the life of ANICETUS, and surrendered all thefugitives. Thus ended that servile war. Whilst VESPASIAN was yet rejoicing over this victory,to see that upon all his measures there attended atorrent of success surpassing his own wishes, tidings of the battle at Cremonaovertook him in Egypt. Hence he speeded the faster to Alexandria, that, sincethe army of VITELLIUS was utterly broken, he might now alsodistress Rome itself by famine, a City ever needing supplies from abroad. Forhe was moreover preparing to invade Africa by land and sea, a country situatedupon the same coast, and by intercepting the sources of bread, to bring uponthe enemy the calamity of hunger, and with it that of dissension.

WHILST by such changes as these over the face of thewhole earth, the fortune of the Empire was passing from one head to another, ANTONIUS PRIMUS proceeded by no means in the same measureof innocence after his success at Cremona; as he judged that what war could dohe had amply done, and whatever was to follow would be easily accomplished; orwhether it were that, in a spirit like his, a flow of felicity only laid openthe avarice, pride, and other vices hitherto smothered and lurking in it. Heoppressed Italy as a country by conquest doomed to spoil; he soothed andcourted the Legions as his own; in all his sayings, in all his doings, hesought to fortify himself, sought to lay a mighty foundation of power; and thathe might inure the soldiers to wantonness, and wild freedom, he franklycommitted to the discretion of theLegions the choice of Centurions in the room of suchas were slain. By these popular suffrages, every the most factious andturbulent spirit came to be chosen; nor were the soldiers any longer under thecontroulment of their Leaders, but the Leaders forced headlong by the fury ofthe soldiers: Proceedings apparently seditious, and contrived to debauch thearmy. Anon he betook himself to feats of rapine, without the least awe of MUCIANUS who was approaching; a neglect of more terribleconsequence than if he had contemned VESPASIAN inperson.

NOW, as winter advanced, and the plains were flooded bythe overflowing of the Po, the army marched forward, lightly equipped, freefrom incumbrance and baggage. At Verona were left the Banners and Eagles of thevictorious Legions, with all that were aged, and all that were maimed, as alsomany who were hale and unhurt. As the rage of the war was already extinguished,it seemed sufficient to lead on the auxiliary Cohorts and Cavalry, with achosen band from the Legions. The eleventh Legion joined the host; a Legionwhich at first had halted, but now, seeing the issue prosperous, grieved thatin it they had had no share. There accompanied these, six thousand Dalmatianslately levied. Of all these additional forces POPPÆUSSILVANUS, a man of Consular quality, was Leader; but in ANNIUS BASSUS, Commander of that Legion, the whole controuland management lay. He, under the guise of submittingand obeying, ruled SILVANUS, as one of himself impotent inwar, and ever wasting in talk the seasons of action: nor did ANNIUS fail to assist at whatever required dispatch, withconstant industry void of ostentation. To these forces were added all theselect Marines from Ravenna, men who made suit to be employed in the Legions.Their places in the fleet were supplied by the Dalmatians. The army and itsLeaders halted at the Temple of Fortune, under doubt and hesitation about thepursuit of their main design; for they had heard that the Prætorian Cohortswere led out of Rome. They judged too that upon the Apennine they should findguards posted to oppose their passage. Besides, they were terrified with want,in a country utterly desolated by war, terrified with the seditious clamours ofthe soldiers now importunate for the donative which they call Clavarium. In truth neither of money nor of grain had theymade any provision. What disconcerted them, and prevented it, was the temper ofthe soldiers, so rapacious and eager, since what they should have received asallowance, they ravished away and wasted as prey.

BY writers greatly celebrated I find it recorded, thatamongst the conquering army such barbarous indifference was found to all featswhatsoever, natural or against nature, that a common soldier in the cavalryhavingaverred, that in the late combat he had killed hisbrother, demanded a recompence from the Commanders for the exploit. Nor werethey at liberty, either by the laws of humanity, to distinguish such murderwith an honourable reward, or, by the policy of the war to punish it. Theypostponed the man, as if to his service and merit higher obligations were duethan could presently be discharged. Any further account about it I find not inthe historians. Yet in our civil wars past there happened the like unnaturalstroke; for, in the conflict against CINNA at Janiculum, asoldier of POMPEY’S slew his brother, and anon himself,upon discovering his sad mishap, as the story is related by SISENNA. So much more prompt in the days of our ancestors, aswas glory to crown acts of virtue, so was remorse to follow evil deeds. Suchincidents as these, revived from ancient story, it will not prove foreign torecount, whenever the passage or place requires the same, either as examples ofworthy actions, or solacements for those which are wicked.

BY ANTONIUS, and the other Leaders of the party, it wasafter deliberation agreed, to send forward the horse, in order to make specialsearch through all Umbria for a tolerable passage over the ridges of theApennine, to bring up the Banners and Eagles, and all the soldiers left atVerona, and by sea and the Po to have abundant provisions brought. Some amongstthe Leaders there were, whostudied to frame obstacles and delays: For ANTONIUS was already grown too mighty and assuming, andfrom MUCIANUS they hoped a treatment more equal andfriendly. The truth is, MUCIANUS fretted at so quick avictory, and judged that were he not present at the entry into Rome, he shouldbe deprived of all share in the war, and in the glory of the war. Hence to PRIMUS and VARUS he sent frequentletters, full of doublings and uncertainty, now urging them to pursue theirdesigns with vigour, anon recommending the advantages of procrastination andcoolness, in a style so contrived, that conformably to the issue, whatever itwere, he might easily disown all miscarriages, or easily challenge all success.With much more openness did he transmit his meaning and aims to PLOTIUS GRIPHUS, one lately dignified by VESPASIAN with the rank of Senator, and Commander of a Legion,and to other officers such as he trusted. They too all returned answers such ascensured the overhasty motions of PRIMUS and VARUS, and such as complimented MUCIANUS, who, by conveying these letters to VESPASIAN, hadeffectually caused all the proceedings and counsels of ANTONIUS to be prized far beneath his hopes. This was what ANTONIUS could brook with no patience, and upon MUCIANUS he cast all the blame, as one by whose calumniesall his own exploits and perils were rendered of no estimation. Nor sparedhe bitter words, in his speech ever violent, and astranger to submission. To VESPASIAN he wrote letters, instrains more pompous and assuming than towards an Emperor are allowed, and notwithout severe reproaches tacitly aimed at MUCIANUS. Hesaid, “It was he himself who had urged the Pannonian Legions to action andarms; by his instigation and address the Leaders in Mœsia had been influencedand roused; by his vigour and perseverance the mighty Alps had been attemptedand passed, Italy possessed, all succours from Rhætia and Germany precluded.That the Legions of VITELLIUS, when found to be at varianceand even disjoined, had been broken by a furious onset from the horse, thenutterly discomfited by the infantry continuing the conflict and slaughter for awhole day and night, was an action of consummate lustre, and by himselfaccomplished. To the fortune of war only must be ascribed the fall of Cremona:in truth, with public damage much greater, nay, to the destruction of manynoble Cities, had our civil dissensions of old been carried on. He was not onewho fought for his Emperor with letters and messengers, but for him exposed hisperson, and wielded his arms. Yet he meant not to lessen the glory of such ashad attended the while to the establishment of Asia. The tranquillity of Mœsiahad been their study; it had beenhis to preserve and secure Italy. By his persuasionsand authority had the Provinces of Gaul and Spain, the most powerful quartersof the Roman world, been brought to espouse the cause of VESPASIAN. But vainly bestowed had been all his efforts andfatigues, if the recompences of so many perils were to be reaped by such onlyas had risqued none.” Neither did these things escape the knowledge of MUCIANUS. Hence between them ensued deadly enmities, in theexercise of which ANTONIUS acted with an opennessunguarded, MUCIANUS with closeness and craft, and thencewith rancour more implacable.

FOR VITELLIUS; as, after the sore reverse of his fortuneat Cremona, he smothered the news of the calamity, by such stupid dissimulationhe postponed not his distresses themselves, but the remedies of his distresses.For, had he declared the disaster, and had recourse to advice, a resource wouldhave been found still remaining of hopes and of forces. Whilst, on thecontrary, he feigned that all his proceedings prospered, he by such falserepresentations left his condition desperate. About his own person was observeda wonderful silence concerning the war; through the City all discourses aboutit were prohibited, and for this very cause the discourses grew more common.Nay, such as, had they been left to their liberty, would have recounted eventstruly, finding themselvesrestrained, published them now with tragicalaggravations. Nor were the Leaders of the enemy’s host wanting to blazon thefame of their victory: With this view whatever spies of VITELLIUS they seized they carried all over the camp, that theymight behold the mighty force of the conquering army, and then sent them backto Rome. All these VITELLIUS, when he had secretly examinedthem, caused to be murdered. Signal was the firmness of spirit at this timemanifested by JULIUS AGRESTIS the Centurion; who, aftermany conferences with VITELLIUS, in which he had in vainlaboured to awaken him to magnanimity and manhood at last prevailed with him,that he himself might be sent to survey the forces of the foe, and to learn thelate transactions at Cremona. Neither attempted he to assume the lurkingbehaviour of a spy, and escape the notice of ANTONIUS, butdeclaring to him the instructions from the Emperor and his own design, demandedto view the whole in person. With him certain persons were readily sent, whoshewed him all the scene of the fight, the desolation and remains of Cremona,and the Legions taken prisoners. AGRESTIS returned to VITELLIUS, and finding him to reject as so manyfalsifications all the accounts which he brought, nay, hearing himself accusedof corruption and infidelity; “Since then, said he, some remarkableconfirmation is necessary, and since neithermy life nor my death can henceforth avail thee, Iwill furnish thee with an evidence which thou mayst credit.” Having so said, heleft his presence, and with a voluntary death confirmed to be true what he haddeclared. Some authors relate that by orders from VITELLIUS he was murdered, but of his faith and fortitude give the same testimony.

VITELLIUS, as it were, roused out of a deep sleep,ordered JULIUS PRISCUS and ALPHENUSVARUS, with fourteen Prætorian Cohorts and all the several Squadrons ofhorse to beset the passes of the Apennine. After them marched a Legion drawnfrom the Marines. So many thousand forces, composed of select men and selecthorses, had a different General commanded them, were abundantly able to havemade even an offensive war. The other companies of the guards he committed to LUCIUS VITELLIUS his brother, for the defence of the City.For himself; without departing in the least from his wonted course ofdebauchery, and full of impatience because full of distrust, he accelerated theelection of Magistrates, and then settled a succession of Consuls for manyyears. Our confederates he complimented with new leagues and concessions,foreigners with the privileges of Latium. Some nations he discharged from alltribute, upon others conferred fresh advantages and immunities; and in sum,without all regardto futurity, rent and exhausted the Empire. But thecommon herd were struck with these his acts of benevolence, so conspicuous andmighty: Such as were extremely foolish procured them at a price: With men ofsense they passed for void, like all bounties which can neither be granted noraccepted without impairing the Public. At length moved by the incessant suit ofthe army, which now lay at Mevania, and accompanied by a mighty band ofSenators, several following to make their court, many more to comply with hisdesire and fears, he arrived in the camp, in himself undetermined, and open toany traiterous counsel.

WHILST he was discoursing to an assembly of thesoldiers, over his head there flew (a thing prodigious to be told) a flock ofravenous birds, so numerous, that, like a black cloud, they darkened the day.With this concurred an omen of direful portent; a bull escaped from the Altar,and overturning all the equipage of the Sacrifice, was at last slain at adistance from thence, not in the place where it is customary to fell theVictims. But the chief prodigy was, VITELLIUS himself, anImperial Commander unacquainted with warfare, a head void of counsel andforesight. To others he was continually applying for information, how to putthe army in array, what foresight was required in gaining intelligence, and bywhat measures was the war to be pushed or prolonged? Nay,upon whatever tidings arrived, he was sure to betraymuch dread and trembling, even in his countenance and gait: Then he neverfailed to be drunk. In the end, surfeited with the camp, and learning therevolt of the Fleet at Misenum, he returned to Rome, still most terrified withthe stroke that fell latest, and not attending to the ultimate danger andcontest. For when an occasion was presented so open and inviting for passingthe Apennine with an army in prime vigour, and falling upon an enemy pinchedwith want and the rigour of winter, he, by dispersing his forces, resigned tocertain slaughter and captivity a body of men so undaunted, such as, ratherthan abandon him, were determined to perish for him: A proceeding directlyagainst the judgment of all the ablest Centurions, who, had their advice beenrequired, would have advised what was righteous and true. Far from VITELLIUS his minions kept such men, and so disposed andtrained were the Emperor’s ears, that whatever was wholsom he found to beharsh, nor would admit other counsels than such as proved pleasing andpernicious.

THE Fleet at Misenum CLAUDIUSFAVENTINUS drew to revolt, by forging letters from VESPASIAN, and in his name tempting them with offers of rewardfor this their disloyalty. Of such prevalence during civil dissentions is anyimpudent attempt even of individuals; since this FAVENTINUS was no other than aCenturion who had been by GALBA degraded with marks of ignominy. Over the Fleet there commanded CLAUDIUS APOLLINARIS, who proved neither firm to his faith, norresolute in his infidelity: So that APINIUS TIRO, oncePrætor, and then accidentally at Minturnæ, presented himself as a Leader to therevolters. By these the neighbouring Colonies and municipal Cities werevehemently pressed to concur; and, as the people of PUTEOLI were especially zealous for VESPASIAN, whereas they ofCapua adhered faithfully to VITELLIUS, with the rage of thecivil War they blended the ancient competition of jealous and angry neighbours.To soften and reclaim the minds of the soldiers VITELLIUS made choice of JULIANUS, who had lately ruled the fleet atMisenum with a very gentle hand: For succours he had allotted him one of theCity Cohorts and the band of Gladiators which were already under his authority.When this body and that of the revolters came to encamp near each other, JULIANUS without pausing long, went over to the party of VESPASIAN, and together they mastered Tarracina, a Cityderiving its security rather from the situation and walls, than from the spiritand steadiness of the inhabitants.

WHEN TO VITELLIUS THESE TRANSACTIONS WEREKNOWN, HE CAUSED PART OF HIS FORCES TO REMAIN AT NARNIA UNDER THE CAPTAINS OFTHE PRÆTORIAN GUARDS, AND SENT HIS BROTHER LUCIUS WITH SIX COHORTS AND FIVE HUNDRED HORSE, TO MAKE HEADAGAINST THE INSURRECTIONS BEGUN IN CAMPANIA. HE HIMSELF, UNDER GREAT ANGUISH OFSPIRIT, WAS YET REVIVED BY THE TESTIMONIES OF AFFECTION FROM THE SOLDIERS, ANDBY THE CRIES OF THE POPULACE, REQUIRING TO BE PUT UNDER ARMS; AND THUS DELUDEDBY EMPTY SHEW, TO THE IMPOTENT CROWD, EVER DASTARDLY, AND IN WORDS ONLY DARING,HE GAVE THE AWFUL NAMES OF LEGIONS AND ARMY. IN PURSUANCE OF THE ADVICE URGEDBY HIS FREEDMEN (FOR AS TO HIS FRIENDS, THE HIGHER THEIR RANK THE MOREFAITHLESS THE MEN) HE ORDERED THE PEOPLE TO BE ASSEMBLED BY THEIR TRIBES, ANDTO ALL SUCH AS GAVE IN THEIR NAMES THE OATH OF FIDELITY WAS ADMINISTERED. ASTHE MULTITUDE OF VOLUNTEERS WAS OVER-ABUNDANT, BETWEEN THE TWO CONSULS HEPARTED THE CARE OF CONTINUING THE LEVY. UPON THE SENATORS HE LAID AN INJUNCTIONTO FURNISH A CERTAIN NUMBER OF SLAVES, AND A CERTAIN WEIGHT OF SILVER. THEROMAN KNIGHTS PROFFERED THEIR MONEY AND THEIR PERSONS: NAY, THE DESCENDENTS OFFREEDMEN, OF THEIR OWN FRANK MOTION, PRESSED FOR LEAVE TO CONTRIBUTE THE LIKEASSISTANCE: OFFERS WHICH THOUGH AT FIRST HOLLOW, AND INSPIRED ONLY BY OFFICIOUSFEAR, CAME AT LAST TO BE SINCERELY INTENDED, AND THE EFFECT OF PURE GOOD-WILL.IN TRUTH THE MAJOR PART WERE TOUCHED WITH PITY, NOT SO MUCH FOR VITELLIUS, AS FOR THE MELANCHOLY FATE AND SITUATION OF THESOVEREIGNTY. YET NEITHER DID HE HIMSELF FAIL TO MOVE COMMISERATION BY HIS SADCOUNTENANCE,HIS DOLEFUL EXPRESSIONS, AND MANY TEARS, IN HISPROMISES VERY LIBERAL, NAY, EXTRAVAGANT, SUITABLY TO THE NATURE OF MEN UNDERTHE AGONIES OF FEAR. NOW TOO HE WOULD NEEDS ASSUME THE TITLE OF CÆSAR, A TITLE WHICH TILL THEN HE HAD REJECTED: BUT AT THISJUNCTURE HE WAS STRUCK WITH THE SUPERSTITIOUS EFFICACY OF THE NAME; BESIDESTHAT UNDER THE OPERATIONS OF DISMAY, EQUAL ATTENTION IS GIVEN TO THE BABLINGSOF THE CROWD AS TO THE COUNSELS OF THE WISE. FOR THE REST; AS ALL MEASURESRISING FROM FITS OF ARDOUR SUDDEN AND UNADVISED, ARE IN THEIR FIRST MOTIONSVEHEMENT, BUT BY SPACE AND CONTINUANCE WAX FAINT, THE SENATORS BY DEGREESDROPPED AWAY, AS DID ALSO THE ROMAN KNIGHTS, AT FIRST INDEED LEISURELY AND WITHCAUTION, AND WHERE HE WAS NOT PRESENT TO SEE THEM. ANON THEY AVOWED THEIRCONTEMPT, AND RETIRED WITHOUT DISTINCTION OR RESERVE: SO THAT VITELLIUS, ASHAMED OF AN ATTEMPT THUS BAFFLED AND ABORTIVE,REMITTED ALL SUCH CONCESSIONS AS HE FOUND WERE NOT TO BE GRANTED.

AS upon Italy it brought great terror, to see Mevaniaoccupied by an army, and thence a fresh war as it were reviving in full vigour;so doubtless to the interest of VESPASIAN an increase ofpublic zeal and partiality accrued from the departure of VITELLIUS, who in it betrayed such huge affright. Alreadyprompt and even elated were the Samnites, and the Pelignians, and the Marsians:Nay, in competition and jealousy towards the peopleof Campania, who had the merit of an earlierdesertion, they were indefatigable in all the toils and exigencies of war; asit is usual in a cause newly espoused to be very officious and forward. But soturbulent and severe was the winter, that, in passing over the Apennine, thearmy was sorely annoyed; and as they were thus struggling with difficulty outof the deep snows, even when no enemy disturbed their march, it was abundantlymanifest what terrible peril they must have undergone, had not Fortune disposed VITELLIUS to return back, that Fortune from which VESPASIAN’S Leaders derived assistance and relief, at leastas often as from their own dexterity and counsel. In the mountains they weremet by PETILIUS CERIALIS, who, under the habit of a poorpeasant, and through his skill in the situation, had escaped the guardsbelonging to VITELLIUS. With VESPASIAN,CERIALIS was nearly allied, in himself too no mean warriour, and hencetaken into equal command with the other Chiefs. That to FLAVIUSSABINUS also and to DOMITIAN there was room to haveescaped, many writers agree. In truth several messengers had by various wilesand disguises made shift to reach them from ANTONIUS, andshewed them from what place they might fly, and upon what guard and securitydepend. SABINUS pleaded his infirmities, unable to bearfatigue, unfit for daring exploits. In DOMITIAN wasfound no want of spirit or will; but, of the guardsplaced about him by VITELLIUS, though they offeredthemselves for companions of his flight, he entertained apprehensions, lestthence they meant against him some pernicious snare. Moreover VITELLIUS, himself, in tenderness to his own family andkindred, meditated nothing barbarous against DOMITIAN.

WHEN the Generals were arrived at Carsulæ, there, forrepose, they spent a few days, till the Eagles and Banners of the Legions hadovertaken them. The place too where they encamped pleased them, affording aprospect extensive and noble, with secure conveyance for all provisions, asbehind them lay so many large Cities full of opulence. They had likewise a viewto draw the forces of VITELLIUS, only ten miles distant,into some intercourse, and thence into infidelity and desertion: A projectbitterly resented by the soldiers: What they sought was conquest rather thanpacification. They were indeed against awaiting the arrival of their ownLegions, whom they more apprehended as sharers in the prey, than considered aspartakers in the peril. ANTONIUS addressing himself to themfor this purpose assembled, informed them, “That VITELLIUS was still master of forces, such as would faulter, were they let alone todeliberate, but rouse all their vigour if once made desperate. To the directionof Fortune were to be leftthe first motions of a civil war, but the work ofcompleting the conquest must be conducted by counsel and prudence. Already hadthe Fleet at Misenum revolted, with all the rich and charming region ofCampania; nor of the whole globe remained there more to VITELLIUS than what lay between Tarracina and Narnia. Abundantglory had been acquired by the battle of Cremona, and by the destruction ofthat City, abhorrence overmuch. Far be it from them to covet the taking of Romelike enemies, rather than to preserve it like Citizens. Much higher rewardswould they reap, and honour in most ample measure, if to the Senate and Peopleof Rome they procured security and protection without the effusion ofblood.”

BY these and the like reasonings their spirits werecalmed, nor was it long ere the Legions arrived. From the fame and dread of thearmy thus augmented, the Vitellian Cohorts began to fluctuate; since noneappeared to encourage them to opposition and war, as did many to desert andsurrender: Nay, they were striving to outgo one another in delivering overtheir several companies of foot and troops of horse, each intending it as apresent gratification to the conqueror, and a ground of future favour tohimself. From these men it was learnt, that four hundred horse kept garrison atInteramna, a place in the neighbourhood. Thither VARUS wasforthwith dispatched with a light band: The few whoresisted he put to the sword; the major part threw down their arms and cravedmercy. Some escaped, and flying quite back to the camp at Narnia, filled itwith universal affright, as they magnified above measure the forces and braveryof the enemy, thence to lessen their own infamy in losing their garrison.Neither amongst the forces of VITELLIUS was there anypunishment inflicted for any crime; whilst from the other party sure rewardsattended their desertion. Nor henceforth was any other struggle seen save forprecedence in perfidiousness and treason, and incessantly were the Tribunes andCenturions flying over to the stronger. For the common soldiers persistedinflexibly in their adherence to VITELLIUS, till PRISCUS and ALPHENUS having abandonedthe camp and returned to VITELLIUS, had left them all freeand amply absolved from any stain of infidelity in shifting thenceforth forthemselves.

DURING THOSE DAYS FABIUS VALENS WAS SLAIN INPRISON AT URBIN, AND TO THE VIEW OF THE VITELLIAN COHORTS HIS HEAD DISPLAYED,TO PREVENT THEIR CHERISHING ANY FARTHER HOPES: FOR, THEY BELIEVED HE HADESCAPED INTO GERMANY, AND WAS THERE ASSEMBLING A MIGHTY ARMY OF OLD FORCES ANDNEW. PERCEIVING THAT HE WAS SLAIN, THEY SUNK INTO UTTER DESPAIR. THE ARMY OF VESPASIAN ALSO INFERRED IMMENSE EFFECTS FROM THE DOOM OF VALENS, NO LESS THAN THE END OF THE WAR. VALENS WAS BORN AT ANAGNIA, OF AN EQUESTRIAN HOUSE, IN HISMORALS A LIBERTINE, WHO BY LICENTIOUS GAYETIES AIMED AT THE CHARACTER OFCONDESCENSION AND PLEASANTRY, NEITHER WANTED HE SUITABLE QUICKNESS OF PARTS. INTHE INTERLUDES CALLED JUVENALIA EXHIBITED BY NERO, HEUSUALLY ACTED A PANTOMIME, A PART TO WHICH HE AT FIRST WOULD SEEM TO BE FORCED,BUT ANON, MADE IT HIS CHOICE, AND ACQUITTED HIMSELF WITH MORE ART THAN MODESTYAND HONOUR. BEARING THE COMMAND OF A LEGION IN THE ARMY OF VERGINIUS, HE PROMPTED THAT GENERAL TO ASSUME THE EMPIRE, ANDTHEN BLACKENED AND DEFAMED HIM AS AIMING AT IT. FONTEIUSCAPITO HE ASSASSINATED, HAVING FIRST CORRUPTED HIS LOYALTY, OR BECAUSE HEFOUND IT INCORRUPTIBLE. TO GALBA HE PROVED A TRAITOR,FAITHFUL TO VITELLIUS, AND FROM THE PREVAILINGPERFIDIOUSNESS OF OTHERS HIS FIDELITY RECEIVED ITS LUSTRE.

THE SOLDIERS OF VITELLIUS, NOW UTTERLY BEREFTOF HOPE ON EVERY SIDE, PROCEEDED TO PASS OVER TO THE PARTY OF VESPASIAN, AND IN THIS STEP TOO ACTED WITH NO SMALL IGNOMINY,AS, UNDER THEIR BANNERS AND ENSIGNS ALL DISPLAYED, THEY DESCENDED INTO THEPLAIN BELOW NARNIA, THERE TO SURRENDER. UPON THE SIDE OF THE HIGHWAY WAS RANGEDTHE ARMY OF VESPASIAN IN CLOSE FILES, ARRAYED AS IF FORBATTLE AND JUST READY TO ENGAGE. INTO THEIR CENTRE THEY RECEIVED THEVITELLIANS, AND HAVING ENCOMPASSED THEM ROUND, ANTONIUSPRIMUS SPOKE TO THEM IN A STILE OF MUCH MEEKNESS ANDHUMANITY, ORDERING PART OF THEM TO REMAIN AT NARNIA, PART AT INTERAMNA. WITHTHEM HE ALSO LEFT SOME OF THE VICTORIOUS LEGIONS, SUCH AS, IF THEY WEREPEACEABLE WOULD NOT ANNOY THEM, YET IF THEY PROVED TURBULENT WERE ABLE TOMASTER THEM. DURING ALL THIS TIME ANTONIUS AND VARUS NEGLECTED NOT, BY REPEATED MESSAGES, TO MAKE OFFERSTO VITELLIUS, OF SAFETY TO HIS PERSON, OF REVENUES, AND OFANY PRIVATE RETIREMENT IN CAMPANIA, IF, LAYING ARMS ASIDE, HE WOULD SUBMITHIMSELF AND HIS CHILDREN TO VESPASIAN. MUCIANUS LIKEWISESENT HIM LETTERS IN THE SAME TENDENCY AND STRAIN. NAY, IN THESE OFFERS VITELLIUS FOR THE MOST PART REPOSED TRUST AND RELIANCE, ANDWAS WONT TO DISCOURSE WHAT NUMBER OF DOMESTICS HE WAS TO RETAIN, AND WHATPLEASANT RECESS NEAR THE SEA HE MUST CHUSE. SUCH ABSOLUTE STUPIDITY HAD SEIZEDHIS SPIRIT, THAT IF OTHERS WOULD NOT REMEMBER HE HAD BEEN EMPEROR, HE HIMSELFWAS READY TO FORGET, AND VENTURE TO LIVE A PRIVATE MAN.

NOW the Grandees of Rome were by secret discoursesrousing FLAVIUS SABINUS Governor of the City, “to think ofwinning a share in victory and in fame. Upon him immediately depended thesoldiers of the Cohorts there, nor would those of the night-watch fail toespouse him, their own slaves should form bands and join him, the successfulfortune of the party was with him, and all things disposed toserve a conquering cause. Nor ought he thus lazily toleave to ANTONIUS and VARUS precedencein glory. Few were the Cohorts remaining with VITELLIUS, these few by dismal tidings from all quarters quite dismayed. Fleeting andunstable was the spirit of the populace, and from them, if he once presentedhimself as their head, he would find the same torrent of flattery and zealturned instantly upon VESPASIAN. For the person of VITELLIUS; he was unequal to support even a course ofprosperity, and now utterly stunned and heart-broken by a terrible train ofcalamities. Upon him who made himself master of Rome, whoever he were, woulddevolve the praise and acknowledgement of having finished the war. In SABINUS it was becoming to secure and reserve theSovereignty for his brother, in VESPASIAN to postpone allmen to SABINUS.

WITH no warmth or alacrity were these reasoningsreceived by a man through years disabled in his person and his parts. Somethere were who harboured against him private suspicions and censure, as ifthrough malignity and emulation he studied to mar the grandeur of his brother’sfortune. For FLAVIUS SABINUS, besides his seniority, whilstthey were both private men greatly surpassed VESPASIAN inwealth and estimation. He was even believed to have propped his brother’scredit, otherwise sinking, andfor the money lent to have received in pledge hishouse and possessions. Hence though between them a face of unanimity subsisted,dark grudges and heart-burnings were apprehended to remain. The justerconstruction is, “That the man, naturally merciful and gentle, had inabhorrence all slaughter and the spilling of blood, and therefore frequentlyconferred with VITELLIUS about the means of restoringpublic peace, and laying down arms by mutual concessions and treaty.” Manymeetings they had at home; at last in the Temple of Apollo, as fame reported,they ratified the pacification. To their words and mutual declarations they hadtwo witnesses, CLUVIUS RUFUS and SILIUSITALICUS. Their countenances were carefully observed by those at adistance, that of VITELLIUS unmanly and abject, whilst SABINUS, far from insulting, looked rather like a manfilled with compassion.

THE truth is, if VITELLIUS couldhave brought the minds of his followers to have been as easy in complying as hehad been in yielding, the army of VESPASIAN had enteredRome without blood. But every one of those, in proportion to his fidelity to VITELLIUS, rejected peace and the terms of peace. Theyrepresented, “How insecure, how ignominious they were, and that only upon thewanton humour of the conqueror the faith of performing them rested. Nor would VESPASIAN manifest such highcontempt for VITELLIUS as tosuffer him to live even a private man: Neither indeed would the partyvanquished ever bear it. So that from this commiseration of theirs would arisehis certain danger. He himself, in truth, was an ancient man, and alreadysatiated with the various courses of fortune, both pleasing and disastrous: butto GERMANICUS his son, what name and character, what placeand situation would remain? At present he had large promises of treasure, ofdomestics, and of seats upon the delightful coasts and bays of Campania. Butfrom the moment VESPASIAN had mastered the State, nor he,nor his friends, nor even his armies, would find themselves in perfect securitytill with the life of the competitor all competition were extinguished. Even FABIUS VALENS, though their captive, nay, though reservedfor use against a day of exigency, proved too alarming and grievous to thesemen to be any longer borne. Far less did ANTONIUS and FUSCUS, far less did the luminary of the party, MUCIANUS, intend any terms for VITELLIUS save that of killing him. Nor by CÆSAR was the enjoyment of life left to POMPEY, nor by AUGUSTUS to ANTHONY: Unless VESPASIAN peradventurepossessed superior greatness of soul, he who was no more than a creature of VITELLIUS, when VITELLIUS was Colleguein the Consulship with the Emperor CLAUDIUS. A nobler choice VITELLIUS still had, to be roused even by despair to someattempt daring and brave, such as became the high honours sustained by hisfather, even that of Censor, and of three Consulships, such as became thelustre of his venerable house, distinguished with so many grand dignities inthe State. The soldiers persevered inflexibly in their allegiance; in thepeople the same zeal still remained. At worst, nothing more tragical couldensue, than what they were already rushing wilfully into. They must die if theyfought and were vanquished, they must die if they submitted and surrendered.This only consideration imported them, whether to resign their spirits tamelyunder scorn and reproach, or bravely, like men worthy to live.”

DEAF and impenetrable to all magnanimous counsels werethe ears of VITELLIUS. His soul was overwhelmed withtenderness and anxiety, lest, by persisting in opposition and arms, he shouldrender the conqueror less relenting towards his wife and children. He had alsolately a mother, a lady spent with age, and fortunate enough, by dyingopportunely a few days before, to escape beholding the cruel downfall of herhouse; nor by her son’s advancement to the Empire obtained she aught savesorrow, and an excellent name. On the eighteenth of December having learnt thedefection of the Legionand Cohorts which had submitted to the enemy atNarnia, he went forth from the palace, in mourning apparel amidst his domesticsall wailing and sad. With them was carried his little son, a helpless infant,in a small litter, as it were in a funeral solemnity accompanying him to hisgrave. The people attended with loud shouts, very complaisant and verypreposterous. The soldiers with dreadful looks lowred in silence.

NOR was any one found now so unthoughtful of thevariable lot of all things human, as not to be sensibly affected with thisdoleful scene; the Emperor of the Romans, lately Lord of human kind,relinquishing the seat of Imperial Fortune, and, through the midst of thepeople, through the streets of the City, parting from the Empire! no such sighthad they ever seen, no such event had they ever heard. By an instant stroke ofviolence CÆSAR the Dictator fell, CALIGULA by secret combination. Under the shades of night, andin a country place solitary and unknown, the flight of NERO was hid. GALBA and PISO perished as itwere in battle. VITELLIUS in the face of the people, uponhis own account assembled, encompassed by his own soldiers, nay, under the eyeseven of the women beholding him from their houses, declared his own fall in fewwords, such as suited his sorrowful situation, “That he voluntarily withdrewfor the sake of public peace and of the Commonweal. Ofthem he asked no more than only to be holden inremembrance by them, and that to his brother, to his wife, and to his tenderand innocent children, they would shew compassion and mercy.” At the same timeextending his arms with his little son in them, he commended him now to one,now to another, then to all. At last, his speech being interrupted throughabundant weeping, he ungirt his sword from his side, and presented it to theConsul (this was CÆCILIUS SIMPLEX who stood just by him) asthus resigning up the authority of life and death over the citizens. As theConsul refused to receive it, and the assembly with clamours opposed it, hedeparted with intention to divest himself of all the garniture of Sovereigntyin the Temple of Concord, and thence to seek a private retirement in hisbrother’s house. Hence ensued clamours yet more vehement, all declaring againsthis withdrawing to a private dwelling, all calling him back to the Palace. Theyeven shut up every other way, and only left open that which leads through thestreet called Sacred. He then, unfurnished with counsel or resource, returnedto the Palace. Already had the rumour flown that he had abdicated the Empire,and already FLAVIUS SABINUS had written to the Tribunes ofthe Prætorian Guards, to keep the soldiers under obedience and restraint.

THUS, as if the Commonwealth were falling intire intothe hands of VESPASIAN, all the principal Senators, numbersof the Equestrian Order, with the whole City-soldiery, and those of theNight-watch, crowded to the house of FLAVIUS SABINUS. Thither was brought them an account of the ardent zeal found in the populacefor VITELLIUS, and of the terrible menaces from the bandsof Germans. SABINUS had now advanced further than consistedwith a possibility of retreating. Besides every particular there consulting hisown personal peril, and all apprehending lest, whilst they were separated, andthence unequal to stand an attack, the Vitellian Cohorts should beset them,they excited him to take arms, of himself hesitating and backward. But, as inexigencies like these it happens, the counsel was given by all, but to face thedanger few would adventure. About the Fundane Lake some of the boldest of VITELLIUS’S men assailed those who were come forth in armswith SABINUS. As the encounter there was sudden andtumultuous, the skirmish was short, but the success remained with theVitellians. SABINUS, under this distress and affright,recurred to the securest expedient that offered, and shut himself up in theFort of the Capitol with his miscellaneous soldiery, as also with certainSenators and Roman Knights; men whose names it were not easy to recount, forthat when VESPASIAN had conquered allopposition, many there were who pretended to thisproof of their merit towards his party. Even women chose to enter and abide thesiege: Amongst these the most signal of all was VERULANAGRACILIA, a Lady who followed thither neither her children, nor kindred,nor relations, but only followed the war. The soldiers of VITELLIUS invested the Capitol, but with stations altogetherloose and ill-guarded; insomuch that during the dead of the night SABINUS caused to be brought to him thither his ownchildren, and DOMITIAN his brother’s son. Moreover, afterhe had by means of places not secured, sent an express to VESPASIAN’S Generals to acquaint him that himself and hisfriends were besieged, and, unless relieved, could hardly escape, he passed thenight so free from any annoyance or alarm, that it was apparent he might havedeparted away without any hazard incurred. For the soldiers of VITELLIUS, who in facing dangers were so fierce and brave,shewed small list or application to continued toils, and the fatigues ofconstant watchings. Besides, a sudden storm of rain, keen and vehement suitablyto the winter season, bereft them of sight and hearing.

AS soon as day dawned, before reciprocal hostilitiesbegan, he sent CORNELIUS MARTIALIS, a Centurion ofprincipal rank, to VITELLIUS with instructions andexpostulations, “about his violating solemn stipulations.That his offer to abdicate the Empire had been a puredevice and phantasy, contrived to delude so many illustrious men. Why else,upon retiring from the assembly, did he rather chuse his brother’s house,overlooking the great Forum, and fitly placed to attract the eyes of all men,than Mount Aventine, and his wife’s house there? This was a recess which wouldhave become him, had he sought a station truly private, and studied to fly allshew and display of Sovereignty. Quite contrary had been the conduct of VITELLIUS; he had again betaken himself to the Palace,betaken himself to the very centre and citadel of Empire. Thence by his orderan armed host had sallied, scattering destruction. Strewed and defiled with theblood and carcasses of innocents was the noblest part of the city. Even theCapitol was not exempt from profaning violence. For himself; like otherSenators, he only wore the pacific robe, whilst between VESPASIAN and VITELLIUS the contest forEmpire was deciding by combating Legions, by the capture of Cities, and by thedesertion and surrender of Cohorts. Already to VESPASIAN had revolted both Spains, Germany the higher and the lower, and all Britain;yet still he, the brother of VESPASIAN, persisted in faithand duty to VITELLIUS, till even by VITELLIUS he was invited to treat of an accommodation.In concord and peace the vanquished foundself-preservation, the conquerors only matter of glory. If he were sorry forthe treaty made, let him not draw his sword against SABINUS, the man whom he had perfidiously circumvented, noragainst the son of VESPASIAN, one not arrived at manhood.From the blood of a single old man, from that of a single youth, what mightyadvantage would be gained? No, let him go forth and confront the Legions, andthere bravely contend for the enjoyment of power supreme.” In answer to allthis, VITELLIUS, under great agonies and affright, offereda few words to clear his innocence, throwing the whole fault upon “thesoldiers; since their impetuosity was beyond bounds, such as his gentle rulewas unable to restrain.” He even warned MARTIALIS, “toretire secretly through an obscure part of the house, that he might not beassassinated by the soldiers; as the mediator of a peace, which was what theyabhorred.” To himself no power remained either to command or to prohibit, norwas he any longer Emperor, but only the cause of war.

HARDLY had MARTIALIS returned to theCapitol ere the soldiers approached, full of fury, under no leader, every manhis own master. The rapid host passing by the Forum, and the Temples whichoverlook the Forum, mounted the opposite ascent in battle array,and advanced even to the outermost gates of the Fortin the Capitol. Of old, upon the side of the declivity, to the right-hand asyou ascend, there stood certain portico’s: from the roofs of these the besiegedcasting stones and tiles, overwhelmed the assailants; nor had the latter otherweapons to wield than their swords only; and as too tedious it seemed to havetheir engines drawn up with materials for throwing, into that portico whichhung just over them, they hurled flaming torches, and pursued their attack byfire. The gates of the Capitol were already on a flame, and the enemy must haveentered, had not SABINUS pulled down the Statues on allhands, and with these the glorious monuments of our Forefathers, raised in thevery entrance a new wall. They then strove to force a passage from the oppositeavenues of the Capitol, that by the grove of the Sanctuary, and that where theTarpeian Rock is ascended by a hundred stairs. Both assaults were alarming andunforeseen; but closer and fiercer was that at the grove. Nor was it possibleto stay their progress, as they climbed over the contiguous buildings, which,in a long course of domestic peace, had been suffered to be raised upon theside of the hill, so high that they reached the foundation of the Capitol. Ithere remains undecided, whether to the adjoining roofs fire was set by theassailants, or, which is more currently reported, by the besieged, whilst theystroveto repulse such as were yet mounting up, and such ashad already gained ground. From thence the fire spread to the portico’s of theCapitol adjoining to the houses, and the eagles which supported the roof, asthe timber was very old, instantly catched the flames, and nourished them. Thusburned the Capitol, and burned to ashes, with its gates shut, without beingdefended, and without being forced or plundered.

THIS outrage was the most deplorable that had happenedsince the founding of the City, and to the Roman Commonweal the most horrid andreproachful. At a time when no foreign enemy annoyed us, whilst towards us theGods, as far as our evil demeanour would suffer them, were shewing themselvespropitious, the residence of Jove all-good, all-great, by our ancestors rearedwith solemn benedictions and auspices, as the pledge and centre of futureEmpire, that sacred Seat which had escaped profanation even from PORSENA, upon the surrender of Rome to him, escaped it evenfrom the Gauls, when they had taken the City, suffered desolation from the rageof our own Princes, who accomplished a calamity which our public enemies couldnever accomplish! Once before too the Capitol was destroyed by fire during acivil war, but then through private malignity. It was now publicly besieged,publicly burned, alas, from what causes of mutual arms? What prize tocompensate a destructionso mighty? Did we thus fight for our Country? Theelder TARQUIN during his war with the Sabines made a vow tobuild it, and even laid the foundations, such as rather corresponded with hisown hopes of its rising to grandeur in times to come, than suited to the thenlow condition of the Roman people. Thereafter SERVIUSTULLIUS carried it on with the friendly concurrence of our confederates;and to finish it, TARQUIN the proud, having taken SuessaPometia, applied all the spoils of the enemy. But, to the times andestablishment of public liberty, the glory of the work was reserved. Upon theexpulsion of the Kings, HORATIUS PULVILLUS in his secondConsulship dedicated it, having improved and increased it to such signalgrandeur, that all the ensuing wealth of the Romans, however immense, though itmight serve to give new embellishments, could add no new magnificence. Upon thesame foundation it rose again, when burnt; after an interval of four hundredand twenty-five years, in the Consulship of LUCIUS SCIPIO and CAIUS NORBANUS. The care of rebuilding it then SYLLA undertook, having now mastered all opposition; yet hededicated it not: This was the only thing withholden from him to complete hisfelicity. Upon it the name of CATULUS, amongst so manygreat works and monuments of the Emperors remained all along till the days of VITELLIUS: Then was this edifice laid in ashes.

BUT from the fire much more dread accrued to thebesieged than to the assailants: For the soldiers of VITELLIUS, in doubtful emergencies, wanted no address orresolution. On the opposite side, the men were dismayed, and spiritless theLeader; nay, as if berest of his faculties, he exercised not the naturaloffices of speech, or of hearing, neither swayed by the counsels of others, norfurnished with any of his own, but by the several cries of the enemies drivenheadlong hither and thither. What he had commanded he again forbad, what he hadforbidden he again commanded. Anon, what usually happens in forlorncircumstances, all directed, none obeyed. At length, casting away their arms,they only meditated how to lurk or where to fly. Then burst in the bands of VITELLIUS, and with fire, and sword, and carnage, madeuniversal havock. A few military men who ventured to encounter them, wereslaughtered: Of these the most signal were CORNELIUS MARTIALIS,ÆMILIUS PACENSIS, CASPERIUS NIGER, and DIDIUS SCÆVA. They encompassed FLAVIUS SABINUS, destitute of arms, noroffering to fly; as they did QUINCTIUS ATTICUS the Consul,a man sufficiently remarkable by the ornaments of his office, as well as forhis own vainglorious conduct, as he had wantonly addressed to the peoplecertain edicts very pompous in behalf of VESPASIAN, verybitter and opprobrious towards VITELLIUS. The rest, throughdiverschances and stratagems, escaped, some disguised underthe habit of slaves, others concealed by their trusty adherents, and evenburied amongst bundles. There were several who having learnt the word whencethe Vitellians were distinguished by one another, and venturing to use it, byasking it boldly and answering readily, from such confidence drew the samesecurity as from a hiding-place.

UPON the first irruption of the foe, DOMITIAN was by the device of his Freedman conveyed secretlyinto the house of the Warden, and under the disguise of a linnen robe, thrustamongst the Tribe of Sacrificers, where passing undiscovered, he continuedlurking at the house of CORNELIUS PRIMUS, a dependent ofhis father’s, near the place called Velabrum. Heafterwards, in the reign of his father, having demolished the Warden’sapartment, reared upon the place a small Chapel dedicated to Jove the Protector, with an Altar, and the story of thisadventure graved upon marble. Not long thence, when he arrived at theSovereignty, he erected a vast Temple sacred to Jove theGuardian, with himself held in the arms of the God. SABINUS and ATTICUS, loaded with irons, andcarried to VITELLIUS, were by him received with no bitterwords, with no hostile countenance. Hence the rage of those who claimedprivilege to butcher them, as also high rewards for the late exploit by themdeemed a decisive victory. Thus clamoursensued, which being first begun by such as stoodnearest, the vile and debauched sort of the populace called aloud for thepresent execution of SABINUS, and with this their demandintermixt many threatnings as well as much flattery. Nay, they forced VITELLIUS to forbear interposing, as he stood upon thestairs of the Palace preparing to soften them by intreaties. Instantly theythrust SABINUS through, and mangled him, then cutting offhis head, dragged his trunk to the charnel of malefactors.

THIS was the fate of a man by no means to be contemned.Five and thirty years had he carried arms for the Commonweal, and, both inpeace and war, bore a very signal reputation. As to the innocence of his life,and justice of his actions, he was unspotted: In his discourse he wasover-copious: This was the only failing which even busy rumour could object tohim during all the seven years that he ruled Mœsia, during all the twelve thathe was Governor of Rome. In the end of his life he was by some judged to havebeen slow and spiritless, by many to have been prudent and moderate, anddesirous to spare the blood of his fellow-citizens. In one thing all menconsent, that before VESPASIAN became Emperor, the dignityof the family centred in the person of SABINUS. I have beeninformed, that his fall was well pleasing to MUCIANUS. Indeed most men alledged, that by it peace and unanimity inthe State were secured; as all emulation was now forever removed between these two, who would always have been consideringthemselves, the one as the Emperor’s brother, the other as his companion inpower. But when the people required the doom of the Consul, VITELLIUS persevered in opposing them, being himself nowpacified, and as it were repaying him a courtesy; since to such as had askedhim who it was that set fire to the Capitol, he made free confession of beingthe person guilty. By this acknowledgment, or be it a fiction only framed totemporize, in assuming the crime, and the odium of the crime, he seemed to haveacquitted as innocent the party of VITELLIUS.

DURING these days, LUCIUS VITELLIUS having encamped at Feronia, threatened to storm and sack Terracina. Within itwere shut up the Gladiators and Marines, a garrison who dared not venturewithout their walls, nor face the enemy in the field. Over the Gladiators (asabove I have recounted) there commanded JULIANUS, over theMarines APOLLINARIS, two men in slothfulness and debaucheryresembling rather common Gladiators than principal Commanders. No watch theykept; none of the weak parts of the walls did they strengthen or secure; bynight and by day they wallowed in voluptuousness, and with their gay revellingsupon those delicious shores, the whole coast resounded. Their soldiers weredispersedabroad to procure supplies for their luxury; and onlywhilst they were feasting, did they talk of war. APINIUSTIRO was gone from thence a few days before, and, by exacting from themunicipal Cities money and presents with notable rigour, gained to the partymuch more malevolence than strength. In the mean time a slave of VIRGILIUS CAPITO fled over to LUCIUSVITELLIUS, and undertook, if he were furnished with a band of men, todeliver up the castle secretly, destitute as it was of guards. Thus in the deadof night, he lodged some Cohorts lightly armed upon the ridge of the hills justover the head of the enemy. From thence the soldiers rushed down, indeed ratherto a massacre than an encounter. Some void of arms, others endeavouring to arm,several just frighted out of their sleep, were all easily vanquished andoverthrown, as with the profound darkness, with the sudden alarm and dismay,trumpets sounding, and enemies shouting, they were all disconcerted andastonished. A few of the Gladiators resisted stoutly, nor died without firstrevenging their deaths. The rest fled with all their speed to the ships, whereall were equally embarassed by the same distress and affright; for with thesoldiers were intermixt the inhabitants of Terracina, and these two theVitellians slaughtered, without making any distinction. Six small gallies, justas the uproar and consternation began, escaped away, and in oneof them APOLLINARIS Commander ofthe Fleet. All the other vessels were seized by the shore, or, surcharged bythe thronging crowd, sunk to the bottom. JULIANUS was haledaway to LUCIUS VITELLIUS, and being first scourged, till hewas all covered with gore, executed in his sight. There were some who charged TRIARIA the wife of LUCIUS, as if witha military sabre girt to her side, she had manifested dreadful insolence andbarbarity of spirit, even amidst the doleful wailings, and sad desolation ofTerracina under the calamitous lot of spoil and massacre. He himself, as anindication of his prosperous atchievement, sent to his brother a crown oflaurel, and desired his orders whether to return forthwith to Rome, or topersist in the reduction of Campania. This pause was of salutary consequencenot to VESPASIAN’S party only, but to the wholeCommonwealth. In truth, had the soldiers, naturally headstrong, now elated withsuccess, proceeded to Rome just hot from their victory, a struggle not a littleterrible must have ensued, nor could it have been decided without thedestruction of the City. For in LUCIUS VITELLIUS, howeverinfamous he were, no want of vigour was found; not that from any virtue hederived his importance and power, as all worthy men do theirs, but, like everyother wicked man, from his villainy and vices.

WHILST by the party of VITELLIUS these things were transacted, VESPASIAN’S army,having departed from Narnia, diverted themselves atOcriculum in celebrating the annual Feast of Saturn, a festival of many days;as if no other employment had awaited them. The cause of a delay sopreposterous was, to stay for the coming of MUCIANUS. Norwere there wanting some who entertained suspicions of ANTONIUS, and charged him, “As if through treachery he thuslingered, in consequence of the letters secretly sent him from VITELLIUS, with offers of the Consulship, and of his daughterthen marriageable, and, with her a mighty fortune, as the rewards of revoltingfrom VESPASIAN. ” Others alledged, “That all this charge wasno more than a fiction, framed purely in court to MUCIANUS. ” Several argued, “That it was a resolution concertedamongst all the Leaders, rather to present the city with a terrible display ofwar, than to carry the war thither; since the chief strength of the PrætorianBands had already deserted VITELLIUS, who was likewiseprecluded from any reinforcement on every hand: So that it was presumed hewould quietly yield up the Empire; but that all was marred and disconcerted,first by the rashness, then by the pusillanimity of SABINUS, who having inconsiderately taken up arms, had not beenable to maintain the invincible Fort of the Capitol against three Cohorts, aplace strong enough to defy the assaults of mighty armies.” Thetruth is, one cannot easily upbraid any particularCommander with a fault committed by all. For besides that MUCIANUS, by his dark and equivocal letters, retarded themotion of the conquering army, ANTONIUS too incurred greatguilt by his overlate and pernicious complaisance, though perhaps he thencestudied to transfer upon the other all public resentment and hate. For the restof the Chiefs; by judging the war to be completed, they rendered the end of itthe more signal and glaring. Nor indeed had PETILIUSCERIALIS made sufficient dispatch, he who was purposely sent forward witha thousand horse, by an indirect march over the Sabine territories, to enterRome through the Salarian highway. At last, the news that the Capitol wasbesieged, roused them all.

ANTONIUS advanced along the great Flaminian road, andfar in the night arrived at the red rocks: But the aid which he intended cametoo late. He there met many tidings all very mournful, “ SABINUS murdered, the Capitol reduced to ashes, the City underdreadful consternation, nay, the populace and slaves all under arms for VITELLIUS. ” PETILIUS CERIALIS also wasunfortunate in the combat attempted by his horse, who, rushing incautiouslyupon the foe, as upon men already defeated, were received by the Vitellianssteadily, with their foot interlined amongst their horse. Not far from the Citythe conflict happened, amongst buildings andgardens, and winding lanes; a situation familiar tothe Vitellians, but strange to their enemies, and thence the cause of theirperplexity and fear. Neither was the body of horse unanimously affected, asamongst them were incorporated some who had lately surrendered at Narnia, andnow warily watched for what side fortune would ultimately declare. TULLIUS FLAVIANUS Commander of a Squadron was taken. Therest suffered a scandalous rout, flying in unmanly dismay. The vanquisherspursued not beyond Fidenæ.

BY this success the former zeal and partiality of thepeople became heightened. The commonalty of Rome betook themselves to arms;some few were furnished with regular shields, but the most part snatched up andturned into weapons whatever fell first in their way, and then craved thesignal for battle. VITELLIUS presented them his thanks, andordered them to sally forth and defend the City from insults and attacks. Anonthe Senate was assembled, and Ambassadors nominated for repairing to thearmies, such as under the stile and guise of the Commonweal, were to exhortthem to peace and union. Very different proved the lot and reception of theAmbassadors: They who went to PETILIUS CERIALIS encounteredperils almost fatal, as the soldiers sternly rejected all terms of peace. Nay,the Prætor ARULENUS RUSTICUS was wounded; a barbaritywhich, beside the violation of a character altogethersacred, that of an Ambassador and of a Prætor,derived fresh abhorrence from the dignity and estimation of the man. Hisfollowers dispersed and fled: His principal Lictor was slain for daring to opena passage through the crowd: and had it not been for the protection of a guardappointed by the chief officer, such was the brutal rage inspired by our civildissentions, that the Law and Privilege of Ambassadors, esteemed inviolableeven amongst foreign and barbarous Nations, had been profaned, even to themassacring of their persons, in the midst of their native country and under thevery walls of Rome. With more temper were they received who had gone to ANTONIUS: Not that the soldiers had greater moderation, butthe General greater authority.

WITH the Ambassadors had joined himself, MUSONIUS RUFUS, by rank a Roman Knight, one who attended to thestudy of Philosophy and adhered to the doctrine of the Stoics. He minglingamongst the bands, and reasoning about the blessings of peace and the dangersattending war, laboured thus to tutor men in arms. To many this was matter ofderision; to more it proved annoying and tiresome: Nor were there wanting someto thrust him thence violently and to push him with their hands and feet, tillthrough the persuasions of all the more moderate, and the menaces of others, heforbore his lessons of wisdom so ill-timed.Thither too had repaired the Vestal Virgins withletters from VITELLIUS to ANTONIUS: Inthese he desired, “That the battle, which was to be the last, might besuspended for one day; during that interval, all things would be more easilyaccommodated.” The Virgins were dismissed with all demonstrations of honour. To VITELLIUS an answer was returned, “That by the murder of SABINUS, and the burning of the Capitol, all means ofending the war by treaty were cut off.”

ANTONIUS, however, by a speech to the Legions purposelyassembled, tried to reconcile them to a temper, that “of encamping by theMilvian bridge, and of entring the City not before next day.” His motive forsuch procrastination was, lest the soldiery just after the heat of a battle,might be so transported as to shew no mercy either to People, or Senate, oreven to the Temples and Domes of the Deities. But they dreaded all delay, asthe means to bereave them of victory. At the same time some Standards seenshining upon the hills, though only followed by the weak and unwarlikepopulace, exhibited the appearance of the enemy’s army. Presently they advancedto Rome, divided into a triple host: one passed along where it already was,upon the great Flaminian road; another coasted the Tiber; the third through theSalarian way moved towards the gate Collina. The multitude of Plebeianswas forthwith routed by an onset of the horse. Thesoldiers of VITELLIUS moved to the attack, formed likewiseinto a threefold band. Many were the conflicts before the City, various thesuccess, but to VESPASIAN’S men chiefly favourable, assuperiour in the abilities of their Leaders. Sorely harrassed were they onlywho had wheeled to the left hand towards the Sallustian gardens, through lanesvery narrow and slippery, where over them stood the Vitellians upon the wallsof the gardens, and as they strove to climb, beat them down with stones andspears, almost to the close of the day, till by the horse who had burst in atthe gate Collina, they were themselves beset in the rear. In the field of Marstoo the parties joined in fierce encounters. For that of VESPASIAN appeared the concurrence of fortune, and of victoryso often gained. The Vitellians were fired and driven headlong by pure despair,and though vanquished and routed, assembled again within the City and renewedthe battle.

ABOUT the combatants the people were gathered asspectators; and, as if they had been only attending the representation of afight exhibited for public amusement and sport, they favoured and espoused nowthese, anon those, with theatrical shouts and clappings: Nay, as often aseither side recoiled, and particulars had fled into houses, or lay hid inshops, they insisted upon their being dragged out and slain, and thus came toenjoythemselves the largest part of the prey. For, whilstthe soldiers were only pursuing blood and slaughter, the spoil fell to thepossession of the commonalty. Tragical and ghastly was the face of the wholeCity; in one place deadly conflicts, and bleeding wounds; in another luxuriousbathings and feats of riot; every where blood in streams, and carcasses inpiles, and just at hand wanton harlots, or such as resembled harlots; acts ofdebauchery and voluptuousness, as extravagant as ever were practised during aseason of luxury and repose, with all the barbarities attending the mostmerciless captivity. Insomuch, that you would have thought the same City atonce transported with brutal outrage, and abandoned to sensual revellings. Romehad before seen contending armies in her streets, where SYLLA twice remained conqueror, and once CINNA; nor was there then less cruelty exercised. But now,amongst men there prevailed an unconcern and security perfectly inhuman, norfor a single moment were their pursuits of pleasure postponed. Nay, as if thisconfusion and carnage had seasonably intervened to heighten the gayety of theirfestival days, they exulted, they pampered and indulged, to both partiesindifferent, and triumphing in public miseries.

IN storming the intrenchments of the camp the hardesttask was found, as they were defended by all the most determined amongst theenemy, such who considered thesame as their last hope and resource. Hence the moreardour manifested by the conquerors, as amongst them foremost in zeal were theold Prætorian Cohorts. All the inventions used in attacking the strongestCities, they now applied, the military Shell, missive Engines, Mounds andflaming Torches. “In this single undertaking, they all cried, would becompleted whatever hardships, whatever perils they had in so many battlesundergone. To the Senate and People of Rome their City was restored, to theDeities their Temples. It was in the camp that the peculiar lot and glory ofthe soldiery resided: This was their Country, here was their houshold and theirhoushold Gods. These they were now instantly to regain, or to pass the nightunder arms.” The Vitellians, on the contrary, though in number inferior, thoughunequal in their destiny, perplexed the victory, and retarded the pacification.With blood they contaminated the houses, with blood they profaned the altars,pursuing such feats as prove the last solacements to men desperate andvanquished. Upon the turrets and bulwarks many lay breathing their last, manyalready breathless. They who remained, when their gates were burst open,uniting together, presented themselves confidently to the swords of thevanquishers. In truth they all fell facing the enemy, and wounded only before.Such, even in dying, was their concern to die honourably.

VITELLIUS, seeing the City taken, was carried in a chairthrough the back part of the palace to his wife’s house upon Mount Aventine,with a purpose, if he could by lurking there escape discovery during the day,to fly by night to his brother’s Cohorts at Tarracina. But from unsteadiness ofspirit, such too being the nature of dread, that to one who fears all things,present things are ever most irksome, he came back to the palace now desolateand wild: For all his slaves, even the lowest, had slipped away, or elsecarefully avoided to meet him. Terrifying to him proved the dismal solitude,and every part still and silent: He tried apartments that were shut: He shrunkwith horror to behold all void and desart. Weary at last with such miserableand solitary wandering to and fro, he thrust himself into a hiding place sordidand disgraceful, and by JULIUS PLACIDUS, Tribune of aPrætorian Band, was dragged from it. Behind him forthwith his hands were tied:Thus with his apparel all rent, he was haled along, a spectacle foul and sad,many reviling him, no one bewailing him. Indeed such was the abasement andindecency of his end, as to have banished all pity. There met him one of theGerman soldiers, and with his sword drawn made a violent blow, whether out offury and vengeance, or the sooner to release him from insults and derision, orwhether aiming at the life of the Tribune, is matter of uncertainty.The Tribune’s ear he actually cut off, and washimself instantly slain. VITELLIUS they forced, with theirswords pointed at his throat, now to hold up his head, and present his face toa deluge of indignities, anon to behold his own Statues tumbled down, andparticularly to view the place of assemblies, and that where GALBA suffered his bloody doom. In this manner they pushed himforward, and at last into the charnel of Malefactors, where the corps of FLAVIUS SABINUS had lain exposed. One saying there waswhich fell from him, savouring of no baseness of spirit; when to the Tribunetreating him with roughness and insults, he answered, “That nevertheless he hadbeen his Emperor.” Then, under many wounds given him, he fell and expired. Thecommon herd inveighed against him, after he was slain, with the same depravityof heart with which they had caressed him while he yet lived.

HIS father was LUCIUS VITELLIUS, hisage that of seven and fifty years complete. He had acquired the Consulship,acquired Pontifical dignities, with a name and rank amongst the Grandees of theState, by no parts or vigour of his, but all through the lustre and elevationof his father. The gift of Empire he received from such as never knew the man.In the hearts of the soldiers rarely had any man ever obtained such interest byworthy methods, as he by impotence and sloth. In him however was inherent asimplicityof spirit and liberality; qualities which, unlesskept under restriction, grow inevitably pernicious. His friends he thought tosecure, not by a conduct steady and unblameable, but only by mighty bounty, andthence rather deserved such, than had them. For the interest of theCommonwealth without doubt it was that VITELLIUS wasvanquished and fallen: Yet they who betrayed to VESPASIAN the power and cause of VITELLIUS, can from theirperfidiousness claim no public merit, since they had before revolted from GALBA. The day now hastening to close, the Senate could notbe assembled; for such was the affright of the Magistrates and Senators, thatthey had privately dropped away from the City, or concealed themselves here andthere in the houses of their followers. DOMITIAN, after allapprehensions of hostility had ceased, proceeded to the Leaders of the party,where the soldiers thronging about him saluted him CÆSAR, and all in arms conducted him to his father’s house.

BOOK IV.

The SUMMARY.

THE calamitous condition of Rome. LUCIUS VITELLIUS surrenders his personand his bands, yet is slain. The Sovereignty of VESPASIAN confirmed by the Senate. The fine character andaccomplishments of HELVIDIUS PRISCUS. His contests with EPRIUS MARCELLUS.MUCIANUS enters Rome. By him CALPURNIUS PISO is ordered to be slain. The causes andmotions of the war in Germany, first begun by the Batavians under the leadingof CIVILIS. Next the Caninefates takearms. They demolish the Fortresses of the Romans, cut off the Garrisons,overthrow AQUILIUS a principalCenturion, and afterwards LUPERCUSMUMIUS Commander of a Legion. The Veteran Cohorts of Batavians in theservice of the Romans, go over to CIVILIS, and rout HERENNIUS GALLUS striving to oppose them. The ancient Campbesieged by CIVILIS. The Romansoldiers mutiny against HORDEONIUS: the conduct of the war committed to VOCULA. He advances against CIVILIS, is at firstvanquished, yet by an accident gains the Victory.Again the soldiers mutiny against HORDEONIUS; nay, murder him. Transactions at Rome, and inthe Senate: Contests: Accusations. The soldiers of VITELLIUS pacified by MUCIANUS. The assassination of LUCIUS PISO in Africa. The Capitol restored. TheTreverians and Linganes revolt from the Romans: The other Gauls too waver:Small fidelity even in the Legions and Roman Cohorts, all corrupted by theGauls. VOCULA slain. The Romansoldiers swear allegiance to the Empire of the Gauls. The same do the Legions,after a long siege sustained in the old camp. The people of Cologn not slow toespouse the conquering cause. The Lingones the while routed by the Sequanians.At Rome the Empire judged in danger: DOMITIAN the Emperor’s son prepares to sustain the war inperson, assisted by MUCIANUS, fourLegions forthwith sent forward. The Gauls assemble in council: The wiser sortdeclare for peace however clogged with bondage. PETILIUS CERIALIS vanquishes the Treverians in a greatbattle. Many who had revolted return to the service and standards of theRomans. CERIALIS soon after engagedin a sharp conflict with CIVILIS and CLASSICUS; the beginning of thecombat doubtful, the issue successful to the Romans. What happened to VESPASIAN in Egypt; his miraclesthere: His Sovereignty signified by oracles and presages.

These the proceedings partly of the same year, partly of thenext.

UPON the slaying of VITELLIUS, war wasrather seen to cease than peace to commence. The vanquishers continuing inarms, hunted all over the City after the vanquished with eagerness andimplacable hate. Filled with carnage and mangled coarses were the streets; dyedand streaming with blood were the Temples and places of public resort, as inthem were butchered all whom chance presented to the destroying sword. Nay,anon, this lawless violence increasing,they searched private houses, and dragged forth suchas lay hid. Where they beheld any one remarkably tall and in the prime ofyears, him they murdered without exception, whether he were soldier or citizen.This cruelty, which, during the fresh impulse of animosity and rancour, glutteditself with blood and killing, was afterwards transformed into rapaciousness.No place would they suffer to remain private, no part shut up, pretending thatthere some Vitellians were concealed. The beginning this of forcing openhouses, or a sure ground for committing murder where-ever opposition was made.Nor did the indigent part of the populace fail to assist in the generalviolence, and spoil. The most villainous amongst the slaves were even forwardto betray their wealthy Lords; others were exposed by their particular friends.On all hands were uttered bitter wailings and the universal voice of anguish,on all hands seen no other than the miserable lot of a city stormed and sacked:Insomuch that the soldiers of OTHO and those of VITELLIUS, however imperious and insulting, and howeveronce hated, were now missed and regretted. The Generals of the party, men sopuissant and vigorous in kindling the Civil War, were found insufficient tocontroul the spirit of victory. For, in exciting public tumults andconvulsions, every the worst man has the strongest sway: Touphold tranquillity and peace, righteous designs arerequired and virtuous management.

THE name and residence of Cæsar, DOMITIAN enjoyed, but to the cares of government gave yet noattention; and only in feats of adultery and constupration acquitted himself asthe son of an Emperor. With the command of the Prætorian Guards ARRIUS VARUS was invested. The supreme exercise and springs ofauthority rested in ANTONIUS PRIMUS. From the Prince’shouse he was continually plundering treasure, moveables, and domestic slaves,as if he were still seizing the spoil of Cremona. The rest, whether checked bytheir modesty or their meanness, as they had merited no distinction in the war,were likewise undistinguished by rewards. The city under great awe and terror,and quietly disposed to servitude, pressed “to have LUCIUSVITELLIUS seized with his Cohorts upon their march from Tarracina, and theremains of the war extinguished.” Hence the cavalry were sent forward toAricia: The body of the Legions rested at the Town of Bovillæ. Nor did VITELLIUS pause a moment, but to the pleasure of theconqueror delivered up himself and his bands. His men too cast away theirunfortunate arms, moved as much by indignation as by fear. Through the Citypassed the long train of captives guarded on each side by files of armed men:Not one betrayed a relenting or supplicantlook. Grieved and vengeful they appeared, and to allthe boisterous insults and derision of the mocking and petulant vulgar, shewedthemselves scornful and unmoved. The few who broke forth upon the rabble, wereoppressed by the guards; the rest imprisoned. From none of them fell a mean ordegenerate expression; and though environed with wretchedness and distress,they maintained the renown of their constancy and courage, unstained. Next wasput to death LUCIUS VITELLIUS, one in vices equal to hisbrother; in his brother’s reign the more vigilant of the two, nor so much acompanion in the sunshine of his fortune, as swallowed headlong in his tragicalfate.

DURING the same time LUCILIUS BASSUS was dispatched with a band of horse lightly equipped, to establish thetranquillity of Campania, as amongst the municipal Cities prevailed a spirit ofanimosity and contention, more in truth upon mutual disgusts than through anydisaffection and contumacy towards the Emperor. Upon sight of the soldiers,present composure ensued; nor upon the smaller Colonies for their lateopposition was any punishment inflicted. Capua was assigned to the third Legionfor winter-quarters, and thence grievously oppressed were the illustriousfamilies there. Yet to the people of Terracina so lately sacked by theVitellians, no help was administered or relief. So much stronger is the bent ofmen to revengean injury than to repay a benefit, becauseobligations are burdensom and painful; but vengeance taken seems to besomething gained. Some consolation it proved, that the slave of VIRGILIUS CAPITO, he whom I have mentioned to have betrayedtheir city to the enemy, was now fastened to a gibbet, dressed in the samerings which as a recompence from VITELLIUS he always wore.Now at Rome, the Senate decreed to VESPASIAN all the titlesand prerogatives ever invested in former Princes, with great alacrity and hopesassured. For, as the civil arms were first wielded in the Regions of Gaul andSpain; as Germany too engaged in the war, and anon Illyricum; as the same civilarms had afterwards visited Ægypt, Judæa, and Syria, nay, all the Provinces andall the Armies; it seemed to the Fathers that, the whole world having thusundergone expiation, all dissentions were brought to a natural close. Toheighten their joy they had letters from VESPASIAN, soconceived as if the war had yet subsisted. This was the construction which atfirst view they seemed to bear: Yet in them he used the stile of an Emperor,but chose expressions full of courtesy when he mentioned himself, full ofdignity when he mentioned the Commonwealth. Nor was the Senate wanting in actsof duty aud obsequiousness. To himself with his son TITUS for Collegue the Consulship was forthwith decreed; to DOMITIAN the Prætorship and Consular authority.

TO the Senate MUCIANUS too had sentletters, and thence furnished ground for observation and discourse. “If he wereindeed a private man, why did he assume the part of a public character inaddressing himself to the Senate? In a few days he might have had anopportunity of proposing the same things from his place amongst the Senators.”Even his invectives against VITELLIUS were judgedover-late, and unworthy of passing for bold and free. But big with haughtinesstowards the Commonwealth, big with contumely towards the Emperor, was what heboasted, “That in his own hands he had had the Empire, and freely bestowed itupon VESPASIAN. ” But in privacy they smothered this theirindignation and hate, whilst to the man their sycophancy was public andglaring. With many strains of eloquence very lofty and very honourable, theyassigned him the decorations of triumph, in reality for his conduct in thecivil Wars; but his expedition against the Sarmatians served for the pretence.There followed more grants of honours, the Consular ornaments presented to PRIMUS ANTONIUS, and to CORNELIUSFUSCUS and ARRIUS VARUS those of the Prætorship.Thereafter they turned their deliberations towards the Deities; hence wasdetermined the rebuilding of the Capitol. And all these decrees arose from thepropositions and reasoning of VALERIUS ASIATICUS Consulelect. Therest assented by motions of their head and hand; asdid some few signal in place, or of parts well trained in flights of flattery,by elaborate speeches purposely framed. When to HELVIDIUSPRISCUS, Prætor elect, it came to speak his sentiments, he proposed suchas upon a good Prince reflected much reverence and honour, such too as werevoid of all false court and insincerity; and by the Senate he was extolled withaffectionate praises. Indeed this proved a very signal day to him, thebeginning of mighty offence given, and of mighty glory earned.

SINCE I am here again led to name a man whomhenceforward I must frequently mention, it seems incumbent upon me shortly torecount his course of life and pursuits, and what fortune befel him. HELVIDIUS PRISCUS was born in the municipal City ofTerracina within the first precinct of Italy, the son of CLUVIUS who had sustained the rank of a principal Centurion.His bright and signal parts he wholly applied, whilst yet very young, tostudies of the more noble kind; not as many do, to disguise spiritlessindolence under a pompous name, but, in order to engage in the publicadministration with a mind thoroughly fortified against all contingencies anddisasters. He adhered to such Philosophers as maintain that only things justare good, that nought is evil save what is dishonest, and in the rank of thingsneither evil nor good, place nobility, power, and all other acquirementswhich depend not upon the soul. Ere he had risenhigher than the Quæstorship, he was by THRASEA PÆTUS chosenfor a husband to his daughter: Nor from the character of his wife’s father didhe copy aught so studiously as his undaunted exercise of liberty. As Citizen,as Senator, Husband, Son-in-law, and Friend, in all the offices of life, signalwas his uprightness and equanimity, ever contemning wealth, ever unmoveablefrom righteous judgment, never to be shaken by fear. There were some to whom heseemed over sollicitous for fame; though the thirst of glory be such a passionas even wise men resign last. Upon the deadly doom of his father-in-law, he wasdriven into exile, and returning in the reign of GALBA, sethimself to implead EPRIUS MARCELLUS, the accuser of THRASEA. The pursuit of this vengeance, though it isuncertain whether it were more daring or more just, rent the Senate into heatsand contests. For, were MARCELLUS suffered to fall, theband of accusers were at once overwhelmed. At first the struggle between themproceeded with notable vehemence, and was by both signalized with excellentspeeches. Anon as the inclinations of GALBA were insuspence, and upon the interposition of many Senators with entreaties, PRISCUS dropped the process. Whence ensued various censuresand discourse, according to the different humours of men, some magnifying hismoderation, some charginghim with want of vigour and firmness. But, upon theday when the Senate had under consideration the Sovereignty of VESPASIAN, as it was agreed to send Ambassadors to the Prince;upon this subject between HELVIDIUS and EPRIUS, a bitter debate arose. PRISCUS insisted that they should be nominated by the Magistrates, first solemnlysworn; MARCELLUS, that they should be drawn by lot, themethod already proposed by the Consul elect. But what in reality prompted MARCELLUS to such sollicitude, was the apprehension ofdisgrace to himself, lest, were others nominated, he should be thought slightedand postponed. By degrees, from interchanging sharp words, they were carriedinto continued speeches full of asperity.

HELVIDIUS desired to know, “Why MARCELLUS so much dreaded the judgment of the Magistrates? Hewas master of wealth and of eloquence, nay, in the measure of both surpassedmany others: unless he were perhaps urged and daunted by the memory andblackness of his crimes. By the use of blind lots and the urn no distinctioncould be made between the manners and characters of men. The way of suffragesand of consulting the sentiments of the Senate, was purposely devised forsearching the life and reputation of particulars. To the interest andwell-being of the Commonwealth it appertained, it appertained to the honour of VESPASIAN, that to compliment himthere should be sent men of the clearest innocence in the Senate, such as withvirtuous reasoning and discourse might season the Prince’s ears. With THRASEA, with SORANUS and SENTIUS, VESPASIAN had entertained personal intimacy andfriendship: And their accusers, though it seemed they must not be punished, yetought not to be presented under the pomp of a public character. By the judgmentof the Senate thus manifested the Prince would be as it were advised andwarned, whom to fear and shun, whom to countenance and approve. No greatersupport was there of a righteous reign than righteous friends about the personreigning. It ought to suffice MARCELLUS that he hadinstigated NERO to murder so many innocents. Let him evenenjoy the rewards of his services, and his exemption from punishment: Only lethim leave VESPASIAN to more worthy advisers.”

MARCELLUS alledged, “That it was no proposition of hiswhich was thus warmly combated, but what had been proposed by the Consul elect,in pursuance of ancient precedents, which had left the election of Ambassadorsto the decision of lots; so as for caballing and the efforts of personalenmities, no place might remain. No new cause had occurred, why institutionsframed of old should be abandonedto disuse, nor why the honour intended for the Princeshould be turned to any man’s contumely and disgrace. For paying the homagedesigned, every man there was qualified. What they ought to be more sollicitousto avoid, was lest through the unrelenting stiffness of some certainparticulars, his spirit might be incensed, whilst in his new Sovereignty he wasyet possessed with doubts and apprehensions, and warily watching even theexpressions and looks of all men. For himself; he considered the temper of thetimes in which he was born, as also the frame of administration instituted byour fathers and grandfathers. The primitive institution he admired; to thepresent settlement he adhered. For the blessing of good princes he bestowedwishes and vows; to princes good or bad he submitted. It was not more throughany pleading of his that THRASEA suffered, than through thejudgment of the Senate passed upon him. With such mock displays of law was thecruelty of NERO wont to sport itself. Nor smaller anguishhad he himself undergone from a friendship so dangerous, than had others from astate of exile. To conclude, he consented that HELVIDIUS should be equalled even to the CATO’S and BRUTUS’S , in constancy invincible, in courage not to bedaunted. He himself assumed to be no more than one of that Senate who had allas well as he yielded humble obedience to lordlypower. He would even persuade PRISCUS, that he would not betowering above the Emperor, would not strive by his precepts and documents torestrain VESPASIAN, an ancient man, long sincedistinguished with triumphal honours, and the father of sons already men. Asthe worst princes sought might without limits or law; to the other sort too,however excellent they proved, a measure and limitation in the exercise ofliberty was always well pleasing.” These reasonings, defended and opposed withmighty ardour and earnestness on both sides, were heard by the Fathers withinclinations divided. Prevalent however proved the party who preferred themethod of lots, since even such Senators as had observed a neutrality,contended for retaining the ancient usage. Moreover every particular Grandee,signal in figure and elevation, leaned to the same course, from dread of envyshould they themselves be chosen by the other.

THERE ensued another contest. The Prætors of theTreasury (for then the Treasury was administered by Prætors) complaining of thePoverty of the State, demanded that a retrenchment might be made in the publicexpences. The consul elect proposed to have the regulation of this reserved forthe Emperor; so mighty he thought the task, sodifficult the remedies. HELVIDIUS declared for having it transacted by the option and controulment of the Senate.Already the Consuls were gathering the opinions of the Senators, when VULCATIUS TERTULLINUS Tribune of the people, interposed hisauthority, “against making any ordinance about a matter so momentous in theabsence of the Prince.” HELVIDIUS had moved that theCapitol should be rebuilt by the Roman State, with the assistance of VESPASIAN; a motion which all the most modest Senatorspassed then over in silence, and afterwards forgot. There were some too whocarefully remembered it.

THEN fell MUSONIUS RUFUS upon PUBLIUS CELER, with a violent charge, accusing him “ofhaving by false testimony procured the doom of BAREASORANUS. ” The Senate thought that by this process would be revived thehate and rancour attending the prosecution of the accusers: Yet so guilty andvile was the person accused, that it was impossible to save him. For dear andadored was the memory of SORANUS; and CELER was known to have made profession of Philosophy andwisdom, then to have become witness against BAREA, atraitor to his friend, an instrument to destroy one whom he pretended toinstruct. For the trial was appointed the next day that the Senate met. Nor wasit now so much MUSONIUS or PUBLIUS thatcreated expectationand impatience, as PRISCUS and MARCELLUS and the rest: So intent were the minds of men tosee vengeance pursued.

SUCH was the situation of things; amongst the Fathersfactions and strife, the party vanquished full of rage, the vanquishers void ofall authority, the City bereft of laws, bereft of the Emperor’s presence, when MUCIANUS arrived in Rome, and in a moment drew to himselfthe universal sway. Quite sunk was the power of ANTONIUS and of ARRIUS VARUS; for but ill-dissembled was hisanimosity towards them, though by his looks he studied to hide it. But theCity, always of notable sagacity in diving into disgusts, had already turnedher back upon her late favourites, and devoted herself to the new minion. Tohim alone court was paid; only to him all suit was made. Neither was he wantingto his own grandeur: In great state he removed from seat to seat, and shiftedfrom one pleasant garden to another, always encompassed with an armed host.Such was his magnificence and equipage, such the pomp and solemnity of his portabroad, and such the guards at his gate, that he grasped all the essence andterrours of Sovereignty: The name he forbore. Mighty and general was the dreadwhich accompanied the bloody doom inflicted upon CALPURNIUSGALERIANUS. He was the son of CAIUS PISO, and hadnever offered to disturb the State. But from his name and race so illustriousand ancient,and from his own person graceful and young, in thepratings of the commonalty he had gained a reputation very popular and admired.Moreover, as the City continued still agitated and unquiet, and thence pleasedwith all new rumours, there were some who in absurd conjectures were investinghim with the Imperial Diadem. By order of MUCIANUS he wascommitted to the custody of a band of soldiers; and lest his death shouldminister more observation, were he executed in the eye of the City, he was sentforty miles thence, along the great Appian Road, and, upon cutting his veins,perished by an effusion of blood. JULIUS PRISCUS, Captainof the Prætorian Guards under VITELLIUS, slew himself,pressed to it rather by shame than any necessity. ALPHENUSVARUS, however guilty of dastardly conduct, and branded with infamy,continued to survive. ASIATICUS too the Freedman bysuffering the death of a slave, atoned for his late wicked sway.

DURING the same conjuncture, the report of our defeat inGermany filled the City, yet afflicted it in no degree. “Of our armiesslaughtered; of the winter encampments of the Legions, taken and possessed bythe enemy; of the revolt of all the nations of Gaul;” people discoursed asmatter of news only, not as calamities. From what source and motives that warproceeded, with what mighty combustion it raged amongst strange nations andthose of our allies, I shallhere deduce and explain. The Batavians, whilst theydwelt beyond the Rhine, were a part of the Cattians, and, when driven thence bya domestic insurrection, sat down upon the extreme borders of Gaul, such asthey found destitute of inhabitants, as also upon an island situated betweenthe mouths of the Rhine, washed before by the Ocean, behind and on either sideby the River. Neither, in leaguing with the Romans, did they find themselvesoppressed or exhausted by those their allies however more potent, nor servedthey the Empire in aught save men and arms; and they were long occupied in thewars of Germany. Soon after their military renown became augmented in Britain,whither were transported some of their bands of infantry, conducted, accordingto old and constant usage, by men of the first rank amongst them. At home toothey retained a body of select horse, signal for their exercise and dexterityin swimming, so as to cross the Rhine in troops complete, armed and mounted inthe stream.

JULIUS PAULUS and CLAUDIUS CIVILIS, men of royal descent, greatly surpassed the rest in credit and quality. PAULUS was slain by FONTEIUS CAPITO, who falsly charged him with rebellion. Upon CIVILIS ironswere put, and he sent to NERO; by GALBA he was declared innocent and released; again under VITELLIUS he incurred capital danger,for that the army importunately craved his execution.Hence the rise of his anger and vengeance; and hence his hopes, founded uponour misfortunes. But CIVILIS, who had a spirit more ableand politic than usual to Barbarians, assumed to be another SERTORIUS or HANNIBAL, bearing in hisvisage a mark of deformity like theirs; and, lest our arms might be turnedagainst him as a public enemy, should he once appear to have revolted from theRoman people, he pretended an attatchment to VESPASIAN, andto espouse his cause with zeal. It is certain, that by letters sent him from ANTONIUS PRIMUS, he was ordered “to stop and drive back theforces summoned to succour VITELLIUS; and under colour ofthe insurrection in Germany, to withhold the Legions from removing.” The samecaution and directions had HORDEONIUS FLACCUS given inperson to CIVILIS, from a mind well disposed towards VESPASIAN, and in tenderness to the Commonweal, upon whichpresent destruction was surely falling, were the war renewed, and so manythousand armed men poured into Italy.

CIVILIS THEREFORE UTTERLY BENT TO REBEL, YET MEANING TO SMOTHERFOR THE PRESENT HIS MAIN DRIFT, AND IN THE MEAN WHILE TO ADJUST ALL HISMEASURES BY THE COURSE OF EVENTS, BEGAN ON THIS WISE TO INTRODUCE THE PUBLICCHANGE INTENDED. BY THE ORDERS OF VITELLIUS, THE FLOWER OF THE BATAVIAN YOUTH WERE CALLED TOGETHERTO BE LISTED SOLDIERS; A THING IN ITS OWN NATURAL TENDENCY VERY GRIEVOUS, YETAGGRAVATED AND IMBITTERED BY THE BEHAVIOUR OF THE AGENTS EMPLOYED, MENABANDONED TO RAPINE AND DEBAUCHERY. FOR THE MUSTER THEY SINGLED OUT THE ANCIENTAND INFIRM, PURPOSELY TO HAVE A REWARD FOR DISCHARGING THEM: AGAIN, SUCH ASWERE OF UNRIPE YEARS, BUT IN THEIR PERSONS LOVELY (AND, IN TRUTH, MOST OF THEIRYOUNG MEN ARE GOODLY AND TALL) THEY HALED AWAY TO SUFFER POLLUTION REPUGNANT TONATURE. HENCE ENSUED MUCH BITTERNESS AND HATE: THE MINISTERS ALSO OF SEDITION,MEN PURPOSELY TUTORED AND PREPARED, URGED THE PEOPLE TO REFUSE BEING ENROLLED. CIVILIS, PRETENDING ONLY TO CELEBRATE A BANQUET, ASSEMBLEDTHE CHIEFS OF THE NATION AND THE MOST DARING AMONGST THE POPULACE, IN A SACREDGROVE; WHERE, WHEN THEY HAD REJOICED AND CAROUSED TILL FAR IN THE NIGHT, AND HEPERCEIVED THEM NOW WARM AND BOLD, HE BEGAN AN HARANGUE, FIRST DISPLAYING THEPRAISES AND RENOWN OF THEIR NATION; THEN PROCEEDED TO ENUMERATE THE INSULTS,THE ACTS OF OPPRESSION AND VIOLENCE, AND ALL THE MISERIES ATTENDING UPON ASTATE OF SERVITUDE. “FOR THAT IN TRUTH THEY WERE NO LONGER HELD ASCONFEDERATES, BUT TREATED LIKE BOND-SLAVES. THE COMING OF AN IMPERIALLIEUTENANT, HOWEVER OPPRESSIVE AND BURDENSOME HIS RETINUE, HOWEVER TERRIBLE ANDIMPERIOUS HIS AUTHORITY, WAS BUT A LIGHT GRIEVANCE. THE BATAVIANS WERESURRENDERED TO THE RULE AND LUST OF SMALL OFFICERS,CAPTAINS AND CENTURIONS. NAY, THESE AS SOON AS GLUTTED WITH THEIR BLOOD ANDSPOILS, WERE CHANGED; OTHER DEVOURERS WITH EMPTY BOWELS SEARCHED OUT, AND NEWTITLES FOR PLUNDERING WERE DEVISED, VARIOUS AND MANY. OVER THEIR HEADS ATPRESENT HUNG THE INJUNCTION TO FURNISH SOLDIERS; WHENCE CHILDREN WOULD BE RENTFROM THEIR PARENTS, BROTHERS FROM BROTHERS, AS IT WERE BY A LAST PARTING FOREVER. AT NO TIME HAD THE ROMAN STATE BEEN MORE SHAKEN AND DISTRESSED, NOR INTHEIR WINTER ENTRENCHMENTS WAS AUGHT ELSE TO BE FOUND BUT STORE OF SPOIL LAIDUP, AND MEN FEEBLE AND OLD. THEY SHOULD ONLY LIFT UP THEIR EYES, NOR DREAD THEEMPTY NAMES AND SHADOWS OF LEGIONS. THEY THEMSELVES WERE MASTERS OF POWERFULFORCES, FOOT AND HORSE; THE GERMANS WERE THEIR KINSMEN; THE GAULS HAD THE SAMEWISHES AND AIM. NOR EVEN TO THE ROMANS WOULD THIS WAR PROVE DISPLEASING; ANDWHATEVER CROSS EVENTS IT PRODUCED, THE BATAVIANS WOULD OF COURSE PUT TO ACCOUNTOF VESPASIAN. IF IT SUCCEEDED, OF VICTORY NO ACCOUNT WASEVER TO BE RENDERED.”

AS with mighty concurrence he was heard, he bound themall in a combination, solemnized with barbarous usages, with maledictions andimprecations peculiar to the country. To the people Caninefates emissaries weresent, to engage them in the same cause and association. This nation enjoys partof the island, in theiroriginal and language the same with the Batavians,equal too in bravery, in number fewer. Anon, by secret inter-agents he subornedthe Batavian Cohorts, once Auxiliaries in Britain, then sent into Germany, asabove I have recounted, and now abiding at Magontiacum. Amongst theCaninefates, signal for brutal bravery was BRINNO, in hisdescent splendid and illustrious. His father, after many hostilities andexploits against the Romans, contemned with impunity the ridiculous expeditionsundertaken by CALIGULA to suppress him. So that the veryname and merit of a family so rebellious recommended the son, who being placedupon a shield according to the custom of the nation, and elevated in processionupon the shoulders of men, was chosen their Leader. He forthwith, joined by theFrisians, a people beyond the Rhine now called in to succour him, passing bysea forced the winter encampment of two Cohorts, an acquisition which laynearest to be made. Neither did our soldiers foresee the sudden assault, nor ifthey had foreseen it, were they of force sufficient to have repelled it. TheCamp therefore was taken and plundered. The foe next discharged their rage uponthe victuallers and Roman traders, men, as secure of peace, confidentlyrambling abroad. They were also ready to have stormed and sacked the strongholds, which, since they could not be defended, were by the Captains of theCohorts burnt down. Into the upperpart of the island were drawn together the Ensignsand Banners, and remnant of men, under the command of AQUILIUS a principal Centurion, and furnished the name of anarmy much rather than the strength. For, VITELLIUS havingwithdrawn from the Cohorts their prime force, had, to recruit them, encumberedwith a burden of arms a spiritless crowd drawn from the next villages of theNervians and Germans.

CIVILIS, who thought it behoved him to cover all hismeasures with profound guile, even upbraided the Captains, “for havingabandoned their Forts. He himself, he said, would soon suppress theinsurrection of the Caninefates, with no other power than the Cohort which hecommanded. They, the rest of the Officers, ought again to repair instantly totheir several quarters.” That under this counsel fraud lurked, since theCohorts, were they separated, would be the easier overwhelmed, and that thiswar was headed not by BRINNO but CIVILIS, was apparent, as from the Germans discoveries were bylittle and little breaking out, such as that people, ever delighted with war,could not long smother. When from these his wiles no success ensued, he hadrecourse to open violence; and, of the Caninefates, the Frizians, and theBatavians, composed three distinct hosts, each formed sharp in the front. Theopposite army was embattled not far from the Rhine, and against the enemy toowere ranged the ships, which, having fired theirforts, they had conducted thither. Nor had the encounter held long ere a bandof Tungrians went over with Ensigns displayed to CIVILIS. The soldiers, quite astonied with a revolt so surprizing, were slaughtered atonce by their enemies and their companions. In the ships the sameperfidiousness was found. Part of the rowers were natives of Batavia: Thesefeigning themselves unskilled in that exercise, wilfully obstructed themariners and combatants in the discharge of their office, and frustrated alltheir efforts. Anon defying all orders, they rowed away directly towards theenemy’s shore. At last, whatever Masters and Centurions shewed not the sameinclination, they butchered. Thus the Fleet intire, consisting of four andtwenty ships, deserted to the enemy, or was taken by him.

SIGNAL was the credit which immediately accompanied thisvictory; signal afterwards the advantage: By it the victors gained what theywanted, ships and arms, besides that through Germany and Gaul they reaped highrenown, and were celebrated with applause as the authors of national libertyrestored. Both Germanies presently sent them Ambassadors with offers ofsuccours. The alliance of the Gauls CIVILIS courted bypresents and address. Such Captains of Cohorts as he had taken of that nation,he restoredevery one to his native residence. To the frankoption of the Cohorts themselves he left it, to depart home, or to remain withhim, as they listed. Those who would stay he proposed to distinguish honourablyin the service. With spoils taken from the Romans he presented all who wentaway. He at the same time reasoned with them secretly, and exhorted them totake warning from “the series of calamities which in so long a course of yearsthey had suffered, whilst to a miserable state of bondage they falsly gave thename of peace. The Batavians, though exempt from tribute and payments, had yettaken up arms against the common oppressors of Nations: nay, in the firstengagement, the Romans were routed and vanquished. What must be theconsequence, were the Gauls too to throw off the yoke? What strength afterwardswould be found to remain in Italy? With the blood of the Provinces theProvinces were subdued. Upon the disastrous arms of VINDEX they must not reflect: It was in truth by the Batavian Cavalry that hisfollowers the Eduans and Avernians were discomfited. The Auxiliaries too, ledby VERGINIUS against him, were partly composed of BelgicGauls; and, in strict reasoning, only under its own native forces had Gaul sunkand fallen. At present they had all but one commonpursuit, with the additional advantage of having inthe Camps of the Romans acquired whatever sound discipline was practised there.With him already concurred the Veteran Cohorts, they before whom the Legions of OTHO fell. Bonds might still be the portion of Syria andAsia, and of the East, Countries inured to the tyranny of Kings. In Gaul therewere yet alive many men born ere Tributes were known. What Germany had latelyeffected, was manifest; even the extirpation of bondage by the slaughter of QUINTILIUS VARUS. Neither was it such an Emperor as VITELLIUS, but AUGUSTUS CÆSAR himself,that this brave people thus defied to war. Liberty was a blessing bestowed bythe bounty of nature, even upon dumb beasts: fortitude and prowess was afelicity peculiar to man, to the most intrepid and brave the Gods were alwayssure to be aiding. Hence they ought, they who were unimployed, to assail anenemy on every side engaged; they who were in prime vigour, to fall upon menfatigued and exhausted. Whilst some of them espoused VESPASIAN, some VITELLIUS, by such divisionscope was left to annoy both.”

THUS intent was CIVILIS upon drawingover the Provinces of Germany and Gaul, meditating if his scheme shouldsucceed, to establish a Kingdom of Nations so extremelypowerful and so extremely rich. Now HORDEONIUS FLACCUS, by a course of dissimulation, fomented thefirst efforts of CIVILIS. But when messengers arrived fullof affright, with tidings, “That the Roman entrenchments were stormed, theCohorts overwhelmed, and from the Isle of Batavia the Roman name extirpated;”he ordered LUPERCUS MUMMIUS, Colonel of a Legion (who, asthe oldest Colonel, had the Command in the winter-quarters of two Legions) tomarch out against the enemy. LUPERCUS forming an host ofthe Legionary soldiers encamped with him, of the Ubians drawn from theneighbourhood, and of the Treverian horse not far distant, led them along withrapidity, reinforced by a Squadron of Batavian Cavalry, men long sincedebauched in their allegiance, but feigning great fidelity, purposely to betraythe Romans in the very heat of the battle, and then to fly away with the higherprospect of reward. Around him CIVILIS ranged the Ensignsand Banners of the vanquished and captive Cohorts, to spirit his own soldierswith these monuments of their recent glory displayed to sight, and to daunt andterrify his foes by thus recalling the remembrance of their sad defeat. In therear of his army he directed his mother and his sisters to abide, as also thewives of his men, and even their little infants; as so many incitements tovictory, at least to fill them withshame should they yield. Now when with the hideouschanting of the men, and the howlings of the women, the whole host resounded,by no means equal were the shouts returned by the Legions and auxiliaryCohorts. Nay, naked and unguarded was our left wing rendered by the BatavianSquadron, who immediately deserted to the enemy, then instantly, like enemies,turned upon us. Yet the Legionary soldiers, though on every side they sawconsternation and disorder, still preserved their ranks and their arms. Theauxiliary Ubians and Treverians betook themselves to scandalous flight,shifting and dispersing all over the fields: Against them the Germans benttheir fury and pursuit; and thus to the Legions an opportunity was ministeredof escaping safely into that called the ancient Camp. CLAUDIUSLABEO, Commander of the Batavian Squadron, as a man engaged against CIVILIS in domestic competition, was by him removed to theCountry of Frisia; lest, had he slain him, he should have drawn upon himselfnational antipathy and hate, or, were he suffered at home, he might kindleintestine division and quarrels.

ABOUT the same time, the agent by CIVILIS sent to the Cohorts of the Batavians and Caninefates,arrived amongst them, as, in obedience to the orders of VITELLIUS, they were upon their march to Rome. In a moment theytook fire, and swelling with pride and contumacy, demanded, “as gratificationsfor their march, a Donative, double pay, and anaugmentation of their Cavalry;” all in truth promised them by VITELLIUS, yet now claimed with no view of succeeding, but onlyto seek cause of insurrection. FLACCUS too by making themmany concessions, effected no more than to set them upon requiring with greaterimperiousness such terms as they knew he would refuse. So that scorning FLACCUS, they took their rout towards lower Germany, thereto join CIVILIS. HORDEONIUS, in a Council of Tribunes andCenturions, deliberated, whether he should by strong hand repress these men whothus renounced their obedience: Anon he concluded to retain his soldiers withinthe trenches; a purpose proceeding from impotence of spirit natural to him, andfrom the dismay of the Officers who were sorely perplexed with distrust andconcern, for that the inclinations of the auxiliary troops wavered, and byprecipitate levies the Legions had been recruited. Presently after findinghimself seized with regret, and censured even by those whose advice he hadfollowed; as if he were now just ready for the pursuit, he wrote to HERENNIUS GALLUS, who commanded the first Legion, and thengoverned Bonn, “to oppose the passage of the Batavians, and that he himselfwith his whole army would be sure to follow close upon their rear.” Withoutdoubt, they might have been totally overwhelmed, had HORDEONIUS from that quarter, GALLUS fromthis, poured in their forces at the same time, and assailed them on each handthus beset. FLACCUS quite dropped the attempt, and, inother letters to GALLUS, directed him, not to obstruct themfrom passing on. Hence the suspicion, that by the co-operation of the chiefcommanders the war was kindled, and hence all the many evils produced by it orapprehended from it, were construed to arise from no want of bravery in thesoldiers, from no superior power in the enemy, but purely from the guile andbaseness of the Leaders.

THE Batavians, as soon as they approached Bonn, sentforward certain persons to lay before GALLUS theinstructions with which they were charged by the Cohorts; “That against theRomans, for whom they had so often made war, they meditated none. As they wereweary and wasted with a course of warfare so tedious and so unprofitable, theyonly longed for their native homes and recess from labour. If no one withstoodthem their march should be inoffensive; but if they had arms to encounter, theywould find a passage by the help of their swords.” The Roman Commander ofhimself in suspense, was pushed by the soldiers to hazard a combat. Threethousand Legionary soldiers there were, with some Cohorts hastily levied inBelgia, as also a band of boors and of retainers to the camp, a heartless anddastardly band, but full ofpertness and defiance ere danger came. At all thegates the whole host sallied, with a purpose to surround the Batavians, innumber unequal. They, like men old and experienced in the arts of war, drew upin triangular bodies, close on every side, with their front, rear, and flanksall impenetrable and secure. In this form they pierced quite through our ranksthin and weak. The Belgians recoiling, the soldiers of the Legion wererepulsed, and in great dismay fled to their gates and ramparts. Here thegreatest slaughter was made. With carcasses in heaps the trenches were chokedand filled. Nor was it wounds only and the hostile sword which proveddestructive; many perished in the disasters attending the tumult, many by theirown weapons. The vanquishers avoiding Cologn, pursued their march, and duringall the rest of it, attempted no act of hostility. To vindicate themselves fromblame for the fight at Bonn, they alledged, that they had first sought peace,and had recourse to self-defence when peace was refused.

BY the accession of the Veteran Cohorts, CIVILIS was become General of a regular and intire army; yetwavering in his purposes, and estimating the formidable might of the Romans, heobliged all that were with him to swear allegiance to VESPASIAN. To the two Legions also, which upon their defeat inthe former engagement, had retreated to that called the old Camp, he sentAmbassadors,to induce them to take the same oath. The answerreturned was, “That they professed, not to follow the counsels of a knownTraitor, nor those of public enemies. As their Emperor they acknowledged nonebut VITELLIUS, for him they would persevere in fidelity andarms to the final moment of their lives. Hence, a fugitive Batavian must notassume the controulment of the Roman State, but prepare to meet the deadly doomdue to his enormous crimes.” When to CIVILIS this reply wasrecited, in a violent transport of fury and vengeance he excited the intireBatavian Nation to take arms. With them the Bructerians and Tencteriansimmediately joined: Germany was roused by agents purposely sent, and all wereintent upon the perquisites of plunder and renown.

TO resist the Efforts of a war so threatning, and somany hostile combinations, the Commanders of the Legions, MUMMIUS LUPERCUS and NUMISIUS RUFUS fortified their bulwarks and entrenchments. The buildings which, during a longpeace, had been raised near the camp, in such number and extent that theyresembled a large town, were all demolished; lest they might prove of serviceto the enemy. But, little availed this their precaution, unless they had firstconveyed into the Camp the provisions there contained: These they permitted themen tosnatch away. Thus in a few days was dissipated,wantonly, a quantity of stores which for supplying their necessities would havesufficed a long while. CIVILIS leading forth his host,commanded the Centre in person, at the head of the select forces of Batavia;and, to render his power the more dreadful to behold, with huge bands ofGermans he covered both banks of the Rhine, whilst all over the fields thehorsemen were terribly bounding: At the same time too the ships were drawn upthe river. Here the standards of the veteran Cohorts were presented to view;there the frightful images of wild beasts, brought out of their forests andsacred groves, suitably to the different usage of distinct nations inproceeding to battle. Hence upon our forces, now besieged, dreadfulconsternation fell, from the sight of an hostile army so diversified as torepresent at once the terrors of an intestine and of a foreign war. Besides,the hopes of the assailants were raised and enlivened by the largecircumference of the entrenchments, drawn at first of extent sufficient tolodge two Legions, and now guarded by scarce five thousand men. With these intruth there were a multitude of retainers to the camp, such as upon theinfraction of the public peace, had flocked thither, and were employed in theservices of war. One part of the camp stood upon the side of a hill rising witha gentle ascent,another upon the plain. For, by this winterencampment, AUGUSTUS judged that both Germanies would bekept beleaguered and utterly restrained, nor once foresaw a time so disastrousto the Romans, when they would even bid defiance and come to invest ourLegions. Hence neither upon the situation, nor upon the ramparts was anyuncommon labour bestowed: Courage and arms seemed abundant bulwarks. TheBatavians and they from beyond the Rhine, that the valour of each nation mightglare more signally when apart, chose distinct posts, and began the assault bylancing their darts at a distance. Presently after, as most of these theirweapons missive fell without any execution, and hung impotently in the turretsand pinnacles of the walls; nay, as they themselves were annoyed and wounded byvollies of stones poured from above; with violent impetuosity and shouting theyrushed to storm the ramparts, the most part mounting upon scaling ladders,others upon the military shell formed by their companions. Already in truthsome had reached the battlements, from whence they were hurled headlong byblows of sabres and shocks of bucklers, and then slaughtered with stakes anddarts thrown after them, as men naturally vehement and precipitate in the firstonset, naturally overmuch elated with success; and at this time so inflamedwith thirst of prey, that they submitted even to bearcalamities and sore distress. Nay, they evenattempted an expedient utterly new to them, the trial of battering engines;and, as in these they were destitute of all skill, they had deserters andcaptives who instructed them to rear a frame of timber in fashion of a bridge,and, by the assistance of wheels underneath, to roll it forward against thefortifications; so as some being posted upon the arch, might from thence fightas from a mound, whilst others enclosed within it were employed unseen indemolishing the walls. But mighty stones cast from the missive machines quiteoverthrew and levelled with the ground the unweildy and ill-compacted fabric.Then, while they were preparing shelters of hurdles and moving penthouses, uponthem were discharged from the engines showers of flaming javelins. Thus eventhey who made the attack, were themselves assaulted by terrible weapons offire. At length despairing of success from the method of force and storming,they changed their measures, and had recourse to time and leisure: For theywere aware that within the camp there were provisions but for a few days, and amultitude large and unwarlike to maintain. They also hoped that from penurysome treason would accrue, that loose and fickle would prove the fidelity of somany slaves, and that by the fortuitous events of war advantages wouldarise.

FLACCUS, the while, having learnt the siege of the camp,and sent agents into the territories of Gaul to procure and acceleratesuccours, to DILLIUS VOCULA, Commander of the eighteenthLegion, delivered a chosen detatchment from the Legions, with orders that by aslarge marches as possible he should speed away along the bank of the Rhine. Hehimself, as he was impotent and infirm, lingered behind, in his spirit quitebenummed, by his soldiers utterly abhorred. They indeed raged against him, in astile no wise disguised or obscure, “That he had even consented to thedeparture of the Batavian Cohorts for Magontiacum; he had falsly feignedignorance of the machinations of CIVILIS; he had sufferedthe Germans to associate in the revolt. Nor had the co-operation and active aidof ANTONIUS PRIMUS, nor that of MUCIANUS, more notably ripened and enlarged the interest of VESPASIAN. Professed hate and hostility avowed were obviousto be known, and openly to be repressed: fraud and the efforts of guile lurkedunder darkness, and thence could not be escaped. CIVILIS was an enemy declared; he advanced to the encounter, he embattled his men: HORDEONIUS, out of his chamber, and from his couch, issuedwhatever orders he knew salutary to the foe. Yes; so many bands of mencompletely armed and of hearts undaunted, were controuled by one manenfeebled through age and sickness. More adviseableit were by shedding the blood of the traitor, to rescue their injured fortuneand bravery from an inauspicious General doomed to evil fate.” While yet warmwith such discourses constantly passing amongst themselves, they were set on aflame by the letters brought from VESPASIAN. These, becausethey could not be suppressed, FLACCUS publicly recited tothe soldiers purposely assembled, and sent such as had brought them, in bondsto VITELLIUS.

THE spirits of the men being thus mollified, theyarrived at Bonn, the winter encampment of the first Legion. The soldiers therewere yet more angry and incensed, since upon FLACCUS theycharged all the blame of their defeat; “for that by orders from him, they hadmarched out to encounter the Batavians, trusting to his engagement, that theLegions from Magontiacum should at the same time press them in the rear: Thusby his treachery their lives had been betrayed and sacrificed to the swords oftheir enemies, as to save them no succours were sent. To all the other armiesthese transactions were utterly unknown, nor were they even transmitted totheir common Emperor, when it would have been easy by the array and concurrenceof so many Provinces, to have suppressed a traiterous defection just begun.” HORDEONIUS, for his defence, in the hearing of the wholearmy, recited the copies of all the letters which hehad sent into the Provinces of Gaul, into both Spains, and into Britain, topress and sollicit them for succours; and introduced a very mischievousprecedent, by appointing that what public letters came, should be deliveredfirst to the Eagle-bearers of the Legions, to be by them read to the soldiersbefore they were presented to the General. He then ordered one of theringleaders of the sedition to be committed to bonds, rather indeed to asserthis own authority, than that there were no criminals but one. And the armymoveing from Bonn, proceeded to Cologn, whither flocked many succours fromamongst the Gauls; a People who at first vigorously supported the cause of theRomans: Anon many of their Cities, encouraged by the revolt in Germany dailygathering strength, took up arms against us, in hopes of recovering theirliberty, as also thirsting to bear rule over others, were they once redeemedfrom servitude themselves. Now still higher waxed the wrath of the Legions, norupon them had the example of one man committed to chains, brought any awe orterror: Nay that One brought a charge too against the General, “of being anaccomplice with the rebels, and of oppressing him with a forged crime, toprevent his witnessing the truth, as between CIVILIS and FLACCUS he had been an inter-agent.” Instantly VOCULA “mounted the Tribunal with amazing courage,ordered this soldier to be seized, and, for all hisexclaiming, doomed him to be led to present execution. Thus, whilst the guiltyand ill-disposed were struck with dread, all the innocent and well-meaning paidready obedience to his order. Then, as with one accord, they craved VOCULA for their General, upon him FLACCUS devolved the whole command.

THEIR spirits, already turbulent, many circumstancesconcurred to render quite outrageous: They wanted their pay; they wanted grain.The Gauls, too, haughtily refused to pay tribute, and denied to furnish levies.The Rhine, through drought never before known in that climate, was scarce deepenough for the bearing of vessels: Victuals were scarce: All along the banksguards were posted to repulse the Germans from passing: Hence less grain wassupplied, and more mouths to consume it. With the vulgar it passed for aprodigy, that the waters had sunk so low; as if the rivers also, and theancient bulwarks and boundaries of the Empire, had forsaken us: An event whichduring peace would have been only called an accident, or,at most, the course of nature, was at this juncture stiledthe decree of fate, and the vengeance ofthe Deity. Upon their entrance into Novesium, the thirteenth Legion joinedthem. HERENNIUS GALLUS Commander of a Legion was taken intoshare of the direction with VOCULA; and, as they durst notadvance against thefoe, they encamped at a place called Gelduba. Herethey hardened and exercised the men, by arraying them frequently in order ofbattle, by digging trenches, raising ramparts, and other devices and essays inwar. Moreover, to kindle them into valour and enterprize by the sweets andincitement of plunder, most of the army was by VOCULA conducted against the adjacent territories of the Gugernians, a people who hadconfederated with CIVILIS. Part of the forces remained inthe camp with GALLUS.

IT happened that, in the river not far from the camp, avessel laden with grain struck in the shallows; and, as the Germans werepulling it to their shore, GALLUS, who could not brook theindignity, dispatched a band of five hundred men to save and recover it. TheGermans at the same time had their number augmented; and succours on both sidesby degrees flocking in, a general conflict ensued. The Germans carried off thevessel, with huge havoc of our forces. The vanquished, according to the customand mode for some time established, censured not their own spiritlessbehaviour, but GALLUS as a traitor. Out of his tent theydragged him, rent off his apparel, covered his person with stripes, andimperiously commanded him to declare, “for how much reward he had betrayed thearmy, and who were his accomplices.” Upon HORDEONIUS theirspight and the common abhorrence recoiled:Him they stile the deviser of thevillainy, the other his agent. At length, terrifiedwith their incessant menaces of present death, even he also charged HORDEONIUS with treason. Thus he was bound in chains; then,upon the arrival of VOCULA, released. The latter on the dayfollowing doomed the authors of the mutiny to capital punishment. Such was thestrange contrariety of temper in that army; so prone to outrages, so tame underchastisement! Without question, the common soldiers adhered sincerely to VITELLIUS: All the men of distinction were devoted to VESPASIAN. Hence the frequent vicissitudes of enormitiesand punishments, and instances of obsequiousness joined to acts of fury. Sothat such as would suffer no rule or restraint, could submit to bear severityand correction.

NOW CIVILIS, through the universal concurrence ofGermany, and by the arrival of infinite succours from thence, was raised tomighty power. For that people, to bind their alliance with him, had deliveredas hostages the principal Lords amongst them. To these his confederates heissued orders, that they should severally, according to their proximity andsituation, lay waste the territories of the Ubians and Treverians; and thatanother band should pass the river Meuse, to harass the country, and shake thefaith of the Menapians, the Morinians, and the frontier regions of Gaul. Inboth quarters spoil andravages were committed; but amongst the Ubians moreimplacably than elsewhere, for that they, who were by extraction Germans,having cast off and disowned their native country, assumed a Roman name, thatof Agrippinians. In the Town of Marcodurum their Cohortswere cut in pieces, whilst they lay heedlesly and unguarded, in their ownopinion secure at such a distance from the Rhine. Neither did the Ubiansacquiesce in the loss, but restlesly infested Germany, and carried off plunder,at first with impunity; but afterwards they were intercepted and slaughtered.In truth, through the whole course of that war, they behaved with more fidelityto us than success to themselves. When the Ubians were crushed, CIVILIS, become thence more keen and implacable, and upon thefortunate issue of his efforts more elated and haughty, pressed forward withvigour the siege of the Legions. To prevent any secret messenger from entringwith tidings of approaching succour, he carefully posted guards. Upon theBatavians he transferred the direction of the machines, and the task ofcarrying on the works. To those from beyond the Rhine, urging to be led to theonset, he gave orders to level the entrenchments, nay, to renew the attackafter they had been repulsed: For his host was over-numerous, and the loss ofmen easy to be borne.

NOR did the fall of night put a period to this theirtoil and pursuit. Bringing together great quantities of wood, they set it onfire quite round the Leaguer, and betook themselves to banqueting and goodfellowship: Then, as fast as they were severally inflamed with wine, they flewto the attack with precipitation altogether fruitless and fool-hardy. For theirown darts, thrown at random in the dark, fell without execution; whilst to theaim of the Romans the host of Barbarians were presented conspicuous by theirown lights; and every particular, signal for boldness, or the splendor of hisarmour, proved a sure mark. Of this CIVILIS was apprized:He therefore ordered “the fires to be extinguished, and the whole to becommitted to the blind confusion of arms and darkness.” Hence instantly beganan uproar various and confused, casualties and encounters unaccountable.Where-ever noise or tumult happened to be heard, thither they faced about,thither bent their blows: Of no availment proved bravery or manhood: By themere anarchy of chance all things were wildly jumbled, all things disconcerted;and by the weapons of cowards the bravest men often fell. The Germans wereactuated by fury void of forecast: The Roman soldiers, like men inured toperilous adventures, lanced poles pointed with iron, and stones huge and massy,nor lanced at random. As often as the noise of the efforts against thepalisade,or scaling ladders there planted, had drawn them uponthe enemy, down they hurled them with the navels of their bucklers, and afterthem darted javelins: As many too had mounted the battlements, these theyslaughtered with their swords.

WHEN the night had been in this manner spent, thesucceeding day presented a new method of attack. The Batavians had drawn out aTower ready made, consisting of two floors, and were moving it towards thePrætorian gate, as thither the ground was most level. Against this structurestrong booms were pointed and rammed, and mighty rafters heaved; whence it wascrushed to pieces, with mighty havoc of such as were posted upon its stories.Upon the foe thus baffled and dismayed an onset was made by a sudden andsuccessful sally. The Legionary soldiers, the while, men practised anddexterous in mechanical devices for war, framed several machines: Signal beyondthat of all the rest, was the terror caused by one which was hoisted up andwaved over-head: This, suddenly stooping down, pulled the enemy aloft,sometimes one, sometimes several, just in the face of their fellows, and then,upon turning the weight, flung them into our camp. CIVILIS, having now dropped all hopes of succeeding by storm, had again recourse to aninactive siege, and only employed agents and great offers to shake the faith ofthe Legions.

SUCH were the transactions in Germany before the battleof Cremona; the issue of which was communicated by letters from ANTONIUS PRIMUS, who with them also sent the edict of CÆCINA, the Consul. In truth, the Captain of a Cohortamongst the vanquished, ALPINUS MONTANUS, in personacknowledged the sad fate of the party. Hence amongst them ensued emotions ofspirit very different and opposite. The Auxiliaries from Gaul, men who towardsneither of the contending parties felt either fondness or aversion, men whobore arms without attachment or affection for any cause, instantly revoltedfrom VITELLIUS upon the persuasion of their Officers. Theveteran soldiers hesitated; but when HORDEONIUS proposedthe oath, and the Tribunes urged them to take it, they indeed swore, butwithout yielding any assurance of their conviction either in their countenanceor their temper. Nay, when they repeated the rest of the form distinctly, theypaused at the name of VESPASIAN, and either muttered ithastily, or, which was the practice of the majority, passed it over in uttersilence.

AFTER this, to the soldiers purposely assembled wereread the letters from ANTONIUS to CIVILIS, and further provoked the jealousy of the men, asconceived in language proper for an associate in the same cause, and mentioningthe German army under the style of enemies. Anon the tidings were carriedto the Camp at Gelduba, and there, again, the samethings spoken and acted. MONTANUS was moreover sent to CIVILIS with instructions, to will him “to forbear war; tocease disguising hostile arms with false names and pretences. If to VESPASIAN he meant to minister aid, his pursuit wasabundantly fulfilled.” To all this CIVILIS, at first, madean artful and crafty reply; afterwards, when he observed MONTANUS to be of a spirit very violent and fierce, and proneto embark in public innovations, he began to complain, and to urge the perilswhich, without measure, he had undergone during a course of five and twentyyears in the camp and service of the Romans. He then added; “a gloriousrecompence of my labours have I received, even the untimely death of mybrother, even my own chains and imprisonment, even the cruel and implacableclamours of this army; and as by them my blood was demanded, by the law ofnations I claim vengeance, and pursue it. For you, Treverians, and all the restof mankind who have souls sold to bondage, what price hope ye for your blood sooften spilt, other than warfare void of profit, everlasting tribute, rigorousrods and axes, and the spirit of lawless Lords domineering over the helplessslaves? Behold me, behold the Caninefates and Batavians, me no more than theCaptain of a single Cohort, them only a handful,a small portion of Gaul: Yet they and I havedemolished their encampments so spacious and so unavailing; at least we besetthem on every side, and urge them with famine and the sword. To add no more; byadventuring we shall either recover public liberty, or, if we be vanquished,suffer but the same slavery.” He then dismissed MONTANUS thus roused and enraged, but with directions to represent in a gentler strainwhatever had passed between them. He, upon his return, owned his embassy tohave been fruitless, but under dissimulation hid all the rest, which anon brokeforth glaringly.

CIVILIS, retaining with himself part of his forces,against VOCULA and his army dispatched the veteran Cohortswith whatever Germans he had remarkably brave, assigning them for Leaders JULIUS MAXIMUS, and CLAUDIUS VICTOR husband to his sister. In their rout they ravaged the winter encampment of asquadron of horse, situated at Asciburgium, and with rapidity so unforeseenrushed upon VOCULA’S entrenchments, that he wanted time tospeak to his men, time to array them in order of battle. What only he could doin the confusion of an uproar, was to advise, “That with Legionary soldiers thecentre should be filled and fortified.” Round about these the auxiliary troopswere ranged. Presently ourcavalry advanced to the onset, and being by the enemyreceived with ranks steady and firm, turned round, and retired flying to theirown host. What followed was downright slaughter, and not a battle. Moreover theNervian Cohorts, moved through perfidiousness or terror, leaving their station,left our men naked on the flanks. So that the attack was pushed on quite to theLegions, nay the Legions, having already lost their Banners, were sufferingcarnage and discomfiture within their ramparts, when, on a sudden, by thearrival of fresh succours, the fortune of the combat was changed. The Gasconbands, lately levied by GALBA, and at this juncture calledin to assist their friends, as they approached the camp, hearing the shouts ofthe combatants, fell upon the enemy in the rear whilst earnestly pursuing thedefeat, and filled them with dismay much heavier than needed from a number nogreater, for that amongst the foes many believed that supplies were come fromNovesium; as did others, that they were the forces intire from Magontiacum.This mistake inspired the Romans with magnanimity; and in assurance of the helpministered by the vigour of others, they exerted their own. Of the Bataviansall the bravest men throughout their infantry were cut off. The horse escapedwith the standards and captives taken from us in the beginning of theencounter. There fell onour side, that day, the larger number, but of men theleast valiant. Out of the German host perished the very strength and prime.

THE Commanders on either side were equally to blame,and, having both merited evil success, were both wanting to improve their goodfortune. For, had CIVILIS sent sent out a more numerousarmy, it could never have been inclosed in the rear by a few Cohorts, andhaving already broken into the entrenchments, would have likewise demolishedthem. VOCULA, who had not so much as sent to spy themotions of the enemy, was not aware of their approach: Hence, as soon as hemarched forth against them, he was vanquished by them. Next, when he had evenobtained the victory, presuming little upon it, he wasted several days to nopurpose, ere he moved towards the enemy. Whereas, had he hasted to press them,and to follow the course of events, he might, with the same effort continued,have released the Legions from the siege. CIVILIS the whilehad tampered with the besieged, and tried to win them to submit, byrepresenting, that upon the Romans destruction was brought, and utter despair,and that over them his forces had gained the victory. The Ensigns and Bannersjust taken were carried about, and pompously displayed; nay, in ostentation theCaptives were all presented to view. Glorious was the resolution with which oneof these at this time acquittedhimself: With a voice confident and loud he explainedthe whole transaction, and was butchered upon the spot by the Germans. Hencethe greater credit to his discovery. Moreover, by the sacking and burning ofthe villages it was perceived that the conquering army approached. VOCULA ordered, “That in full sight of the camp theStandards should be erected, and round about a trench and palisade to be made,that there lodging their baggage and burdens, they might engage without anyencumbrance.” Hence the soldiers, craving to be led instantly to the assault,clamoured against the General; nay they had even grown to a habit ofthreatening their Commanders. In truth, without staying to be ranged in orderof battle, still weary, and their ranks disorderly, they wilfully proceeded tothe encounter. For CIVILIS had already drawn up to receivethem; nor placed he less assurance in the faults and licentiousness of hisenemies, than in the valour and manhood of his own men. In the engagement, thefate and efforts of the Romans greatly varied, and all the most signal forsedition, appeared spiritless cowards. Some, animated by the memory of theirlate victory, maintained their ground, gored the foe, roused their own vigour,roused that of their companions. Moreover, when they had thus restored theiryielding battle, they held up their hands, and beckoned to the besieged, thatthey wouldnot fail to improve the occasion. These, who fromtheir battlements beheld the whole, sallied instantly at all the gates. Ithappened too that CIVILIS, being thrown by the fall of hishorse, was through both armies reported and believed to have been terriblywounded, or quite slain; tidings which upon his own men brought dismayincredible, and upon his enemies incredible spirit and joy.

BUT after the flying foe VOCULA madeno pursuit. He only applied himself to enlarge the towers and ramparts of thebesieged camp, as if again the siege were at hand. Hence, having so oftenmisused victory, he was suspected, not unjustly, of studying to prolong thewar. To our army nothing proved so annoying and severe as scarcity ofprovisions. So that the baggage and carriages of the Legions, and with thesethe unwarlike crowd, were sent away from the camp to Novesium, that from thencethey might bring back supplies of grain by land carriage: for of the river theenemy held possession. The first train passed in perfect security; for as yet CIVILIS had not sufficiently recovered his Strength. Assoon as he had learnt, “that a party was again sent to Novesium for corn, thatfor their convoy some Cohorts had been assigned them, and that they journeyedin a negligent manner, as if full peace had been established;” he advancedagainst the loose band, the men thin about their Ensigns,their arms carried in the waggons, all stragglingwithout order or restraint, each as he listed; and, with his troops regularlyembattled, fell upon them under this disorder; having first sent forward someforces to post themselves upon the bridges, and in the passes. For a long waythe combat continued, and with dubious success, till night parted the fray. TheCohorts reached to Gelduba, and found the camp there in the same state, stillsecured by the garrison lately left in it. It remained no doubt whatthreatening danger must be incurred in the return, whilst they who carried thegrain were loaded, and indeed already dismayed. Hence VOCULA, in order to protect them, joined to his own army athousand chosen men, detached from the fifth Legion and the fifteenth, theLegions besieged in the old encampment; men very fierce and unmanageable, andagainst their Leaders full of rancour. With those who were ordered to go morewent without orders, and upon their march stormed openly and aloud, “That theywould no longer endure famine, no longer endure the frauds and wickedmachinations of their Commanders.” Nay they too who remained behind, made heavycomplaints, “That by thus drawing away one part, the rest were left desperateand forlon.” Hence a twofold sedition, whilst some urged to have VOCULA called back again to the camp, and others refused toreturn thither.

IN the mean time CIVILIS laid siegeto the old encampment. VOCULA proceeded to Gelduba, thenceto Novesium. CIVILIS then seized Gelduba. Anon, not farfrom Novesium, our cavalry engaged the foe, and gained the victory. But whetherafter victory or defeat, still equally incensed and outrageous were thesoldiers to thirst after the blood of their Leaders. Besides, as the Legionswere augmented by the accession of a detachment from the fifth and fifteenth,they confidently claimed present payment of their donative; for they had learntthat the money was already sent thither by VITELLIUS. Neither did HORDEONIUS pause long, but distributed it inthe name of VESPASIAN. This very thing was the chief spurand fuel to their disorder and insurrection. They instantly abandonedthemselves, without all measure, to a course of debauchery, and good chear, tonocturnal revellings and cabals, and thus renewed their ancient spite and furyagainst HORDEONIUS. And as none of the General Officers orTribunes dared to check or oppose them, (so much had the shades of nightconduced to banish all shame) they dragged him out of his bedchamber, and thenbutchered him. Against VOCULA the same bloody violence wasprepared, had he not disguised himself in the habit of a slave, and escapedundiscovered in the dark. The moment their rage became appeased, dread andconsciousness took place: Thus theysent Centurions with letters to the cities of Gaul toentreat succours and money. They themselves, upon the approach of CIVILIS, acted like every crowd without a ruler, alwaysprecipitate, always timorous and lifeless. At first they flew headlong to arms,the next minute dropped them, and took to immediate flight. Their distressbegot dissensions amongst them: they from the higher army withdrew from therest, and held an interest apart. Through the camp however, and in the BelgicCities adjoining, the images of VITELLIUS were restored,when VITELLIUS in person was already fallen. In short time,remorse seized and reclaimed those of the first, of the fourteenth and of theeighteenth Legions, and they followed the command of VOCULA. Of him they again took the oath to VESPASIAN, and were then led to raise the siege of Magontiacum ( a ) . The besiegers were indeed now withdrawn, a motly army of Cattians,Usipians and Mattiacians, all associated for plunder, nor had they forbornefeats of cruelty and blood. Upon them as they passed carelesly on in their way,dispersed and apprized of no danger, our soldiers fell sword in hand. TheTreverians too had all along their own frontiers reared a wall and defence;nay, warred against the Germans,with mighty slaughter given and received. At last, bya revolt they stained all their glorious services done to the Roman people.

DURING these transactions VESPASIAN and TITUS commenced Consuls, the former now the secondtime, and both absent, whilst in Rome great melancholy prevailed, and the Citywas racked with manifold fears. The inhabitants, besides the calamities whichpresently pressed them, had entertained imaginary terrors, “as if Africa hadrebelled, and LUCIUS PISO were there concerting a publicchange.” It was he who ruled that Province; a man who possessed a spirit farfrom turbulent: But because through the roughness of the seas in the winterseason, ships were detained from returning thence to Rome, the common herd, whowere wont every day to purchase sustenance only for the day, they who of allpublic concerns are solicitous for none but the supply of public provisions,dreaded that the coast there was now guarded, that the transportation of grainwas prohibited; and from dreading it, they believed it. The Vitellians tooheightened the rumour; for they had not yet relinquished the spirit of party.In truth such news were no-wise offensive to the conquerors, men whoserapacious passions no foreign conquest and spoil could ever satiate, much lessany civil acquisition or victory ever satisfy.

ON the first of January, the Senate, assembled by JULIUS FRONTINUS City-Prætor, awarded, by a solemn decree,the thanks and commendations of the Public to the General Officers, to theArmies, and to our confederate Kings. Moreover, from TERTIUSJULIANUS, for having forsaken his Legion when it was about to espouse thecause of VESPASIAN, the Prætorship was taken away, andtransferred to PLOTIUS GRIPHUS. Upon HORMUS the Equestrian dignity was conferred. Soon after, FRONTINUS resigning the Prætor’s Office, the same wasassumed by DOMITIAN now intitled Cæsar. To all letters and all edicts his name was prefixed;but in MUCIANUS remained the controul and sway; only that DOMITIAN, following the instigation of his intimates, orhis own licentious will, boldly exerted many acts of power. But to MUCIANUS the principal cause of dread accrued from ANTONIUS PRIMUS and ARRIUS VARUS, mencovered with fresh laurels, signal for fame in war, followed by the zeal andaffections of the soldiery, nay, beloved even by the populace, for that noman’s blood had they shed save in the heat of battle. ANTONIUS was besides reported to have persuaded SCRIBONIANUS CRASSUS to assume the Sovereignty, as he wasdescended from ancestors very glorious in the State, and shone himself with thelustre derived from his brother; neither could he fail of a band of associatescombinedto espouse him; but that SCRIBONIANUS refused to comply, as he was by no means easy tobe seduced, even though all measures had been already ascertained; so veryfearful was he of engaging upon uncertainties. MUCIANUS, therefore, seeing he could not openly crush ANTONIUS, afterhe had heaped upon him publicly in the Senate, praises mighty and many, loadedhim in private with large promises, and particularly flattered him with “thegovernment of the nethermost Spain, destitute of a ruler by the departure of CLUVIUS RUFUS. ” Upon the friends of ANTONIUS he, at the same time, accumulated military promotions;preferred many to Governments, many to the dignity of Tribunes. Then, when hehad with false hopes and ambition pussed up his vain spirit, he quite broke anddissipated his power, having for this purpose dismissed the seventh Legion totheir winter encampment, a Legion known to be transported with a very flamingaffection for ANTONIUS. Into Syria too was sent back thethird Legion, a body of men naturally attached to ARRIUSVARUS. Some part of the army was conducted into Germany. Thus, by removingall the instruments of tumult and disorder, to the City returned her ownpacific form, the Laws resumed their old course, the Magistrates their wontedfunctions.

DOMITIAN ON THE DAY OF HIS GOING TO THE SENATE, DISCOURSEDCONCERNING THE ABSENCE OF HIS FATHER, AND THAT OF HIS BROTHER, AS ALSOCONCERNING HIS OWN YOUTH AND INSUFFICIENCY, IN VERY FEW WORDS, AND VERY MODEST;GRACEFUL AS HE WAS IN HIS ASPECT AND DEMEANOUR. BESIDES, AS HIS BENT AND HABITSWERE YET UNKNOWN, HIS FREQUENT BLUSHES, AND MARKS OF CONFUSION, PASSED FOR THEEFFECTS OF MODESTY AND SHYNESS. WHEN DOMITIAN PROPOSED THATALL THE ABROGATED HONOURS OF GALBA SHOULD BE RESTORED, CURTIUS MONTANUS OFFERED IT AS HIS SENTIMENTS, THAT TO THEMEMORY OF PISO ALSO SOME PUBLIC SOLEMNITY SHOULD BE PAID.THE FATHERS ORDAINED BOTH: BUT OF WHAT REGARDED PISO NOTHING WAS EXECUTED. THEREAFTER WERE DRAWN BY LOT A NUMBER OF COMMISSIONERS,“SUCH AS WERE TO ADJUDGE RESTITUTION OF WHATEVER HAD BEEN USURPED BY VIOLENCEDURING THE WAR: SUCH TOO AS WERE TO INSPECT THE TABLES OF BRASS UPON WHICH THELAWS WERE ENGRAVEN, AND WHERE BY AGE THEY WERE DECAYED, TO HANG THEM UP ANEW:SUCH ALSO AS WERE TO PURIFY THE PUBLIC RECORDS FROM THE VILE INSERTIONS, WITHWHICH, THROUGH THE SYCOPHANCY OF THE TIMES, THEY WERE CONTAMINATED, AND TORESTRAIN THE PUBLIC EXPENCE.” TO JULIANUS, AS SOON AS HEWAS KNOWN TO HAVE FLED TO VESPASIAN, THE OFFICE OF PRÆTORWAS RESTORED; YET WITH GRIPHUS THE DIGNITY REMAINED. IT WASNEXT AGREED TO RESUME THE PROCESS BETWEEN MUSONIUS RUFUS AND PUBLIUSCELER. PUBLIUS WAS CONVICTED AND SENTENCED, ANDTO THE MANES OF SORANUS ATONEMENT THUS MADE. SIGNAL WASTHIS DAY, AS FOR SUCH AN INSTANCE OF PUBLIC VENGEANCE, SO FOR MATTER OF PRIVATEMERIT AND PRAISE; SINCE MUSONIUS WAS ESTEEMED TO HAVEPROCURED, BY HIS PLEADING, A JUST AND SATISFACTORY JUDGMENT. A CHARACTER VERYOPPOSITE CLAVE TO DEMETRIUS, ONE WHO ADHERED TO THE SECT OFTHE CYNICS, FOR LABOURING WITH VIEWS MORE AMBITIOUS THAN VIRTUOUS, TO DEFEND SONOTORIOUS A CRIMINAL. CELER HIMSELF WAS UTTERLY UNFURNISHEDEITHER WITH COURAGE UNDER DISTRESS, OR OF SPEECH TO PLEAD. UPON THIS SIGNALGIVEN FOR PURSUING REVENGE AGAINST THE ACCUSERS, JUNIUSMAURICUS MADE SUIT TO DOMITIAN, “THAT TO THE SENATE HEWOULD IMPART THE REGISTERS OF THE LATE EMPERORS; WHENCE THEY MIGHT DISCOVER WHOTHEY WERE THAT SOLICITED TO BE ADMITTED ACCUSERS, AND AGAINST WHOM.” HEREPLIED, “THAT IN AN AFFAIR OF THIS SORT, THE SENTIMENTS OF THE EMPEROR MUST BELEARNT.”

THE Senate upon this occasion devised an oath, by whichthey severally appealed to the Deities, “That by no artifice or co-operation oftheirs had aught been ever done to hurt the life of any particular whatsoever,nor from the calamities of their fellow citizens had they ever reaped honour orprice:” A precedent which the chief Lords of the Senate began; the Magistratesfollowed them with zeal, and evencompetition; as did all the rest as fast as theirvoices were asked; to the great consternation of such as were conscious oftheir own guilt, and thence, by divers shifts and evasions, varied the words ofthe oath. The Fathers declared their approbation of the conscientious swearing:Against the turning it into perjury they expressed their indignation. Insomuchthat, upon SARIOLENUS VOCULA, upon NONIUSACTIANUS, and upon CESTIUS SEVERUS, all notorious forthe incessant trade of accusing under NERO, such adeclaration of the Senate fell very sorely, as if it had been a judgment passedin form against them. Nay, SARIOLENUS was likewise pressedby a charge of iniquity just recent, for that he had laboured with VITELLIUS to introduce the same practices. The Fathers eventhreatened him with uplifted hands, nor forbore till he quitted the assembly.Then all turning upon PACTIUS AFRICANUS, they setthemselves to drive him too from amongst them, as it was he who had marked outfor victims to NERO the two brothers of the Scribonianhouse and name, both signal for wealth, both conspicuous for fraternal unityand tenderness, and pursued them to destruction. AFRICANUS dared not confess the charge, nor could he deny it. He therefore confronts VIBIUS CRISPUS, by whom particularly he was worried withquestions, and against him urges the same dealings: and, striving to combinecharges, which single ormixed he could not defend, he sought to evade theabhorrence of his guilt by shewing others as guilty.

MIGHTY was the name and applause which, for naturalaffection and eloquence, VIPSTANUS MESSALLA that dayacquired, by venturing, though not yet arrived at the age of a Senator, toplead for favour to AQUILIUS REGULUS his brother. Toinfinite public abhorrence REGULUS stood exposed, as theman who had destroyed the illustrious house of the ancient Crassi, and that of ORPHITUS. Of his own mere will and motion it appeared thathe had assumed to himself the accusation of these noble Romans, whilst yet inhis early youth, through no necessity of averting danger from himself, but witha view to favour and power. Moreover, at this juncture, SULPICIAPRETEXTATA, the widow of CRASSUS, and her fourfatherless children, attended ready to pursue their just vengeance, were theSenate disposed to proceed to cognizance. MESSALLA, therefore, attempted not to vindicate the charge, nor the person charged; but,interposing between his brother and the danger that threatened him, hadsoftened some of the Senators. To defeat this his intercession, CURTIUS MONTANUS intervened with a speech vehement and stern,and in it carried his charge so high, as to alledge, “That after the murder of GALBA, REGULUS had made a present of money to the ruffianwho assassinated PISO; nay,that he had greedily bitten the head of PISO, when separated from his body. To this, said he,surely NERO never compelled thee; nor didst thou by suchinhuman barbarity redeem thy dignity or life. From them who judged it moreadvisable to bring destruction upon others than danger upon themselves, we mayin truth bear this as their defence. Thou didst live in full security, derivedto thee from the banishment of thy father, from the distribution of his fortuneamongst his creditors, from thy young years not yet qualified for preferment inthe State. Thou hadst nothing that NERO could covet fromthee, nothing that he could fear. Lusting after blood, and ravening for rewardsand gain, thou didst with noble murders season thy genius, ere it was yetknown, even before thou hadst proved it by appearing an advocate for any man;when having brought the Commonwealth to her funeral and doom, thou didst, forsuch service, snatch the Consular Honours as her spoils and remains; whengorged with a recompence of two hundred thousand crowns, when refulgent withthe splendor of the Pontifical Office, thou hurriedst to perdition innocentChildren, ancient and illustrious Men, Ladies signal in rank, involving all inone common ruin; when thou chiddest the course of NERO’S curelty as too slow, for that by gradually overthrowing familyafter family, he did but fatigue himself and all theaccusers, when it was in his power to crush the whole body of the Senate with asingle breath.

“ RETAIN amongst you, Conscript Fathers, and to furtheruse reserve a man capable of giving counsel so decisive, counsel so suddenly tobe executed; that with such an instructor every generation may be supplied; andas our ancient men imitate CRISPUS and MARCELLUS, so our young may REGULUS. Evenin wickedness which proves unsuccessful, men find followers and rivals: Whatmust be the consequence, where it exalts its head and prospers? Nay, if we darenot offend a man whilst yet only Quæstor, shall we willingly see him rise to bePrætor, rise to be Consul? Do you in truth conceive NERO tohave been the last, the concluding Tyrant? So believed they who had survived TIBERIUS; so thought they that had outlived CALIGULA; when in the mean time there arose one still moredetestable, still more brutal and sanguinary. Of VESPASIAN we entertain no dread; such is the maturity of that Prince’s age, such themoderation of his spirit. But more lasting are the examples of justice andseverity, than is the good, but perishing life of any mortal man. We growfaint, and our spirit droops, Conscript Fathers; nor are we any longer thatSenate which, when NERO was slain, boldly claimed tohave the tribe of accusers, and all the tools of tyranny, doomed to executionaccording to the rigorous method of antiquity. After the reign of a wickedPrince, the first day is surely the best.”

WITH such signal concurrence and unanimity of the Senatewas MONTANUS heard, that HELVIDIUS gathered hopes of being able to abase MARCELLUS. Hetherefore began; introducing first the praises of CLUVIUSRUFUS, one who though equally wealthy, though equally applauded foreloquence, had in no instance, during all the Empire of NERO, wrought danger to the life and fortune of any man. Then,applying to MARCELLUS, he urged him at once with his owncrying crimes, and with this worthy example. The minds too of the Fathers wereon fire for the prosecution. This MARCELLUS no soonerperceived, than making as if he were taking his farewel, and withdrawing fromthe assembly; “I am departing, said he, and leave thee, PRISCUS, to controul a Senate which is thine. Go on, and reigneven in the face of the Emperor’s son.” There followed him VIBIUS CRISPUS; both enraged, but bearing differentcountenances, MARCELLUS with eyes full of vengeance, CRISPUS shewing a scornful smile. As they were going, theirfriends flocking to stop them, haled them back again. As the contest waxed moreand more vehement, here maintainedby the upright Many, there by the powerful Few, onboth sides with much bitterness and rancour, in the strife of words the wholeday was wasted.

THE next assembly of the Senate, when DOMITIAN had begun with a motion for “obliterating theimpressions of all resentment and anguish, and of every grievance arising fromthe necessity of the late times;” MUCIANUS proceeding tooffer his sentiments, harangued at large in behalf of the accusers. To suchwithal as having begun, but afterwards dropped any process, and now offered torevive it, he applied with gentle dissuasions and address, and in the stile ofrequest. The fathers, thus thwarted in their efforts to assert their liberty,ceased the pursuit. MUCIANUS, who feared that the judgmentof the Senate might thus seem to be set at nought, and an indemnity to bedeclared for all the iniquities committed under NERO, remanded OCTAVIUS SAGITTA and ANTISTIUSSOSIANUS, both in the rank of Senators, back to the islands, whither theyhad been formerly banished, and from whence they had lately returned. OCTAVIUS, having lived in adulterous commerce with PONTIA POSTUMIA, in a transport of love, for that sherefused to marry him, had slain her. SOSIANUS, by a courseof life altogether malignant and depraved, had brought deadly destruction uponmany. Both indeed had been condemned to exile by asevere decree of the Senate, and, though to othersleave was granted to return, both continued under sentence to the samepunishment still. Nor even thus did MUCIANUS mollify thedespight conceived against him. For SOSIANUS and SAGITTA were accounted persons impotent and contemptible,had they been even permitted to return. But from the spirit of the accusersmany apprehensions arose, many from their great wealth, many from their greatsway, which in mischievous devices only they had ever employed. Whatconciliated in some small measure the discontented minds of the Fathers, was,that in the Senate cognizance was taken of a cause conformably to the primitiveusage. One of their own Order, MANLIUS PATRUITUS presenteda complaint, “That in the Colony of Sienna he had been insulted and beaten bythe crowd, even by order of their Magistrates. Nor thus had the outrage ended:They had even constrained him to bear the mummery of his own funeral, with manymock lamentations, and all the grimace of mourning, as also a torrent of tauntsand contumelies uttered against the Senate in a body.” The persons accused weresummoned, and upon conviction suffered capital punishment. The sentence wasfollowed by a decree of Senate warning the populace of Sienna to learn a morerespectful and modest behaviour. About the same time ANTONIUSFLAMMA, prosecuted by the people of Cyrene,was condemned for extortion, and doomed to exile forhis acts of barbarity.

DURING these transactions, the discontents of thesoldiery were near flaming out into a sedition. They of the Prætorian Guards,who had been dismissed by VITELLIUS, and again incorporatedfor the interest of VESPASIAN, now claimed their formerstation. The soldiers who, upon hopes given them of the like distinction, hadbeen drawn from the Legions, insisted upon the promise of the like prefermentand pay. Nor in truth was it possible, without great slaughter, to havediscarded the bands which had continued with VITELLIUS.MUCIANUS, therefore, proceeding to the camp, directed the vanquishing armyto be ranged along, with small intervals between the distinct bands, and allunder their particular banners and arms, thence with more certainty to discernduring what term of years they had severally served. Then the troops of VITELLIUS, such as I have recounted to have surrendered atBovillæ, with the rest who had been discovered and picked up in Rome, and inthe neighbourhood of Rome, were produced, almost destitute of arms. These heordered to be parted; ordered the soldiers from Germany, the soldiers fromBritain, and whatever men else there were from any other army, to stand bythemselves apart: A scene which at first view struck them with suddenconsternation, whilst opposite they beheld, as it were, an armyarrayed for battle, terribly armed and displayingtheir weapons, and saw themselves surrounded, defenceless, in their plightdespicable and sordid. But when they came to be divided, and haled hither andthither, terror spread over all. Signal particularly was the dismay of theGerman soldiers, as if such separation imported that they were destined topresent massacre. Hence they embrace their comrades, hang upon their necks,desire a last and parting salute; implore “that they might not be deserted andleft alone; that where the cause was common and equal, they might not suffer alot so particular and unequal.” This moment they pressed and conjured MUCIANUS, the next they besought DOMITIAN, though not there: Anon they invoked Heaven, and allthe Gods. MUCIANUS at last stayed their groundless fear, bytelling them, “That they were all sworn to the same allegiance, all soldiers ofthe same Prince.” The truth is, that to these their tears and wailings even thevanquishing army joined sympathising cries. Such was the issue that day. A fewdays after, as DOMITIAN harangued them, they heard him withminds now re-established and emboldened. His offer of lands, and a settlement,they confidently rejected; their former stations in the army, and their paydue, was what they prayed: A prayer indeed it was, but a prayer which admittedno denial. They were therefore received into the PrætorianGuards. Thereafter, such as were aged, with such whohad served their just number of years, were honourably dismissed. Others weredischarged for their misdemeanours, but discharged by intervals, and culled outsingly here and there; as the securest course to weaken the combination of amultitude.

FOR the rest; it was moved in the Senate, “to borrowfrom particulars the sum of about fifteen hundred thousand crowns;” whetherfrom the real poverty of the State, or to have such poverty believed: And to POPPÆUS SILVANUS the care of procuring it was assigned. Yetsoon after, such public necessity disappeared; at least the pretence wasdropped. Next there passed a law proposed by DOMITIAN, forabrogating the succession of Consulships bestowed by VITELLIUS. To FLAVIUS SABINUS also funeralhonours were solemnized, with the same splendor and state as if he had bornethe great office of Censor: Glaring monuments of the signal instability ofFortune, delighting thus to shift the lot of men, and to intermix the highestpomp and the lowest misery!

ABOUT the same time was slain LUCIUSPISO, the Proconsul. This murder is what I shall very truly recount, bybeginning further back, and deducing a few particulars pertinent to exhibit theintroduction and causes of such feats of iniquity. During the reign of thedeified AUGUSTUS, and that of TIBERIUS, the forces maintained in Africafor defending the boundaries of the Empire there,namely the Legion and Auxiliaries, were subject to the authority of theProconsul. Thereafter CALIGULA, a Prince of a wild anddisordered spirit, and entertaining beside apprehensions of MARCUS SILANUS, who held the government of Africa, deprived theProconsul of the command of the Legion, and conferred it upon an ImperialLieutenant purposely sent over. Thus between two the measure of power wasindependently shared, and thence, as their orders came to clash and interfere,the designed dissension began, and was daily heightened by an obstinate andangry struggle of each to support his own. In truth, the authority of theImperial Lieutenants gained the predominance, either through their longcontinuance in office; or probably because men in lower stations are more busyand solicitous to emulate those above them; whilst all the Proconsuls mostsignal for eminence and quality, consulted their own security andself-preservation much more carefully than the maintenance of theirjurisdiction.

AT the present juncture the Legion in Africa wascommanded by VALERIUS FESTUS, a young man magnificent andprofuse, one who entertained very aspiring designs, and indeed laboured undergreat anxiety because of his near affinity to VITELLIUS. Whether in the frequent conversations which he had with PISO, he tempted himto public innovations, or rejected such temptationfrom PISO, is a matter of uncertainty; since at these theirprivate interviews no man was present, and after the assassination of PISO, the most part inclined to judge favourably of the manwho had slain him. Doubted it is not, that the temper of the Province, and ofthe soldiery in it, was averse to VESPASIAN. Moreovercertain of VITELLIUS’S party, having escaped from Rome,strongly represented to PISO, “That all the Provinces ofGaul were fluctuating and disaffected; Germany was prepared and bent to espousehim; his own perils were evident and urging; and, in a dubious and suspectedpeace, safer it was to have recourse to war.” During these transactions, CLAUDIUS SAGITTA, Commander of the Squadron of horseentituled Petrina, embarking for Africa, and forwarded bya quick passage, arrived there before PAPIRIUS theCenturion, one dispatched thither by MUCIANUS. SAGITTA averred, “That to the Centurion a warrant was given for putting PISO to death; that already GALERIANUS, hisnear kinsman and daughter’s husband, had suffered his last doom; and only byadventuring upon some bold effort could he hope to save his own life. To pursuesuch an adventure two courses were offered to his choice, either instantly toassume arms, or to take shipping for Gaul, and there present himself as aleader to the armies of VITELLIUS. ” Whilst to all thesereasonings PISO continued perfectly deaf and inflexible,the Centurion sent from MUCIANUS arrived; nor had he soonerreached the port of Carthage but with a mighty voice he proclaimed how allthings continued propitious to PISO, and even that he wasraised to the Empire. Nay, whomsoever he met, all astonished at a revolution sosudden and wonderful, he pressed to utter in loyal shouts the same glad tidingsand congratulations. Forthwith into the place of public assemblies rushed thepopulace, ever ill-judging and credulous, and required that they might see PISO. With rejoicing and acclamations every placeresounded; so little curious were they to learn the truth, and such was theirabandoned appetite to flatter. PISO, either influenced bythe intelligence from SAGITTA, or restrained by his naturalmodesty, went not forth to appear in public, nor suffered himself to beaccosted with the greetings and acclamations of the crowd. Having besidessifted the Centurion, as soon as he discovered, that the whole was a plot fordrawing him into treason, and that his murder was intended, he commanded him tobe executed. Nor to this was he so much prompted by any hopes of thence savinghis own life, as by his abhorrence of the assassin; for that this very man, whohad been one of the murderers of CLODIUS MACER, brought thesame hands yet dyed in the blood of aGeneral, to dip them again in that of a Proconsul.Having then by an edict, conceived in a stile of much grief, reprimanded thepeople of Carthage, he forbore even the ordinary functions of his office,continuing shut up at home, to avoid all occasion, however fortuitous, ofraising any fresh insurrection.

BUT, as soon as FESTUS was apprizedof the dismay amongst the populace, of the execution of the Centurion, withother transactions, some true, some false, all heightened according to theusual amplifications of common fame, he forthwith dispatched a party of horseto slay PISO. These flew with rapidity, and before themorning had quite dawned, forced the house of the Proconsul with swords drawn.Nay the major part were strangers to the person of PISO; since, for perpetrating this murder, FESTUS had chosencertain Punic Auxiliaries and Moors. Not far from his chamber they happened tomeet one of his slaves, and asking him who he was, desired him withal to shewthem where to find PISO. The slave answering with aglorious falshood, declared himself to be PISO, and wasinstantly butchered. Presently after they assassinated PISO; for amongst them was a man who knew him, even BEBIUS MASSA, one of the Imperial Procurators in Africa, hewho was already a busy instrument to destroy every excellent person, and willfrequently recur to be mentioned amongst the causes of the calamities which weafterwardsendured. FESTUS now removing fromAdrumetum, where he had rested to learn the issue, proceeded to the Legion, andgave orders for committing to bonds the Camp Marshal, CETRONIUSPISANUS, purely to avenge a personal enmity; but openly charged him as aminister and confederate of PISO. Upon certain soldierstoo, and particular Centurions, he bestowed chastisement; to others of them heministered rewards; proceeding in both from no regard to justice or desert, butonly like one who would claim the praise of having suppressed a war. Thereafterhe extinguished the dissensions between the OEensians and Leptitanians, such asat first were occasioned by the pillaging of grain and cattle from thepeasants, and from beginnings so small, rose to public armaments and combats.For the OEensians, who were fewer and inferior, had roused the Garamantes totheir succour, a nation fierce and wild, and, amongst the circumjacent people,famous for continual robberies. Hence the Leptitanians became sorely pressed;insomuch that their territories being on every side laid waste, they wereconfined within their walled Towns, and even there urged with fear anddistress, till by the opportune arrival of our bands of foot and horse, theGaramantes were put to flight, and all the spoil recovered, except what some ofthe plunderers straggling from the main body had carried away to their hutsamongstthe inaccessible desarts, and sold to such as livedin places far remote.

NOW VESPASIAN when he had already received news of thevictory at Cremona, already joyful tidings from all quarters, found many of allranks and degrees daily arriving from Italy to acquaint him with the fate andfall of VITELLIUS. For, with equal boldness and goodfortune, they had adventured to pass the sea amidst the dangers and horrors ofwinter. Upon him there also attended Ambassadors from VOLOGESUS King of Parthia, with offers to assist him with fortythousand Parthian horse. A matter of great glory, and great pleasure, to becourted to accept succours so mighty from these allies, and not to want them.To VOLOGESUS thanks were returned, with directions, that heshould send Ambassadors to the Senate, and be made acquainted that theCommonwealth was re-established in peace. VESPASIAN, whilsthe was bending all his thoughts towards Italy, and the affairs of Rome, heardevil and unpleasing reports concerning DOMITIAN, “That heassumed more than became the greenness of his years, and exceeded the boundsand character suitable to a son only.” He therefore committed to TITUS the principal forces of this army, in order to finishwhat remained of the war against the Jews. Of TITUS it wassaid, that ere he departed from his father, he pleaded with him in a longdiscourse, “to bewareof being rashly incensed by intelligence from such asbrought criminal representations. Towards his own son it were but just to beara spirit of gentleness, free from all prejudice. Nor from Fleets, nor fromLegions were such powerful bulwarks and certain security found for the supportof Imperial Dignity, as from a numerous issue in the Imperial House. Ourfriends grew diminished with time; they often deserted us to follow Fortune,sometimes renounced us through desires which we could not gratify, or throughsuch mistakes as we could not foresee: But from his own blood no man could besevered; Princes, above all men, could not, they who in their good fortune hadothers also to partake with them; whilst to the nearest in kindred itimmediately appertained to bear their adversities. In truth, even betweenbrothers concord and unanimity would not prove lasting, where their commonparent set them not first an example.” VESPASIAN, who bythis reasoning was not so much reconciled to DOMITIAN, ascharmed with the tender affection of TITUS, willed him “tobe of good chear, and to study aggrandizing the Commonweal by war, and theexercise of arms: It should be his own task to ensure public peace, and that ofhis family.” He then put under sail all his nimblest vessels laden with grain,though the sea continued still boisterous and high.For such was the mighty danger and extremity which then threatened and alarmedRome, that in all the public stores there remained not above ten days provisionof corn, when the supply ministered by VESPASIAN arrived.

THE CARE AND OFFICE OF RESTORING THE CAPITOL HE BESTOWED UPON LUCIUS VESTINUS, ONE IN RANK NO HIGHER THAN THAT OF THEEQUESTRIAN ORDER, BUT IN PUBLIC CREDIT AND ESTIMATION HELD AMONGST THE FIRSTLORDS OF ROME. BY HIM WERE ASSEMBLED THE SOOTHSAYERS, WHO DIRECTED, “THAT THEREMAINS OF THE FORMER TEMPLE SHOULD BE REMOVED FROM THENCE INTO THE MARSHES:UPON THE SAME FOUNDATIONS THE NEW ONE SHOULD BE RAISED: FOR ITS ANCIENT FORMWAS WHAT THE DEITIES FORBAD TO BE VARIED.” UPON THE TWENTY-FIRST OF JUNE, A DAYWHICH PROVED BRIGHT AND FINE, THE WHOLE SPACE OF GROUND SET APART FOR THETEMPLE WAS INCLOSED WITH A CINCTURE OF SACRED FILLETS AND CHAPLETS. INTO THECIRCLE PASSED SUCH SOLDIERS AS WERE DISTINGUISHED BY NAMES WHICH WERE ESTEEMEDAUSPICIOUS, BEARING IN THEIR HANDS BOUGHS OF THE VICTORIOUS LAUREL. NEXT THEVESTAL VIRGINS, ACCOMPANIED BY A TRAIN OF CHILDREN MALE AND FEMALE, SUCH AS HADFATHERS AND MOTHERS YET LIVING, BESPRINKLED AND PURIFIED THE PLACE WITH WATERDRAWN FROM THE NEIGHBOURING SPRINGS, AND RUNNING STREAMS. THEN HELVIDIUS PRISCUS THE PRÆTOR, PRECEDED BY PLAUTIUSÆLIANUS THE PONTIF, SANCTIFIED THE FLOOR WITH THE SACRIFICE OF A SWINE, ASHEEP, AND A BULL; AND LAYING THE ENTRAILS UPON A SOD OF EARTH, INVOKED “ JUPITER, JUNO, MINERVA, AND ALL THE TUTELAR DEITIES OF THEEMPIRE, THAT THEY WOULD PROSPER THE UNDERTAKING; THAT WITH THEIR MIGHT, ANDINFLUENCE DIVINE, THEY WOULD ADVANCE AND CROWN THESE THEIR OWN MANSIONS, BEGUNBY THE ZEAL AND PIETY OF MEN.” HAVING THUS PRAYED, HE REACHED HIS HANDS TO THESTRINGS, TO WHICH WAS FASTENED A FOUNDATION-STONE WITH THE ROPES TO DRAW IT;AND INSTANTLY ALL THE OTHER MAGISTRATES AND PONTIFS, THE SENATORS, THE ROMANKNIGHTS, AND GREAT PART OF THE PEOPLE, JOINTLY PULLING, WITH COMMON ZEAL ANDUNIVERSAL JOY HALED THE VAST STONE TO ITS PLACE. INTO THE FOUNDATIONS ON ALLHANDS WERE THROWN PIECES OF SILVER AND GOLD, AND OTHER METAL, SUCH AS HAD NEVERENDURED THE FIRE, BUT JUST AS THEY WERE GENERATED IN THE MINE. THE SOOTHSAYERSIN TRUTH HAD GIVEN PREMONITION, “THAT NEITHER WITH STONE NOR WITH GOLD EVERDESTINED TO OTHER PURPOSES, THE WORK SHOULD BE PROFANED.” TO THE TEMPLE NOTHINGNEW EXCEPT HEIGHT WAS ADDED. THIS VARIATION ALONE WAS DECLARED TO BECONFORMABLE TO THE WILL OF THE DEITIES; NAY, THIS WAS JUDGED WANTING TO THEMAGNIFICENCE OF THE FORMER TEMPLE, A PUBLIC STRUCTURE INTENDED TO CONTAIN SUCHAN IMMENSE MULTITUDE OF MEN.

THE death of VITELLIUS the while,being divulged throughout Germany and Gaul, redoubled the fury of the warthere. For, CIVILIS throwing off all disguises, rushed intoavowed hostilities against the Roman People. The Vitellian Legions would rathersubmit even to servitude from strangers, than bear the Sovereignty of VESPASIAN. The Gauls became spirited with mighty hopes andassurance, as they imagined that in all countries our armies were yielding tothe same evil fortune. For a rumour flew, that “by hosts of Barbarians fromSarmatia and Dacia, our winter encampments in Mœsia and Pannonia were thenbesieged.” The same distress we were said, without ground, to be suffering inBritain. But nothing so strongly moved them to believe the dissolution of theEmpire to be at hand, as the burning of the Capitol. “The City, they said, hadof old been taken by the Gauls; but the mansion of JOVE having escaped, the Empire had thence continued to subsist.” The Druids too,actuated by an impulse altogether superstitious and idle, chanted vain Oracles,“That to the nations beyond the Alps, the rule and controulment of human kindwere thus divinely portended.” It was moreover bruited abroad by flying fame,that the Grandees of Gaul, they who were sent by OTHO against his competitor VITELLIUS, had mutually combinedbefore their departure, “not to fail of attempting the recoveryof their liberty, if the Roman People, through suchsuccessive civil wars, and repeated calamities, came once to be enfeebled andbroken.”

BEFORE the murder of HORDEONIUSFLACCUS, there occurred no incident whence any conspiracy might be learnt.After his assassination, constant communication and interagents passed between CIVILIS and CLASSICUS, who commandedthe squadron of Treverian horse. In nobleness and wealth CLASSICUS surpassed all those of his country: His descent wasroyal, and signal had been the lustre of his race as well in peace as in war.He himself made his boasts, that by his ancestors he was rather an enemy to theRoman People, than an assistant and ally. With him there associated JULIUS TUTOR, and JULIUS SABINUS, thisone of the Lingones, the former one of the Treverians. TUTOR had been preferred by VITELLIUS tothe charge of guarding the Rhine. SABINUS, besides that hewas a man naturally vain, was intoxicated and inflamed with the imaginary gloryof a fictitious descent, “as if to his great grandmother, the deified JULIUS CÆSAR, then warring in Gaul, had proved an admirerand adulterer.” These three, in conferences secretly held, sounded the minds ofthe rest. Then, having engaged as accomplices such whom they judged proper,they assembled together in a private house at Cologn; for in general that Citydetested suchdesigns. Yet in the cabal were present certain Ubiansand Tungrians. But amongst the Treverians, and the Lingones, was found theprincipal weight and sway. Nor could they brook any delay occasioned bydebating and consulting: With one common consent and emulation they proclaimed,“That the Romans were possessed with the madness of interstine rage, anddestroying one another; the Legions were slaughtered, Italy laid desolate, nayRome, itself taken by violence; all the Roman armies engaged, each in adifferent war. Now, were the Alps secured, and their passes defended bygarrisons, and public liberty once fully reestablished, the people of Gaulmight then deliberate how far they would chuse to push and extend their ownpower.”

AT once pronounced and approved were these allegations.The only hesitation which occurred, was how to dispose of the residue of theVitellian army. Many proposed to massacre all, as men altogether turbulent,altogether faithless, and contaminated with the blood of their Generals. Butmore prevalent was the consideration offered for sparing them, “lest uponseeing themselves berest of all hopes of mercy, despair should rouse them tovigour and vengeance. They were rather to be gently used, and thus inticed intothe confederacy. Were only the Commanders of the Legions put to the sword, themere crowd, then destituteof a head, conscious of their guilt and crimes, andhoping for impunity, would easily be brought to join.” This was the substanceof their first consultation; and into all the Regions of Gaul incendiaries weredispatched to rouse them to war. To VOCULA the while theaccomplices feigned perfect obsequiousness and duty, thence to surprize andoverwhelm him unprepared. Yet neither were there wanting some to apprize him ofthe conspiracy. But what he wanted was force to repress the conspirators; forthin of men were his Legions, and void of faith his men. Thus, between thefaultering faith of his own soldiers, and a combination of secret enemies, hedeemed it the surest expedient in his present distress, to exercisedissimulation also in his turn, and to pursue the same artifices with which hewas pursued. With this view he repaired to Cologn. Thither fled CLAUDIUS LABEO, who having, as I have related, been taken andsent under ward to Frisia, to be there remote from the convention holden inBatavia, had escaped by corrupting his guard. He now offered, “were hefurnished with a band of men, to march into the territories of the Batavians,and recover the principal part of their State to the interest and alliance ofthe Romans.” Having therefore received a moderate force of cavalry and foot, heonly induced some Nervians and Betasians to take arms, and against theBatavians ventured not upon theleast attempt. He likewise over-ran the Caninefatesand Marsacians, in truth rather by surprize, and feats of plunder, than byregular war.

VOCULA, incited and misled by the treacherous Gauls,advanced directly against the enemy. He was already near the ancientencampment, when CLASSICUS and TUTOR, under colour of learning the motions of the enemy, marched forward before thehost, and at an interview with the German Leaders, ratified their mutualcompact. Then separating from the Legions for the first time, they raised atrench apart, and encamped by themselves, in spite of all the adjurations of VOCULA, who urged with earnestness, “That surely the RomanState was not so much rent and distressed by all her civil Wars, as to becomethe scorn of even the Treverians and Lingones. To the Romans still remainedmany faithful Provinces, victorious Armies, the Fortune of the Empire, and theGods armed with vengeance in their behalf. Thus had SACROVIR fallen, in times past, together with the revoltingÆduans; thus more lately had VINDEX and the Gauls, so manyfoes in so many encounters. Now again must they who thus wantonly violated thesacred bonds of leagues, expect the same heavy doom, with the wrath of the sameangry Deities. Better than the late Emperors had the deified JULIUS, better too hadthe deified AUGUSTUS known theirspirit. The benignity of GALBA, and reduction of theirtribute, had but inspired them with fresh malignity, and hostile designs.Because they had been holden in gentle subjection, they had now recourse toopen enmity. As soon as they were routed, sacked, and impoverished, they wouldagain be our friends.” When with great asperity and vehemence he had utteredthese expressions, and afterwards perceived that CLASSICUS and TUTOR persevered in their defection and treason, hereturned back again, and proceeded to Novesium. Two miles distant from thencethe Gauls pitched in the open fields. Thither incessantly resorted our soldiersand Centurions, and there their venal spirits were purchased at a price. Theyeven bargained to perpetrate an abomination prodigious and new, that They, aRoman Army, should swear solemn fealty to Foreigners, nay, give earnest of aniniquity so huge and flagrant, by shedding the blood of their General Officers,or by delivering them up under chains. VOCULA, though bymany persuaded to fly, judged it becoming him to dare danger, and thereforeassembling the soldiery, reasoned on this wise:

“Upon no occasion have I ever entertained you with any discourse of mine,either under higher anxiety for you, or greater calm and security withinmyself. For, that against me you have concerteda tragical doom, is what I hear with chearfulness,and amidst so many calamities from our enemies, await death as the welcomeclose and issue of my miseries. But for you I am filled with shame, filled withcompassion; you who are now threatened by no impending combat, you against whomno host is now arrayed. Since this, in truth, were no more than the ordinarylot of arms, no more than the universal usage of hostile armies. Alas! withyour hands and swords CLASSICUS hopes to maintain a waragainst the Roman People: Nay, he boasts a new Empire of the Gauls, and thatthither your allegiance is transferred. Suppose Fortune has at present failedyou, and your bravery forsaken you; are there not examples of old to rouse you,how often the Roman Legions made it their choice rather to perish than to bedriven from the post which they were to maintain? Often have even ourconfederates endured, upon our account, to have their native cities sacked andoverthrown, endured to be burnt themselves, with their tender wives andchildren, in one common conflagration. Nor other consideration had they forsuffering a fate so tragical, than to preserve inviolate their faith, and theirfame. Signal at this instant is the patience exercised by our own Legions atthe ancient encampment: They are pressed with famine, pressed with a siege;yet still persist unshaken by alarming terrors, or byalluring promises. To us here, besides the strength of men and arms, besidesthe defence and noble bulwarks of our camp, there remain stores of grain,stores of provision, such as would last even during a long war. Treasnre waslately found, abundant to discharge even the public Donative; which, whetheryou chuse to construe it as presented by VESPASIAN, or by VITELLIUS, is surely a largess to you from the RomanEmperor. For you who have proved victorious in so many wars, for you who haveso often routed the enemy, at Gelduba, at the ancient encampment, in so manyencounters, to dread coming to a combat were indeed degenerate and unworthy:Yet, if you fear it, you may avoid it. You have ramparts and walls, and thereare stratagems for gaining time, till from the adjacent Provinces bodies ofAuxiliaries and compleat Armies arrive at once to relieve us. Be it so, that inme you find ground for distaste: You have still other General Officers, youhave your Tribunes; nay, there are Centurions, or even common Men, whence tomake choice. Only let not a story so monstrous be divulged over the face of theearth, that CIVILIS and CLASSICUS areinvading Italy with you for their champions and support. Were the Germans andGauls to lead you against thewalls of Rome, would you indeed like public enemiesfight against your Country? Horror seizes my soul whilst to myself I representan abomination so enormous and shocking. For TUTOR, aTreverian, as for a Roman General, shall nightly guards be pompously posted?Shall a Batavian give the word in the Camp, a Batavian the signal for battle?Will you supply, as recruits, the German hosts? What will prove the end of suchunnatural wickedness? When against you the Roman Legions shall advanceembattled, will you then, from having deserted to the enemy, desert back again?Of old traitors to the Empire, will you become new traitors to your presentfriends, and thus distracted and intangled between old oaths and new, bemiserably agitated to and fro by opposite inclinations and ties, pursued allthe while by the vengeance of the angry Deities? Upon thee, O Jupiter, all Good, all Great, upon thee whose glory during atract of eight hundred and twenty years, we have by the celebration of so manytriumphs pursued; as also upon thee, Romulus, Parent ofRome, I with adoration call, that if it be not your will that under my commandthis camp be preserved from all profanation and stain, at least suffer it notto be vitiated and unhallowed by TUTOR and CLASSICUS. To the Roman soldiers grant hearts intirelyinnocent, or timely and guiltless remorse.”

VARIOUS was the reception which this speech found,according to the different operations of hope, and fear and shame in thehearers. VOCULA, having retired, was preparing to put apresent period to his life, but by his freedmen and slaves restrained frompreventing with his own hands an impending death altogether ignominious.Moreover CLASSICUS hastened his murder by the means of ÆMILIUS LONGINUS, a deserter from the first Legion,purposely sent. Upon HERENNIUS and NUMISIUS, Commanders of Legions, he judged it sufficient toinflict no more than bonds. After this he passed into the camp, invested withthe decorations of a Roman Ruler. But even CLASSICUS, though hardened to all feats of iniquity, found words and elocution to failhim, nor could he do more than just recite the new oath. All who were presentswore allegiance to the sovereignty and empire of the Gauls. Upon the murdererof VOCULA he conferred a higher rank in the service, andupon others proper rewards, according as each had signalized himself in deedsof infamy. Between TUTOR and CLASSICUS was shared the charge of administring the war. TUTOR at thehead of a powerful band begirt Cologn, and obliged the inhabitants to take thesame oath, as he did all the soldiers who lay further up the Rhine: For atMagontiacum the Tribunes and Camp-Marshal having refused it, the former heslew, the other hedrove from thence. CLASSICUS culling out every the most notorious profligate from amongst those who had goneover to the enemy, ordered them to “proceed to the ancient encampment, and uponthe men besieged there to press the tempting offer of full pardon and mercy, ifthey would comply with the present measures: Otherwise, they had no resource ofhope. Devouring famine, and the raging sword, with the last and mostunrelenting miseries, was what they must expect and endure.” To this messagethey who were sent added the argument and influence of their own example.

HITHER and thither the besieged found themselves swayedbetween honour and ignominy, here inspired by faith and duty, there urged bypinching want. During this their hesitation their provisions failed them, notonly the ordinary, but even such as were extraordinary. For, having quiteconsumed in food their horses, their beasts of burden, and other animals,which, however abominable and impure, necessity had converted into use andsustenance; they at last supported themselves by plucking shrubs and plants,and picking the herbs which sprouted amongst the stones of the walls; andindeed shewed themselves glaring instances of wretchedness and patience; tillupon so much glory they brought a foul stain by an issue very infamous, insending deputies to CIVILIS toimplore their lives. Neither were these theirsupplications received till they had first sworn homage and fidelity to theGauls. He stipulated for the plunder of the camp, then assigned guards todetain and secure the money, slaves and baggage, with others for a convoy tothe men, who were departing thus divested of all. When they had travelled aboutfive miles, the Germans rushed upon them, and assailed them in their march,utterly unapprized of danger. All the remarkably brave fell fighting upon thespot; many were slain flying and dispersed. The remainder fled back to thecamp. It must be owned, CIVILIS made sore complaint, andupbraided the Germans, “That by this cruel proceding they had violated theirplighted faith.” Whether such resentment were feigned, or whether he reallycould not contain these violent men delighting in blood, is a doubt not easilyresolved. When they had sacked and pillaged the camp, they threw in firebrandsand set it on a blaze; and such as by escaping survived the late conflict, wereevery man now devoured by the flames.

CIVILIS, who, in pursuance of a barbarous vow, hadsuffered his hair to grow ever since he had taken up arms against the Romans,having now accomplished the slaughter of the Legions, cut short his long locks,lank and red. Nay, it was reported that to his son yet very young he presentedsome of the prisoners, to be by him pierced with arrowsshot, and javelins darted, of such size as was fitfor the diversion of a child. For the rest, he neither swore himself, nor madeany Batavian swear fealty to the Gauls: For he relied upon the great power ofthe Germans, and concluded, that should it prove necessary to have a strugglewith the Gauls for the supreme rule, he himself excelled in warlike renown, andhad superior claim. MUMMIUS LUPERCUS, Commander of aLegion, was, with many other gifts, sent away to be presented to VELEDA, a virgin, who was a native Bructerian, and ruled over aterritory of wide extent. Such is the ancient usage of the Germans, as theyimagine that in many of their women a spirit of divination dwells; and, assuperstition is ever progressive and growing, they come to think them Deities.At that very juncture, the reverence and credit of VELEDA were greatly advanced; for that, to the Germans she had prophesied all success,and to our Legions utter destruction. In the journey thither LUPERCUS was slain: A few Tribunes and Centurions, such as hadbeen born in Gaul, were saved and reserved as pledges of public faith andalliance. The winter encampments of the auxiliary Cohorts, those of theauxiliary Horse, and those of the Legions, were razed and burned: Indeed nonewere left but that at Magontiacum, and that at Vindonissa.

TO the thirteenth Legion, as also to the auxiliarytroops which had with it gone overto the enemy, orders were given to retire fromNovesium into the Colony of the Treverians, and a particular day was limitedfor their leaving the camp. The interval they passed under agitations andanxieties many and various. Terrified were all the most dastardly by the fateof those massacred at the ancient encampment. The more valuable part werestruck with confusion, and a sense of infamy, when they reflected, “What kindof march they had to make, under whose conduct they were to be led; and thatall remained in the mere will and option of such as they had over themselvescreated Lords of life and death.” Others, utterly insensible of any shame ordisgrace, stowed about them their money, or whatever else they prized most.Some prepared their arms, and accoutred themselves, as if they had beenproceeding to battle. Whilst in these thoughts their minds were employed, thehour of their departure came, and sadder it proved than their own sorrowfulpresages. For, within the circuit of the entrenchment the deformity of theircondition was not so manifest and remarkable. By drawing them out into thefields, under the open day, their reproach became evident and notorious. Fromthe standards were taken down the Images of the Roman Emperors: The RomanEnsigns were neglected and obscure, while on every side were seen refulgent theBanners of the Gauls. In heavy silencemarched the wretched host, like a multitudesolemnizing a funeral in a train long and mournful. For their Head and Leaderthey had CLAUDIUS SANCTUS, one bereft of an eye, in hiscountenance hideous and truculent, in his faculties still more defective andimpotent. The ignominy became redoubled by the accession of the other Legion,who had evacuated their camp at Bonn. Moreover, as the rumour flew that theLegions were led captive, all they who lately trembled at the bare name of theRomans, ran impatiently from the fields, out of their houses, and on all handsflocked in crowds to behold a spectacle thus surprizing and new, and indeedshewed themselves delighted with it beyond measure. These rejoiceings andinsults of the petulant populace, were what the squadron of horse entitled Picentina could not bear: So that despising the fairpromises of SANCTUS, as well as his menaces, they went offdirectly to Magontiacum. In their way they happened to meet LONGINUS, (him who butchered VOCULA ) andcovering the assassin with darts and wounds, they thus made a step towardsexpiating hereafter their own faults and defection. The Legions, withoutoffering in the least to change their rout, proceeded, and encamped under thewalls of the Treverians.

CIVILIS and CLASSICUS, elated with atorrent of good fortune, had it under deliberation,whether to resign the city of Cologn to be sacked bytheir armies. From the savageness of their spirit, and their avidity ofplunder, they were prompted to the pillage and destruction of the town. Whatwithstood them, was the policy of war, and that they aimed at the renown ofclemency, so useful and important to such as are erecting a new Empire. CIVILIS too was softened by the memory of a particularobligation, for that, upon the first rise of the public combustions, the peopleof that Colony having seized his son amongst them, had treated him under hisconfinement with great honour and courtesy. But the nations beyond the Rhinebore towards that city notable animosity and hate, for its signal opulence andincrease: Nor, in their opinion, could the war be otherwise ended, than byrendering it a place of free resort to all Germans in common, or by laying itquite waste, and thence dispersing the whole clan of the Ubians. TheTencterians therefore, a people separated from Cologn by the Rhine, sentDeputies thither, with orders to declare their embassy to the common assemblyof the city: And in the following strain the sternest of the Deputiespronounced it.

“ FOR your return into the name and community of theGermans, we present our thanks to our common Deities, and to MARS the principal Deity. To you also we bring congratulations,that atlength you will live like freemen amongst the free.For, till now, the Romans had hemmed in lands and rivers, nay, in some sort,the very air and sky, purposely to cut off all communication and intercoursebetween you and us, or to subject us to an indignity still more contumelious tomen born for war, that of coming amongst you stripped of our arms, as it werealmost naked, under a guard, and obliged to pay duty. Now in order to have thisour mutual friendship secured and established for ever, we desire of you todemolish these bonds and ramparts of your servitude, the walls of your City.Even beasts that are naturally savage and wild, if you hold them confined, arebrought to forget their boldness and vigour. We desire you to massacre all theRomans within your territories: Hard to be reconciled is popular liberty withlordly Masters. We desire you, when you have finished the slaughter, to applyall their goods to the common lot and benefit, nor to suffer ought to beconcealed, or appropriated by particulars to their own separate advantage. Wedesire that to us, as well as to you, it may be allowed to inhabit both sidesof the Rhine, as of old it was to our forefathers. Nature with the same equalhand, that upon all men bestows the universal blessing of light and day, hasalso given to such as are brave, a right of possessingall lands and regions wheresoever found. Resume thenative institutions of your country, resume the hereditary usages of Germans,by shaking off all foreign luxury and voluptuousness, to which the Romans owe,much more than to their arms, the establishment of their power over subduednations. Then, like a people in their primitive purity, and prime vigour, andforgetting all bondage, you will at least live independently yourselves, orperhaps bear rule over others.”

THE inhabitants of Cologn, after they had taken time forconsultation, when they found that it was neither consistent with their dreadof future dangers, to submit to such conditions, nor with their presentsituation to reject them openly, made answer on this wise: “The first occasionpresented for asserting our liberty, we have snatched with more ardour thanprecaution, on purpose to be joined in union with you and the other Germans ourbrethren. To the walls of our City, instead of throwing them down, much saferit is to add new strength, whilst against us the armies of the Romans are thusterribly assembling. If within our borders any foreigners out of Italy or theProvinces have at any time been found; such the war hath consumed, or they arefled severally home. Of all those who were transplanted hither of old, and arelinked with us by intermarriages,as also of their descendents, this is the nativecountry. Neither do we esteem you so merciless and unjust, as to require us toslay our parents, our brothers, and our children. All taxes, all duties chargedupon commerce, we declare to be cancelled and abolished. Communication andresort hither we grant you free and unguarded, yet only during the day, and allarms apart, till such time as these rules and institutions, yet new and tender,ripen into age by daily habit and usage. For common judges between us we willhave recourse to CIVILIS and VELEDA: before them the compact shall be ratified.” When the Tencterians were thusmollified, Embassadors were sent, with presents, to CIVILIS and VELEDA, and from them obtained all things pursuant tothe wishes of the people of Cologn. But to appear in the presence of VELEDA, or to speak to her, was refused them. They weredebarred from beholding her, thence to gain to her person higher veneration andawe. She herself remained shut up in a high tower. Thither one purposely chosenfrom amongst her kindred, carried what the consultants proposed, and thencebrought her answers, like the minister and interpreter of a Deity.

CIVILIS seeing his power increased by an alliance withthe people of Cologn, determined to gain the neighbouring Cities, or to makewar upon such as opposed him. Ashe had already won the country of the Sunicians, andformed their young men into Cohorts; to prevent his further acquisitions CLAUDIUS LABEO, at the head of a band of Betasians,Tungrians, and Nervians, suddenly raised, set himself to withstand him. LABEO confided in the situation of his post; for he hadbefore seized the bridge upon the river Maes: And as long as the encountercontinued in the pass, the issue was uncertain, till the Germans swimmingacross, assailed him in the rear. CIVILIS withal flunghimself into the band of the Tungrians, and whether through intrepidity, or byagreement and collusion he did it, declared with an extended voice; “We havenot therefore had recourse to war, that the Batavians and Treverians mightexercise dominion over these nations. Far from us be such presumption. Receiveus only upon terms of alliance. To you I commit myself without conditions,whether you chuse me for your Leader, or dispose of me as a common soldier.”With this speech the crowd were struck, and all sheathed their swords, whenpresently CAMPANUS and JUVENALIS, twoChiefs amongst the Tungrians, surrendred him the whole nation. LABEO, ere he was was quite beset, escaped. To CIVILIS also submitted the Betasians and Nervians, and to hisother forces he joined them. He was thus become mighty in sway, since theseveral States were either awedby his power, or willing to follow his fortune.

JULIUS SABINUS, the while, having despitefuly pulleddown and broken the public Tables containing the Confederacy with Rome, causedhimself to be proclaimed Cæsar, and leading a huge andtumultuous host of his countrymen, suddenly invaded the Sequanians, an adjacentState persevering in its fidelity to us. Nor were the Sequanians averse tofight him. To the juster cause fortune proved propitious. The Lingones wererouted. Their Leader SABINUS, who with notable rashness hadproceeded to battle, with equal cowardice and affright fled from it; nay, inorder to raise a report that he had perished, he set on fire thecountry-dwelling whither he had fled. There he was believed to have fuffered avoluntary death. But by what singular artifices he lurked, and thence saved hislife yet for nine years, I shall hereafter recount, as also the unshakenconstancy of his friends, with the signal example shewn by EPPONIA his wife. By the victory of the Sequanians the fury ofthe war was stayed. The several States began by degrees to recover coolness andjudgment, to consider mutual right and the obligation of treaties, the restfollowing the example of that of Rheims: This people published over all theProvinces of Gaul a proposal and invitation, “for assembling their severalDeputies, to consult, which conduced most to the good of the whole, Liberty orPeace.”

AT Rome these transactions were all represented worsethan they were, and filled MUCIANUS with anguish. For,though he had already chosen two signal Commanders, GALLUSANNIUS, and PETILIUS CERIALIS, he feared that theywould scarce be able to bear the weight of the war. Neither was it safe toleave the City without a ruler. He dreaded the spirit of DOMITIAN, pursuing his head-strong lusts. He distrusted ANTONIUS PRIMUS, and ARRIUS VARUS, asabove I have related. VARUS, who commanded the PrætorianGuards, was thence vested with power and arms. Him MUCIANUS displaced, and, as some solacement for his loss, set him over the public storesof grain. Moreover, to mollify DOMITIAN, who wanted notaffection for VARUS, he bestowed the Command of the Guardsupon ARRETINUS CLEMENS, one nearly allied to the house of VESPASIAN, and very dear to DOMITIAN. He urged, “That under the Emperor CALIGULA, the father of ARRETINUS had gloriously discharged the same trust: It wasa name well-pleasing to the soldiery; and though he were by rank a Senator, hewas equal to both functions.” In the intended expedition were employed all menof eminent quality in the City; as were others through application andinterest: And now DOMITIAN and MUCIANUS equipped themselves for war, with spirits very different; the former pressingand impatient from views ofhis own, and the fire of youth; the latter devisingprocrastinations and delays, thence to check his ardour, lest, following theimpetuosity of his age, and instigated by mischievous prompters, were he oncemaster of the army, he might disconcert all measures, whether for peace or war.There were led over the Alps the sixth and eighth Legions, these who had latelyproved conquerors, as also the one and twentieth of the Vitellian Legions, andthe second of the new levies, by different routs, some over the Penine andCottian mountains, some over the Graian. From Britain was called away thefourteenth Legion; as from Spain were the sixth and tenth. The Cities thereforeof the Gauls, quickened by the tidings which flew of the advance of the army,and disposed of themselves to gentler counsels, assembled at Rheims. Therewaited here Embassadors from the Treverians, particularly TULLIUS VALENTINUS, an incendiary vehemently exciting war. He,in an harangue purposely framed, vented a torrent of all the grievances andevils commonly objected to great empires, with many contumelies and odiousimputations upon the Romans; for he had a turbulent spirit, fit to rouseinsurrections, and was favoured by many for his intemperate eloquence.

BUT JULIUS AUSPEX, one of the Chiefs in the State ofRheims, displayed at large the might of the Romans, and the blessings of peace,shewed, “That war might be undertaken even by thespiritless and cowardly, but must be conducted at the peril of all the activeand brave, and that already over their heads hung the terrour and vengeance ofthe Legions.” He thus restrained all who had superior prudence, by the motivesof reverence and allegiance, all the younger men by those of danger and fear.Thus they extolled the magnanimity of VALENTINUS, butfollowed the counsel of AUSPEX. Towards the Treverians andLingones it is certain it proved matter of disgust and objection amongst theGauls, that in the insurrection of VINDEX, they had adheredto VERGINIUS. From pursuing a general confederacy many weredeterred by the mutual jealousy and competition of the several Provinces. Itwas asked, “Where must be the head of the war? Whither must they recur forsupreme authority and the direction of the Auspices? and, should all theirpursuits prosper, what place would they chuse for the seat of Empire?” Novictory had they gained, yet already were they jarring. Some boasted theiralliances, some their wealth and forces, others their antiquity; and from allthese each claimed superior prerogative and rule. From their anxiety aboutfuture uncertainties and events, they at last agreed to acquiesce in theirpresent condition. To the Treverians letters were written in the name of theStates of Gaul, “to lay down their arms whilst their pardon was yet to beprocured,and their friends ready to intercede for them, ifthey manifested remorse.” This counsel the same VALENTINUS opposed; and against it shut the ears of his Nation; not that he was so intentupon providing for war, as assiduous in popular harangues.

IN truth, nor Treverians nor Lingones, nor others of therevolted nations, acted suitably to the mighty peril and difficulty which theyhad ventured to encounter. Even their Leaders united not to promote the commoninterest: CIVILIS was tracing the Belgic desarts, withdesign to take CLAUDIUS LABEO, or to drive him away. CLASSICUS was mostly immersed in sloth and ease, as if hisMonarchy were established in security, and he were thus enjoying it. Nor,indeed, did TUTOR hasten to fortify with garrisons theupper bank of the Rhine, no more than the ridges and passes of the Alps. Duringall this the twenty-first Legion forced an entrance by the way of Vindonissa,as did SEXTILIUS FELIX with the auxiliary Cohorts throughRhœtia. To these there joined themselves the squadron of horse entitled the Singular, who had been formerly called to the assistanceof VITELLIUS, and then espoused the party of VESPASIAN. Over them commanded JULIUSBRIGANTICUS, sister’s son to CIVILIS, hated by hisuncle and hating him: Such usually are the enmities of relations, of all othersthe keenest. TUTOR to his Treverian forces, alreadyaugmented by a fresh levy of the Vangiones, Ceracatians and Tribocians,added a reinforcement of veteran foot and horse.These legionary soldiers, debauched by promises, or vanquished by fear, atfirst slew a Cohort sent before the rest by SEXTILIUSFELIX, but anon seeing the Roman Leaders and Armies approach, by anhonourable desertion returned again to us. Their example was followed by theTribocians, the Vangiones and Ceracatians. TUTOR accompanied by the Treverians, avoiding Magontiacum, retired to Bingium,confiding in the situation of the place, for that he had broken the bridge uponthe river Nava. But by the Cohorts who, under the conduct of SEXTILIUS, pursued him and had discovered a ford, he wassurprized and routed. By this defeat the Treverians were thoroughly struck andhumbled. The common sort cast away their arms, and straggled over the fields.Some of their Chiefs, to appear the first who had renounced the war, repairedfor sanctuary to the cities which had not relinquished their alliance withRome. The Legions, whom I have above related to have been removed from Novesiumand Bonn to the State of the Treverians, renewed of their own accord the oathof allegiance to VESPASIAN. These transactions happened inthe absence of VALENTINUS. As he hasted to return, full ofrage, and bent upon reviving universal confusion and calamity, the Legionswithdrew to the Mediomatricians, a people confederate with us. VALENTINUS and TUTOR urged the Treveriansagain to arms, andcaused HERENNIUS and NUMISIUS, Commanders of Legions, to be slain, thence tostrengthen the common band of iniquity and guilt, by precluding all hopes ofpardon.

SUCH was the state of the war, when PETILIUS CERIALIS arrived at Magontiacum. By his arrival,confident hopes were raised. He himself, passionate for fighting, and ratherbrave in despising the enemy than circumspect to ward against them, by theboldness and defiance of his language fired the minds of the soldiery: For heresolved, on the first occasion of meeting the enemy, to proceed without delayto battle. The levies made amongst the Gauls he sent home again to theirrespective cities, with orders to declare there, “That for the defence of theRoman Empire the Roman Legions sufficed. Our allies might return to the caseand occupations of peace, in the same security as if the war were ended, sincethe Roman bands had now undertaken it.” This behaviour augmented the duty andsubmission of the Gauls. For, having recovered again the youth of theircountry, they bore with the greater patience the exaction of Tribute. Theyindeed proved the more obsequious for being contemned. But CIVILIS and CLASSICUS, when they learnt,that TUTOR was defeated, the Treverians slaughtered, allthings prosperous to their enemies, were under great hurry and affright, andgathering together their scattered forces warned VALENTINUS the while, by repeated messages,not to risk the whole cause in a battle. Hence withthe more rapidity CERIALIS moved; and having sent certainpersons into the region of the Mediomatricians, with directions to lead theLegions there by a shorter way against the foe, he drew into one body whateversoldiers he found at Magontiacum, with all that he had brought over the Alps,and in three marches reached Rigodulum; a place where VALENTINUS, with a numerous band of Treverians, was posted,defended and enclosed by the mountains and the river Moselle. He had besidesadded deep trenches, with barricades of huge stones. These bulwarks daunted notthe Roman General, nor stayed him from ordering the foot to force a passage,nor from leading the horse in battle array up the hill, in contempt of theenemy, as men who were levied at random, and could derive no such aid fromtheir situation, but that his would find still more in their own bravery. Inmounting the ascent some small stay was found, from the great flight of theenemies missive weapons. The moment they closed hand to hand they were throwndown, and tumbled like the ruins of a falling edifice. Moreover, part of thecavalry wheeling round the more level brows of the mountain, took the mostillustrious Belgians, and amongst them VALENTINUS theGeneral.

CERIALIS on the day following entered the Colony of theTreverians, and the soldierswere passionate for destroying the City, for that“this was the birth-place of CLASSICUS, this that of TUTOR; men by whose barbarous wickedness the Legions werebesieged and slain. What guilt so mighty had Cremona incurred, a City erasedfrom the bosom of Italy only for having postponed for a single night the gloryof the conquerors? Upon the hostile borders of Germany stood this Capitaluntouched, nay, triumphing in the spoils, triumphing in the slaughter of ourarmies and Commanders. The plunder of the place let the Exchequer reap. Tothemselves, to the soldiers, the conflagration of the place and utter ruin of aColony so rebellious, would be abundant satisfaction, such as would compensatethe loss and destruction of so many camps.” CERIALIS dreading infamy to himself, should he be thought to inure the soldiery tolicentiousness and cruelty, rebuked their rage, and they obeyed; for since thecivil wars had ceased, they were more tractable and observant in such as wereforeign. From this bent another object diverted their attention, even themiserable aspect of the Legions called from the State of the Mediomatricians.Sad and dejected they stood, filled with compunction for their ignominy andcrimes, their eyes unmoveably fixt upon the ground. Between the two armies,when they joined, no mutual salutation ensued. To such as offered themconsolation, to those who exhorted them to be of goodchear, they made no answer, seeking to hide themselves in their tents, andflying the light. Nor so much through peril or apprehension were they thusconfounded, as through shame and dishonour. Under consternation too remainedthe other body, they who had just been conquerors. As by arguments thereforeand supplications they durst not intercede for themselves, they implored theirpardon by silence and weeping, till CERIALIS pacified theirminds. He urged, “That whatever had happened through the turbulence of thesoldiers, the dissention of their Commanders, or the wicked artifices of theirenemies, had been no other than the inevitable operations of fate. This daythey must consider as the first day of their warfare and allegiance. Theiroffences past neither the Emperor nor himself would remember.” They were thenreceived into the same camp, and through every company an order was published,that upon any contest or dispute, no one should presume to reproach hisfellow-soldiers with any past insurrection or defeat. Anon having assembled theTreverians and Lingones, he spoke to them in the following strain.

“The faculty of eloquence I never cultivated; and it is only by arms that Ihave asserted and maintained the magnanimity of the Romans. But since with youwords arefound of such exceeding weight; since good and evilare not estimated by their qualities and nature, but by the clamours ofincendiaries; I determine to offer you a few considerations, which, since thewar is dissipated, may be more advantageous for you to hear, than for us tohave explained. Into your territories and those of the other Gauls the RomanCommanders entered not from any avidity or passion of their own, but at theearnest suit of your ancestors then urged by intestine quarrels carried on evento common ruin and desolation. Nay, the Germans, called in for succours, hadfastened the yoke of servitude upon friends and enemies, without distinction.Abundantly apparent it is and glaring, in how many battles we have encounteredthe Cimbrians and Teutones, with what infinite fatigue and distress to ourarmies, as well as with what success, we have conducted so many German wars.Nor do we therefore guard the Rhine, that by it we may secure Italy; but onlyto prevent another ARIOVISTUS from gaining the Sovereigntyover the Gauls. Do you believe yourselves dearer to CIVILIS and the Batavians, dearer to the nations beyond the Rhine, than were yourfathers and grandfathers to the ancestors of these? For the descent of theGermans into the Provinces of Gaul, the same motives will be for eyersubsisting, even the gratificationof their appetites, their avarice, their fondness ofchanging seats, that, forsaking their own marshes and desarts, they may possessthis your fine and fertile soil, and you with it. But they tempt you withLiberty, with fine pretences and fine names. Nor did ever man thirst fordominion to himself and to put bonds upon others, without employing the samepopular sounds. Tyrants and wars there ever were amongst the Gauls, till yousubmitted to our jurisdiction. We, however frequently provoked by you, havenever exercised the right of conquerors further over you, than just to enjoinyou what we found necessary for maintaining public peace. For, neither cannations be maintained in repose without arms, nor arms without soldiers andpay, nor pay without tribute. In all other matters, your lot is the same withours. It is you that frequently command our Legions, it is you that administerthese Provinces as well as other Provinces. From you we keep nothing distinct,nothing withholden. From the reign too of princes popular and beloved youderive equal benefit with us, however remote you live; and cruel princes arealways ready to discharge their fury upon those who are nearest. With the samepatience that you bear a barren season or tempestuous rains, and other naturalcalamities, learn to bear the prodigality or avariceof your Sovereigns. Vices there will be as long asthere are men: Yet such misfortunes are not perpetual, and by the interventionand return of a better lot, compensation is made. Unless, perhaps, you hope forgentler rule under the reign of TUTOR and CLASSICUS, and that, with impositions lighter than the present,armies will be raised and maintained, such as are able to repulse the Britonsand Germans. For were (what the Gods forbid) the Romans expulsed, what elsemust succeed but universal war of nation against nation? By propitious fortuneand good discipline for a course of eight hundred years, has this frame ofEmpire been settled into compactness and strength, nor can it be rent asunderwithout bringing destruction upon such as rend it. But to you Gauls, of allmen, the greatest danger is threatened, you who possess gold and wealth, thingswhich are the strongest temptations to war. Hence you ought to love peace andcultivate it, to love and reverence Rome, a City from which we possess incommon, the vanquished and vanquishers, the same equal privileges andprotection. Take warning from experience, from your trial of both fortunes, andyield not to a spirit of revolt followed by destruction, rather than to theduty of submission accompanied with security.” With this discourse he calmedand encouraged them;for they were apprehending a chastisement verysevere.

THE conquering army were yet in possession of theterritories of the Treverians, when from CIVILIS and CLASSICUS there came letters to CERIALIS, and in substance contained, “That VESPASIAN was certainly dead, though the couriers suppressedthe tidings of his death. With intestine war Italy and Rome were utterlyconsumed. MUCIANUS and DOMITIAN wereonly names, utterly vain and destitute of strength. Now were CERIALIS disposed to assume to himself the Empire of the Gauls,they declared themselves content with the extent and bounds of their own State.But if to such a proposal he preferred a battle, neither was that what theydeclined.” To CIVILIS and CLASSICUS hereturned no answer. Him who brought the letters he sent to DOMITIAN. From all quarters the enemy advanced in parties. Manycensured CERIALIS for suffering them to join, when he mighthave surprized and routed them piecemeal. The Roman Army enclosed their campwith a trench and rampart; for at first they had encamped without anydefence.

IN the German host were found opposite opinions anddebate. CIVILIS judged “it necessary to await the arrivalof the nations beyond the Rhine: Through dread of these the Roman forces wouldbe struck with dismayand trodden under foot. Of the Gauls what otheraccount could be made, but that they would be the sure prey of the conquerors?Yet the Belgians, who are the strength of the Gauls, espouse us openly, atleast favour us in their hearts.” TUTOR maintained, “Thatby procrastination and time the power of the Romans would increase, as theirarmies were assembling from all parts. From Britain a Legion was transported;from Spain there were Legions called; out of Italy the Legions were alreadyadvancing: Forces not hastily levied, but old soldiers trained in war. TheGermans, whose coming they themselves hoped, were people subject to noauthority, no discipline or management; but guided in all things by their ownheadstrong humour. Of money and presents, by which only they were to becorrupted, the Romans had far the greater store; nor was any man so addicted toarms, as not to chuse repose rather than danger, where the wages were equal.Now were a battle forthwith to ensue, CERIALIS had noLegions to support him, save such as remained of the German army, and had stoodengaged in a confederacy with the Gauls. Even their success in routing, beyondtheir own hopes, the tumultuous band led by VALENTINUS, wasan incentive to their temerity and that of their Leader. Again they wouldassuredly venture, and thus fall intothe hands, not of a youth void of experience, ratherexercised in words and in animating popular assemblies, than in weapons andwar, but into the hands of CIVILIS, the hands of CLASSICUS. At the sight of these Chiefs, their formerterrors would repossess their souls, their former flight and defeats, theirformer famine and miseries, with the sad reflection how often they had beentaken captive, how often holden their lives at the mercy of these theirconquerors. Neither were the Treverians or the Lingones staid by choice oraffection to the Romans: They were ready to resume their arms as soon as theirpresent fear was removed.” CLASSICUS ended the contest byapproving the counsel of TUTOR, and instantly they pursuedit.

IN arraying their army, to the Ubians and Lingones thecenter was assigned. Upon the right wing were posted the Batavian Cohorts; uponthe left the Bructerians and Tencterians. To the assault they proceeded withsuch suddenness and rapidity, part descending from the hills, others passingbetween the highway and the river Moselle, that CERIALIS whilst yet in his chamber, nay, in his bed (for he passed not the night in thecamp) had at the same time an account of the encounter, and of the defeat ofhis men. Whilst he continued reproaching the timidity of such as brought it,the general havock and rout appeared manifest to his sight. The entrenchmentsof the Legionswere forced, the horse put to flight, the bridge ofcommunication over the Moselle, in the middle of the City, seized by the enemy. CERIALIS, undaunted by all this confusion and distress,with his own hand staying and rallying the fugitives, daring and active, thoughvoid of armour, amidst swords and darts, by a happy temerity and the accessionof all who were remarkably brave, recovered the bridge and secured it by aguard of chosen men. Anon returning to the camp, flying and dispersed he foundthe companies of the Legions which had been taken at Novesium and Bonn, foundthe soldiers thin about their standards, and the Eagles nigh surrounded withenemies. Fired with wrath, “It is not FLACCUS, said he, itis not VOCULA that you are deserting. Against me you haveno treason to charge, nor in my conduct is there ought that needs to beexcused, save my credulity in trusting that you had forgot your late alliancewith the Gauls, and again recalled and held fast your natural fealty to Rome.It will be my lot to be ranked with such as NUMISIUS and HERENNIUS; so that of all your Generals not one mightescape falling by the hands of his own soldiers, or by the hand of the enemy.Go, and acquaint VESPASIAN, or, which is nearer, go andacquaint CIVILIS and CLASSICUS, that inthe field of battle you relinquished your Leader. The Legions are coming, theywhowill not suffer me to perish unrevenged, nor you togo unpunished.”

VERY true were all these charges, and by the Tribunesand Captains the like were urged. They made head by single Cohorts, and smallcompanies; for, they could not possibly extend their line, since the enemyevery where poured in, and as they fought within the trenches, the tents andbaggage proved notable obstructions. TUTOR, and CLASSICUS, and CIVILIS, each in hisstation, were all busy animating the fight. The Gauls they prompted by thetemptation of liberty, the Batavians by that of glory, the Germans by theallurements of spoil. In truth, to favour the enemy every thing conspired, tillthe one and twentieth Legion, finding a larger space, and embattling themselvesin close array, stood the shock of the foe, and anon repulsed them. Nor withoutinfluence divine did it happen, that they who were conquerors so suddenlychanged their minds, lost their courage, and turned their backs. Theythemselves declared, that they were dismayed at the sight of the Cohorts, whichat the first onset had been routed, but rejoining afterwards upon the tops ofthe hills, carried the appearance of so many fresh succours. But what marredtheir victory was a wayward contest amongst themselves about the booty, topursue which they quitted their enemies. As CERIALIS had byhis negligence nigh ruined the cause, so by his vigour andbravery he restored it, and pursuing his goodfortune, on that very day took the enemy’s camp and razed it.

NOR to the soldiers was long space allowed for repose.The people of Cologn besought aid, and offered to deliver up the wife of CIVILIS and his sister, with the son of CLASSICUS, all pledges left with them to bind their mutualstipulations. In the interval they slaughtered all the Germans living amongstthem and dispersed in their houses. Hence their dread and just petitions forprotection, ere the enemy had recruited their forces and were prepared toengage in fresh designs, or at least to execute their vengeance. For, CIVILIS too was bent upon proceeding thither furnished withno contemptible force, as confiding in a Cohort which he thought yet intire andthe most resolute of all the rest, namely that composed of Chaucians andFrisians, and quartered at Tolbiacum in the territories of Cologn. But hechanged his purpose upon sad tidings, that by the fraud of the people of Colognthe Cohort was destroyed; for the former having largely feasted the Germans,and when drunk and asleep, shut them in, set fire to their dwellings, and burntthem alive. At the same time CERIALIS, by a hasty march,was come to protect that State. Another terror too beset CIVILIS, lest the fourteenth Legion, in conjunction with thefleet from Britain, should distress the Batavians,by devastations upon their sea coasts. But thisLegion FABIUS PRISCUS, its Commander, led by land into theterritories of the Nervians and Tungrians, and these two States were takenunder the Roman protection. Upon the fleet the Caninefates, without staying foran assault, made one; and the greater part of the ships were sunk or seized.Moreover, a large multitude of the Nervians, who of their own accord had takenarms in defence of the Romans, were routed by the same Caninefates. CLASSICUS too had a successful encounter with the horsemensent forward by CERIALIS to Novesium: Disasters which,however inconsiderable, yet by being frequent and successive, impaired thecredit and renown of the victory lately obtained.

DURING THESE DAYS MUCIANUS ORDERED THE SON OF VITELLIUS TO BE SLAIN. HE PRETENDED, THAT CIVIL DISCORDWOULD NEVER CEASE, UNLESS THE SEEDS OF WAR WERE CRUSHED AND EXTINGUISHED. NORWOULD HE SUFFER ANTONIUS PRIMUS TO ATTEND DOMITIAN IN THE CONCERTED EXPEDITION; SUCH PAIN AND JEALOUSY HEFELT FROM THE LOVE OF THE SOLDIERS TO ANTONIUS, AS WELL ASFROM THE ARROGANCE OF THE MAN, ONE SO FAR FROM BEARING A SUPERIOR, THAT HECOULD NOT BEAR EVEN HIS EQUALS. THUS ANTONIUS RETIRED ANDPROCEEDED TO VESPASIAN, WHERE HE WAS RECEIVED, AS NOTSUITABLY TO HIS OWN HOPES, SO WITHOUT ANY ILL COUNTENANCE OR SOURNESS FROM THEEMPEROR. THE MIND OF VESPASIAN WAS UNDER A CONFLICT, ON ONE SIDE SWAYED BY THE GREATSERVICES OF ANTONIUS, BY WHOSE MILITARY CONDUCT THE WAR WASUNQUESTIONABLY ACCOMPLISHED, ON THE OTHER BY LETTERS FROM MUCIANUS. ALL THE REST AT THE SAME TIME COMBINING TO DISGRACEHIM, CHARGED HIM WITH A PESTILENT SPIRIT, SWOLN WITH PRIDE, AND OVERBEARING;AND, TO HEIGHTEN THE CHARGE, ADDED THE ENORMITIES OF HIS FORMER LIFE. NEITHERFAILED HE TO INVITE ENMITIES BY HIS CONTUMACIOUS CARRIAGE; FOR WITH EXCESSIVEOSTENTATION HE WAS WONT TO RECOUNT HIS EXPLOITS AND DESERTS. THE OTHERCOMMANDERS HE TREATED WITH DESPIGHT, PARTICULARLY CÆCINA, AS A CAPTIVE, A MEAN SPIRIT THAT HAD TAMELY SURRENDERED. HENCE BY DEGREES HESUNK IN HIS CHARACTER AND ESTIMATION, YET FROM THE EMPEROR STILL RETAINED THEFACE AND APPEARANCE OF FRIENDSHIP.

DURING the months which VESPASIAN passed at Alexandria, awaiting a safe passage from the gentle weather returningwith the summer, many miracles were wrought, whence was signified to VESPASIAN celestial favour, with the concurrence anddesignation of the Deities. A certain man of Alexandria, one of the commonalty,noted for want of sight, prostrating himself at his feet implored a cure forhis blindness, by premonition from SERAPIS, the God whomthat nation, devoted to superstition, adores beyond all others. He besought theEmperor, “That with his spittlehe would condescend to wash his cheeks and the ballsof his eyes.” Another, lame in his hand, at the direction of the same God,prayed him to tread upon it. VESPASIAN at first derided andrefused them. As they continued importunate, he wavered: Now he feared thecharacter and imputation of vanity, anon was drawn into hopes through theintreaties of the supplicants, and the arguments of flatterers. At last heordered the physicians to examine whether such blindness and such lameness werecurable by human aid. The physicians reasoned doubtfully: “In this man thepower of sight was not wholly extinct, and would return, were the obstaclesremoved. The other man’s joints were distorted, and might be restored withregular pressure and straining. To the Gods perhaps the cure was well pleasing,and by them the Emperor was ordained the divine instrument to accomplish it. Toconclude, from the success of the remedy the glory would accrue to the Prince.If it failed, the wretches themselves must bear the derision.” VESPASIAN therefore conceiving that within the reach of hisfortune all things lay, and that nothing was any longer incredible, performedthe task with a chearful countenance, before a multitude intent upon the issue.Instantly the lame hand recovered full strength, and upon the eyes of the blindlight broke in. Both events those who werepresent continue even now to recount, when fromfalsification any gain is no longer to be hoped.

HENCE VESPASIAN was seized with a passion more profoundfor visiting the residence of the Deity, to consult him about the state andfortune of the Empire. He commanded all men to retire from the Temple, and thenentered himself. Whilst he was there intent upon contemplating the Deity,behind his own back he perceived one of the Grandees of Ægypt named BASILIDES, one whom he knew to be then distant many daysjourneys from Alexandria, and by sickness confined. He examined the priests,whether BASILIDES had that day entered the Temple: He askedsuch as he met, whether he had been seen in the City. Then by horsemenpurposely dispatched, he fully learnt, that he was at that instant eighty milesfrom thence. He then understood the vision to be divine, and from the name of BASILIDES inferred an effectual answer.

CONCERNING the original of this Deity the Roman writersare hitherto silent. The archpriests of Ægypt thus recount it; “That when King PTOLEMY, the first Macedonian who settled the ÆgyptianState, had with walls fortified Alexandria then lately built, in it reared aTemple, and instituted religious rites, there appeared to him in his sleep ayoung man of signal beauty, in stature morethan human, who admonished him to dispatch intoPontus some of his most trusty friends, thence to bring away his Statue; forthat fortunate to his kingdom it would prove, and mighty and glorious would bethe city which entertained it: That the young man having thus once appeared,mounted up into heaven in a huge blaze of fire.” PTOLEMY, struck with the augury and miraculous apparition, discovered this his nightlyvision to the Ægyptian priests, whose profession it is to be skilled in thingsof this sort. But as they appeared to be ignorant of Pontus and of all thingsforeign, he had recourse to TIMOTHEUS the Athenian, of therace of the Eumolpides, one whom he had sent for from Eleusis, to preside inthe administration of things sacred. Him he asked what kind of superstitionthis might be, and who that same Deity? TIMOTHEUS informinghimself by such as had frequently passed into Pontus, learnt that the City ofSinope stood there, and not far from it a Temple of ancient renown amongst thenatives, that of the Infernal Jupiter, for that by himstood also a feminine Statue by many called Proserpina. But PTOLEMY who, suitably to the spirit of Kings, was verysubject to dread, as soon as he had resumed his former security, more bent uponfeats of pleasure than those of religion, came by degrees to neglect thepursuit, and to apply his mind to other cares; till the sameapparition, now more terrible and urging, denouncedcertain perdition to his person and monarchy, if its orders were not execnted.He then directed Embassadors and rich gifts to be dispatched to SCYDROTHEMIS, who then reigned in Sinope, with orders when theywere ready to sail, to repair to the Oracle of the Pythian Apollo. Calm andfavourable they found the sea, and the answer of the God void of ambiguity;“That they should proceed, and with them carry home the lmage of his father,but leave behind that of his sister.”

UPON their arrival at Sinope, to SCYDROTHEMIS they presented their gifts, their suit, and theinstructions from their King. The Prince of Sinope found himself underdifferent agitations of spirit. Now he dreaded to offend the Deity, anon wasfrightened by the menaces of the people opposing the removal of his Statue; andfrequently moved by the presents and promises of the Embassadors, he wasdisposed to complv. In this negotiation three years were spent; for PTOLEMY spared no intreaties, nor cooled in his zeal; heaugmented the number and dignity of the Embassadors, increased the ships, andadded fresh store of gold. To SCYDROTHEMIS then appeared aspectre direful and threatning, warning him, “no longer to retard what theDeity had determined.” Upon him, whilst he still lingered, there fellcalamities manifold,and sore diseases, with the vengeance of the offendedDeities manifestly pursuing him and proving every day more and more severe.Having called a popular assembly, he explained to them “the injuctions of theGod, his own vision with those of PTOLEMY, and the fearfulevils which were impending.” The commonalty opposed the King. They envied Ægyptsuch an acquisition, apprehended evil consequences to themselves, andtumultuously encompassed the Temple. Hence common fame heightening the marvel,has recounted, “That the God of his own motion, and without help, conveyedhimself into the ships lying close to the shore.” Insomuch that, what isprodigious to be told, on the third day after, they arrived at Alexandria; inso short a space had they traversed such an immense tract of sea! A Temple wasreared suitable to the greatness of the City, in a place called Rhacotis. Therea Chapel had stood, dedicated of old to Serapis and Isis. These are the traditions of most renown concerningthe origin and transportation of the God. Neither am I unapprized of what isasserted by some, that he was brought from Seleucia a City of Syria, in thereign of PTOLEMY the third; or by others, that the same PTOLEMY caused him to be removed, but that the removal wasfrom Memphis, a City once very celebrated, the head and glory of ancient Ægypt.The God himself many conjecture to be ÆSCULAPIUS, for that by him the sick are healed. Some take himto be OSIRIS, a Deity of the highest antiquity amongstthese nations. Many think him JUPITER, as accounted theAlmighty disposer of all things. Most of all imagine, that he is old PLUTO, either from apparent tokens and indications abouthim, or from guesses and inferences of their own.

NOW DOMITIAN and MUCIANUS, ere theyreached the Alps, received tydings of the successful feats against theTreverians. What proved the chief confirmation of the victory was the captivityof VALENTINUS the enemy’s General, who with a soul no wisecast down, by his countenance declared the intrepidity and defiance with whichhe had acted. If he was heard in his own vindication, it was only forcuriosity, to discover the spirit of the man. He was therefore condemned: Buteven under the hands of the executioner, when one upbraided him that hiscountry was taken, he replied, “That he therefore embraced death as aconsolation and relief.” What MUCIANUS had long purposedand concealed, he now communicated as no more than his immediate sentimentsupon the present situation, “That since by the benignity of the Gods the forcesof the enemy were broken, with an ill grace would DOMITIAN proceed, now the war was nigh concluded, and interceptthe glory due to another: Indeed were the Empirethreatened with peril, or were the Gauls in general exposed to danger, itbehoved the Emperor’s son to venture his person in battle. To contend with theCaninefates and Batavians smaller Leaders were to be assigned. Let DOMITIAN retire to Lyons, and from thence display the powerand fortune of the Empire at hand, neither engaging in diminutive hazards, norfailing to meet such as were greater.” These his artifices were wellunderstood; but here, in a good measure, depended the merit of obeying, thatthey were not to seem discovered. Thus they came to Lyons. From thence DOMITIAN is believed to have tried, by secret inter-agents,to corrupt the fidelity of CERIALIS, and proposed whetherhe would commit into his hands the Army and Empire, if he came in person.Uncertain it remained what designs possessed him, whether he meditated a waragainst his father, or to arm himself with power and forces against hisbrother. For by sage management and evasions CERIALIS eluded his suit, as that of one who with a childish fondness longed for thingswild and vain. DOMITIAN perceiving that the elder mendespised his youth, began to relinquish all functions of government, even thesmallest, and such as he was wont to dispense. Under the guise of simplicityand an humble mind,he buried himself in solitude, feigning a zeal forlearning and the love of poetry, thence to conceal his passions, and to escapethe jealousy of his brother, upon whose gentler nature, so different from hisown, he put a contrary and malevolent construction.

BOOK V.

The SUMMARY.

The expedition of TITUS against Judæa and Jerusalem. The original of theJewish Nation deduced, with their religion and customs. The strength andsituation of the City and Temple. The progress of the war in Germany. Diversencounters between CERIALIS and CIVILIS. Peace ensues.

The rest of this book is lost.

IN the beginning of the same year the Emperor’s son TITUS was by his father appointed to accomplish thereduction of Judæa; a captain who had been signal in war whilst his father andhe were no other than subjects, but now bore command with greater sway andrenown, as in zeal and good offices towardshim the Provinces and the Armies were striving forpriority. He moreover, in order to be thought to surpass his fortune, wascontinually presenting himself to view, splendid in arms and alert for war,continually alluring his men to their duty by complaisance and kind words; nay,he usually thrust himself amongst the common soldiers, whether they worked ormarched, but still preserved undebased the dignity of a General. In Judæa hewas received by three Legions, the fifth, tenth and fifteenth, men who had longserved under VESPASIAN. Syria too furnished him with thetwelfth, as also with those of the twenty-first and the third drawn fromAlexandria. There accompanied him twenty Cohorts of our allies, eight squadronsof horse, as also the Kings AGRIPPA and SOHEMUS, a body of auxiliaries from King ANTIOCHUS, and a band of Arabs natural enemies to the Jewsthrough an antipathy usual between contiguous nations. To him there repairedmany out of Italy, many from Rome, all excited by their particular hopes ofpossessing the young Prince whilst yet free from new engagements. With theseforces he entered the enemies territories, marching in battle array, sending togain intelligence on every side, and holding himself ready for an encounter,then encamped near Jerusalem.

BUT since I am going to recount the final doom of a Cityso famed, it seems pertinentto explain its antiquity and rise. It is a tradition,“That the Jews, as fugitives from the island of Crete, at the time when Saturn,expulsed by the violence of Jupiter forsook his kingdom, settled themselvesupon the extremities of Lybia.” For proof of this, their name is alledged: “Forthat in Crete stands the celebrated mountain Ida, and the Ideans natives of the mountain, by a barbarous extensionof the name, are called Judæans (Jews).” Some hold, “That Ægypt swarming withpeople beyond measure, during the reign of Isis, torelieve it self, poured a great multitude into the regions adjoining, under theleading of Hierosolymus and Juda. ”Many take them, to be descended from the Æthiopians, and to have been, throughtheir dread and hate of King CEPHEUS, forced to seek a newhabitation.” There are authors who say, That they were a band of people fromAssyria, who wandering and destitute of land, occupied a portion of Ægypt, anonhad cities of their own, and possessed the territories of the Hebrews, with theconfines of Syria.” Others assign the Jews a nobler foundation and pedigree,“as derived from the Solymites, a nation celebrated by thepoet HOMER, and founders of Jerusalem, a City which fromthem had its name.” In one account a number of writers concur, “That when Ægyptwas over-run by a pestilentdisease, contaminating living bodies, and very foulto behold, BOCCHORIS the King applying for a remedy to theOracle of Jupiter Hammon, was ordered to purge hiskingdom, and to remove into another country that generation of men so detestedby the Deities.” Hence, when they were all searched out, and the multitude thusswept together, were carried into the immense desarts, and there abandoned;whilst all continued wailing under astonishment and despair, Moses, one of these exiles, exhorted them, “To entertain nohopes of relief from Gods or men, since both by Gods and men they had beenforsaken, but in himself to trust as to a Leader sent from Heaven, one by whoseaid they should vanquish their present misery and distress.” They assented,and, utterly ignorant of whatever was to befall them, began to journey on atrandom. But nothing aggrieved them so sorely as want of water: Already theywere lying scattered over the plains, ready to perish, when a flock of wildasses, leaving their pasture, climbed up a rocky mountain covered with a thickwood. MOSES followed them, forming a conjecture from thesingular verdure of the herbage, and there discovered some large springs. Thisproved their solacement and relief, and travelling for six days withoutintermission, on the seventh they gained a settlement by exterminating theinhabitants. There they raised theirCity, there founded and dedicated their Temple.

MOSES, to ensure the subjection of the nation to himselffor ever, established religious ordinances altogether new, and opposite tothose of all other men and countries. Whatever we esteem holy, is with themprofane. Again, they permit many things as lawful, which to us are forbiddenand impure. The Statue of the beast by whose guidance they stayed their thirstand wandering, they consecrated in the sanctuary of their Temple, with thesolemn immolation of a Ram, in contumely to JupiterHammon. The Ox too is what they sacrifice, a creature which the Ægyptiansworship for the God Apis. From feeding on swine theyrefrain, in memory of their former calamity; for that they had once beeninfected and defiled with the same leprous tumors and eruptions to which thatanimal is subject. The famine which once they so long endured, they stillacknowledge and commemorate by frequent fastings: And, as a standing proof oftheir having by robbery supplied themselves with grain, the Jewish bread isstill baked without leaven. It is said, that they chuse to rest every seventhday, because then ended their labours. Afterwards, through the growth andallurements of laziness, every seventh year too was devoted to sloth. Othershold such observance to be in honour of Saturn; whether it be that from theIdeans, who are said to havebeen expulsed with Saturn, and to have founded theirnation, they derive the elements of their religion, or that, of all the sevenPlanets by which this earth is governed, that of Saturn rolls in the highestorb and possesseth the greatest energy. Moreover, most of the celestial bodiesaccomplish their course and operation by the number seven.

THESE ceremonies, in whatever way introduced, are bytheir antiquity maintained. The rest of their institutions are unhallowed,filthy, and from their depravity only drew their influence. For here from everyquarter all who were most profligate and wicked, accumulated tribute and richofferings, rejecting the worship and divinities of their own country. Hence theencrease and improvement of the Jewish State, as also because they areinflexible in their faith and adherence to one another, and prone to mutualacts of compassion; but towards the whole human race besides they retain deadlyand implacable hate. With all others they refuse to eat, with all others tolodge; nay, they who are a people abandoned to sensuality, avoid the embracesof all foreign women. Amongst themselves nothing is accounted unlawful. Theyinstituted circumcision on purpose to be distinguished by a peculiar mark. Thesame is assumed by their proselytes; and the earliest lesson which these aretaught, is to despise the Deities, to renounce all love to their country; andfor their parents, for their brethren,and children, to entertain no tenderness orconsideration. Yet to the multiplying of their nation regard is had. For,besides that to kill their infants is thought a heinous sin, they suppose thesouls of such as die in battle, or by the hand of justice, to be immortal.Hence their passion for generation, hence their contempt of dying. They chuseto interr their dead, rather than to burn them, according to the usage of theÆgyptians. With these they concur in their notions of an infernal world; butfar different is their persuasion about things celestial. The Ægyptians offerworship divine to several brute animals, to images and the works of art. TheJews know but one Deity, to be conceived and adored by the mind only. “Forprofane and unhallowed” they hold “all such as out of materials mortal andperishing, use to fashion their Gods after the likeness of men;” they hold“that the Divine Being, eternal and supreme, is incapable of all change,incapable of ever ending.” In their Cities therefore no Images are seen, so farare they from allowing such in their Temples. This is a compliment which theypay not to their Kings, this an honour which they deny to the Cæsars. Yet, astheir Priests used to chant to the sound of pipes and drums, as their browswere bound with ivy, and as in the Temple a golden vine was found, some haveinferred that they worshipped Bacchus, conqueror of the East; thoughvoid of all resemblance are their institutions tohis. For, jovial and gay were the solemnities established by Bacchus: TheJewish rituals are preposterous and rueful.

THEIR territories, where they stretch Eastward, arebounded by Arabia: to the South lies Ægypt; to the West, Phœnicia and the sea:Northward they are by a long frontier joined to Syria. The bodies of the menare hale, such as can endure hardship and labour. They have rarely any rain.The soil is fruitful and rich. In all the fruits of the earth which are commonwith us, they abound; and besides these they enjoy the palm tree and that ofthe balm. The palms are lofty and beautiful. The balm is a small tree: When itsbranches swell, if you pierce them with steel, the veins shrink with shyness,and refuse to flow: They are therefore opened by a shell or the splint of astone. The liquor is used for a medicine. Above all their mountains that ofLibanus rises to a prodigious height, and what is wonderful to be told, amidstsuch excessive heats is covered thick with eternal snow. From this mountain theriver Jordan derives its source and stream. Neither falls the Jordan into thesea, but passing first through one lake, then through another, still preservingits waters unmixt, is swallowed up in the third. This lake is vast in compass,resembling a sea, in taste more nauseous, and by its noisom vapour and smellbaneful to the adjacent inhabitants.Neither is it ruffled by any wind: Nor fish norwater-fowl does it suffer to live. Whatever bodies are cast upon the stagnateflood, it bears like a solid surface: Alike borne up are all such who can swimand such who cannot. At a certain season of the year it ejects pitch. The artof gathering this, as well as all other arts, experience has taught. The liquidsubstance naturally black, and congealed, by sprinkling it with vinegar,emerges and floats. Such as are appointed to collect it, take it like a ropewith their hand and guide it to the upper part of the ship. From thence itcontinues flowing in without help, and fills the vessel, till you cut off thecommunication; neither can you cut it off with an instrument of iron or brass.It recoils only when touched with blood, and from cloaths tainted withmenstrual purgations. This is what ancient authors relate. But the writersacquainted with the country, recount, that these huge heaps of pitch lying uponthe surface, are either driven to the shore, or dragged thither by the help ofhands; that anon, when sufficiently baked by vapours from the Land and by thereflections and strength of the Sun, they are rent and divided with hatchetsand wedges.

NOT far hence lye the desart plains, such as they reportto have been of old a country fruitful and flourishing, and full of populouscities, but consumed by lightning and thunderbolts; they add, that stillremaining are the traces andmonuments of such desolation, and that the soilitself looks scorched, and has ever since lost its fructifying force. For, allvegetables found here, be the same spontaneously produced, or reared by man,whether small herbs or flowers, as soon as they attain their ordinary growthand form, prove black and arid, devoid of substance, and dissipate as it wereinto cinders. To speak my own sentiments, as I would allow cities once verygreat and signal to have been burnt by fire from Heaven; so I conceive that byexhalations from the lake the soil is infected, and the ambient air poisoned,and that thence the grain and all the fruits of the harvest are putrified andblasted, since equally malignant is the earth and the clime. Moreover, into thesea of Judæa the river Belus discharges itself: The sands gathered at its mouthare, with a mixture of nitre, melted into glass. This is but a narrow shore,yet by such as are daily draining it of its sands, found to beinexhaustible.

THE larger part of Judæa consists in villages scatteredup and down. They have likewise cities. Jerusalem is the Capital of the nation.Here stands the Temple, immensely wealthy, and proves to the City one of itsstrongest bulwarks. To all foreigners the inner Temple is shut; nor to a Jew isthere access beyond the portal. From entering all men are excluded except thePriests. Whilst the Empire of the East was possessed by the Assyrians, next bytheMedes and Persians, the Jews were held the mostdespicable of all the enslaved nations. Afterwards when the Macedonian powerprevailed, King ANTIOCHUS laboured to extinguish theirsuperstition, and to introduce the institutions of Greece, in order to reformin some measure that hideous and detestable nation, but was diverted from thispursuit by a war with the Parthians. For, at this conjuncture had ARSACES revolted. The Jews on this occasion, whilst theMacedonians were weakened, the Parthians not yet established, the Romans thenfar from them, assumed Kings of their own. These were afterwards expulsedthrough the inconstancy of the populace, but having again seized theSovereignty by arms, let themselves loose to all the cruelties and excessesusual to Kings, banished their citizens, destroyed cities, murdered theirbrethren, murdered their wives and parents, and with all this their tyranny,carefully supported and nourished the established superstition; for to thefunctions of Royalty they annexed that of the Priesthood.

POMPEY was the first Roman that subdued the Jews. He,exercising the right of a Conqueror, entered their Temple. Thenceforward it wasrumoured abroad, “That within it he had found no Images of the Gods, but theresidence of the Deity void of any, and a sanctuary destitute of sacredsolemnities.” The walls of Jerusalem were levelled: The holy edifice remainedunhurt. Thereafter followedour civil War, and under the jurisdiction of ANTHONY the eastern Provinces fell. PACORUS King of the Parthians then seized Judæa, but was slainby VENTIDIUS; the Parthians were chased over the Euphrates,and the Jews reduced to subjection by CAIUS SOSIUS. Overthem ANTHONY had set HEROD for theirKing, and to him his Kingdom was continued and enlarged by AUGUSTUS who conquered ANTHONY. Upon thedeath of HEROD, one SIMON, without everstaying for the pleasure of the Emperor, usurped the title of King. Upon him QUINCTILIUS VARUS, Governour of Syria, inflictedpunishment; and the Nation, as soon as repressed and quiet, was committed,under a triple partition, to be ruled by the three sons of HEROD. Under TIBERIUS they enjoyed perfectrepose. But in the reign of CALIGULA, when he ordered themto place his own Image in their Temple, they chose rather to rise in arms: Acombustion which, upon the death of CALIGULA, ceased. CLAUDIUS, when the Jewish Kings were all deceased, at leastextremely shortened in power, gave Judæa to be ruled as a Province by the RomanKnights, or by his own Freedmen. ANTONIUS FELIX was one ofthese, one who rioting in the excesses of licentiousness and cruelty, exercisedthe authority of a King with the spirit and baseness of a slave. He had indeedreceived in wedlock DRUSILLA, grand-daughter to ANTHONY and CLEOPATRA: Insomuch thatwhilst the Emperor was MARKANTHONY’S grandson, FELIX his manumised slave wasmarried to the grand-daughter of that very MARKANTHONY.

THE Jews, however, bore their oppression with patiencetill the time of GESSIUS FLORUS, who governed them with thetitle of Imperial Procurator. Under him a war arose; and CESTIUSGALLUS, Governor of Syria, trying to crush it, in all his encounters withthe revolters found the issue at best doubtful, frequently disastrous. Upon thedeath of GALLUS, whether it happened through the course ofnature, or through melancholy and regret, the charge was by NERO transferred upon VESPASIAN, who,favoured by his good fortune and great fame, and served by excellent officersand assistants, in the space of two summers with his victorious army possessedthe whole country and all the cities besides Jerusalem. The year following wasemployed in the civil War, and to the Jews proved altogether pacific. When athome in Italy peace ensued, with it the care of affairs abroad revived. Whatheightened the public indignation was, that of all nations the Jews onlyrefused to submit. It was withal judged more politic and secure, that TITUS should continue at the head of armies, to be readyagainst all the events and casualties incident to a new reign. Having thereforeencamped, as I have related, near the walls of Jerusalem, he displayed hisLegions in array.

UNDER the very walls the Jews embattled their host,ready to adventure further, were their efforts successful, and trusting to arefuge at hand, were they repulsed. Against them the cavalry were sent, withsome cohorts lightly armed, but left the issue of the conflict doubtful.Afterwards the enemy retired, and on the subsequent days maintained frequentskirmishes just without the gates, till by continual losses they were forcedwithin their walls. These the Romans resolved to storm. For honourable itseemed not, to await their reduction by famine. Nay, the army sought toencounter dangers, some from magnanimity, many from impetuosity, or for therecompences attending victory. TITUS himself was settingRome before his eyes, with all the opulence and many pleasures there, and itseemed tedious to wait for the enjoyment of these, unless Jerusalem were razedwithout all delay. But steep and high was the situation of the City, andfortified besides with works and ramparts, such as would have proved asufficient defence to a place even standing in a plain. There were two hillsimmensely high and enclosed by a wall built purposely crooked, with angles andwindings, whence the flanks of the assailants might be exposed to be galled bythe besieged. The extremities of the rock were sharp and inaccessible. They hadalso great towers, some built upon the summit and raised sixty foot high,others upon the declensions of the hillsmounting up to an hundred and twenty foot, both sortsbeautiful and marvellous to behold, and to such as viewed them at a distance,all appearing equal in height. Within the City there were other wallssurrounding the palace, with the tower Antonia exceedingstately and conspicuous, called so by HEROD in honour to ANTHONY.

THE Temple was raised like a great castle, enclosed withfortifications of its own, in structure and strength superior to all theothers. Even the Portals and Cloisters built round the Temple were a nobleFortress. With water they were supplied from a fountain which never waxed dry.The mountains were all scooped into caverns. There were many pools and cisternsfor preserving the rain. From the singularity of the Jewish institutions,different from those of all other nations, they who founded the City hadforeseen that frequent wars would accrue. Hence no precaution, no defence hadbeen omitted proper for sustaining a siege, however long. And as they had beenalready sacked by POMPEY, fear and experience hadenlightened them in many instances. Besides, such had been the venality of thereign of CLAUDIUS, that they had then procured with money aright to rebuild their walls, which they built so strong during peace, as ifthey had had nothing in view but war. Mighty was the multitude there, andgreatly augmented by the destruction of the othercities, since from these had fled hither, all themost turbulent and resolute; and thence amongst them the more discord andsedition prevailed. Three Commanders there were, and as many Armies. SIMON guarded the extent and circuit of the walls: JOHN, whom they sirnamed BARGIORAS, commanded the heart of the City: ELEAZAR maintained theTemple. In multitudes and arms JOHN and SIMON surpassed; in situation ELEAZAR. Butamongst themselves there prevailed mutual slaughter and battles, circumventionand ambush, with the fury and devastation of fire, whence mighty store of grainwas utterly consumed. JOHN next employed certain assassins,under colour of performing sacrifice, to butcher ELEAZAR and his whole band, and thus gained possession of the Temple. In this mannerthe City was rent into two factions, till, upon the approach of the Romans, warfrom without produced concord within.

THERE had happened omens and prodigies, things whichthat nation so addicted to superstition, but so averse to the Gods, hold itunlawful to expiate either by vows or victims. Hosts were seen to encounter inthe air, refulgent arms appeared; and, by a blaze of lightning shootingsuddenly from the clouds, all the Temple was illuminated. The great gates ofthe Temple were of themselves in an instant thrown open, and a voice more thanhuman heard to declare, that “the Gods weregoing to depart.” There followed withal a huge stirand tumult, as resulting from their motion and departure: Wonders from whichsome few found cause of dread. Many were under a strong persuasion, that in theancient books kept by their Priests, a Prophecy was contained, “That at thisvery time the power of the East would prevail, and out of Judæa should springsuch as were to rule over all nations:” A prophetic riddle, by which VESPASIAN and TITUS were prefigured.But the populace, according to the usual fondness and credulity of humanwishes, construed to themselves all this mighty fortune reserved by fate,insomuch that even by their severe sufferings and disasters they could not bereclaimed to truth and their understandings. The number of the besieged of allages and both sexes, we learn to have been six hundred thousand. Arms wereborne by all who were able: Nay, there were more who adventured upon arms, thaneven from a multitude so vast could have been expected. In men and women wasfound an equal obstinacy to resist, and (if they were indeed doomed to changetheir native country) a greater dread of surviving than of perishing. Againstthis strong City and this stubborn people, TITUS determinedto proceed by mounds and machines of battery, since such was the situation asto be proof against storming and the sudden efforts of an army. Amongst theLegionstheir several tasks and employments were parted, andall combating ceased, till they were prepared to prosecute the siege by everyengine and art either devised by the ancients, or lately invented, for theattacking and reduction of cities.

NOW CIVILIS, who after this disastrous fight in theregion of the Treverians, had repaired his army by supplies in Germany, pitchedhis camp in the old entrenchments: For he meant to secure himself by thesituation and defence of the place, and to heighten the courage and ferocity ofthe Barbarians with the memory of their former exploits there. Thither CERIALIS followed him, with forces now doubled, by theaccession of the second, the sixteenth and the fourteenth Legions. Moreover theauxiliary Cohorts and Squadrons of horse, who were long since called to hisassistance, had after the victory made great speed to join him. Both theLeaders were far from slowness or affecting delays: But the fields, very large,and naturally marshy, obstructed them. CIVILIS too had by agreat damm diverted the course of the Rhine, which thence flooded all theneighbouring grounds. This was the quality of the place, very dangerous anddeceitful from the uncertainty of the depths and shallows, and to the Romansbrought notable damage. For our soldiers were heavily armed and fearful ofswimming: The Germans, besides their being accustomedto rivers, were so lightly armed and so tall, thatthey easily kept themselves above the water. Under this unequal condition, asthe Batavians began to insult us, all the most resolute amongst our men wereprovoked to the onset: But a general consternation ensued, when in the deeppools, horses and arms were seen swallowed up. The Germans, who knew theshallows, bounded hither and thither, but generally avoiding a direct attack,beset us in the flank and rear. Neither was it a close encounter as betweenarmies of foot, but, as in a naval combat, they engaged at random, stragglingin the waters: Or where any firm footing was found, there grappling andcontending man to man with all their might, the sound with the maimed, such aswere skilled in swimming with such as could not swim, were reciprocallyinvolved in perdition. Smaller, however, was the slaughter than usual inconfusion so great; for that the Germans not daring to venture out of themarshes, returned to their camp. By the issue of this engagement each of theLeaders was prompted, though from different operations of spirit, to quickenthe decision of the whole cause by a general battle, CIVILIS passionate to pursue his good fortune, CERIALIS to cancel his dishonour. The Germans were fierce andbold upon success; the Romans were roused by shame. Amongst the Barbarians thenight was spent in shouting or in songs, with us in rage and menaces.

THE next morning CERIALIS furnishedhis front with the Cavalry and auxiliary Cohorts: Behind them were ranged theLegions: With himself he reserved a choice body against all emergencies. CIVILIS extended not his forces in a line, but formed theminto several bands. In the right were the Batavians and Gugernians; on the lefttowards the river stood those from beyond the Rhine. The two Generals exhortednot their men by haranguing them in a body, but addressed themselves severallynow to these, anon to those, as they passed through them. CERIALIS urged “the ancient glory of the Roman name, theirvictories of old and of late; that such an enemy as this, so faithless,impotent and vanquished, it behoved them to extirpate for ever. The present wasrather a call to inflict vengeance than to fight a battle. They had latelyencountered upon unequal terms, a few against many; yet the Germans weredefeated, they who furnished the principal strength. There remained such onlywho in their minds retained their late rout, and upon their backs their recentwounds.” He next animated the several Legions with stimulations proper foreach. Those of the fourteenth “he stiled the conquerors of Britain. By thesixth GALBA had been created Emperor. To the second thiswas the first battle, and in it they were about to initiate and hallow theirfresh banners and their new Eagle.” From thence passing to the Germanarmy, with uplifted hands he reminded them to“reconquer at the expence of the enemy’s blood, their own post upon the Rhine,and their own entrenchments.” By the whole were returned shouts chearful andconfident, as well from such as tired with long peace, wished to fight, as fromthose who longed for peace through weariness of war; and thereafter they hopedfor rewards and repose.

NEITHER was the host of CIVILIS embattled in silence. For a witness of their magnanimity he appealed to thevery field of battle; “That upon the traces and monuments of their own glorystood the Germans and Batavians, trampling upon the bones and ashes of theLegions. Here to the eyes of the Romans, whithersoever they turned them,nothing was presented but their own captivity, slaughter, calamity and direfulomens. Nor must they be daunted by the variable issue of the conflict in theTreverian territories. The Germans had there found an obstacle from their ownvictory, whilst quitting their weapons they embarrassed themselves withplunder. Presently after all things proved propitious, but to the enemy crossand unfortunate. Whatever measures the wit of a General was capable ofconcerting, he had concerted; the fields were overflowed and marshy, placesfamiliar and safe to themselves, and there were poolspernicious to the enemy; the Rhine in full view withthe Gods of Germany: Under their favour and influence divine they were now toadvance to battle, mindful of their wives, mindful of their parents and theircountry. Either very glorious would this day prove, worthy to be numbered withthose of their ancestors, or black and ignominious to all posterity.” When, bythe clangor of their arms, and by beating the ground with their feet (such isthe custom of the Nation) they had applauded his speech, they began the chargewith stones, leaden balls, and other missive weapons. For, as our men forboreentering the marsh, the Germans were thus provoking them to enter.

WHEN the flying weapons were wasted, and the battlewaxed hot, the enemy rushed on with deadly rage, and with their huge bodies andlong spears, at arms length gored our soldiers sliding and tumbling in theslippery marsh. At the same time the band of Bructerians came swimming overfrom the great damm, which I have mentioned to have been raised in the channelof the Rhine. Where they attacked, disorder ensued, and the body of Cohortswere recoiling, when the Legions sustained the combat, and having stayed thefury of the enemy, rendered the conflict equal.

DURING this a Batavian who had deserted to the Romans,applied to CERIALIS, and assured him “of an opportunity offallingupon the enemy in the rear, if some cavalry were sentaway to the extremity of the marsh: They would there find firm footing as wellas small vigilance amongst the Gugernians, to whom the charge of securing thatpost had fallen.” With the deserter two squadrons of horse were sent, andsurrounded the enemy destitute of all precaution, and unprepared to resist.When, by the shoutings which ensued, this was learnt, the Legions urged the foein front; the Germans were defeated, and betook themselves in flight to theRhine. A complete issue of the War that day had seen, if our Fleet had hastenedto follow the victory. In truth the Cavalry pressed not after the flying foe,as there fell a sudden storm of rain, and the night approached.

THE next day, the fourteenth Legion was sent into thehigher Province to ANNIUS GALLUS: With the tenth from Spainthe army of CERIALIS was supplied. To CIVILIS there came succours from the Chaucians. Yet he venturednot to trust to arms the defence of the Batavian cities, but, carrying offwhatever was moveable, set fire to all the rest, and retired into the Island;for he was aware that for forming a bridge the Romans wanted boats, nor in anyother manner could their army pass after him. He even ruined the great dammmade by DRUSUS GERMANICUS; and thus from the Rhine, whosestrong current rolls naturally down to Gaul, caused an inundationby demolishing what had restrained it: Insomuch thatwhen the river was driven, as it were, into another course, the channel whichparts the Island from Germany was so small, that the two lands seemedcontiguous. Over the Rhine too passed TUTOR and CLASSICUS, as also an hundred and thirteen Senators of theTreverian State. Of that number was ALPINUS MONTANUS, whomI have heretofore remembered to have been sent by ANTONIUSPRIMUS into Gaul. There now accompanied him his brother DECIMUS ALPINUS. These and all the rest, by the force ofcommiseration attended with gifts, gathered succours amongst those nations soeager to encounter perils.

MOREOVER in such strength the war still subsisted, thatin one day CIVILIS made a fourfold assault upon our forces,those of our Cohorts, of our Cavalry, nay, of our Legions, lying separate in somany garisons; upon the tenth Legion at Arenacum, upon the second atBatavodurum, and upon the auxiliary Cohorts and Cavalry at Grinnes and Vada.For he had so divided his own forces, that he himself, and VERAX his sister’s son, and CLASSICUS, and TUTOR, led each a distinct band. Not that he hoped tosucceed in all these attempts, but it was urged, “That whilst they adventuredupon many, fortune would prove assisting to them in some. CERIALIS withal exercised not sufficient caution, and mightbe easily intercepted, as he was called hither andthither by several messengers and alarms.” The party appointed to attack theentrenchments of the tenth Legion, judging it difficult to carry the assaultagainst such a body, fell upon such of the men who were abroad busied incutting of wood, and routed them with the slaughter of the Camp-Marshal, offive Centurions of principal rank, and of some few soldiers. The rest defendedthemselves within their fortifications. A band of Germans the while werelabouring to destroy the bridge begun at Batavodurum, where the combatcontinued doubtful, till night parted the combatants.

GREATER was the peril and onset sustained at Grinnes andVada. CIVILIS assaulted Vada, as did CLASSICUS Grinnes. Nor could their assaults be withstood; forall the men remarkably brave were slain. Amongst these fell BRIGANTICUS, Commander of a squadron of horse, one whom Ibefore mentioned as faithfully attached to the Romans, and at utter enmity with CIVILIS his uncle. But when CERIALIS, at the head of a choice band of horse, brought relief, suddenly changed was thefortune of the fight, the Germans were routed, and cast themselvesprecipitately into the river. CIVILIS, whilst he strove tostay the fugitives, was known, and as he was pursued by a volley of darts,relinquished his horse, and swam across. The same refuge had theGermans. TUTOR and CLASSICUS went over in skiffs sent purposely to fetch them.Neither again in this engagement was the Roman Fleet present to assist,according to orders sent them. What restrained them was fear; besides themariners were dispersed, attending other military functions. CERIALIS had, in truth, allowed them a very short space forexecuting his orders, as he was sudden in forming his resolutions, yet gainedsignal renown from their event. Fortune aided him, even where his conductfailed. Hence in himself and his army was found less regard for discipline.Nay, a very few days after, though he escaped the hazard of being taken, hebore the infamy of having incurred it.

HE had made a progress to Novesium and Bonn, to visitthe camp raised there for wintering the Legions; and was returning by water ina Fleet, which proceeded in a manner very loose and disorderly, and the watcheswere negligently kept. This the Germans observed, and devised how to circumventthem. They chose a night very dark and cloudy, and descending down the streamwith great rapidity, entered the lodgments of the soldiers upon the shore; norfound they a man to oppose them. The first slaughter was forwarded by art anddexterity. They cut the tent-cords, then butchered the men thus entangled andoverwhelmed under their own pavilions. Another party embarassed the Fleet,grappled the ships,and dragged them away. As they had conducted thestratagem with universal silence, so, when the carnage was begun, to heightenthe terror, they filled the air with incessant shouts. The Romans, roused bytheir wounds, searched for their arms, and run forth in the lanes of the camp,few equipped like soldiers, many with their garments wrapped round their arm,and their swords drawn. The General half awake, and almost naked, escapedthrough the mistake of the enemy. For they had carried off the Admiral’s ship,distinguished by its standard, from a belief that in it the General wascarried. CERIALIS passed the night elsewhere, as manybelieved, in the embraces of CLAUDIA SACRATA, a native ofCologn. From the dishonour of their General the watch borrowed an excuse fortheir own fault and negligence, for that “they were enjoined to keep silence,for fear of interrupting his repose: so that, as the usual word and signal hadbeen omitted, and speaking restrained, they too had dropped asleep.” It wasopen day when the enemy sailed back with our captive ships, and led away theAdmiral’s galley upon the river Luppia for a present to Veleda.

CIVILIS became possessed with a passion to display thepower of a naval army. Hence he filled with men whatever gallies there were ofone or two banks of oars. To these was added a great number of skiffs, withpinnaces, such as are wont to carry thirty or forty men, asalso the skiffs which had been lately taken, and forsails carried mantles of divers colours not unpleasing to behold. For rangingthis his Fleet he chose a bay spacious as a sea, where the Rhine dischargesitself through the mouth of the Moselle into the Ocean. The cause of forming aFleet, besides the vanity inherent in that Nation, was by such a force toprevent and intercept the provisions which were coming to our army from Gaul. CERIALIS, struck with wonder rather than with fear, arrayedhis Fleet, in number unequal to that of the enemy, but in expert sailors, inskilful pilots, and in largeness of ships, far surpassing. The latter sailedwith the stream; the enemy moved before the wind. Thus they advanced, and justexchanging some flights of darts, passed by each other, and parted. CIVILIS without adventuring any thing further, retiredbeyond the Rhine. CERIALIS ravaged the Island of theBatavians like an enemy’s country; but, through policy usual to Generals, leftall the lands and dwellings of CIVILIS untouched; when inthe mean while, by the excessive and incessant rains following the declensionof autumn, the river overflowed, and spread over the Island naturally low andmoorish, and now resembling a great Lake. Neither was the army furnished withships or provisions: Moreover the tents, pitched upon a flat, were tossed andoverborne by the violence of the inundation.

HENCE the merit pleaded by CIVILIS, “for that the Legions might have been destroyed, and that the Germans designedit, but, through his art and management, had receded.” Nor does it seemrepugnant to truth, since in a few days after he yielded himself to the Romans.For, CERIALIS employing secret agents, whilst he temptedthe Batavians with an offer of peace, CIVILIS by that ofpardon, warned Veleda and the nations about her, “by somesignal and seasonable service towards the Roman people, to change their ownfortune, one so disastrous in war, and, by so many defeats and slaughters,found to be cross and calamitous. The Treverians were cut off, the Ubians hadsubmitted, the Batavians were bereft of their country; nor ought else had beengained by the friendship of CIVILIS, save wounds anddefeats, expulsion and anguish. The man was a vagabond and an exile, a sureburden and misfortune to such as received him. Already they had transgressedabundantly in having so often passed the Rhine. If they were still devisingfurther efforts and machinations, with themselves would remain the guilt andiniquity, with us just vengeance and the Gods.” With these threatnings promiseswere mixed. And as the faith of those beyond the Rhine was shaken and wavered,amongst the Batavians also reasonings and conferences arose, “That it behovedthem to urge nofurther their own ruin; nor was it possible for asingle nation to deliver the whole earth from bondage. What had theyaccomplished by slaughtering and burning the Legions, but only to occasion thecalling in of others more numerous and more powerful? If for VESPASIAN the war was waged, VESPASIAN wasnow victorious, and settled in supreme power. But if against the Roman peoplethey took arms, what an inconsiderable part of human kind were the Batavians?They should consider the nations of Rhœtia and Noricum, consider the burdensand impositions upon other countries confederate with Rome. Upon themselves notribute was laid, other than to contribute men and magnanimity; a conditionbordering upon liberty; and if they were free to chuse their supreme Lords,they might more honourably bear the Emperors of the Romans than Women rulingthe Germans.” These were the descantings of the populace. Their Chiefs urged,“That by the deadly fury of CIVILIS they had been drivenheadlong into war; a man who for the cure of his own domestic misfortunessought the ruin and desolation of the whole nation. Then it was that the Godsbecame incensed against the Batavians, when by the Batavians the Legions werebesieged, the Commanders of the Legions murdered, and a war begun, necessaryonly to one man, to themselvesfatal and deadly. They were now reduced to the lastpass, and their condition desperate, unless they began instantly to retrievetheir understanding and innocence, and, by devoting to punishment the guiltyhead, manifested their own remorse.”

NO secret to CIVILIS was thisinclination of theirs, and he determined to prevent them. Besides his anguishunder a series of evils and distress, he was influenced by his hopes of life, apassion which frequently sinks very high and haughty spirits. As he sought aconference, the bridge upon the river Wahal was broken down in the middle, andthe two Generals stepping forwards on each side, stood upon the oppositeextremities, and thus CIVILIS accosted CERIALIS. “Were I to make my defence before a Lieutenant of VITELLIUS, neither would pardon be due to my deeds, norcredit to my professions. Between him and me nothing passed but continualefforts of hostility and hate, all begun by him, all heightened by me. Towards VESPASIAN ancient is my observance and veneration, andwhilst he was a private person, we were called friends. To ANTONIUS PRIMUS this is well known, and by letters from him Iwas urged to the War, to obstruct the German Legions, and the youth of Gaul,from passing over the Alps. What ANTONIUS exhorted me to byletters, what HORDEONIUS FLACCUS advised me in person, Idid,and took up arms in Germany, such arms as MUCIANUS took up in Syria, APONIUS inMœsia, and FLAVIANUS in Pannonia.

The greater Part of the Fifth Book is lost.

A TREATISE OF THE SITUATION, CUSTOMS, AND PEOPLEOF GERMANY.

TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE JOHNLord CARTERET.

My LORD,

AS an acknowledgment of the friendly concern, which during thecourse of this Work Your Lordship has been pleased constantly to shew for itsaccomplishment and success, I beg leave to prefix Your Name to the followingAccount of Germany, a very curious Treatise very beautifullycomposed: a character which none who know Yours willsuppose I give it for your information, but only as the just commendation of TACITUS, whose genius never fails to spirit and embellishwhatever subject he undertakes.

AS Your Lordship understands him thoroughly, andconsequently the difficulty of making him speak any modern Language, (for, howmuch modern Languages are able to bear, Your Lordship likewise knows) You willfind fewer faults than they who often abound in censure without abounding inknowledge. For such generally are the readiest Censurers, as well as the leastmerciful. This is a constant hardship upon Authors, though it be too, in somemeasure, their consolation. Men, at least the bulk of men, are naturally turnedrather to blame than to approve, andall who read do, almost of course, pass judgment. Itis indeed the right of Readers, and must therefore be the lot of Writers.

FROM the many observations which I have frequently hadthe pleasure of hearing You make upon the Genius, Language and Peculiarities of TACITUS, and about the manner of Translating him, I havelikewise the pleasure of knowing Your Lordship’s opinion to be the same with myown, that a common and familiar stile would no-wise have suited either hisideas or his phrase. He delights in a particular pomp and gravity of thought,in an uncommon brevity and vigour of expression, and it is his talent at onceto affect and surprize. This is his manner, and he never departs from it. Evenwhere he is abrupt and stiff, he pleases, nay, pleases by being so.

THEY therefore who study not his manner, will never havesuccess in translating his words; nor is it possible they should; since inwriting as well as in speaking, the manner often conveys stronger ideas thanthe words convey. And as it is possible for a face to persuade, when the mouthsays very little; so the turn of a phrase may have great energy, when the wordsare not remarkable. The same sentence from two different men moves us notequally, if their manner be different; and their words, though alike, affect usvariously, as they themselves seem variously affected. In the looks of a man ofsense, even when he is silent, there is observation and meaning, such as wordssometimes cannot convey, or can convey but very imperfectly.

IT IS MUCH LIKE THIS IN WRITING: EVEN THE TURN AND MANNER OFSTYLE HAS INFINITE FORCE; AND TO AVOID SPEAKING OUT, IS OFTEN THE MOST POWERFULWAY OF SPEAKING. A HALF SENTENCE, A PAUSE, OR SUDDEN BREAK, HAS FREQUENTLY MUCHMORE EFFECT THAN THE FULLEST EXPRESSION, AND THE ROUNDEST PERIODS. WE SEE SOMEMEN ELOQUENT WITHOUT PERSUASION, OTHERS PERSUASIVE WITHOUT ELOQUENCE, AND AHINT OR INSINUATION FROM ONE MAN MORE PREVALENT THAN LONG REASONINGS FROMANOTHER. SO THAT IT IS NECESSARY TO ATTEND TO THE MANNER, TO THE SPIRIT OF AWRITER MORE THAN TO HIS WORDS, ELSE HIS WORDS WILL NOT BE VERY INSTRUCTIVE. IDOUBT NOT BUT MANY A MAN HAS READ OVER TACITUS, ANDUNDERSTOOD EVERY WORD IN HIM, WITHOUT UNDERSTANDING TACITUS.

THESE remarks, my Lord, which upon this subject occur tome, I address, not to Your Lordship, for an obvious reason, but to the Publicunder Your Name, to let the world know that about the method of translating TACITUS Your Lordship judges as I do: whence I am the lesslikely to forsake or change this my judgment.

I MUST also in another instance appeal to Your Lordship,and defend myself by Your Authority. The Dialogue about Orators, or concerning the causes of the decayof Eloquence, is by some ascribed to TACITUS, andgenerally, if not always, bound up with his Works. They who are of thisopinion, or follow that of such who are, may expect that I should havetranslated it with the rest, as I certainly should, were I not persuaded thatit is none of his.

IT IS A FINE TRACT, AND THE LATIN IS BEAUTIFUL; IT IS VERYPOLITE, FULL OF GOOD SENSE, AND INDEED OF ELOQUENCE. BUT THOUGH THE DISCERNMENTBE LIVELY, THE EXPRESSION NOBLE, AND THE SENSE STRONG, IT WANTS THE PROFOUNDTOUCHES OF TACITUS, AND RESEMBLES NOT HIS MANNER. THOUGH ITBE WRITTEN WITH GREAT SPIRIT, IT IS A SPIRIT OF ANOTHER SORT THAN HIS, WHICHALWAYS DARTS LIKE LIGHTNING, AND STRIKES WITHOUT WARNING. HE WOULD MOREOVERHAVE ACCOUNTED FOR THE FAILURE OF POPULAR ELOQUENCE IN FEWER WORDS, ANDASSIGNED A REASON OF MORE COGENCY THAN ALL THAT ARE MENTIONED THERE, THOUGHTHEY BE THERE VERY JUDICIOUSLY ENUMERATED. BUT THE PRINCIPAL IS HARDLY TOUCHED.THERE ARE OTHER CONSIDERATIONS ALSO TO BE URGED AGAINST ASCRIBING THAT DIALOGUETO TACITUS.

YOU see, my Lord, that instead of paying You anycompliments, I venture to lay a task upon You. But it is the part of a Patronto defend. How well qualified You are to discharge such a part, I have longknown, and all men allow; nor can it, I hope, be any news to Your Lordship tobe told, how much I am, and with what very great respect,

MY LORD, Yourmost Obedient, and most Humble Servant,

T. GORDON.

A TREATISE OF THE Situation, Customs, and PeopleOF GERMANY.

THE whole of Germany is thus bounded; it is separated from Gaul,from Rhœtia and Pannonia, by the rivers Rhine and Danube; from Sarmatia andDacia by mutual fear, or by high mountains: The rest is encompassed by theOcean, which forms huge bays, and comprehends a tract of islands immense inextent: For we have lately known certain Nations, and even Kingdoms there, suchas the War first discovered. The Rhine rising in the Rhœtian Alps from a summitaltogether rocky and perpendicular, after a small winding towards the West, islost in the Northern Ocean. The Danube issues out of the mountain Abnoba, onevery high, but very easy ofascent; and traversing several nations, falls by sixstreams into the Euxine sea; for its seventh channel is absorbed in theFenns.

THE Germans, I am apt to believe, derive their originalfrom no other people, and are nowise mixed with different Nations arrivingamongst them: Since anciently those who went in search of new dwellings,travelled not by land, but were carried in fleets; and into that mighty Oceanso boundless, and, as I may call it, so repugnant and forbidding, ships fromour world rarely enter. Moreover, besides the dangers from a sea tempestuous,horrid and unknown, who would relinquish Asia, or Africa, or Italy, to repairto Germany, a region hideous and rude, under a rigorous climate, dismal tobehold or to manure; unless the same were his native country? In their oldballads (which amongst them are the only sort of Registers and History) theycelebrate Tuisto, a God sprung from the earth, and Mannus his son, as the fathers and founders of the Nation.To Mannus they aslign three sons, after whose names somany people are called; the Ingævones, dwelling next the Ocean; the Herminones,in the middle country; and all the rest, Istævones. Some, borrowing a warrantfrom the darkness of antiquity, maintain that the God had more sons; thatthence came more denominations of people, the Marsians, Gambrians, Suevians,and Vandalians, and that these are the names truly genuine and original. Forthe rest, they affirm Germany to be a recent word, lately bestowed:For that those who first passed the Rhine, andexpulsed the Gauls, and are now named Tungrians, were then called Germans: Andthus by degrees the name of a tribe prevailed, not that of the Nation; so thatby an appellation at first occasioned by terror and conquest, they afterwardschose to be distinguished, and assuming a name lately invented were universallycalled Germans. They have a tradition that HERCULES also had been in their country, and him above allother heroes they extol in their songs, when they advance to battle.

AMONGST them too are found that kind of verses, by therecital of which (by them called Barding ) they inspirebravery; nay, by such chanting itself they divine the success of theapproaching fight. For, according to the different din of the battle, they urgefuriously, or shrink timorously. Nor does what they utter so much seem to besinging, as the voice and exertion of valour. They chiefly study a tone fierceand harsh, with a broken and unequal murmur, and therefore apply their shieldsto their mouths, whence the voice may by rebounding swell with greater fulnessand force. Besides there are some of opinion, that ULYSSES, whilst he wandered about in his long and fabulous voyages, was carried intothis Ocean, and entered Germany; and that by him Asciburgium was founded andnamed, a City at this day standing and inhabited upon the bank of the Rhine:nay, that in the same place wasformerly found an altar dedicated to ULYSSES, with the name of his father LAERTES added to his own, and that upon the confines of Germanyand Rhœtia are still extant certain monuments and tombs inscribed with Greekcharacters: Traditions which I mean not either to confirm with arguments of myown, or to refute: Let every one believe or deny the same according to his ownbent. For myself, I concur in opinion with such as suppose the people ofGermany never to have mingled by intermarriages with other nations, but to haveremained a people pure, and independent, and resembling none but themselves.Hence amongst such a mighty multitude of men, the same make and form is foundin all, eyes stern and blue, yellow hair, huge bodies, but vigorous only in thefirst onset. Of pains and labour they are not equally patient, nor can they atall endure thirst and heat. To bear hunger and cold they are hardened by theirclimate and soil.

THEIR Lands, however somewhat different in aspect, yet,taken all together, consist of gloomy Forests, or nasty Marshes; lower andmoister towards the confines of Gaul, more mountainous and windy towardsNoricum and Pannonia; very apt to bear Grain, but altogether unkindly to fruitTrees; abounding in Flocks and Herds, but generally small of growth. Nor evenin their Oxen is found the usual stateliness, no more than the naturalornaments and grandeur of head. In the numberof their Herds they rejoice; and these are theironly, these their most desirable riches. Silver and Gold the Gods have deniedthem, whether in mercy or in wrath, I am unable to determine. Yet I would notventure to aver that in Germany no vein of gold or silver is produced; for whohas ever searched? For the use and possession it is certain they care not.Amongst them, indeed, are to be seen vessels of silver, such as have beenpresented to their Princes and Embassadors, but holden in no other esteem thanvessels made of earth. The Germans however adjoining to our frontiers valuegold and silver for the purposes of commerce, and are wont to distinguish andprefer certain of our coins. They who live more remote are more primitive andsimple in their dealings, and exchange one commodity for another. The moneywhich they like is the old and long known, that indented, or that impressedwith a chariot and two horses. Silver too is what they seek more than gold,from no fondness or preference, but because small silver pieces are more readyin purchasing things cheap and common.

NEITHER, in truth, do they abound in Iron, as from thefashion of their weapons may be gathered. Swords they rarely use, or the largerspear. They carry Javelins, or, in their own language, Framms, pointed with a piece of iron short and narrow, but sosharp and manageable, that with the same weapon they can fight at a distance,or hand to hand, just as needrequires. Nay, the Horsemen also are content with aShield and a Javelin. The Foot throw likewise weapons missive; each particularis armed with many, and hurls them a mighty space, all naked, or only wearing alight cassock. In their equipment they shew no ostentation; only that theirshields are diversified and adorned with curious colours. With coats of mailvery few are furnished, and hardly upon any is seen a head-piece or helmet.Their horses are nowise signal either in fashion or in fleetness, nor taught towheel and bound, according to the practice of the Romans: They only move themforward in a line, or turn them right about, with such compactness andequality, that no one is ever behind the rest. To one who considers the wholeit is manifest, that in their foot their principal strength lies, and thereforethey fight intermixed with the horse: For such is their swiftness as to matchand suit with the motions and engagements of the cavalry. So that the infantryare elected from amongst the most robust of their youth, and placed in thefront of the army. The number to be sent is also ascertained, out of everyvillage an hundred, and by this very name they continue tobe called at home, those of the hundred band: Thus whatwas at first no more than a number, becomes thenceforth a title and distinctionof honour. In arraying their army they divide the whole into distinctbattalions formed sharp in front. To recoil in battle, provided you returnagain tothe attack, passes with them rather for policy thanfear. Even while the combat is no more than doubtful, they bear away the bodiesof their slain. The most glaring disgrace that can befal them, is to havequitted their shield; nor to one branded with such ignominy is it lawful tojoin in their sacrifices, or to enter into their assemblies; and many who hadescaped in the day of battle, have hanged themselves to put an end to thistheir infamy.

IN the choice of Kings they are determined by thesplendor of their race, in that of Generals by their bravery. Neither is thepower of their Kings unbounded or arbitrary: And their Generals procureobedience not so much by the force of their authority, as by that of theirexample, when they appear enterprizing and brave, when they signalizethemselves by courage and prowess; and if they surpass all in admiration andpre-eminence, if they surpass all at the head of an army. But to none else butthe Priests is it allowed to exercise correction, or to inflict bonds orstripes. Nor, when the Priests do this, is the same considered as a punishment,or arising from the orders of the General, but from the immediate command ofthe Deity, him whom they believe to accompany them in war. They therefore carrywith them, when going to fight, certain images and figures taken out of theirholy groves. What proves the principal incentive to their valour is, that it isnot at random, nor by the fortuitous conflux of men, that theirtroops and pointed battalions are formed, but by theconjunction of whole families, and tribes of relations. Moreover, close to thefield of battle are lodged all the nearest and most interesting pledges ofnature. Hence they hear the doleful howlings of their wives, hence the cries oftheir tender infants. These are to each particular the witnesses whom he mostreverences and dreads; these yield him the praise which affect him most. Theirwounds and maims they carry to their mothers, or to their wives, neither aretheir mothers or wives shocked in telling, or in sucking their bleeding sores.Nay, to their husbands and sons whilst engaged in battle, they administer meatand encouragement.

IN history we find, that some armies already yieldingand ready to fly, have been by the women restored, through their inflexibleimportunity and intreaties, presenting their breasts, and shewing theirimpending captivity; an evil to the Germans then by far most dreadful when itbefals their women. So that the spirit of such cities as amongst their hostagesare injoined to send their damsels of quality, is always engaged moreeffectually than that of others. They even believe them endowed with somethingcelestial, and the spirit of prophecy. Neither do they disdain to consult them,nor neglect the responses which they return. In the reign of the deified VESPASIAN we have seen Veleda, for along time, and by many nations, esteemed and adored as aDivinity. In times past they likewise worshiped Aurinia and several more, from no complaisance or effortof flattery, nor as Deities of their own creating.

OF all the Gods, MERCURY is he whomthey worship most. To him on certain stated days it is lawful to offer evenhuman victims. HERCULES and MARS theyappease with beafts usually allowed for sacrifice. Some of the Suevians makelikewise immolations to Isis. Concerning the cause andoriginal of this foreign sacrifice I have found small light; unless the figureof her Image formed like a galley, shew that such devotion arrived from abroad.For the rest, from the grandeur and majesty of Beings celestial, they judge italtogether unsuitable to hold the Gods inclosed within walls, or to representthem under any human likeness. They consecrate whole woods and groves, and bythe names of the Gods they call these recesses; Divinities which only incontemplation, and mental reverence, they behold.

TO the use of lots and auguries they are addicted beyondall other nations. Their method of divining by lots is exceeding simple. From atree which bears fruit they cut a twig, and divide it into small pieces. Thesethey distinguish by so many several marks, and throw them at random, andwithout order, upon a white garment. Then the Priest of the Community, if forthe public the lots are consulted, or the father of a family, if about aprivate concern, after he has solemnly invoked theGods, with eyes lifted up to heaven, takes up everypiece thrice, and having done thus forms a judgment according to the marksbefore made. If the chances have proved forbidding, they are no more consultedupon the same affair during the same day: Even when they are inviting, yet, forconfirmation, the faith of auguries too is tried. Yea, here also is the knownpractice of divining events from the voices and flight of birds. But to thisNation it is peculiar, to learn presages and admonitions divine from horsesalso. These are nourished by the State in the same sacred woods and groves, allmilk white, and employed in no earthly labour. These yoked in the holy chariot,are accompanied by the Priest and the King, or the Chief of the Community, whoboth carefully observe his actions and neighing. Nor in any sort of augury ismore faith and assurance reposed, not by the populace only, but even by theNobles, even by the Priests. These account themselves the Ministers of theGods, and the horses privy to his will. They have likewise another method ofdivination, whence to learn the issue of great and mighty wars. From the nationwith whom they are at war they contrive, it avails not how, to gain a captive:Him they engage in combat with one selected from amongst themselves, each armedafter the manner of his country, and according as the victory falls to this, orto the other, gather a presage of the whole.

AFFAIRS of smaller moment the Chiefs determine: Aboutmatters of higher consequence the whole Nation deliberates; yet in such sort,that whatever depends upon the pleasure and decision of the People, is examinedand discussed by the Chiefs. Where no accident or emergency intervenes, theyassemble upon stated days, either when the moon changes, or is full: Since theybelieve such seasons to be the most fortunate for beginning all transactions.Neither in reckoning of time do they count, like us, the number of days, butthat of nights. In this style their Ordinances are framed, in this style theirDiets appointed; and with them the night seems to lead and govern the day. Fromtheir extensive liberty this evil and default flows, that they meet not atonce, nor as men commanded, and afraid to disobey; so that often the secondday, nay, often the third, is consumed through the slowness of the members inassembling. They sit down as they list, promiscuously, like a crowd, and allarmed. It is by the Priests that silence is injoined, and with the power ofcorrection the Priests are then invested. Then the King or Chief is heard, asare others, each according to his precedence in age, or in nobility, or inwarlike renown, or in eloquence; and the influence of every speaker proceedsrather from his ability to persuade, than from any authority to command. If theproposition displease, they reject it by an inarticulate murmur: if it bepleasing, they brandish their javelins.The most honourable manner of signifying theirassent, is to express their applause by the sound of their arms.

IN the assembly it is allowed to present accusations,and to prosecute capital offences. Punishments vary according to the quality ofthe crime. Traitors and deserters they hang upon trees. Cowards, and sluggards,and unnatural prostitutes, they smother in mud and bogs, under a heap ofhurdles. Such diversity in their executions has this view, that in punishing ofglaring iniquities, it behoves likewise to display them to sight; buteffeminacy and pollution must be buried and concealed. In lightertransgressions too the penalty is measured by the fault, and the delinquentsupon conviction are condemned to pay a certain number of horses or cattle. Partof this mulct accrues to the King, or to the Community, part to him whosewrongs are vindicated, or to his next kindred. In the same assemblies are alsochosen their Chiefs or Rulers, such as administer Justice in their villages andboroughs. To each of these are assigned an hundred persons chosen from amongstthe populace, to accompany and assist him, men who help him at once with theirauthority and their counsel.

WITHOUT being armed they transact nothing, whether ofpublic or private concernment. But it is repugnant to their custom for any manto use arms, before the Community has attested his capacity to wield them. Uponsuch testimonial, either one of the Rulers, or hisfather, or some kinsman dignify the young man in the midst of the assembly,with a shield and javelin. This amongst them is the manlyrobe, this the first degree of honour conferred upon their youth. Beforethis they seem no more than part of a private family, but thenceforward part ofthe Commonweal. The princely dignity they confer even upon striplings, whoserace is eminently noble, or whose fathers have done great and signal servicesto the State. For about the rest, who are more vigorous and long since tried,they assiduously crowd to attend: Nor is it any shame to be seen amongst thefollowers of these. Nay, there are likewise degrees of followers, higher orlower, just as he whom they follow judges fit. Mighty also is the emulationamongst these followers, of each to be first in favour with his Prince; mightyalso the emulation of the Princes, to excell in the number and valour offollowers. This is their principal state, this their chief force, to be at alltimes surrounded with a huge band of chosen young men, for ornament and gloryin peace, for security and defence in war. Nor is it amongst his own peopleonly, but even from the neighbouring Communities, that any of their Princesreaps so much renown and a name so great, when he surpasses in the number andmagnanimity of his followers. For such are courted by Embassies, anddistinguished with presents,and, by the terror of their fame alone, oftendissipate wars.

IN the day of battle, it is scandalous to the Prince tobe surpassed in feats of bravery, scandalous to his followers to fail inmatching the bravery of the Prince. But it is infamy during life, and indeliblereproach, to return alive from a battle where their Prince was slain. Topreserve their Prince, to defend him, and to ascribe to his glory all their ownvalorous deeds, is the sum and most sacred part of their oath. The Princesfight for victory; for the Prince his followers fight. Many of the youngnobility, when their own Community comes to languish in its vigour by longpeace and inactivity, betake themselves, through impatience, to other Stateswhich then prove to be in war. For, besides that this people cannot brookrepose, besides that by perillous adventures they more quickly blazon theirfame, they cannot, otherwise than by violence and war, support their huge trainof retainers. For from the liberality of their Prince they demand and enjoythat War-horse of theirs, with that victorious Javelin, always dyed in the blood of their enemies.In the place of pay, they are supplied with a daily table and repasts, thoughgrosly prepared, yet very profuse. For maintaining such liberality andmunificence a fund is furnished by continual wars and plunder. Nor could you soeasily persuade them to cultivate the ground, or to await the returnof the seasons and produce of the year, as to provokethe foe and to risque wounds and death: Since they account it stupid andspiritless to acquire by their sweat what they can gain by their blood.

UPON any recess from war, they do not much attend thechase. Much more of their time they pass in indolence, resigned to sleep andrepasts. All the most brave, all the most warlike, apply to nothing at all; butto their wives, to the ancient men, and to every the most impotent domestic,trust all the care of their house, and of their lands and possessions. Theythemselves loiter. Such is the amazing diversity of their nature, that in thesame men is found so much delight in sloth, with so much enmity to repose. TheCommunities are wont, of their own accord and man by man, to bestow upon theirPrinces a certain number of beasts, or a certain portion of grain; acontribution which passes indeed for a mark of reverence and honour, but servesalso to supply their necessities. They chiefly rejoice in the gifts which comefrom the bordering countries, such as are sent not only by particulars, but inthe name of the State, curious horses, splendid armour, rich harness, withcollars of silver and gold. Now too they have learnt, what we have taught them,to receive money.

THAT none of the several people in Germany live togetherin Cities, is abundantly known; nay, that amongst them none of theirdwellings are suffered to be contiguous. They inhabitapart and distinct, just as a fountain, or a field, or a wood happened toinvite them to settle. They raise their villages in opposite rows, but not inour manner with the houses joined one to another. Every man has a vacant spacequite round his own, whether for security against accidents from fire, or thatthey want the art of building. With them, in truth, is unknown even the use ofmortar and of tiles. In all their structures they employ materials quite grossand unhewn, void of fashion and comeliness. Some parts they besmear with anearth so pure and resplendent, that it resembles painting and colours. They arelikewise wont to scoop Caves deep in the ground, and over them to lay greatheaps of dung. Thither they retire for shelter in the winter, and thitherconvey their grain: For by such close places they mollify the rigorous andexcessive cold. Besides, when at any time their enemy invades them, he can onlyravage the open country, but either knows not such recesses as are invisibleand subterraneous, or must suffer them to escape him, on this very account thathe is uncertain where to find them.

FOR their covering, a Mantle is what they all wear,fastened with a clasp, or, for want of it, with a thorn. As far as this reachesnot, they are naked, and lie whole days before the fire. The most wealthy aredistinguished with a Vest, not one large and flowing, like thoseof the Sarmatians and Parthians, but girt close aboutthem, and expressing the proportion of every limb. They likewise wear the skinsof savage beasts, a dress which those bordering upon the Rhine use without anyfondness or delicacy, but about which they who live further in the country aremore curious, as void of all apparel introduced by commerce. They chuse certainwild beasts, and, having flayed them, diversify their hides with many spots, asalso with the skins of monsters from the deep, such as are engendered in thedistant Ocean and in seas unknown. Neither does the dress of the Women differfrom that of the Men, save that the Women are ordinarily attired in linenembroidered with purple, and use no sleeves, so that all their arms are bare.The upper part of their breast is withal exposed. Yet the laws of matrimony areseverely observed there; nor in the whole of their manners is aught morepraise-worthy than this: For they are almost the only Barbarians contented withone wife, excepting a very few amongst them, men of dignity who marry diverswives, from no wantonness or lubricity, but courted for the lustre of theirfamily into many alliances.

TO the Husband the Wife tenders no dowry, but theHusband to the Wife. The parents and relations attend and declare theirapprobation of the Presents, not Presents adapted to feminine pomp anddelicacy, nor such as serve to deck the new-married woman, but Oxen,and a Horse accoutred, and a Shield, with a Javelinand Sword. By virtue of these gifts she is espoused. She too on her part bringsher husband some arms. This they esteem the highest tie, these the holymysteries, and matrimonial Gods. That the woman may not suppose herself freefrom the considerations of fortitude and fighting, or exempt from thecasualties of War, the very first solemnities of her wedding serve to warn her,that she comes to her husband as a partner in his hazards and fatigues, thatshe is to suffer alike with him, and to adventure alike, during peace or duringwar. This the Oxen joined in the same yoke plainly indicate, this the Horseready equipped, this the Present of arms. It is thus she must be content tolive, thus to resign life. The arms which she then receives she must preserveinviolate, and to her sons restore the same, as presents worthy of them, suchas their wives may again receive, and still resign to her grand-children.

THEY therefore live in a state of chastity well secured,corrupted by no seducing shews and public diversions, by no irritations frombanquetting. Of learning and of any secret intercourse by letters they are allequally ignorant, men and women. Amongst a people so numerous adultery isexceeding rare, a crime instantly punished, and the punishment left to beinflicted by the husband. He, having cut off her hair, expells her from hishouse naked, in presence of her kindred, and pursues herwith stripes throughout the village. For, to a womanwho has prostituted her person, no pardon is ever granted. However beautifulshe be, however young, however abounding in wealth, a husband she can neverfind. In truth, no body turns vices into mirth there, nor is the practice ofcorrupting and of yielding to corruption, called coldly, thecustom of the age. Better still do those Communities in which none butVirgins marry, and where to a single marriage all their views and inclinationsare at once confined. Thus, as they have but one body and one life, they takebut one husband, that beyond him they may have no thought, no further wishes,nor love him only as their Husband, but as their Marriage. To restraingeneration and the increase of children, is esteemed an abominable sin, as alsoto kill infants newly born. And more powerful with them are good manners, thanwith other People are good Laws.

IN all their houses the children are reared naked andnasty, and thus grow into those limbs, into that bulk which with marvel webehold. They are all nourished with the milk of their own mothers, and neversurrendered to hand-maids and nurses. The Lord you cannot discern from theSlave, by any superior delicacy in rearing. Amongst the same cattle theypromiscuously live, upon the same ground they without distinction lie, till ata proper age the free-born are parted from the rest, and their braveryrecommend them to notice.Slow and late do the young Men come to the use ofWomen, and thus very long preserve the vigour of youth. Neither are the Virginshastened to wed. They must both have the same sprightly youth, the likestature, and marry when equal and able-bodied. Thus the robustness of theparents is inherited by the children. Children are holden in the sameestimation with their Mother’s Brother, as with their Father. Some hold thistye of blood to be most inviolable and binding, and in receiving of hostages,such pledges are most considered and claimed, as they who at once possessaffections the most unalienable, and the most diffuse interest in their family.To every Man, however, his own children are heirs and successors: Wills theymake none: For want of children his next akin inherits; namely, his ownBrothers, those of his Father, or those of his Mother. To ancient Men, the morethey abound in descendents, in relations and affinities, so much the morefavour and reverence accrues. From being childless no advantage or estimationis derived.

ALL the enmities of your house, whether of your Fatheror of your Kindred, you must necessarily adopt, as well as all theirfriendships. Neither are such enmities unappeasable and permanent: Since evenfor so great a crime as homicide compensation is made by a fixt number of sheepand cattle, and by it the whole family is pacified to content: A temperwholsome to the State; because to a freenation animosities and faction are always moremenacing and perillous. In social feasts and deeds of hospitality no nationupon earth was ever more liberal and abounding. To refuse admitting under yourroof any man whatsoever, is held wicked and inhuman. Every man receives everycomer, and treats him with repasts as large as his ability can possiblyfurnish. When the whole stock is consumed, he who had treated so hospitablyguides and accompanies his guest to a new scene of hospitality, and bothproceed to the next house, though neither of them invited: Nor avails it thatthey were not: They are there received with the same frankness and humanity.Between a stranger and an acquaintance, in dispensing the rules and benefits ofhospitality, no difference is made. Upon your departure, if you ask any thing,it is the custom to grant it, and with the same facility they ask of you. Ingifts they delight, but neither claim merit from what they give, nor own anyobligation for what they receive. Their manner of entertaining their guests isfamiliar and kind.

THE moment they rise from sleep, which they generallyprolong till late in the day, they bathe, most frequently in warm water, as ina country where the Winter is very long and severe. From bathing they sit downto meat, every man apart, upon a particular seat, and at a separate table. Theythen proceed to their affairs, all in arms, as in arms they no less frequentlygo to banquet. To continue drinkingnight and day without intermission, is a reproach tono man. Frequent then are their broils, as usual amongst men intoxicated withliquor; and such broils rarely terminate in angry words, but for the most partin maimings and slaughter. Moreover, in these their Feasts they generallydeliberate about reconciling parties at enmity, about forming affinities,chusing of Princes, and finally about peace and war. For they judge, that at noseason is the soul more open to thoughts that are artless and upright, or morefired with such as are great and bold. This people, of themselves no wisesubtle or politic, from the freedom of the place and occasion acquire stillmore frankness to disclose the most secret motions and purposes of theirhearts. When therefore the minds of all have been once laid open and declared,on the day following the several sentiments are revised and canvassed; and toboth conjunctures of time due regard is had: They consult when they know nothow to dissemble; they determine when they cannot mistake.

FOR their drink they draw a liquor from barley or othergrain, and ferment the same so as to make it resemble Wine. Nay, they who dwellupon the bank of the Rhine deal in Wine. Their food is very simple, wild Fruit,fresh Venison, or coagulated Milk. They banish hunger without formality,without curious dressing and curious fare. In extinguishing thirst they use notequal temperance. Ifyou will but humour their excess in drinking, andsupply them with as much as they covet, it will be no less easy to vanquishthem by vices than by arms. Of public diversions they have but one sort, and inall their meetings the same is still exhibited. Young men, such as make ittheir pastime, fling themselves naked and dance amongst sharp swords and thedeadly points of javelins. From habit they acquire their skill, and from theirskill a graceful manner; yet from hence draw no gain or hire: Though thisadventurous gayety has its reward, namely that of pleasing the spectators.

WHAT is marvellous, playing at Dice is one of their mostserious employments, and even sober they are gamesters: Nay, so desperately dothey venture upon the chance of winning or losing, that when their wholesubstance is played away, they stake their Liberty and their Persons upon oneand the last throw. The loser goes calmly into voluntary bondage: Howeveryounger he be, however stronger, he tamely suffers himself to be bound and soldby the winner. Such is their perseverance in an evil course: They themselvescall it honour. Slaves of this class they exchange away in commerce, chiefly tofree themselves from the shame of such a victory. Of their other slaves theymake not such use as we do of ours, by distributing amongst them the severaloffices and employments of the family. Each of them has a dwelling of his own,each a household to govern. His Lord uses him like aTenant, and obliges him to pay a quantity of grain,or of cattle, or of cloth. Thus far only the subserviency of the slave extends.All the other duties in a family, not the Slaves, but the Wives and theChildren discharge. To inflict stripes upon a slave, or to put him in chains,or to doom him to severe labour, are things rarely seen. To kill them theysometimes are wont, not through correction or government, but in heat and rage,as they would an enemy, save that no vengeance or penalty follows. The Freedmenvery little surpass the Slaves, rarely are of moment in the house, in theCommunity never, excepting only such nations where arbitrary dominion prevails.For there they bear higher sway than the freeborn, nay, higher than the Nobles.In other countries the inferior condition of freedmen is a proof of publicliberty.

TO the practice of usury and of increasing money byinterest, they are strangers; and hence is found a better guard against it,than if it were forbidden. They shift from land to land, and, stillappropriating a portion suitable to the number of hands for manuring, anonparcel out the whole amongst particulars according to the condition and qualityof each. As the plains are very spacious, the allotments are easily assigned.Every year they change, and cultivate a fresh soil; yet still there is groundto spare. For they strive not to bestow labour proportionable to the fertilityand compass of their lands, by planting Orchards, by inclosingMeadows, and by watering Gardens. From the earth Cornonly is exacted. Hence they quarter not the year into so many Seasons. Winter,Spring and Summer they understand, and for each have proper appellations. Ofthe name and blessings of Autumn they are equally ignorant.

IN performing their Funerals they shew no state or vainglory. This only is carefully observed, that with the coarses of their signalmen certain woods be burned. Upon the funeral pile they accumulate neitherapparel nor perfumes. Into the fire are always thrown the arms of the dead, andsometimes his horse. With sods of earth only the Sepulchre is raised. The pompof tedious and elaborate monuments they contemn, as things grievous to thedeceased. Tears and wailings they soon dismiss: Their affliction and woe theylong retain. In Women it is reckoned becoming to bewail their loss, in men toremember it.

THIS is what in general we have learnt of the originaland customs of the whole people of Germany. I shall now deduce the institutionsand usages of the several People, as far as they vary one from another, as alsoan account of what nations from thence removed to settle themselves in Gaul.That the Gauls were in times past more puissant and formidable, is related bythe Prince of Authors, the deified JULIUS; and hence it isprobable that they too have passed into Germany. For what a small obstacle mustbe a river to restrain anynation, as each grew more potent, from seizing orchanging habitations, when as yet all habitations were common, and not partedor appropriated by the establishment and terror of Monarchies? The Regiontherefore between the Hercynian Forest and the Rivers Meyne and Rhine, wasoccupied by the Helvetians, as was that beyond it by the Boians, both nationsof Gaul. There still remains a place called Boiemum, whichdenotes the primitive name and antiquity of the country, although theinhabitants have been changed. But whether the Araviscians are derived from theOsians, a nation of Germans passing into Pannonia, or the Osians from theAraviscians removing from thence into Germany, is a matter undecided, sincethey both still use the same language, the same customs and the same laws. For,as of old they lived alike poor and alike free, equal proved the evils andadvantages on each side the river, and common to both people. The Treveriansand Nervians aspire passionately to the reputation of being descended from theGermans, since by the glory of this original they would escape all imputationof resembling the Gauls in person and effeminacy. Such as dwell upon the bankof the Rhine, the Vangiones, the Tribocians, and the Nemetes, are without doubtall Germans. The Ubians are ashamed of their original, though they have aparticular honour to boast, that of having merited an establishment as a RomanColony, and still delight to be called Agrippinensians, after the name of their founder: They indeed formerlycame from beyond the Rhine, and, for the many proofs of their fidelity, weresettled upon the very bank of the river, not to be there confined or guardedthemselves, but to guard and defend that boundary against the rest of theGermans.

OF all these Nations the Batavians are the most signalin bravery. They inhabit not much territory upon the Rhine, but possess anisland in it. They were formerly part of the Cattians, and by means of feuds athome removed to these dwellings, whence they might become a portion of theRoman Empire. With them this honour still remains, as also the memorials oftheir ancient association with us: For they are not under the contempt ofpaying tribute, nor subject to be squeezed by the farmers of the revenue. Freefrom all impositions and payments, and only set apart for the purposes offighting, they are reserved wholly for the wars, in the same manner as aMagazine of weapons and armour. Under the same degree of homage are the Nationof the Mattiacians. For such is the might and greatness of the Roman People, asto have carried the awe and esteem of their Empire beyond the Rhine and theancient boundaries. Thus the Mattiacians living upon the opposite banks enjoy asettlement and limits of their own, yet in spirit and inclination are attachedto us; in other things resembling the Batavians, save that as they stillbreathe their original air, still possesstheir primitive soil, they are thence inspired withsuperior vivacity and keenness. Amongst the People of Germany I would notreckon those who occupy the Lands which are under decimation, though they besuch as dwell beyond the Rhine and the Danube. By several worthless andvagabond Gauls, and such as poverty rendered daring, that Region was seized asone belonging to no ceriain possessor: Afterwards it became a skirt of theEmpire and part of a Province, upon the enlargement of our bounds, and theextending of our garrisons and frontier.

BEYOND these are the Cattians, whose territories beginat the Hercynian Forest, and consist not of such wide and marshy plains, asthose of the other Communities contained within the vast compass of Germany,but produce ranges of hills, such as run lofty and contiguous for a long tract,then by degrees sink and decay. Moreover the Hercynian Forest attends for awhile its native Cattians, then suddenly forsakes them. This People aredistinguished with bodies more hardy and robust, compact limbs, sterncountenances, and greater vigour of spirit. For Germans, they are men of muchsense and address. They dignify chosen men, listen to such as are set overthem, know how to preserve their post, to discern occasions, to rebate theirown ardour and impatience, how to employ the day, how to entrench themselves bynight. They account fortune amongst things slippery and uncertain,but bravery amongst such as are never-failing andsecure; and, what is exceeding rare, nor ever to be learnt but by a wholsomecourse of discipline, in the conduct of the General they repose more assurancethan in the strength of the army. Their whole forces consist of foot, whobesides their arms carry likewise instruments of iron and their provisions. Youmay see other Germans proceed equipped to battle, but the Cattians so as toconduct a war. They rarely venture upon excursions or casual encounters. It isin truth peculiar to cavalry, suddenly to conquer, or suddenly to fly. Suchhaste and velocity rather resembles fear. Patience and deliberation are moreakin to intrepidity.

MOREOVER a custom, practised indeed in other nations ofGermany, yet very rarely, and confined only to particulars more daring than therest, prevails amongst the Cattians by universal consent. As soon as theyarrive to maturity of years, they let their hair and beards continue to grow,nor, till they have slain an enemy, do they ever lay aside this form ofcountenance by vow sacred to valour. Over the blood and spoil of a foe theyfirst make bare their face. They alledge, that they have now acquittedthemselves of the debt and duty contracted by their birth, and renderedthemselves worthy of their country, worthy of their parents. Upon thespiritless, cowardly and unwarlike, such deformity of visage still remains. Allthe most brave likewise wear aniron ring (a mark of great dishonour in that Nation)and retain it as a chain, till by killing an enemy they become released. Manyof the Cattians delight always to bear this terrible aspect, and, when grownwhite through age, become awful and conspicuous by such marks both to the enemyand their own countrymen. By these in all engagements the first assault ismade: Of these the front of the battle is always composed, as men who in theirlooks are singular and tremendous. For even during peace they abate nothing inthe grimness and horror of their countenance. They have no house to inhabit, noland to cultivate, nor any domestic charge or care. With whomsoever they cometo sojourn, by him they are maintained, always very prodigal of the substanceof others, always despising what is their own, till the feebleness of old ageovertakes them, and renders them unequal to the efforts of such rigidbravery.

NEXT to the Cattians dwell the Usipians and Tencterians,upon the Rhine, now running in a channel uniform and certain, such as sufficesfor a boundary. The Tencterians, besides their wonted glory in war, surpass inthe service and discipline of their cavalry. Nor do the Cattians derive higherapplause from their foot than the Tencterians from their horse. Such was theorder established by their forefathers, and what their posterity still pursue.From riding and exercising of horses their children derive their pastimes, inthis exercisethe young men find matter for emulating one another,and in this the old men take pleasure to persevere. Horses are by the fatherbequeathed as part of his houshold and family, horses are conveyed amongst therights of succession, and as such the son receives them, but not the eldestson, like other effects, by priority of birth, but he who happens to be signalin boldness and superior in war.

CONTIGUOUS to the Tencterians formerly dwelt theBructerians, in whose room it is said the Chamavians and Angrivarians are nowsettled, they who expulsed and almost extirpated the Bructerians with theconcurrence of the neighbouring nations, whether in detestation of theirarrogance, or allured by the love of spoil, or through the special favour ofthe Gods towards us Romans. They in truth even vouchsafed to gratify us withthe sight of the battle. In it there fell above sixty thousand souls, without ablow struck by the Romans; but, what is a circumstance still more glorious,fell to furnish them with a spectacle of joy and recreation. May the Godscontinue and perpetuate amongst these nations, if not any love for us, yet byall means this their animosity and hate towards each other: Since whilst thedestiny of the Empire thus urges it, fortune cannot more signally befriend usthan in sowing strife amongst our foes.

THE Angrivarians and Chamavians are enclosed behind bythe Dulgibinians and Chasuarians, and by other nations not so much noted:Before, the Frisians face them. The country of Frisiais divided into two, called the greater and lesser, according to the measure oftheir strength. Both nations stretch along the Rhine quite to the Ocean, andsurround vast lakes such as once have borne Roman Fleets. We have moreover evenventured out from thence into the Ocean, and upon its coasts common fame hasreported the Pillars of HERCULES to be still standing:whether it be that HERCULES ever visited these parts, orthat to his renowned name we are wont to ascribe whatever is grand and gloriousevery where. Neither did DRUSUS, who made the attempt, wantboldness to pursue it: But the roughness of the Ocean withstood him, nor wouldsuffer discoveries to be made about itself no more than about HERCULES. Thenceforward the enterprize was dropped: Nay, morepious and reverential it seemed, to believe the marvellous feats of the Godsthan to know and to prove them.

HITHERTO I have been describing Germany towards theWest. To the Northward it winds away with an immense compass. And first of alloccurs the Nation of the Chaucians, who, though they begin immediately at theconfines of the Frisians, and occupy part of the shore, extend so far as toborder upon all the several people whom I have already recounted, till at last,by a circuit they reach quite to the boundaries of the Cattians. A Region sovast the Chaucians do not only possess, but fill; a peopleof all the Germans the most noble, such as wouldrather maintain their grandeur by justice than violence. They live in repose,retired from broils abroad, void of avidity to possess more, free from a spiritof domineering over others. They provoke no wars, they ravage no countries,they pursue no plunder. Of their bravery and power the chief evidence arisesfrom hence, that, without wronging or oppressing others, they are come to besuperior to all. Yet they are all ready to arm, and if an exigency require,armies are presently raised, powerful and abounding as they are in men andhorses; and even when they are quiet and their weapons laid aside, their creditand name continue equally high.

ALONG the side of the Chaucians and Cattians dwell theCheruscans, a people who finding no enemy to rouze them, were enfeebled by apeace over-lasting and uniform, but such as they failed not to nourish: Aconduct which proved more pleasing than secure; since treacherous is thatrepose which you enjoy amongst neighbours that are very powerful and very fondof rule and mastership. When recourse is once had to the sword, modesty andfair dealing will be vainly pleaded by the weaker; names which are alwaysassumed by the stronger. Thus the Cheruscans, who formerly bore the characterof Good and Upright, are now called Cowards and Fools, and the fortune of the Cattians who suduedthem, grew immediately to be Wisdom. In the ruin ofthe Cheruscans the Fosians also their neighbours wereinvolved, and in their calamities bore an equal share, though in theirprosperity they had been weaker and less considered.

IN the same winding tract of Germany live the Cimbriansclose to the Ocean, a Community now very small, but great in fame. Nay, oftheir ancient renown many and extensive are the traces and monuments stillremaining, even their entrenchments upon either shore, so vast in compass thatfrom thence you may even now measure the greatness and numerous bands of thatpeople, and assent to the account of an army so mighty. It was on the sixhundred and fortieth year of Rome, when the first mention was made of the armsof the Cimbrians, during the Consulship of CÆCILIUSMETELLUS and PAPIRIUS CARBO. If from that time wecount to the second Consulship of the Emperor TRAJAN, theinterval comprehends near two hundred and ten years, so long have we beenconquering Germany. In a course of time so vast between these two periods, manyhave been the blows and disasters suffered on each side. In truth neither fromthe Samnites, nor from the Carthaginians, nor from both Spains, nor from allthe nations of Gaul have we received more frequent checks and alarms; nor evenfrom the Parthians: For, more vigorous and invincible is the Liberty of theGermans than the Monarchy of the Arsacides. Indeed, what has the power of theEast to alledge to our dishonour, but the fallof CRASSUS, that power which wasitself overthrown and abased by VENTIDIUS, with the loss ofthe great King PACORUS bereft of his life? But by theGermans the Roman People have been bereft of five armies all commanded byConsuls; by the Germans the Commanders of these Armies, CARBO, and CASSIUS, and SCAURUS AURELIUS, and SERVILIUS CÆPIO, asalso MARCUS MANLIUS, were all routed or taken: By theGermans even the Emperor AUGUSTUS was bereft of VARUS and three Legions. Nor without difficulty and loss ofmen were they defeated by CAIUS MARIUS in Italy, or by thedeified JULIUS in Gaul, or by DRUSUS, or TIBERIUS, or GERMANICUS, in theirnative territories. Soon after, the mighty menaces of CALIGULA against them ended in mockery and derision.Thenceforward they continued quiet, till taking advantage of our domesticdivision and civil wars, they stormed and seized the winter entrenchments ofthe Legions, and aimed at the dominion of Gaul; from whence they were once moreexpulsed, and in the times preceding the present we gained a triumph over themrather than a victory.

I MUST now proceed to speak of the Suevians, who arenot, like the Cattians and Tencterians, comprehended in a single People, butdivided into several Nations, all bearing distinct names, though in generalthey are intitled Suevians, and occupy the larger share of Germany. This Peopleare remarkable for apeculiar custom, of twisting their hair, and bindingit up in a knot. It is thus the Suevians are distinguished from the otherGermans, thus the free Suevians from their Slaves. In the other Nations,whether from alliance of blood with the Suevians, or, as is usual, fromimitation, this practice is also found, yet rarely, and never exceeds the yearsof youth. The Suevians even when their hair is white through age, continue toraise it backwards in a manner stern and staring, and often tie it upon the topof their head only. That of their Princes is more accurately disposed, and sofar they study to appear agreeable and comely, but without any culpableintention. For by it they mean not to make love or to incite it: They thusdress when proceeding to war, and deck their heads so as to add to their heightand terror in the eyes of the enemy.

OF all the Suevians the Semnones recount themselves tobe the most ancient and most noble. The belief of their antiquity is confirmedby religious mysteries. At a stated time of the year, all the several peopledescended from the same stock, assemble by their deputies in a wood consecratedby the idolatries of their forefathers and by superstitious awe in times ofold. There, by publicly sacrificing a Man, they begin the horrible solemnity oftheir barbarous worship. To this Grove another sort of reverence is also paid.No one enters it otherwise than bound with ligatures, thence professing hissubordination and meanness,and rhe power of the Deity there. If he fall down, heis not permitted to rise or be raised, but grovels along upon the ground. And,of all their superstition this is the drift and tendency, that from this placethe Nation drew their original; that here God, the supreme Governor of theworld, resides, and that all things else whatsoever are subject to him, andbound to obey him. The potent condition of the Semnones has increased theirinfluence and authority, as they inhabit an hundred towns; and from thelargeness of their Community it comes, that they hold themselves for the headof the Suevians.

WHAT, on the contrary, ennobles the Langobards is thesmallness of their number, for that they, who are surrounded with very many andvery powerful Nations, derive their security from no obsequiousness or plying,but from the dint of battle and adventurous deeds. There follow in order theReudignians, and Aviones, and Angles, and Varinians, and Eudoses, andSuardones, and Nuithones, all defended by Rivers or Forests. Nor in one ofthese Nations does ought remarkable occur, only that they universally join inthe worship of Herthum, that is to say, the Mother Earth.Her they believe to interpose in the affairs of Men, and to visit Countries. Inan Island of the Ocean stands the Wood Castum: in it is aChariot dedicated to the Goddess, covered over with a curtain, and permitted tobe touchedby none but the Priest. Whenever the Goddess entersthis her holy Vehicle, he perceives her, and with profouud veneration attendsthe motion of the Chariot, which is always drawn by yoked Cows. Then it is thatdays of rejoicings always ensue, and in all places whatsoever which shedescends to honour with a visit and her company, Feasts and Recreation abound.They go not to war; they touch no arms; fast laid up is every hostile weapon;Peace and repose are then only known, then only beloved, till to the Temple thesame Priest reconducts the Goddess when well tired with the conversation ofmortal beings. Anon the Chariot is washed and purified in a secret lake, asalso the curtains, nay, the Deity herself too, if you chuse to believe it. Inthis office it is slaves who minister, and they are forthwith doomed to beswallowed up in the same lake. Hence all men are possessed with mysteriousterror, as well as with a holy ignorance what that must be which none see butsuch as are immediately to perish. Moreover this quarter of the Sueviansstretches to the middle of Germany.

THE Community next adjoining is that of theHermundurians (that I may now follow the course of the Danube, as a littlebefore I did that of the Rhine) a People faithful to the Romans. So that tothem alone of all the Germans commerce is permitted, not barely upon the bankof the Rhine, but more extensively,and even in that glorious Colony in the Province ofRhœtia. They travel every where at their own discretion, and without a guard;and when to other Nations we shew no more than our arms and encampments, tothis People we throw open our houses and dwellings, as to men who have nolonging to possess them. In the territories of the Hermundurians rises theElbe, a river very famous and formerly well known to us; at present we onlyhear it named.

CLOSE by the Hermundurians reside the Nariscans, andnext to them the Marcomanians and Quadians. Amongst these the Marcomanians aremost signal in force and renown; nay, they acquired by their bravery theirhabitation itself, as from thence they formerly expulsed the Boians. Nor do theNariscans or Quadians degenerate in spirit. Now this is, as it were, thefrontier of Germany, as far as Germany is washed by the Danube. To the timeswithin our memory the Marcomanians and Quadians were governed by Kings, whowere natives of their own, descended from the noble line of MAROBODUUS and TUDRUS. At present they areeven subject to such as are foreigners. But the whole strength and sway oftheir Kings is derived from the authority of the Romans. From our arms theyrarely receive any aid, from our money very frequently.

NOR less powerful are the several people beyond them,namely, the Marsignians, the Gothinians, the Osians and the Burians, whoaltogether enclose the Marcomanians and Quadians behind. Of those theMarsignians and the Burians in speech and dress resemble the Suevians. From theGallic language spoken by the Gothinians, and from that of Pannonia by theOsians, it is manifest that neither of these People are Germans, as it is alsofrom their bearing to pay tribute. Upon them as upon aliens their tribute isimposed, partly by the Sarmatians, partly by the Quadians. The Gothinians, toheighten their disgrace, are forced to labour in the iron-mines. By all theseseveral Nations but little level country is possessed: They are seated amongstforests, and upon the ridges and declivities of mountains. For, Suevia isparted by a continual ridge of mountains, beyond which live many distinctNations. Of these the Lygians are most numerous and extensive, and spread intoseveral Communities. It will suffice to mention the most puissant, even theArians, Helvicones, Manimians, Elysians, and Naharvalians. Amongst theNaharvalians is shewn a Grove sacred to devotion, extremely ancient. Over it aPriest presides apparelled like a Woman; but, according to the explication ofthe Romans, it is Castor and Pollux who are here worshipped. This Divinity is named Alcis. There are indeed no images here, no traces ofan extraneous superstition: Yet their devotion isaddressed to young Men and to Brothers. Now the Arians, besides their forces,in which they surpass the several Nations just recounted, are in their personsstern and truculent, and even humour and improve their natural grimness andferocity by art and time. They wear black shields, their bodies are paintedblack, they chuse dark nights for engaging in battle, and by the very awe andghastly hue of their army, strike the enemy with dread; as none can bear thistheir aspect, so very surprizing, and as it were quite infernal. For, in allbattles the eyes are first vanquished. Beyond the Lygians dwell the Gothonesunder the rule of a King, and thence held in subjection somewhat stricter thanthe other German Nations, yet not so strict as to extinguish their liberty.Immediately adjoining are the Rugians and Lemovians upon the coast of theOcean, and of these several Nations the Characteristics are, a round Shield, ashort Sword, and kingly Government.

NEXT occur the Communities of the Suiones, situated inthe Ocean itself, and besides their strength in men and arms, very powerful atsea. The form of their vessels varies thus far from ours, that they have prowsat each end, so as to be always ready to row to shore without turning; nor arethey moved by sails, nor on their sides have benches of oars placed, but therowers ply here and there in all parts ofthe ship alike, as in some rivers is done, and changetheir oars from place to place, just as they shift their course hither orthither. To wealth also, amongst them, great veneration is paid, and thence asingle ruler governs them, without all restriction of power, and exactingunlimited obedience. Neither here, as amongst other Nations of Germany, arearms used indifferently by all, but shut up and warded under the care of aparticular keeper, who in truth too is always a slave: Since from all suddeninvasions and attacks from their foes the Ocean protects them: Besides thatarmed bands, when they are not employed, grow easily debauched and tumultuous.The truth is, it suits not with the interest of an arbitrary Prince, to trustthe care and power of arms either with a Nobleman, or with a Freeman, or indeedwith any man above the condition of a slave.

BEYOND the Suiones is another sea, one very heavy andalmost void of agitation; and by it the whole globe is thought to be boundedand invironed, for that the reflection of the sun, after his setting, continuestill his rising, so bright as to darken the stars. To this, popular opinion hasadded, that the tumult also of his emerging from the sea is heard, that formsdivine are then seen, as likewise the rays about his head. Only thus far extendthe limits of nature, if what fame says be true. Upon the right of the Sueviansea the ÆstyanNations reside, who use the same customs and attirewith the Suevians; their language more resembles that of Britain. They worshipthe Mother of the Gods. As the Characteristic of their national Superstition,they wear the Images of wild boars. This alone serves them for arms, this isthe safeguard of all, and by this every worshipper of the Goddess is securedeven amidst his foes. Rare amongst them is the use of weapons of Iron, butfrequent that of Clubs. In producing of grain and the other fruits of theearth, they labour with more assiduity and patience than is suitable to theusual laziness of Germans. Nay, they even search the deep, and of all the restare the only people who gather Amber. They call it Glasing, and find it amongst the shallows and upon thevery shore. But, according to the ordinary incuriosity and ignorance ofBarbarians, they have neither learnt, nor do they enquire, what is its nature,or from what cause it is produced. In truth it lay long neglected amongst theother gross discharges of the sea, till from our luxury it gained a name andvalue. To themselves it is of no use: They gather it rough, they expose it inpieces coarse and unpolished, and for it receive a price with wonder. You wouldhowever conceive it to be a liquor issuing from trees, for that in thetransparent substance are often seen birds and other animals, such as at firststuck in the soft gum, and by it, as it hardned, became quite enclosed. I amaptto believe that, as in the recesses of the East arefound Woods and Groves dropping frankincense and balms, so in the Isles andContinent of the West such gums are extracted by the force and proximity of thesun, at first liquid and flowing into the next sea, then thrown by winds andwaves upon the opposite shore. If you try the nature of amber by theapplication of fire, it kindles like a torch, and feeds a thick and unctuousflame very high scented, and presently becomes glutinous like pitch orrosin.

UPON the Suiones border the people Sitones, and,agreeing with them in all other things, differ from them in one, that here theSovereignty is exercised by a Woman. So notoriously do they degenerate not onlyfrom a state of Liberty, but even below a state of Bondage. Here end theterritories of the Suevians. Whether amongst the Sarmatians or the Germans Iought to account the Peucinians, the Venedians, and the Fennians, is what Icannot determine, though the Peucinians, whom some call Bastarnians, speak thesame language with the Germans, use the same attire, build like them, and livelike them, in that dirtiness and sloth so common to all. Somewhat they arecorrupted into the fashion of the Sarmatians by the intermarriages of theprincipal sort with that Nation: From whence the Venedians have derived verymany of their customs and a great resemblance. For they are continuallytraversingand infesting with robberies all the forests andmountains lying between the Peucinians and Fennians. Yet they are ratherreckoned amongst the Germans, for that they have fixt houses, and carryshields, and prefer travelling on foot, and excel in swiftness: Usages allwidely differing from those of the Sarmatians, who live on horse-back, anddwell in waggons.

IN wonderful savageness live the Nation of the Fennians,and in beastly poverty, destitute of arms, of horses, and of homes; their foodthe common herbs; their apparel, skins; their bed, the earth; their only hopein their arrows, which for want of iron they point with bones. Their commonsupport they have from the chace, women as well as men; for with these theformer wander up and down, and crave a portion of the prey. Nor other shelterhave they even for their babes, against the violence of tempests and raveningbeasts, than to cover them with the branches of trees twisted together: This isa reception for the old men, and hither resort the young. Such a condition theyjudge more happy than the painful occupation of cultivating the ground, thanthe labour of rearing houses, than the agitations of hope and fear attendingthe defence of their own property, or the seizing that of others. Secureagainst the designs of men, secure against the malignity of the Gods, they haveaccomplished a thing of infinite difficulty,that to them nothing remains even to be wished.

WHAT further accounts we have, are fabulous, as that theHellusians and Oxiones have the countenances and aspect of men with the bodiesand limbs of savage beasts. This, as a thing about which I have no certaininformation, I shall leave untouched.

THE LIFE OF AGRICOLA. With an ACCOUNT of the Situation, Climate, and People OF BRITAIN.

To His GRACE JOHN DUKE ofArgyll and Greenwich.

MY LORD,

BY never yet denying me any favour, Your Grace has only taughtme a confident habit of still presuming upon future condescension, and the samesuccess. Hence I hope to be pardoned, even for my vanity, in publishing, as Ido to the world, that I can boast of Your Grace as my Patron and my Friend,such a Friend as the world will allow never to have been exceeded in acts offriendship.

FROM the same vanity, but vanity accompanied withfaithful affection, I am ambitious of having Your Name stand in my Works aslong as any Work of mine remains. Indulge me, MyLord, in gratifying this pleasing ambition, andfavourably accept a Dedication which intirely comes from the heart: nor indeedis any Dedication which doth not, worthy of acceptance.

AS therefore the following Treatise, one so charming andinstructive, is in the original consecrated to the memory of the excellent AGRICOLA, that polite and most accomplished Patrician, thatGreat Commander, great Statesman and, which is above all, that Great HonestMan: Be it henceforth in English, from a just resemblance of characters, forever sacred to the Name and Person of the Duke of Argyll, as well as a public,I hope a lasting testimony, with what high, and sincere regard, I ever am,

MY LORD, Your Grace’s intirelyDevoted, and most Obedient, Humble Servant,

T. GORDON.

THE LIFE OF AGRICOLA.

AMONGST the Ancients it was common to transmit to posterity thecharacters and exploits of memorable men: Nor, in truth, in our own times hasthe age, however indifferent about what concerns itself, failed to observe thelike usage, whenever any spirit eminent for great and signal virtue hasvanquished and triumphed over the blindness of such as cannot distinguish rightfrom wrong, as well as over the spite of malignants; for spite and blindnessare evils common to great States and to small. But, as in those early timesthere was found greater propensity to feats of renown, and more scope toperform them; so whoever excelled in a happy genius was naturally led todisplay the merits andmemory of the virtuous dead, without all view tocourt any favour, or to gain advantages, but only by the motives and recompenceflowing from a benevolent and conscientious mind. Indeed there were severalwho, in recounting their own lives, concluded, that they thence shewed rather aconfidence in their own integrity and demeanour, than any mark of arrogance.Neither was the account which RUTILIUS and SCAURUS gave of themselves, thence the less credited, or themore censured. So true it is, that the several virtues are best understood andmost prized, during the same times in which they are most easily produced. Butto myself, who am going to relate the Life of a person deceased, I find pardonnecessary; which I should not have asked, were I not about to revive andtraverse times so sanguinary, and baneful to all virtue.

WE find it recorded, that for celebrating the praises of PÆTUS THRASEA, ARULENUS RUSTICUS suffered a deadly doom, asdid HERENNIUS SENECIO for those of HELVIDIUSPRISCUS. Nor upon the persons of the Authors only was this crueltyinflicted, but also upon the Books themselves; since to the Triumvirate ofJustice orders were sent, that in the Forum, and place of popular Elections,the Works of men so illustrious for parts and genius should be burned. Yes, inthis very fire they imagined that they should abolish the voice and utteranceof the Roman People, with the liberty of the Senate, and all theideas and remembrances of human-kind; for they hadbesides expelled all the professors of Philosophy, and driven every laudableScience into exile, that nought which was worthy and honest might any-where beseen. Mighty surely was the testimony which we gave of our patience; and as ourforefathers had beheld the ultimate consummation of Liberty, so did we ofBondage, since through dread of informers and inquisitions of State, we werebereft of the common intercourse of speech and attention. Nay, with ourutterance we had likewise lost our memory, had it been equally in our power toforget as to be silent.

NOW indeed at length our spirit returns. Yet, thoughfrom the first dawn of this very happy age begun by the reign of NERVA, he blended together two things once foundirreconcilable, public Liberty and sovereign Power; and though TRAJAN, his adopted Successor, be daily augmenting the felicityof the State; insomuch that for the general security not only hopes and vowsare conceived, but even firm assurance follows these vows, and their fullaccomplishment is seen; such, however, is the frailty of man, and its effects,that much more slow is the progress of the remedies than of the evils; and, ashuman bodies attain their growth by tedious degrees, and are subject to bedestroyed in an instant, so it is much easier to suppress than to revive theefforts of Genius and Study. For upon the mind there steals a pleasure even insloth and remissness, andthat very inactivity which was at first hated, is atlast loved. Will it not be found that during a course of fifteen years, (amighty space in the age of mortal man) numbers perished through fortuitousdisasters, and all men noted for promptness and spirit were cut off by thecruelty of the Emperor? Few we are who have escaped; and, if I may so speak, wehave survived not only others, but even ourselves, when from the middle of ourlife so many years were rent; whence from being young we are arrived at oldage, from being old we are nigh come to the utmost verge of mortality, all in along course of awful silence. I shall, however, find no cause of regret fromhaving framed an historical deduction of our former bondage, as also atestimony of the public blessings which at present we enjoy; though, in doingit, my stile be negligent and unpolished. To the honour of AGRICOLA my Wife’s Father, this present Book is in the meantime dedicated, and, as it is a declaration of filial duty and affection, willthence be commended, at least excused.

CNÆUS JULIUS AGRICOLA was born in theancient and illustrious Colony of Forojulium, and both his grandfathers wereProcurators to the Emperors; a dignity peculiar to the Equestrian Order. Hisfather JULIUS GRÆCINUS was a Senator, and noted forEloquence and Philosophy. By these his virtues he earned the wrath of CALIGULA. For he was by him ordered to accuse MARCUS SILANUS, and put to death for refusing. His mother was JULIA PROCILLA, a Lady of singular chastity. Under her eyeand tender care he was reared, and spent his childhood and youth in thecontinual pursuit and cultivation of worthy accomplishments. What guarded himfrom the allurements of the vicious, (besides his own virtuous disposition, andnatural innocence) was, that for the seat and nursery of his studies, whilstyet very little, he had the City of Marseilles, a place well tempered andframed, as in it all the politeness of the Greeks and all the Provincialparsimony are blended together. I remember he was wont to declare, that in hisearly youth he studied Philosophy and the Law with more avidity than wasallowable to a Roman and a Senator, till the discretion of his mother checkedhis spirit engaged with passion and ardor in the pursuit. In truth, hissuperior and elevated genius thirsted, with more vehemence than caution, afterthe loveliness and lustre of a name and renown so mighty and sublime. Reasonand age afterwards qualified his heat; and, what is a task extremely hard, hesatisfied himself with a limited measure of Philosophy.

THE first rudiments of war he learnt in Britain, underthat prudent and vigilant Commander SUETONIUS PAULINUS, bywhom he was chosen and distinguished as his domestic companion. Neither did AGRICOLA behavelicentiously, after the manner of young men, who turnwarfare into riot, nor assumed the title and office of a Tribune without thesufficiency, in order to use it slothfully in feats of pleasure and absencefrom duty, but to know the Province, to be known to the Army, to learn of suchas had experience, to follow such as were worthy and brave, to seek for noexploits for ostentation, to refuse none through fear, and in all his pursuitswas equally zealous and active. Indeed, at no time had Britain been undergreater combustions, nor our affairs there more precarious. Our Veterans wereslaughtered, our Colonies burned down, our Armies surprized and taken. At thatjuncture the struggle was for life, afterwards for victory. Now, though allthese affairs were transacted by the counsels and conduct of another than AGRICOLA, and though the stress of the whole, with theglory of recovering the Province, accrued to the General; they all, however,proved to the young man matters of skill, of experience and stimulation; andthere seized his soul a passion for military glory, a spirit disgustful to thetimes, when of men signally eminent a malignant opinion was entertained, andwhen as much peril arose from a great character as from a bad.

DEPARTING from hence to Rome for the exercise of publicdignities, he there married DOMITIA DECIDIANA, a Ladysplendid in her descent, and to him who was aspiring to higher honours thismarriage proved a great ornamentand support. In marvellous unanimity they also lived,in a course of mutual tenderness and mutual preference; a temper commendable inboth, only that the praise of a good wife rises in proportion to the contumelyof a bad. His lot, as Quæstor, fell upon Asia, where SALVIUSTITIANUS proved to be Proconsul. But neither the Province nor theProconsul corrupted his probity, though the country was very rich, nay,prepared as a prey for men corruptly disposed; and TITIANUS, a man bent upon all acts of rapine, was ready, uponthe smallest encouragement, to have purchased a mutual connivance in iniquity.In Asia he was enriched by the birth of a daughter, tending at once to hisconsolation, and the support of his family; for the son born to him before, hevery soon lost. The interval between his bearing the office of Quæstor and thatof Tribune of the People, and even the year of his Tribuneship, he passed inrepose and inactivity, as well aware of the spirit of the times under NERO, when sloth and heaviness served for wisdom. With thelike indolence he held the Prætorship, and in the same quiet and silence. Forupon him the jurisdiction of that dignity fell not. The public pastimes, andthe empty gaieties of the office, he exhibited according to the rules of goodsense, and to the measure of his wealth, in a manner though remote fromprodigality, yet deserving popular applause. As he was next appointed by GALBA to make research into the gifts and oblationsappertainingto the Temples, he proceeded with such diligence andan examination so strict, that the State suffered from no sacrilege save thatof NERO.

IN the year following he suffered a grievous blow in hisspirit and family. For, OTHO’S Fleet, which continuedroving upon the coast, and pursuing rapine, whilst they were ravagingIntemelium (a part of Liguria) slew the Mother of AGRICOLA upon her estate there, and plundered the estate itself with a great part of hertreasure, which had indeed proved the cause of the murder. As he therefore wentfrom Rome to solemnize her Funeral, he had tidings upon the road, that VESPASIAN was pursuing the Sovereignty, and instantlyespoused his party. In the beginning of this reign all the exercise of power,and the government of the City, were intirely in the hands of MUCIANUS; for DOMITIAN was yet extremelyyoung, and, of the Imperial fortune of his father, assumed nothing further thana latitude for debauchery. MUCIANUS, who had dispatched AGRICOLA to levy forces, and found him to have acted inthat trust with uprightness and magnanimity, preferred him to the command ofthe twentieth Legion, as soon as he was informed that he who commanded itbefore was engaged in seditious practices. Indeed that Legion had with greatslowness and reluctance been brought to swear allegiance to VESPASIAN; nay, was grown over-mighty and even formidable tothe Commanders inchief: so that their own Commander was found void ofauthority to controul them; though it is uncertain whether from the temper ofthe Man, or from that of the soldiers. Thus AGRICOLA waschosen, at once to succeed him, and to punish delinquency in them; andexercising moderation altogether rare, would rather have it thought, that hehad found them unblameable than made them so.

OVER Britain at that juncture VETTIUSBOLANUS bore rule, but with more complacency than suited a province sofierce and untamed. Hence AGRICOLA restrained his own heat,and held within bounds the ardor of his spirit, as he was well skilled how toshew his obedience, and had thoroughly learned to blend what was honourablewith what was profitable: Soon after this, Britain received for its Governor PETILIUS CERIALIS, one of Consular quality. The virtue andabilities of AGRICOLA had now ample space for producingsuitable effects. But to him at first CERIALIS communicatedonly the dangers and fatigues: with him anon he likewise shared the glory;frequently, for trial of his prowess, committed to his conduct a part of theArmy; sometimes, according to the measure of his success, set him at the headof forces still larger. Nor did AGRICOLA ever vaunt hisexploits to blazon his own fame. To his General, as to the Author of all, he,as his Instrument and Inferior, still ascribed his good fortune. Thus, from hisbravery in the execution of his orders, fromhis modesty in recounting his deeds of bravery, heescaped envy, yet failed not to gain glory.

UPON his return from commanding a Legion, the deified VESPASIAN raised him to the rank of a Patrician, andafterwards invested him with the government of the Province of Aquitaine, agovernment of the foremost dignity, and given as previous to the Consulship, towhich that Prince had destined him. There are many who believe, that tomilitary men subtlety of spirit is wanting; for that in camps the direction ofprocess and authority is rather rough and void of formality, and that wherehands and force are chiefly used, there the address and refinements usual toCourts are not exercised. Yet AGRICOLA, aslisted by hisnatural prudence, though he was then engaged only with men of peace and therobe, acquitted himself with great facility, and great uprightness. Hecarefully distinguished the seasons of business and the seasons of recess.Whenever he sat in Council, or upon the Tribunals of justice, he was grave,attentive, awful, generally addicted to compassion. The moment he had fulfilledthe duties of his office, he personated no longer the man of power: He had thencast off all sternness, all airs of state, and all rigour. Nay, what is veryrarely to be seen, his complaisance neither weakened his authority, nor did hisseverity make him less amiable. It were an injury to the virtues of so great aman, to particularize his just dealings, his temperance, and the cleannessof his hands. In truth, glory itself was what hepursued not by any ostentation of bravery, or by any strain of artifice oraddress, though of that pursuit even the best men are often fond. Thus he wasfar from maintaining any competition with his equals in station, far from anycontest with the Procurators of the Prince: Since, to conquer in thiscontention he judged to be no glory; and to be crushed by them were disgrace.His administration here lasted hardly three years, ere he was recalled to thepresent possession of the Consulship. With this employment there accrued thepublic opinion, that for his province Britain would be assigned him, from nowords which had dropped from him about it, but because he was deemed equal tothe Office. Common fame does not always err; sometimes it even directs thepublic choice. To myself, yet very young, whilst he was Consul, he contractedhis daughter, a young Lady even then of excellent hopes, and, at the end of hisConsulship, presented her in marriage. He was then forthwith promoted to theGovernment of Britain, as also invested with the honour of the Pontificate.

THE account which I shall here present of the situationand people of Britain, a subject about which many Authors have written, comesnot from any design of setting up my own exactness and genius against theirs,but only because the country was then first thoroughlysubdued. So that such matters as former Writers have,without knowing them, embellished with eloquence, will by me be recountedaccording to the truth of evidence and discoveries. Of all the Islands whichhave reached the knowledge of the Romans, Britain is the largest. It extendstowards Germany to the East, towards Spain to the West. To the South it lookstowards Gaul. Its Northern shore, beyond which there is no land, is beaten by aSea vast and boundless. Britain is by LIVY and FABIUS RUSTICUS, the former the most eloquent of theancient historians, the latter of the moderns, compared in shape to an oblongshield, or a broad knife with two edges. And such, in effect, is its figure onthis side Caledonia, whence common opinion has thus also fashioned the whole.But a tract of territory huge and unmeasurable stretches forward to theuttermost shore, and straightning by degrees, terminates like a wedge. Roundthe coast of this Sea, which beyond it has no land, the Roman Fleet now firstsailed, and thence proved Britain to be an Island, as also discovered andsubdued the Isles of Orkney, till then unknown. Thule was likewise descried,hitherto hid by Winter under eternal Snow. This Sea they report to be slow andstagnate, difficult to the Rowers and, indeed, hardly to be raised by the forceof Winds. This I conjecture to be because land and mountains, which are thecause and materials of tempests,very rarely occur in proportion to the mighty mass ofwater, a mass so deep and uninterrupted as not to be easily agitated. Aninquiry into the nature of the Ocean and of the Tide, is not the purpose ofthis Work, and about it many have written. One thing I would add, that no whereis the power of the Sea more extensive than here, forcing back the waters ofmany Rivers, or carrying them away with its own; nor is its flux and ebbingsconfined to the banks and shore; but it works and winds itself far into thecountry, nay, forms bays in rocks and mountains, as if the same were its nativebed.

FOR the rest; who were the first inhabitants of Britain,whether natives of its own, or foreigners, can be little known amongst a peoplethus barbarous. In their looks and persons they vary; from whence severalarguments and inferences are formed: For, the red hair of the Caledonians andtheir large limbs, testify their descent to be from Germany: The swarthycomplexion of the Silures, and their hair, which is generally curled, withtheir situation opposite to the coast of Spain, furnish ground to believe, thatthe ancient Iberians had arrived from thence here, and taken possession of theterritory. They who live next to Gaul are also like the Gauls; whether it bethat the spirit of the original stock from which they sprang, still remains, orwhether in Countries near adjoining, the genius of the Climate confersthe same form and disposition upon the bodies of men.To one who considers the whole, it seems however credible, that the Gauls atfirst occupied this their neighbouring Coast: That their sacred rites are thesame, you may learn from their being possessed with the same superstition ofevery sort: Their speech does not much vary: In daring of dangers they areprompted by the like boldness, and with the like affright avoid them when theyapproach: In the Britons, however, superior ferocity and defiance is found, asin a people not yet softned by a long peace. For we learn from History, thatthe Gauls too flourished in warlike prowess and renown: Amongst themafterwards, together with peace and idleness, effeminacy entered; and thus,with the loss of their Liberty, they lost their spirit and magnanimity. Thesame happened to those of the Britons who were conquered long ago. The reststill continue such as the Gauls once were.

THEIR principal force consists in their foot. SomeNations amongst them make also war in Chariots. The more honourable personalways drives: Under his leading his followers fight. They were formerlysubject to Kings. They are now swayed by several Chiefs, and rent into factionsand parties, according to the humour and passions of those their Leaders. Noragainst Nations thus powerful does aught so much avail us, as that they consultnot in a body for the security of the whole. It is rarethat two or three Communities assemble and unite torepulse any public danger threatening to all. So that whilst only a singleCommunity fought at a time, they were every one vanquished. The sky, fromfrequent clouds and rain, is dull and hazy: Excessive cold they feel not: Theirdays in length surpass ours: Their nights are very clear, and at the extremityof the Country, very short; so that between the setting and return of the day,you perceive but small interval. They affirm, that were it not for theintervention of clouds, the rays of the sun would be seen in the night, andthat he doth not rise and fall, but only pass by: For that the extremities ofthe earth, which are level, yielding but a low shadow, prevent darkness fromrising high and spreading; and thence night is far short of reaching the starsand the sky. The soil is such, that except the olive and the vine, and othervegetables, which are wont to be raised in hotter climes, it readily bears allfruits and grain, and is very fertile. It produces quickly, but its productionsripen slowly; and of both these effects there is the same cause, the extremehumidity of the earth and of the sky. Britain yields Gold and Silver, withother metals, all which prove the prize and reward of the Conquerors. The seaalso breeds Pearls, but of a dark and livid hue, a defect by some ascribed tothe unskilfulness of such as gather them. For, in the Red Sea they are pulledfrom the rocks alive and vigorous.In Britain they are gathered at random, such as thesea casts them upon the shore. For myself; I am much apter to believe, thatnature has failed to give the Pearls perfection, than that we fail inavarice.

THE Britons themselves are a people who chearfullycomply with the levies of men, with the imposition of taxes, and with all theduties enjoined by Government, provided they receive no illegal treatment andinsults from their Governors: Those they bear with impatience. Nor have theRomans any farther subdued them than only to obey just Laws, but never tosubmit to be slaves. Even the deified JULIUS CÆSAR, thefirst of all the Romans who entered Britain with an army, though by gaining abattle he frightened the natives, and became master of the coast, yet may bethought to have rather presented posterity with a view of the Country, than tohave conveyed down the possession. Anon the civil Wars ensued, and against theCommonwealth were turned the arms of her own Chiefs and Leaders. Thus Britainwas long forgot, and continued to be so even during peace. This was what AUGUSTUS called Reason of State, butwhat TIBERIUS stiled the Ordinance ofAugustus. That CALIGULA meditated an invasion ofBritain in person, is well known: But he possessed a spirit, as precipitate andwild, so presently surfeited with any design whatever; besides that all hismighty efforts against Germanywere quite baffled. The deified CLAUDIUS accomplished the undertaking; having thithertransported the Legions, with a number of auxiliary forces, and associated VESPASIAN into the direction of the design: An incidentwhich proved the introduction to his approaching fortune. There, Nations weresubdued, Kings taken captive, and VESPASIAN placed toadvantage in the eye of the Fates.

THE first Governor of Consular quality, was AULUS PLAUTIUS, then OSTORIUS SCAPULA, both signal in war. And, by degrees, the nearest part of Britain was reducedinto the condition of a Province. To secure it, a Colony of Veterans waslikewise settled. To the British King COGIDUNUS certainCommunities were given, a Prince who, even till our times, continued in perfectfidelity to us. For, with the Roman People it is a custom long since received,and practised of old, that, for establishing the bondage of Nations, they areto employ even Kings as their instruments. Afterwards followed DIDIUS GALLUS, and just preserved what acquisitions hisPredecessors had made; only that further in the Island he raised some Forts,and very few they were, purely for the name and opinion of having enlarged hisGovernment. Next to DIDIUS came VERANIUS, and died in less than a year. Then immediatelysucceeded SUETONIUS PAULINUS, who, during two years,commanded with success, subdued fresh Nations and established Garrisons.Trusting to these, he went to assail the Isle ofAnglesey, as a place which supplied the revolters with succours, and thus leftthe Country behind him exposed to the enemy.

FOR, the Britons, when through the absence of theGovernor they were eased of their fear, began to commune together concerningthe miseries of bondage, to recount their several grievances, and so toconstrue and heighten their injuries as effectually to inflame theirresentments. “Their patience, they said, availed them nothing, further than toinvite the imposition of heavier burdens upon a people who thus tamely boreany. In times past they had only a single King: They were now surrendered totwo. One of these, the Governor-General, tyrannized over their bodies andlives; the Imperial Procurator, who was the other, over their substance andfortunes. Equally pernicious to their subjects was any variance between thesetheir Rulers, as their good intelligence and unanimity. Against them the oneemployed his own predatory bands, as did the other his Centurions and theirmen; and both exercised violence alike, both treated them with equal insultsand contumely. To such height was oppression grown, that nothing whatever wasexempt from their avarice, nothing whatever from their lust. He who in the dayof battle spoiled others, was always stronger than they. But here it waschieflyby the cowardly and effeminate that their houses wereseized, their children forced away, and their men obliged to list; as if theirCountry were the only thing for which the Britons knew not how to die. Intruth, what a small force would all the soldiers arrived in the Island appear,would the Britons but compute their own numbers? It was from this considerationthat Germany had thrown off the same Yoke, though a Country defended only by aRiver, and not like this, by the Ocean. To animate themselves to take arms,they had their Country, their Wives, their Parents; whilst these theiroppressors were prompted by nothing but their avarice and sensuality: Nor wouldthey fail to withdraw from the Island, as even the deified JULIUS had withdrawn, would the natives but imitate the braveryof their forefathers, and not be dismayed with the issue of an encounter ortwo. Amongst people like themselves reduced to misery, superior ardor was everfound, as also greater firmness and perseverance. Towards the Britons, at thisjuncture, even the Gods manifested compassion, since they thus kept the RomanGeneral at such a distance, thus held the Roman Army confined in annotherIsland. Nay, already they themselves had gained a point the most difficult tobe gained, that they could now deliberate about measures common to all: For,doubtless, more perillous it were to be discoveredforming such counsels, than openly to put them in execution.”

WHEN with these and the like reasons they had animatedone another, they unanimously took arms under the leading of BOUDICEA, a woman of Royal descent: For, in conferringSovereignty they make no distinction of sexes. They then forthwith assailed onevery side the soldiers dispersed here and there in Forts, and having stormedand sacked the several Garrisons, fell upon the Colony itself, as the Seat andCenter of Public Servitude: Nor was any kind of cruelty omitted, with whichrage and victory could possibly inspire the hearts of Barbarians. In truth, hadnot PAULINUS, upon learning the revolt of the Province,come with notable speed to its relief, Britain had been lost. Yet, by thesuccess of a single battle, he reduced the Country to its old subjection,though several continued in arms, such, namely, as were conscious of incitingthe rebellion, and under personal dread from the spirit of the Governor. He,though otherwise a signal Commander, yet treated such as had surrenderedthemselves in a manner very imperious; and, as one who likewise avenged his ownparticular injury, thence exerted the greater rigor. Insomuch that in his room PETRONIUS TURPILIANUS was sent, as one whose behaviourwould prove more relenting, one who being unacquainted with the delinquenciesof the enemies, would be more gentle in acceptingtheir remorse and submission. TURPILIANUS, when he hadquite appeased the late commotions, ventured upon nothing further, and thendelivered the Province to TREBELLIUS MAXIMUS. He, stillmore unwarlike and inactive than his Predecessor, and no wise trained in campsand armies maintained the tranquillity of the Province by a method of softnessand complaisance. The Barbarians had now likewise learned to forgive such vicesas humoured them in pleasure and ease. Moreover, the civil Wars which thenintervened, furnished a proper excuse for the lazy behaviour of the Governor.But he found himself greatly embarrassed with faction and discord; for that thesoldiers, who had ever been inured to expeditions and feats in the field, were,through idleness, grown turbulent and licentious. TREBELLIUS, by flight and lurking, escaped the present fury ofthe army: He afterwards resumed the Command, but with an authority altogetherprecarious, without all spirit, and destitute of all dignity; as if between himand them articles had been settled, that the soldiers should retain theirlicentious behaviour, and the General be permitted to enjoy his life. Duringthis mutiny no blood was spilled. Neither did VETTIUSBOLANUS, as the civil War yet subsisted, exert any discipline in Britain.Towards the enemy there still remained the same sloth and negligence,with the same insolent spirit in the camp: Thisdifference only there was, that BOLANUS was a man perfectlyinnocent; and being subject to no hate, as he was free from all crimes, he hadinstead of authority over them, only gained their affections.

BUT, when VESPASIAN had, with thepossession of the World, also recovered Britain, in it were seen greatCommanders, noble Armies, and the hopes of the enemy quite abated. PETILIUS CERIALIS, particularly, at his first entrance,struck them at once with general terror, by attacking the Community of theBrigantes, reckoned the most populous of the whole Province. There followedmany encounters, such as sometimes proved very bloody. So that he held mostpart of their Country as his conquest, or continued to ravage it by war. Intruth, though the exploits of CERIALIS would have eclipsedthe vigilance and fame of any other Successor, yet JULIUSFRONTINUS sustained in his turn the mighty task; and, as he was a man asgreat and able as he found scope and safety to be, he, by the sword, utterlysubdued the powerful and warlike Nation of the Silures; though, besides thebravery of the enemy, he was likewise obliged to struggle with the difficultiesof places and situation.

SUCH was the condition in which AGRICOLA found Britain, such to have been the vicissitudes ofthe war there, upon his arrivalabout the middle of summer, a time when the Romansoldiers, supposing the service of the season to be concluded, were securelybent upon inaction and repose, as were the enemy, upon any opportunity, toannoy the Romans. The Community of the Ordovicians had not long before hiscoming slaughtered, almost intirely, a band of horse stationed upon theirconfines; and by an essay so notable, the Province in general became roused;while such as were intent upon present war, commended the action, as an exampleand a call to the whole, and others were for delaying till they had discoveredthe spirit of the new Lieutenant-General. Now though the summer were over,though the troops were severed and lay dispersed over the Province, though thesoldiers had assured themselves of rest for the residue of the year (a heavyobstacle and very discouraging to one who is commencing war) nay, though manyjudged it better only to guard the places which were threatened and precarious;yet AGRICOLA determined to meet the danger. Hence drawingtogether the choice bands of the Legions, with a small body of Auxiliaries, heled them against the Ordovicians; and as these dared not descend into equalground, he, who by sharing equal danger, would inspire his men with equalcourage, marching in person before his army, conducted them to the encounterupon the ascent. Almost the whole Nation was here cut off; butas he was well aware, that it behoved him to urge andmaintain this his fame, and that with the issue of his first attempts all therest would correspond, he conceived a design to reduce the Isle of Anglesey, aconquest from which PAULINUS was recalled by the generalrevolt of Britain, as above I have recounted. But, as this counsel was suddenlyconcerted, and therefore ships were found wanting, such was the firmness andcapacity of the General, that without ships he transported his men. From theAuxiliaries he detached all their chosen men, such as knew the fords, and,according to the usage of their country, were dextrous in swimming, so as, inthe water, at once to manage themselves, and their horses and arms. These,unincumbered with any of their baggage, he caused to make a descent and onsetso sudden, that the enemy were quite struck with consternation, as men whoapprehended nothing but a Fleet and Transports, and a formal invasion by sea,and now believed no enterprize difficult and insurmountable to such as camethus determined to war. Thus they sued for peace, and even surrendered theIsland; and thence AGRICOLA was already considered as avery great and even renowned Commander: For that, at his first entrance intothe Province, a time which other Governors are wont to waste in shew andparade, or in courting compliment and addresses, he preferred feats of labourand of peril. Nor did he applythis his good fortune and success to any purpose ofvain-glory: So that upon the bridling of such as were vanquished before, hewould not bestow the title of an expedition or of victory; nor, in truth, wouldhe so much as with the bare honour of the laurel distinguish these hisexploits. But even by disguising his fame, he enlarged it; as men consideredhow vast must be his future views, when he thus smothered in silence deeds sonoble.

FOR the rest; as he was acquainted with the temper ofthe people in his Province; as he had also learned from the conduct andexperience of others, that little is gained by arms where grievances andoppressions follow, he determined to cut off all the causes of war. Beginningtherefore with himself, and those appertaining to him, he checked and regulatedhis own houshold; a task which to many proves not less difficult than that ofgoverning a Province. By none of his domestics, bond or freed, was aught thatconcerned the Public transacted. In raising the soldiers to a superior class,he was swayed by no personal interest or partiality, nor by the recommendationand suit of the Centurions, but by his own opinion and persuasion, that thebest soldiers were ever the most faithful. All that passed he would know;though all that was amiss he would not punish. Upon small offences he bestowedpardon; for such as were great he exercised proportionable severity. Nor did healways exact the punishmentassigned, but frequently was satisfied withcompunction and remorse. In conferring offices and employments, he rather chosemen who would not transgress, than such as he must afterwards condemn fortransgressing. Though the imposition of Tribute and of Grain had beenaugmented, yet he softened it by causing a just and equal distribution of allpublic burdens; since he abolished whatever exactions had been devised for thelucre of particulars, and were therefore borne with more regret than theTribute itself. For, the inhabitants were forced to bear the mockery ofattending at their own barns, locked up by the Publicans, and of purchasingtheir own corn of the Monopolists, nay, of selling it afterwards back again ata poor price. They were moreover enjoined to take long journies, and carrygrain cross the several Countries to places extremely distant; insomuch thatthe several Communities, instead of supplying the Winter-quarters which layadjoining, must furnish such as were remote and difficultly travelled, to theend, that what was easy to be had by all, might produce gain to a few.

BY suppressing these grievances immediately in his firstyear, he gained a high character to a state of peace; a state which, eitherthrough the neglect or connivance of his Predecessors, was till then dreaded noless than that of war. But, upon the coming of summer, he assembled his army;then proceeded to commendsuch of the men who in marching observed their dutyand rank, and to check such as were loose and straggling. He himself alwayschose the ground for encamping: The salt marshes, friths and woods he himselfalways first examined, and to the enemies all the while allowed not a moment’squiet or recess, but was ever distressing them with sudden incursions andravages. Then, having sufficiently alarmed and terrified them, his next coursewas to spare them, thus to tempt them with the sweetness and allurements ofpeace. By this conduct, several Communities, which till that day had asserted astate of equality and independence, came to lay down all hostility, gavehostages, and were begirt with Garrisons and Fortresses, erected with such justcontrivance and care, that no part of Britain, hitherto known, escapedthenceforward from being annoyed by them.

THE following Winter was employed in measures extremelyadvantageous and salutary. For, to the end that these people, thus wild anddispersed over the Country, and thence easily instigated to war, might, by ataste of pleasures, be reconciled to inactivity and repose, he first privatelyexhorted them, then publicly assisted them, to build temples, houses, andplaces of assembling. Upon such as were willing and assiduous in these pursuitshe heaped commendations, and reproofs upon the lifeless and slow. So that acompetitionfor this distinction and honour, had all the force ofnecessity. He was already taking care to have the sons of their Chiefs taughtthe liberal Sciences, already preferring the natural capacity of the Britons tothe studied acquirements of the Gauls; and such was his success, that they whohad so lately scorned to learn the Roman language, were become fond ofacquiring the Roman eloquence. Thence they began to honour our apparel, and theuse of the Roman gown grew frequent amongst them. By degrees they proceeded tothe incitements and charms of vice and dissoluteness, to magnificent galleries,sumptuous bagnios, and all the stimulations and elegance of banqueting. Nay,all this innovation was, by the unexperienced, stiled politeness and humanity,when it was indeed part of their bondage.

DURING the third year of his command, in pursuit of hisconquests he discovered new people, by continuing his devastations through theseveral nations quite to the mouth of the Tay: So the Frith is called. Whencesuch terror seized the foe, that they durst not attack our Army though sorelyshaken and annoyed by terrible tempests: Nay, the Romans had even time tosecure possession by erecting forts. It was observed of AGRICOLA by men of experience, that never had any Captain moresagely chosen his stations for commodiousness and situation; for that no placeof strengthfounded by him, was ever taken by violence, orabandoned upon articles or despair. From these their strong holds frequentexcursions were made; for, against any long siege they were supplied withprovisions for a year. Thus they passed the Winter there without allapprehension: Every single Fort defended itself. So that, in all their attemptsupon them, the enemies were baffled, and thence reduced to utter despair; forthat they could not, as formerly they were wont, repair their losses in theSummer by their success in the Winter; since now, whether it were Winter orSummer, they were equally defeated. Neither did AGRICOLA ever arrogate to himself the glory of exploits performed by others: were he aCenturion, or were he Commander of a Legion, in the General he was sure to finda sincere witness of his atchievements. By some he is said to have beenover-sharp in his reproofs, since he was one who, as to them that were good heabounded in courtesy, appeared withal stern and unpleasant to the bad. But fromhis anger no spleen remained. In him you had no dark reserves, no bodingsilence to fear. More honourable he thought it to give open offence, than tofoster secret hate.

THE fourth Summer was employed in settling and securingwhat territories he had overrun: Indeed, would the bravery of the Armies, andthe glory of the Roman Name, have suffered it, there had been then found inBritainitself a boundary to our conquests there. For, intothe rivers Glota and Bodotria the tide, from each opposite sea, flows so vastlyfar up the country, that their heads are parted only by a narrow neck of land,which was now secured with garrisons. Thus of all on this side we were alreadymasters; since the enemy were driven, as it were, into another Island.

IN the fifth year of the War, AGRICOLA passing the Frith, himself in the first ship thatlanded, in many and successful encounters subdued Nations till that timeunknown, and placed forces in that part of Britain which fronts Ireland, morefrom future views than from any present fear. In truth, Ireland, as it liesjust between Britain and Spain, and is capable of an easy communication withthe coast of Gaul, would have proved of infinite use in linking together thesepowerful limbs of the Empire. In size it is inferior to Britain, but surpassesthe Islands in our sea. In soil and climate, as also in the temper and mannersof the natives, it varies little from Britain: Its Ports and Landings arebetter known, through the frequency of Commerce and Merchants. A petty King ofthe Country, expelled by domestic dissention, was already received intoprotection by AGRICOLA, and, under the appearance offriendship, reserved for a proper occasion. By him I have often heard itdeclared, that with a single Legion and a fewAuxiliaries, Ireland might be conquered andpreserved; nay, that such an acquisition were of moment for the securing ofBritain, if, on all sides the Roman arms were seen, and all national Libertybanished, as it were out of sight.

FOR the rest; on the summer which began the sixth yearof his Administration, as it was apprehended, that the Nations forward woulduniversally take arms, and that the ways were all infested with the enemy’shost, his first step was to coast and explore the large Communities beyondBodotria by the means of his Fleet, which was from the beginning employed byhim as part of his forces, and in attending him at this time made a gloriousappearance, when thus, at once, by sea and land, the war was urged. In truth,the same camp often contained the foot, and the horse, and the marines, allintermixed, and rejoicing in common, severally magnifying their own feats,their own hazards, and adventures: Here were displayed the horrors of steepmountains and dismal forests; there the outrages of waves and tempests. Theseboasted their exploits by land, and against the foe: Those the vanquishedOcean; all vying together, according to the usual vaunts and ostentation ofsoldiers. Upon the Britons also, as from the captives was learned, the sight ofthe Fleet brought much consternation and dismay; as if, now that their solitaryOcean and recesses of the deep weredisclosed and invaded, the last refuge of thevanquished was cut off. To action and arms the several people inhabitingCaledonia had immediate recourse, and advanced with great parade, made stillgreater by common rumour, (as usual in things that are unknown) for that theydaringly assailed our forts, and by thus insulting and defying us, created muchfear and alarm. Nay, there were some who, covering real cowardise under theguise of prudence and counsel, exhorted a return to the nether side ofBodotria, for that it were more eligible to retire back, than to be driven. Hewas apprized the while, that the enemy meant to attack him in divers bands: Sothat, as they surpassed him in numbers, and in the knowledge of the country, hetoo divided his army into three parts, and thus marched, to prevent theirsurrounding him.

AS soon as this disposition of his was known to theenemy, they suddenly changed theirs, and all in a body proceeded to fall uponthe ninth Legion, as the least sufficient and weakest of all; and, as theassault was in the night, they slew the guards and entered the trenches, aidedby the general sleep or general dismay there. They were already pursuing thefight in the camp itself, when AGRICOLA having from hisspies learnt what rout the enemy had taken, and closely following their track,commanded the lightest of his foot and cavalry to charge them, whilst yetengaged, in the rear,and the whole army presently after to give a mightyshout. Moreover, at break of day, the Roman Banners were beheld refulgent. Thuswere the Britons dismayed with double peril and distress; and to the Romanstheir courage returned. Hence, seeing their lives secure, they now maintainedthe conflict for glory. They even returned the attack upon the enemy: Insomuchthat in the very gates of the camp a bloody encounter ensued, till the enemywere quite routed; for both these our armies exerted their might, the onecontending to shew that they had brought relief, the other to appear not tohave wanted assistance. Indeed, had not the woods and marshes served forshelter to the fugitives, by this victory the war had been determined.

BY this success, with such valour gained, and followedwith such renown, the army was become elated and resolute. With fierce dinnthey cried, “That to their bravery nothing could prove insurmountable. Theymust penetrate into the heart of Caledonia, and advance in a continualsuccession of battles, till they had at last found the utmost limits ofBritain.” Thus it was that they, who a little before had been so wary and sowise, were now, after the event was determined, grown full of boasts andintrepidity. Such is the lot of warfare, very unequal and unjust: In successall men assume part: The disasters are all imputed to one. Now the Britons,conjecturing the victory to proceed not from superiorcourage, but from circumstances well improved, and from the address of ourGeneral, lost nothing of their spirit and defiance, but armed their young men,removed their wives and children into places of security, and in generalConventions of their several Communities engaged them in a league ratified bysolemn sacrifices. And thus they mutually retired for the winter, with minds onboth sides abundantly irritated.

DURING the same summer, a Cohort of Usipians, levied inGermany and thence transported to Britain, adventured upon a feat verydesperate and memorable. When they had slain the Centurion and soldiers placedamongst them for training them in discipline, and to serve them for patternsand directors, they embarked in three pinnaces, forcing the pilots to conductthem; and since one of these forsook them and fled away, they suspected andtherefore killed the other two. As the attempt was not yet divulged, theirlaunching into the deep was beheld as a wonder. Anon they were tossed hitherand thither at the mercy of the waves: And, as they often engaged for spoilwith several of the Britons, obliging them to defend their property thusinvaded, in which conflicts they frequently proved victorious, and weresometimes defeated, they were at last reduced to want so pressing, as to feedupon one another, first upon the weakest, then uponwhomsoever the lot fell. In this manner were theycarried round about Britain, and having lost their vessels through ignorancehow to manage them, they were accounted robbers and pyrates, and fell into thehands first of the Suevians, afterwards of the Frisians. Nay, as they werebought and sold for slaves, some of them, through change of masters, werebrought over to our side of the Rhine, and grew famous from the discovery of anadventure so extraordinary.

IN the beginning of the summer, AGRICOLA suffered a sore blow in his family, by losing his Sonborn about a year before: A misfortune which he neither bore with anostentation of firmness and unconcern, like many other men of magnanimity, norwith lamentations and tears worthy only of women. Besides that for thisaffliction war proved one of his remedies. When therefore he had sent forwardthe Navy, which by committing devastations in several places, would not fail tospread a mighty and perplexing terror, he put himself at the head of his armylightly equipped, and to it had added some of the bravest Britons, such as hadbeen well proved through a long course of Peace. Thus he arrived at theGrampian Hills, upon which the enemy were already encamped. For, the Britons,nothing daunted by the issue of the former battle, and boldly waiting either totake vengeance or to suffer bondage, taught withalat last, that a general union was the best way torepel common danger, had, by embassies and confederacies drawn together theforces of all their Communities. Even then were to be seen thirty thousand menin arms, and their youth from every quarter were still continuing to flock in,as were also such of their elderly men as were yet vigorous and hale, they whowere signal in war, and now carried with them their several ensigns of honourformerly gained in the field. And now GALGACUS, he whoamongst their several Leaders surpassed all in valour and descent, is said tohave spoke in this strain to the multitude all very pressing for battle.

“ WHENEVER I contemplate the causes of the War, and thenecessity to which we are reduced, great is my confidence that this day andthis union of yours will prove the beginning of universal Liberty to Britain.For, besides that Bondage is what we have never borne, we are so beset thatbeyond us there is no further land; nor, in truth, is there any security leftus from the sea whilst the Roman Fleet is hovering upon our coasts. Thus thesame expedient which proves honourable to brave men, is to cowards too becomethe safest of all others, even present recourse to battle and arms. The otherBritons, in their past conflicts with the Romans, whence they found varioussuccess, had still a remaining source of hope and succour inthis our Nation. For, of all the people of Britain weare the noblest, and thence placed in its innermost regions; and, as we beholdnot so much as the coasts of such as are slaves, we thus preserve even our eyesfree and unprofaned by the sight of lawless and usurped rule. To us who are theutmost inhabitants of the earth, to us the last who enjoy Liberty, thisextremity of the Globe, this remote tract unknown even to common fame, has tothis day proved the only protection and defence. At present the utmost boundaryof Britain is laid open; and to conquer parts unknown, is thought matter ofgreat pomp and boasting. Beyond us no more people are found, nor aught saveseas and rocks; and already the Romans have advanced into the heart of ourcountry. Against their pride and domineering you will find it in vain to seek aremedy or refuge from any obsequiousness or humble behaviour of yours. They areplunderers of the earth, who, in their universal devastations, findingcountries to fail them, investigate and rob even the sea. If the enemy bewealthy, he inflames their avarice; if poor, their ambition. They are generalspoilers, such as neither the Eastern World nor the Western can satiate. Theyonly of all men thirst after acquisitions both poor and rich, with equalavidity and passion. To spoil, to butcher, and to commit every kind ofviolence, theystile by a lying name, Government, and, when they have spread a general desolation,call it Peace.

“ DEAREST to every man are his Children and Kindred, bythe contrivance and designation of nature. These are snatched from us forrecruits, and doomed to bondage in other parts of the earth. Our Wives andSisters, however they escape rapes and violence as from open enemies, aredebauched under the appearance and privilege of friendship and hospitality. OurFortunes and Possessions they exhaust for tribute, our Grain for theirprovisions. Even our bodies and limbs are extenuated and wasted, whilst we aredoomed to the drudgery of making Cuts through woods and Drains in bogs, undercontinual blows and outrages. Such as are born to be Slaves are but once sold,and thenceforward nourished by their Lords: Britain is daily paying for itsServitude, is daily feeding it. Moreover, as in a tribe of houshold Slaves, hewho comes last serves for sport to all his Fellows; so in this ancient state ofSlavery to which the World is reduced, we, as the freshest Slaves, and thenceheld the most contemptible, are now designed to final destruction. For, we haveno Fields to cultivate, nor Mines to dig, nor Ports to make; works for whichthey might be tempted to spare us alive: Besides that ever distastful to Rulersis magnanimity and adaring spirit in their Subjects. Indeed, our verysituation, so solitary and remote, the more security it affords to us, does butraise the greater jealousy in them. Seeing therefore you are thus bereft of allhopes of mercy, rouse now at last all your courage, both you to whom life isdearest, and you to whom glory. The Brigantes, even under the leading of aWoman, burned their Colony, stormed their entrenchments, and, had not suchsuccess degenerated into sloth, might have quite cast off the yoke of slavery.Let us who still preserve our Forces intire, us who are still unsubdued, andwant not to acquire Liberty, but only to secure it, manifest at once, upon thefirst encounter, what kind of men they are that Caledonia hath reserved for herown vindication and defence.

“ DO you indeed believe the Romans to be equally braveand vigorous in war, as during peace they are vicious and dissolute? From ourquarrels and divisions it is that they have derived their renown, and thusconvert the faults of their enemies to the glory of their own Army; an Armycompounded of many Nations so different, that as it is success alone whichholds them together, misfortunes and disasters will surely dissolve them.Unless you suppose that the Germans there, that the Gauls, and many of theBritons (whom with shame I mention) men who howeverhave been all much longer their enemies than theirslaves, are yet attached to them by any real fidelity and affection, whilstpresenting their blood to establish a domination altogether foreign andunnatural to them all. What restrains them is no more than awe and terror,frail bonds of endearment; and when these are removed, such who cease to fear,will immediately begin to manifest their hate. Amongst us is found whatever canstimulate men to victory. The Romans have no Wives to hearten and to urge them.They have here no Fathers and Mothers to upbraid them for flying. Many of themhave no country at all, or at least their country is elsewhere. But a few innumber they are, ignorant of the region and thence struck with dread, whilst totheir eyes, whatever they behold around them, is all wild and strange, even theair and sky, with the woods and the sea; so that the Gods have in some sortdelivered them enclosed and bound into our hands.

“ BE not dismayed with things of mere shew, and with aglare of gold and of silver: This is what can neither wound, nor save. In thevery host of the enemy we shall find bands of our own. The Britons will own andespouse their own genuine cause. The Gauls will recollect their former Liberty.What the Usipians have lately done, the other Germans will do, and abandon theRomans.Thereafter nothing remains to be feared. Their Fortsare ungarrisoned; their Colonies replenished with the aged and infirm; andbetween the people and their magistrates, whilst the former are averse toobedience, and the latter rule with injustice, the municipal Cities areweakened and full of dissentions. Here you see a General, here an Army: Thereyou may behold Tributes and the Mines, with all the other train of calamitiesand curses ever pursuing men enslaved. Whether all these are to be for everimposed, or whether we forthwith avenge ourselves for the attempt, this veryfield must determine. As therefore you advance to battle, look back upon yourancestors, look forward to your posterity.”

THEY received his speech joyfully, with chantings, andterrible dinn, and many dissonant shouts, after the manner of Barbarians.Already too their bands moved, and the glittering of their arms appeared, asall the most resolute were running to the front: Moreover, the Army was formingin battle array; when AGRICOLA, who indeed saw his soldiersfull of alacrity, and hardly to be restrained even by express cautions, yetchose to discourse to them in the following strain. “It is now the eighth year,my fellow-soldiers, since, through the virtue and auspicious fortune of theRoman Empire, and by your own services and fidelity, you have been pursuing theconquestof Britain. In so many expeditions that you haveundertaken, in so many battles as you have fought, you have still had constantoccasion either to be exerting your bravery against the foe, or your patienceand pains even against the obstacles of nature. Neither, during all thesestruggles, have we found any cause of mutual regret, I to have conducted suchsoldiers, or you to have followed such a Captain. We have both passed thelimits which we found, I those known to the ancient Governors, you those offormer Armies, and we possess the very extremity of Britain, not only in thebruitings of fame and vulgar rumor, but possess it with our camps and arms.Britain is entirely discovered, and intirely subdued. In truth, as the Army hasbeen marching, whilst, in passing morasses, and mountains, and rivers, you havebeen fatigued and distressed, I was wont to hear every man remarkably braveask, When shall we see the enemy, when be led to battle? Already they are come, roused from their fastnesses and lurking holes. Here yousee the end of all your wishes, here scope for all your valour, and all thingspromising and propitious, if you conquer; but all cross and disastrous, shouldyou be vanquished. For, as to have thus marched over a tract of country soimmense, to have passed through gloomy forests, to have crossed arms of theDeep, is matter of glory andapplause whilst we advance against the enemy; so ifwe fly before them, whatever is now most in our favour, will then prove most toour peril. We know not the situation of the country so well as they know it; wehave not provisions so abundant as they have; but we have limbs and arms, andin these all things. For myself; it is a rule long since settled by me, thatsafety there is none, either to the Army or to the General, in turning theirbacks upon the foe: Hence it is not only more eligible to lose life honourablythan to save it basely, but security and renown both arise from the samesource. Neither would it be a fate void of glory to fall in this the utmostverge of earth and of nature.

“ WERE the people now arrayed against you such as werenew to you, were you to engage with bands never before tried, I should animateyou by the examples of other Armies. At present, only recollect and enumerateyour own signal exploits, only ask and consult your own eyes. These are theywhom but the last year you utterly discomfited, only by the terror of yourshouting, when, trusting to the darkness of the night, they by stealth attackeda single Legion. These are they who of all the Britons are the most abandonedto fear and flight, and thence happen thus long to survive all the rest. It iswith us as with those who makeinroads into woods and forests: As beasts of thegreatest strength there, are driven thence by the superior force of such aspursue them, and as the timorous and spiritless fly even at the cry of thepursuers: In like manner, all the bravest Britons are long since fallen by thesword. They that remain are only a crowd, fearful and effeminate: Nor can youconsider them as men whom you have therefore reached, because they havepersisted to oppose you, but as such whom you have surprized as the last andforlorn of all, who struck with dread and bereft of spirit, stand benummed inyonder field, whence you may gain over them a glorious and memorable victory.Here compleat all your expeditions and efforts: Here close a struggle of fiftyyears with one great and important day, so that to the Army may not be imputedeither the procrastination of the War, or any cause for reviving it.”

APPARENT, even whilst AGRICOLA spoke, was the ardor of the soldiers, mighty their transport and applause atthe end of his speech, and instantly they flew to their arms. Thus inflamed andurging to engage, he formed them so that the strong band of auxiliary foot, whowere eight thousand men, composed the center. The wings were environed withthree thousand horse. The Legions without advancing stood embattled justwithout the entrenchments; for that mighty would be theglory of the victory, were it, by sparing them,gained without spilling any Roman blood; and they were still a sure stay andsuccour, should the rest be repulsed. The British Host was ranged upon therising grounds, at once for shew and terror, in such sort that the first bandstood upon the plain, and the rest rose successively upon the brows of thehills, one rank close above another, as if they had been linked together. Theircavalry and chariots of war filled the interjacent field with great tumult andboundings to and fro. AGRICOLA then, fearing, from thesurpassing multitude of the enemy, that he might be beset at once in the frontand on each flank, opened and extended his host. Yet, though thence his ranksmust prove more relaxed, and many advised him to bring on the Legions, he, whorather entertained a spirit of hope, and in all difficulties was ever firm,dismissed his horse, and advanced on foot before the Banners.

IN the beginning of the onset the conflict wasmaintained at a distance. The Britons, who were possessed at once of braveryand skill, armed with their huge swords and small bucklers, quite eluded ourmissive weapons, or beat them quite off, whilst of their own they poured atorrent upon us, till AGRICOLA encouraged three BatavianCohorts and two of the Tungrians, to close with the enemy, and bring them to anengagement hand to hand; as what was with those veteran soldiers a longpractice, and become familiar, but to the enemy veryuneasy and embarrassing, as they were armed with very little targets and withswords of enormous size. For, the swords of the Britons, which are blunt at theend, are unfit for grapling, and cannot support a close encounter. Hence theBatavians thickened their blows, wounded them with the iron bosses of theirbucklers, mangled their faces, and, bearing down all who withstood them uponthe plain, were already carrying the attack up to the hills: Insomuch that therest of the Cohorts, incited by emulation and sudden ardor, joined with those,and made havock of all whom they encountered. Nay, such was the impetuosity andhurry of the victory, that many were left behind but half dead, others not somuch as wounded. In the mean time their troops of cavalry took to flight: Thechariots of war mingled with the battalions of foot; and, though they had solately struck terror, were now themselves beset and entangled with our thickbands, as also with the unevenness and intricacy of the place. Of a combat ofcavalry this bore not the least appearance: Since here, standing obstinatelyfoot to foot, they pressed to overthrow each other by the weight and bodies oftheir horses. Moreover, the warchariots, now abandoned and straggling, as alsothe horses destitute of managers, and thence wild and affrighted, were runninghither and thither, just as the next fright drove them; insomuchthat all of their own side, who met them, or crossedtheir way, were beaten down by them.

NOW those of the Britons who were lodged upon the ridgesof the hills, and had hitherto no share in the encounter, like men yet pressedby no peril, looked with scorn upon our forces, as but few in number, and beganto descend softly and to surround them in the rear, whilst they were urgingtheir victory. But AGRICOLA, who had apprehended this verydesign, dispatched to engage them four squadrons of horse, such as he hadreserved near him for the sudden exigencies of the field; and, by thisforesight of his, the more furiously they had advanced, the more keenly werethey repulsed and utterly routed. Thus against the Britons themselves their owndevices were turned; and, by the order of the General, the squadrons of cavalrywhich charged in front, wheeled about and assailed the enemy behind. Then intruth, all over the open fields was to be seen a spectacle prodigious andtragical, incessant pursuits, wounds and captivity, and the present captivesalways slaughtered, as often as others occurred to be taken. Now the enemybehaved just as they happened to be prompted by their several humours.Sometimes they fled in large troops with all their arms, before a smallernumber that pursued them: Others, quite unarmed, rushed into peril, anddesperately presented themselves to instant death.On all sides lay scattered arms and carcasses, andmangled limbs, and the ground was dyed with blood. Nay, now and then, even bythe vanquished, was exerted notable wrath and bravery. When once they drew nearthe woods, they rejoined and rallied, and thus circumvented the foremostpursuers, such as, without knowing the country, had rashly ventured too far.Whence we must have suffered some notable disaster, from such confidence voidof caution, had not AGRICOLA, who was assiduously visitingevery quarter, ordered the stoutest Cohorts, lightly equipped, to rangethemselves in the form of a toil to invest them, also some of the cavalry todismount, and enter the strait passes, and the rest of the horse, at the sametime, to beat the more open and passable parts of the woods. Now, as soon asthey perceived our forces to continue the pursuit with ranks regular and close,they betook themselves to open flight, in no united bands as before, nor oneman regarding or awaiting another; but quite scattered, and each shunning anycompanion, they all made to places far remote and desart. What ended thepursuit was night, and a satiety of slaughter. Of the enemy were slain tenthousand. There fell of our men three hundred and forty, amongst these AULUS ATTICUS, Commander of a Cohort, one by his ownyouthful heat, as also by a fiery horse, hurried into the midst of theenemies.

IT was, indeed, a night of great joy to the conquerors,both from victory and spoil. The Britons, who wandered in despair, men andwomen uttering in concert their dismal wailings, dragged along their wounded,called to such as were unhurt, deserted their houses, nay, in a rage, even setthem on fire; made choice of lurking holes, then instantly forfook them; thenmet to consult, and from their counsels gathered some hope: Sometimes, uponbeholding their dearest pledges of nature, their spirits became utterly sunkand dejected; sometimes, by the same sight, they were roused into resolutionand fury. Nay, it is very certain, that some murdered their children and wives,as an act of compassion and tenderness. The next day produced a more ampledisplay of the victory; on all sides a profound silence, solitary hills, thicksmoak rising from the houses on fire, and not a living soul to be found by thescouts. When from these, who had been dispatched out every way, it was learnt,that whether the enemy had fled no certain traces could be discovered, and thatthey had no where rallied in bodies; when the summer was likewise passed, andthence an impossibility of extending the operations of war, he conducted hisArmy into the borders of the Horestians. After he had there received hostages,he ordered the Admiral of the Fleet to sail round Britain. For this expeditionhe was furnished with proper forces, and before him was alreadygone forth the terror of the Roman power: He himselfthe while led on his foot and horse with a slow pace, that thus the minds ofthese new Nations might be awed and dismayed even by prolonging his marchthrough them: He then lodged his Army in garrisons for the winter. The Fleettoo having found a favourable sea, entered, with great fame, into the Harbourof [*] Rhutupium: For, from thence it had sailed, and coasting along thenethermost shore of Britain, thither returned.

WITH this course and situation of things AGRICOLA by letters acquainted the Emperor; tidings which,however modestly recounted, without all ostentation, or any pomp of words, DOMITIAN received as with joy in his countenance, so withanguish in his soul: Such was his custom. His heart, indeed, smote him for hislate mock-triumph over the Germans, which he knew to be held in publicderision; as to adorn it he had purchased a number of slaves, who were sodecked in their habits and hair, as to resemble captives in war. But here avictory mighty and certain, gained by the slaughter of so many thousands of theenemy, was universally sounded by the voice of fame, and received with vastapplause. Terrible above all things it was to him, that the name of a privateman should be exalted above that of the Prince. In vain had he driven from thepublicTribunals all pursuits of popular eloquence and fame,in vain repressed the renown of every civil accomplishment, if any other thanhimself possessed the glory of excelling in war: Nay, however he mightdissemble every other distaste, yet to the person of the Emperor properlyappertained the virtue and praise of being a great General. Tortured with theseanxious thoughts, and indulging his humour of being shut up in secret, acertain indication that he was fostering some sanguinary purpose, he at lastjudged it the best course, upon this occasion, to hide and reserve his rancourtill the first flights of fame were passed, and the affection of the Armycooled. For, AGRICOLA held yet the Administration ofBritain.

TO him therefore he caused to be decreed in Senate thetriumphal Ornaments, a Statue crowned with Laurel, with whatever else isbestowed instead of a real Triumph, and heightened this his compliment withmany expressions full of esteem and honour. He directed, moreover, a generalexpectation to be raised, that to AGRICOLA was destined theProvince of Syria, a Government then vacant by the death of ATILIUS RUFUS, a man of Consular quality, since the same wasreserved only for men of illustrious rank. Many there were who believed, thatan Imperial Freedman, one much trusted with the secret designs of his Master,was by him dispatched to carry the instrument appointing AGRICOLA Governor of Syria, withorders to deliver it to him, were he still inBritain; that the Freedman met AGRICOLA crossing theChannel, and without once speaking to him, returned directly to DOMITIAN. It is uncertain whether this account be true, or onlya fiction framed in conformity to the character and genius of the Prince. Tohis Successor in the mean time AGRICOLA had surrendered theProvince, now settled in perfect peace and security. Moreover, to prevent allremarks upon the manner of his entry into Rome, from any popular distinctionpaid him, and any concourse of people to meet him, he utterly declined thisobservance of his friends, and came into the City by night, and by night, as hewas directed, went to the Palace. He was there received by the Emperor with ashort embrace, but without a word said, then passed, undistinguished, amongstthe crowd of servile Courtiers. Now, in order to soften with other anddifferent virtues the reputation of a military man, a name ever distasteful tothose who live themselves in idleness, he resigned himself intirely toindolence and repose. In his dress he was modest; in his conversation courteousand free, and never found accompanied with more than one or two of his friends.Insomuch that many, such especially as are wont to judge of great men by theirretinue and parade, all calculated to gain popular admiration, when they hadbeheld and observed AGRICOLA, sought to know whenceproceeded hismighty fame: There were indeed but few who couldaccount for the motives of his conduct.

FREQUENTLY, during the course of that time, was heaccused in his absence before DOMITIAN, and in his absencealso acquitted. What threatened his life was no crime of his, nor complaint ofany particular for injuries received, nor aught else save the gloriouscharacter of the man, and the spirit of the Emperor hating all excellence andevery virtue. With these causes there concurred the most mischievous sort ofall enemies, they who extolled him in order to destroy him. Moreover, in theCommonwealth there ensued such times as would not permit the name of AGRICOLA to remain unmentioned: So many were the Armieswhich we had lost in Mœsia, in Dacia, in Germany, in Pannonia, all by thewretched conduct of our Generals, either altogether impotent or fool-hardy: Somany withal were the brave officers, with so many bands of men, overthrown andtaken. Neither was the question and contest now about maintaining the limits ofthe Empire and guarding the rivers which served for its boundaries, but aboutdefending the standing encampments of the Legions and preserving our ownterritories. Thus, when public misfortunes were following one another in acontinual train, when every year was become signal for calamities andslaughters, AGRICOLA was by the commonvoice of the populace required for the command of ourArmies. For, all men were comparing his vigor, his firmness, and his mindtrained in war, with the sloth and timidity of the others. With discourses ofthis strain, it is certain that even the ears of DOMITIAN himself were teased; whilst all the best of his Freedmen advised and pressedhim to his choice, out of pure affection and duty, as did the worst out ofvirulence and envy; and to whatever appeared most malignant that Prince wasever prone. In this manner was AGRICOLA, as well throughhis own virtues, as through the base management of others, pushed upon aprecipice even of glory.

THE year was now arrived when to the lot of AGRICOLA was to fall the Proconsulship of Asia or ofAfrica: And, as CIVICA had been lately murdered, (evenwhilst Proconsul of the former province) AGRICOLA wasneither unprepared what course to pursue, nor DOMITIAN unfurnished with an example to follow. It happened too, that certain persons,apprized of the secret purposes of the Prince, made it their business to accost AGRICOLA, and ask him, whether he meant in earnest to takepossession of his Province. Nay, they began, at first, indeed, with somereserve, to extol a life of tranquillity and repose; anon they proffered theirgood offices to procure his dimission and excuse: At last, throwing off alldisguise, and proceeding at once to dissuade and to intimidatehim, they prevailed with him to be carried with thisas his suit to DOMITIAN. He, already prepared to dissemblehis sentiments, and assuming a mien of haughtiness, not only received thepetition of AGRICOLA to be excused, but when he had grantedit, suffered himself to be presented with formal thanks. Nor was he ashamed ofconferring a grace so unpopular and odious. To AGRICOLA, however, he gave not the salary which was wont to be paid to Proconsuls, andwhich he himself had continued to some. Whether he were affronted that it wasnot asked, or whether restrained by his own guilty mind, lest he might seem tohave purchased with money what he had hindered by his interposition and power.It is the nature of men, that whomsoever they injure they hate. Now DOMITIAN was in his temper apt to be suddenly transportedinto rage, and, in proportion as he smothered his vengeance, the moreirreconcileable he always certainly proved. Yet, by the prudence and moderationof AGRICOLA, he was softened. For, by no contumacy of his,nor by any vain ostentation of a spirit of Liberty ill-timed, did he court fameor urge his fate. Let such who are wont to admire things daring and forbidden,know, that even under evil Princes, great men may be produced, and that by themeans of modesty and observance, provided these be accompanied with applicationand vigour, they may rise to an equal measure of public estimationand praise with that of many, who, through a conductvery stubborn and precipitate, but of no advantage to the Commonweal, havedistinguished themselves by dying only to gain a great name.

AFFLICTING to us his family proved the end of his life,sorrowful to his friends; and even to foreigners and such as knew him not,matter of trouble and condolence. The commonalty likewise, and such people aswere void of employment [*] , were not only frequent in their visits to his house, but in all publicplaces, in all particular companies, made him the subject of theirconversation. Nor, when his death was divulged, was there a soul found whoeither rejoiced at it, or presently forgot it. What heightened the publiccommiseration and concern, was a prevailing rumor, that he was dispatched bypoison. That there was any proof of this, I dare not aver. Yet it is true that,during the whole course of his illness, DOMITIAN causedfrequent visits to be made him, indeed much more frequent than Princes are wontto make, both by his favourite Freedmen and most trusty Physicians; whetherthrough real concern for his health, or solicitude to learn the probability ofhis death. It is well known that, on the day in which he expired, continualaccounts were, by messengerspurposely placed, every instant transmitted to theEmperor, how fast his end was approaching; and no one believed, that he wouldthus quicken such tidings, had he been to feel any sorrow from hearing them. Inhis face, however, and even in his spirit, he affected to shew some guise ofgrief; for, he was now secure against the object of his hate, and could moreeasily dissemble his present joy, than lately his fear. It was abundantlynotorious how much it rejoiced him, upon reading the last Will of AGRICOLA, to find himself left joint heir with hisexcellent Wife and tender Daughter. This he took to have been done out ofjudgment and choice, and in pure honour to himself: So blind and corrupt washis mind rendered by continual flattery, as not to know, that to no Prince buta bad one will any good father bequeath his fortune.

AGRICOLA was born on the thirteenth of June, during thethird Consulship of the Emperor CALIGULA. He died on thetwenty-fourth of August, during the Consulship of COLLEGA and PRISCUS, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Ifposterity be desirous to know his make and stature; in his person he was rathergenteel and regular than tall. In his aspect there was nothing terrible. Hislooks were extremely gracious and pleasing. A good man you would have readilybelieved him, and been glad to have found that he was a great man. Nay, thoughhe was snatched awaywhilst his age was yet in full vigour, if, however,his life be measured by his glory, he attained to a mighty length of days: For,every true felicity and acquisition, namely, all such as arise from virtue, hehad already enjoyed to the full. As he had been likewise dignified with theConsular and Triumphal Honours, what more could fortune add to his lustre andrenown? After enormous wealth he sought not; an honourable share he possessed.As behind him he left surviving his Daughter and his Wife, he may be evenaccounted happy; since, by dying whilst his credit was no wise impaired, hisfame in its full splendor, his relations and friends yet in a state ofsecurity, he escaped the evils to come. For, as before us he was wont toexpress his wishes, that he might survive to see this truly blessed age, and TRAJAN swaying the Sovereignty, wishes which he utteredwith presages as of what would surely ensue; so it was a wondrous consolationattending the quickness of his death, that thence he evaded the misery of thelatter times, when DOMITIAN, who had ceased to exert hisTyranny by starts only and intermissions, was come now to rend the Commonwealthby cruelties without all respite, and to overthrow it, as it were, by one greatand deadly stroke.

FOR, AGRICOLA saw not the Court of the Senate besieged,nor the Senate enclosed by armed men, nor the butchery of so many men ofConsular dignity, nor the flight and exileof so many Ladies of the prime Nobility, all effectedin one continued havock. Till then CARUS METIUS, theaccuser, was only considerable for having been victorious in one bloodyprocess; till then the cruel motions of MESSALLINUS rangonly within the Palace at Alba; and in those days MASSABEBIUS (afterwards so exercised in arraigning the innocent) was himselfarraigned as a criminal. Presently after we, with our own hands, dragged HELVIDIUS to prison and execution: We beheld the melancholydoom of MAURICUS and RUSTICUS: We foundourselves besprinkled with the innocent blood of SENECIO. Even NERO withheld his eyes from scenes of cruelty; he,indeed, ordered murders to be perpetrated, but saw not the perpetration. Theprincipal part of our miseries under DOMITIAN, was to beobliged to see him and be seen by him, at a time when all our sighs and sorrowswere watched and marked down for condemnation; when that cruel countenance ofhis, always covered with a settled red, whence he hardened himself against allshame and blushing, served him to mark and recount all the pale horrors at oncepossessing so many men. Thou therefore, AGRICOLA, arthappy, not only as thy life was glorious, but as thy death was seasonable.According to the account of such who heard thy last words, thou didst acceptthy fate chearfully and with firmness, as if thou thus didst thy part to shewthe Emperor to beguiltless. But to myself and thy Daughter, besidesthe anguish of having our Father snatched from us, it proves a fresh accessionof sorrow, that we had not an opportunity to attend thee in thy sickness, tosolace thy sinking spirits, to please ourselves with seeing thee, pleaseourselves with embracing thee. Doubtless, we should have greedily received thyinstructions and sayings, and engraved them for ever upon our hearts. This isour woe, this a wound to our spirit, that by the lot of long absence from thee,thou wast already lost to us for four years before thy death. There is noquestion, excellent Father, but that with whatever thy condition required thouwast honourably supplied, as thou wast attended by thy Wife, one so full oftenderness for her Husband: Yet fewer tears accompanied thy coarse, and duringthy last moments somewhat was wanting to satisfy thine eyes.

IF for the manes of the just any place be found; if, asPhilosophers hold, great spirits perish not with the body, pleasing by thyrepose. Moreover, recall us thy family from this our weakness in regrettingthee, and from these our effeminate wailings, to the contemplation of thyvirtues, for which it were unjust to lament or to mourn. Let us rather adornthy memory with deathless praises, and (as far as our infirmities will allow)by pursuing and adopting thy excellencies. This is true honour, this thenatural duty incumbent uponevery near relation. This is also what I wouldrecommend to thy Daughter and thy Wife, so to reverence the memory of a Father,and a Husband, as to be ever ruminating upon all his doings, upon all hissayings, and rather to adore his immortal name, rather the image of his mind,than that of his person. Not that I mean to condemn the use of Statues, such asare framed of marble or brass. But as the persons of men are frail andperishing, so are likewise the portraitures of men. The form of the soul iseternal, such as you cannot represent and preserve by the craft of hands, or bymaterials foreign to its nature, nor otherwise than by a similitude andconformity of manners. Whatever we loved in AGRICOLA, whatever we admired, remains, and will for ever remain implanted in the heartsof men, through an eternity of ages, and conveyed down in the voice of Fame,and in the Record of things. For, many of the great Ancients, by being buriedin oblivion, have thence reaped the fate of men altogether mean and inglorious:But AGRICOLA shall ever survive in his History herecomposed and transmitted to posterity.

( a )

The City of Mentz.

*

Supposed to be Sandwich Haven.

*

Or it may be thus translated: “the body of the people, though chiefly intentupon such affairs as concerned not the State.

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THE HISTORY OF TACITUS.

BOOK III.

The SUMMARY.

BOOK IV.

The SUMMARY.

BOOK V.

The SUMMARY.

A TREATISE OF THE SITUATION, CUSTOMS, AND PEOPLE OF GERMANY.

TO THE Right Honourable JOHN Lord CARTERET.

A TREATISE OF THE Situation, Customs, and People OF GERMANY.

THE LIFE OF AGRICOLA. With an Account of the Situation, Climate, and People OF BRITAIN.

To His GRACE JOHN Duke of Argyll and Greenwich.

THE LIFE OF AGRICOLA.