The Works of Tacitus
tr. by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb
[1864-1877]
Tacitus: History Book 5 [20]
20. The war was so far from being at an end, that Civilis in one day attacked
on four points the positions of the auxiliary infantry and cavalry and of the
legions, assailing the tenth legion at Arenacum, the second at Batavodurum,
and the camp of the auxiliary infantry and cavalry at Grinnes and Vada, and
so dividing his forces, that he himself, his sister’s son Verax, Classicus,
and Tutor, led each his own division. They were not confident of accomplishing
all these objects, but they hoped that, if they made many ventures, fortune
would favour them on some one point. Besides, Cerialis was not cautious, and
might easily be intercepted, as the multiplicity of tidings hurried him from
place to place. The force, which had to attack the tenth legion, thinking it
a hard matter to storm a legionary encampment, surprised some troops, who had
gone out, and were busy felling timber, killed the prefect of the camp, five
centurions of the first rank, and a few soldiers; the rest found shelter behind
the fortifications. At Batavodurum the German troops tried to break down the
bridge partly built. Night terminated an indecisive conflict.
21. There was greater danger at Grinnes and Vada. Civilis attacked Vada,
Classicus Grinnes, and they could not be checked, for our bravest men had fallen,
among them Briganticus, who commanded a squadron of cavalry, and of whose loyalty
to the Roman cause and enmity to his uncle Civilis I have already spoken. But
when Cerialis came up with a picked body of cavalry, the fortune of the day
changed, and the Germans were driven headlong into the river. Civilis, who was
recognised while seeking to stop his flying troops, became the mark of many
missiles, left his horse, and swam across the river. Verax escaped in the same
way. Some light vessels were brought up, and carried off Tutor and Classicus.
Even on this occasion the Roman fleet was not present at the engagement, though
orders had been given to that effect. Fear kept them away, and their crews were
dispersed about other military duties. Cerialis in fact allowed too little time
for executing his commands; he was hasty in his plans, though eminently successful
in their results. Fortune helped him even where skill had failed, and so both
the general and his army became less careful about discipline. A few days after
this he escaped the peril of actual capture, but not without great disgrace.
22. He had gone to Novesium and Bonna, to inspect the camps which were then
in course of erection for the winter abode of the legions, and was making his
way back with the fleet, his escort being in disorder, and his sentries negligent.
This was observed by the Germans, and they planned a surprise. They chose a
dark and cloudy night, and moving rapidly down the stream, entered the entrenchments
without opposition. The carnage was at first helped on by a cunning device.
They cut the ropes of the tents, and slaughtered the soldiers as they lay buried
beneath their own dwellings. Another force put the fleet into confusion, threw
their grapling irons on the vessels, and dragged them away by the sterns. They
sought at first to elude notice by silence, but when the slaughter was begun,
by way of increasing the panic they raised on all sides a deafening shout. The
Romans, awakened by sounds, looked for their arms and rushed through the passages
of the camp, some few with their proper accoutrements, but most with their garments
wrapped round their shoulders, and with drawn swords in their hands. The general,
who was half asleep, and all but naked, was saved by the enemy’s mistake. They
carried off the praetorian vessel, which was distinguished by a flag, believing
that the general was on board. Cerialis indeed had passed the night elsewhere,
in the company, as many believed, of an Ubian woman, Claudia Sacrata. The sentinels
sought to excuse their own scandalous neglect by the disgraceful conduct of
the general, alleging that they had been ordered to be silent, that they might
not disturb his rest, and that, from omitting the watchwords and the usual challenges,
they had themselves fallen asleep. The enemy rowed back in broad daylight with
the captured vessels. The praetorian trireme they towed up the river Lupia as
a present to Veleda.
23. Civilis was seized by a desire to make a naval demonstration. He manned
all the triremes that he had, and such vessels as were propelled by a single
bank of oars. To these he added a vast number of boats. He put in each three
or four hundred men, the usual complement of a Liburnian galley. With these
were the captured vessels, in which, picturesquely enough, plaids of various
colours were used for sails. The place selected was an expanse of water, not
unlike the sea, where the mouth of the Mosa serves to discharge the Rhine into
the ocean. The motive for equipping this fleet was, to say nothing of the natural
vanity of this people, a desire to intercept, by this alarming demonstration,
the supplies that were approaching from Gaul. Cerialis, more in astonishment
than alarm, drew up his fleet in line, and, though inferior in numbers, it had
the advantage in the experience of the crews, the skill of the pilots, and the
size of the vessels. The Romans had the stream with them, the enemy’s vessels
were propelled by the wind. Thus passing each other, they separated after a
brief discharge of light missiles. Civilis attempted nothing more, and retired
to the other side of the Rhine. Cerialis mercilessly ravaged the Island of the
Batavi, but, with a policy familiar to commanders, left untouched the estates
and houses of Civilis. Meanwhile, however, the autumn was far advanced, and
the river, swollen by the continual rains of the season, overflowed the island,
marshy and low-lying as it is, till it resembled a lake. There were no ships,
no provisions at hand, and the camp, which was situated on low ground, was in
process of being carried away by the force of the stream.
24. That the legions might then have been crushed, and that the Germans wished
to crush them, but were turned from their purpose by his own craft, was claimed
as a merit by Civilis; nor is it unlike the truth, since a capitulation followed
in a few days. Cerialis, sending secret emissaries, had held out the prospect
of peace to the Batavi, and of pardon to Civilis, while he advised Veleda and
her relatives to change by a well-timed service to the Roman people the fortune
of war, which so many disasters had shewn to be adverse. He reminded them that
the Treveri had been beaten, that the Ubii had submitted, that the Batavi had
had their country taken from them, and that from the friendship of Civilis nothing
else had been gained but wounds, defeat, and mourning; an exile and a fugitive
he could only be a burden to those who entertained him, and they had already
trespassed enough in crossing the Rhine so often. If they attempted anything
more, on their side would be the wrong and the guilt, with the Romans the vengeance
of heaven.
25. Thus promises were mingled with threats. When the fidelity of the Transrhenane
tribes had been thus shaken, among the Batavi also there arose debates. “We
can no longer,” they said, “postpone our ruin. The servitude of the whole world
cannot be averted by a single nation. What has been accomplished by destroying
legions with fire and sword, but that more legions and stronger have been brought
up? If it was for Vespasian that we fought this war, then Vespasian rules the
world; if we meant to challenge to battle the Roman people, then what a mere
fraction of the human race are the Batavi! Look at the Rhaetians and Noricans,
at the burdens borne by the other allies. No tribute, but valour and manhood
are demanded of us. This is the next thing to liberty, and if we must choose
between masters, then we may more honourably bear with the Emperors of Rome,
than with the women of the Germans.” Such were the murmurs of the lower class;
the nobles spoke in fiercer language. “We have been driven into war,” they said,
“by the fury of Civilis. He sought to counterbalance his private wrongs by the
destruction of his nation. Then were the Gods angry with the Batavi when the
legions were besieged, when the legates were slain, when the war, so necessary
to that one man, so fatal to us, was begun. We are at the last extremity, unless
we think of repenting, and avow our repentance by punishing the guilty.”
26. These dispositions did not escape the notice of Civilis. He determined
to anticipate them, moved not only by weariness of his sufferings, but also
by that clinging to life which often breaks the noblest spirits. He asked for
a conference. The bridge over the river Nabalia was cut down, and the two generals
advanced to the broken extremities. Civilis thus opened the conference:- “If
it were before a legate of Vitellius that I were defending myself, my acts would
deserve no pardon, my words no credit. All the relations between us were those
of hatred and hostility, first made so by him, and afterwards embittered by
me. My respect for Vespasian is of long standing. While he was still a subject,
we were called friends. This was known to Primus Antonius, whose letters urged
me to take up arms, for he feared lest the legions of Germany and the youth
of Gaul should cross the Alps. What Antonius advised by his letters, Hordeonius
suggested by word of mouth. I fought the same battle in Germany, as did Mucianus
in Syria, Aponius in Moesia, Flavianus in Pannonia.”
(At this point the Histories break off. We do not know what happened to
Civilis. The Batavians seem to have received favorable treatment.)
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