The Works of Tacitus
tr. by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb
[1864-1877]
Tacitus: History Book 3 [60]
60. The Flavianist generals on their arrival at Carsulae took a few days for
repose, while the eagles and standards of the legions were coming up. Carsulae
appeared a good position for an encampment, for it commanded an extensive prospect,
provisions could be safely brought up, and there were in its rear several very
wealthy towns. They also calculated on interviews with the Vitellianists, who
were only ten miles distant, and on the chances of defection. The soldiers were
dissatisfied with this prospect, and wished for victory rather than for peace.
They would not even await the arrival of their own legions, whom they looked
upon as sharers in the spoil rather than in the dangers of the campaign. Antonius
summoned them to an assembly, and explained to them that Vitellius had still
forces, which would waver in their loyalty if they had time to reflect, but
would be fierce foes if driven to despair. “The opening of a civil war must,”
he said, “be left to chance; the final triumph is perfected by wise counsels
and skill. The fleet of Misenum and the fairest portion of Campania have already
revolted, and out of the whole world Vitellius has nothing left but the country
between Tarracina and Narnia. From our victory at Cremona sufficient glory has
accrued to us, and from the destruction of that city only too much disgrace.
Let us not be eager to capture rather than to preserve the capital. Greater
will be our reward, far higher our reputation, if we secure without bloodshed
the safety of the Senate and of the people of Rome.” By this and similar language
their impatience was allayed.
61. Soon after, the legions arrived. Alarmed by the report of this increase
to the army, the Vitellianist cohorts began to waver; no one urged them to fight,
many urged them to change sides, each more eager than the other to hand over
his company or troop, a present to the conqueror, and a source of future advantage
to himself. From these men it was ascertained that Interamna, situated in the
adjoining plain, was occupied by a garrison of 400 cavalry. Varus was at once
dispatched with a lightly equipped force, and cut to pieces a few who attempted
to resist; the greater number threw down their arms, and begged for quarter.
Some fled back into the camp, and spread panic everywhere by exaggerated reports
of the courage and strength of the enemy, seeking thus to mitigate the disgrace
of having lost the position. Among the Vitellianists treason went unpunished;
all loyalty was subverted by the rewards of desertion, and nothing was left
but emulation in perfidy. There were numerous desertions among the tribunes
and centurions; the common soldiers remained obstinately faithful to Vitellius,
till Priscus and Alfenius, deserting the camp and returning to Vitellius, relieved
all from any shame they might feel at being traitors.
62. About the same time Fabius Valens was put to death while in confinement
at Urbinum. His head was displayed to the Vitellianist cohort, that they might
not cherish any further hope, for they generally believed that Valens had made
his way into Germany, and was there bringing into the field veteran as well
as newly levied armies. The bloody spectacle reduced them to despair, and it
was amazing how the army of Vespasian welcomed in their hearts the destruction
of Valens as the termination of the war. Valens was a native of Anagnia, and
belonged to an Equestrian family; he was a man of loose character, but of no
small ability, who sought to gain by profligacy a reputation for elegance. In
the theatricals performed by young men during the reign of Nero, at first apparently
from compulsion, afterwards of his own free choice, he repeatedly acted in the
farces, with more cleverness than propriety. While legate of a legion, he first
supported, then slandered, Verginius. Fonteius Capito he murdered, either after
he had corrupted him, or because he had failed to do so. Though a traitor to
Galba he was loyal to Vitellius, and gained a lustre from the perfidy of others.
63. Finding all their hopes cut off, the troops of Vitellius, intending to
pass over to the side of the conqueror, but to do so with honour, marched down
with their standards and colours into the plains beneath Narnia. The army of
Vespasian, prepared and equipped as if for action, was drawn up in dense array
on both sides of the road. The Vitellianists were received between the two columns;
when they were thus surrounded, Antonius addressed them kindly. One division
was ordered to remain at Narnia, another at Interamna; with them were left some
of the victorious legions, which would not be formidable to them if they remained
quiet, but were strong enough to crush all turbulence. At the same time Primus
and Varus did not neglect to forward continual messages to Vitellius, offering
him personal safety, the enjoyment of wealth, and a quiet retreat in Campania,
provided he would lay down his arms and surrender himself and his children to
Vespasian. Mucianus also wrote to him to the same effect, and Vitellius was
often disposed to trust these overtures, and even discussed the number of his
household and the choice of a residence on the coast. Such a lethargy had come
over his spirit, that, had not others remembered he had been an Emperor, he
would have himself forgotten it.
64. The leading men in the State had secret conferences with Flavius Sabinus,
prefect of the city, urging him to secure a share in the credit of the victory.
“You have,” they said, “a force of your own in the city cohorts; the cohorts
of the watch will not fail you, and there are also our own slaves, there is
the prestige of the party, there is the fact that to the victorious everything
is easy. You should not yield the glory of the war to Antonius and Varus. Vitellius
has but a few cohorts, and they are alarmed by gloomy tidings from every quarter.
The feelings of the people are easily swayed, and, if you put yourself at their
head, there will soon be the same flatteries ready for Vespasian. Vitellius
even in prosperity was unequal to his position, and he is proportionately unnerved
by disaster. The merit of having finished the war will belong to him who may
have possessed himself of the capital. It would well become Sabinus to keep
the Empire for his brother, and Vespasian equally well, to count his other adherents
inferior to Sabinus.”
65. Old and infirm as he was, it was with anything but eagerness that he
listened to these suggestions. Some indeed assailed him with dark insinuations,
implying that from motives of envy and rivalry he was seeking to retard the
elevation of his brother. It was true, that while both were in a private station,
Flavius Sabinus, who was the elder, was the superior of Vespasian in influence
and in wealth. He was believed indeed to have sustained the failing credit of
his brother, while taking a mortgage of his house and lands; and hence, though
the outward appearance of harmony was preserved, some secret grudge was feared.
It is more charitable to suppose that the mild temper of the man shrank from
bloodshed and slaughter, and that for this reason he had held frequent conferences
with Vitellius to discuss the question of peace and the cessation of hostilities
upon certain conditions. After many private interviews, they finally, so report
said, ratified an agreement in the temple of Apollo. The words of their conversation
had two witnesses in Cluvius Rufus and Silius Italicus. Their looks were noted
by the more distant spectators; the expression of Vitellius was abject and mean,
that of Sabinus not triumphant, but rather akin to pity.
66. Could Vitellius have swayed the feelings of his partisans as easily as
he had himself yielded, the army of Vespasian might have entered the capital
without bloodshed. But the more loyal his adherents, the more did they protest
against peace and negotiation. They pointed out the danger and disgrace of a
submission in which the caprice of the conqueror would be their sole guarantee.
“And Vespasian,” they said, “is not so arrogant as to tolerate such a subject
as Vitellius. Even the vanquished would not endure it. Their pity would be dangerous
to him. You certainly are an old man, and have had enough both of prosperity
and of adversity, but think what a name, what a position, you will leave to
your son Germanicus. Now indeed they promise you wealth, and a large establishment,
and a luxurious retreat in Campania; but when Vespasian has once seized the
throne, neither he, nor his friends, nor even his armies, will feel themselves
secure till all rivalry has been extinguished. Fabius Valens, captive as he
was, and reserved against the chance of disaster, was yet too formidable to
them; and certainly Primus, Fuscus, and Mucianus, who exhibits the temper of
his party, will not be allowed power over Vitellius except to put him to death.
Caesar did not leave Pompey, Augustus did not leave Antony in safety, though,
perhaps, Vespasian may show a more lofty spirit, Vespasian, who was a dependant
of Vitellius, when Vitellius was the colleague of Claudius. If you would act
as becomes the censorship, the thrice-repeated consulate of your father, and
all the honours of your illustrious house, let despair at any rate arm you to
courageous action. The troops are still firm, and among the people there is
abundant zeal. Lastly, nothing can happen to us more terrible than that upon
which we are voluntarily rushing. If we are conquered, we must die; we must
die, if we capitulate. All that concerns us is this; shall we draw our last
breath amidst scorn and insult, or in a valiant struggle?”
67. The ears of Vitellius were deaf to manly counsels. His whole soul was
overwhelmed by a tender anxiety, lest by an obstinate resistance he might leave
the conqueror less mercifully disposed to his wife and children. He had also
a mother old and feeble, but she, expiring a few days before, escaped by her
opportune death the ruin of her house, having gained from the Imperial dignity
of her son nothing but sorrow and a good name. On the 18th of December, after
hearing of the defection of the legion and the auxiliary infantry which had
surrendered at Narnia, he left the palace, clad in mourning robes, and surrounded
by his weeping household. With him went his little son, carried in a litter,
as though in a funeral procession. The greetings of the people were flattering,
but ill-suited to the time; the soldiers preserved an ominous silence.
68. There could hardly be a man so careless of human interests as not to
be affected by this spectacle. There was the Roman Emperor, lord but a few days
before of the whole human race, leaving the seat of his power, and passing through
the midst of his people and his capital, to abdicate his throne. Men had never
before seen or heard of such an event. Caesar, the Dictator, had fallen by sudden
violence, Caligula by secret treason. The shades of night and the obscurity
of a rural hiding-place had veiled the flight of Nero. Piso and Galba had, it
might be said, fallen in battle. In an assembly of his own people, and in the
midst of his own soldiers, with the very women of his family looking on, Vitellius
stood and spoke a few words suitable to the sad conjuncture. “He gave way,”
he said, “for the sake of peace, for the sake of his country; let them only
remember him, and think with compassion of his brother, of his wife, of his
young and innocent children.” At the same time he held out his son, commending
him first to individual bystanders, then to the whole assembly. At last, unable
to speak for weeping, he unfastened the dagger from his side, and offered it
to the Consul, Caecilius Simplex, who was standing by him, as if to indicate
that he surrendered the power of life and death over the citizens. The Consul
rejecting it, and those who were standing by in the assembly shouting remontrance,
he departed, as if with the intention of laying aside the emblems of Imperial
power in the Temple of Concord, and of betaking himself to his brother’s house.
Louder shouts here met him from the crowd, which hindered him from entering
a private house, and invited him to return to the palace. Every other route
was closed, and the only one open was one which led into the Via Sacra. Then
in utter perplexity he returned to the palace. The rumour that he had renounced
the Imperial dignity had preceded him thither, and Flavius Sabinus had sent
written orders to the tribunes of the cohorts to keep their soldiers under restraint.
69. Then, as if the whole State had passed into the hands of Vespasian, the
leading men of the Senate, many of the Equestrian order, with all the city soldiery
and the watch, thronged the dwelling of Sabinus. Intelligence was there brought
to him of the enthusiasm of the populace and of the threatening attitude of
the German cohorts. He had now gone too far to be able to retreat, and every
one, fearing for himself, should the Vitellianists come upon them while they
were scattered and comparatively weak, urged him, in spite of his reluctance,
to hostilities. As usually happens, however, in such cases, all gave the advice,
but few shared the risk. The armed retinue which was escorting Sabinus was met,
as it was coming down by the Lake Fundanus, by some of the most determined of
the Vitellianists. From this unforeseen collision resulted an encounter slight
indeed, but terminating favourably for the Vitellianists. In the hurry of the
moment Sabinus adopted the safest course open to him, and occupied the Capitol
with a miscellaneous body of soldiery, and some Senators and Knights. It is
not easy to give the names of these persons, since after the triumph of Vespasian
many pretended to have rendered this service to his party. There were even women
who braved the dangers of the siege; the most conspicuous among them being Verulana
Gratilla, who was taken thither, not by the love of children or kindred, but
by the fascination of war. The Vitellianists kept but a careless watch over
the besieged, and thus at the dead of night Sabinus was able to bring into the
Capitol his own children and Domitian his brother’s son, and to send by an unguarded
route a messenger to the generals of the Flavianist party, with information
that they were besieged, and that, unless succour arrived, they must be reduced
to distress. The night passed so quietly that he might have quitted the place
without loss; for, brave as were the soldiers of Vitellius in encountering danger,
they were far from attentive to the laborious duties of watching. Besides this,
the sudden fall of a winter storm baffled both sight and hearing.
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