XXXI.
Isdem ferme diebus isdem causis Germanicae legiones turbatae, quanto plures tanto violentius, et magna spe fore ut Germanicus Caesar imperium alterius pati nequiret daretque se legionibus vi sua cuncta tracturis. duo apud ripam Rheni exercitus erant: cui nomen superiori sub C. Silio legato, inferiorem A. Caecina curabat. regimen summae rei penes Germanicum agendo Galliarum censui tum intentum. sed quibus Silius moderabatur, mente ambigua fortunam seditionis alienae speculabantur: inferioris exercitus miles in rabiem prolapsus est, orto ab unetvicesimanis quintanisque initio, et tractis prima quoque ac vicesima legionibus: nam isdem aestivis in finibus Vbiorum habebantur per otium aut levia munia. igitur audito fine Augusti vernacula multitudo, nuper acto in urbe dilectu, lasciviae sueta, laborum intolerans, implere ceterorum rudes animos: venisse tempus quo veterani maturam missionem, iuvenes largiora stipendia, cuncti modum miseriarum exposcerent saevitiamque centurionum ulciscerentur. non unus haec, ut Pannonicas inter legiones Percennius, nec apud trepidas militum auris, alios validiores exercitus respicientium, sed multa seditionis ora vocesque: sua in manu sitam rem Romanam, suis victoriis augeri rem publicam, in suum cognomentum adscisci imperatores.
31.
At about the same time and for identical reasons, a revolt broke out among the German legions. the seditious movement was all the more violent given the larger size of the army, and also because of the deep-seated expectation that Germanicus would not tolerate the supremacy of another and would place himself in the hands of his legions, which with their strength were ready to sweep away for him all hurdles on the path to supreme power. Two armies were stationed along the [west] bank of the Rhine, one called superior under the legate Gaius Silius, the other called inferior was commanded by Aulus Caecina. Overall supervision was in the hands of Germanicus, then intent on a tributary census of the Gallic provinces. The forces under Silius were at the time watching in suspense the course of the mutiny elsewhere, since it was the men of the inferior army who went on a mad rampage, starting with the Twenty-first and the Fifth legions, the First and the Twentieth being also drawn in, which were sharing the same summer camp in the territory of the Ubii and were engaged in light work or in no work at all. Thus, when news of Augustus’ death arrived, the crude minds of the majority of the soldiers were perverted by the mass of city plebs recruited not long before in the capital, accustomed to an intemperate life and hostile to labor. The soldiers were told that time had come for veterans to demand their long overdue discharge, for the younger men to claim higher pay, for all to have a limit set to their misery and to exact revenge for the centurions’ cruelty. The voice was not that of one man, like that of Perennius among the Pannonian legions, neither were the ears those of fearful soldiers, modeling their behavior on that of more powerful armies, but many were the faces and the voices of the mutiny. It was they, they said, who had in their hands the destinies of Rome: by their victories did the state expand, from them did the generals acquire their fancy names.
XXXII.
Nec legatus obviam ibat: quippe plurium vaecordia constantiam exemerat. repente lymphati destrictis gladiis in centuriones invadunt: ea vetustissima militaribus odiis materies et saeviendi principium. prostratos verberibus mulcant, sexageni singulos, ut numerum centurionum adaequarent: tum convulsos laniatosque et partim exanimos ante vallum aut in amnem Rhenum proiciunt. Septimius cum perfugisset ad tribunal pedibusque Caecinae advolveretur, eo usque flagitatus est donec ad exitium dederetur. Cassius Chaerea, mox caede Gai Caesaris memoriam apud posteros adeptus, tum adulescens et animi ferox, inter obstantis et armatos ferro viam patefecit. non tribunus ultra, non castrorum praefectus ius obtinuit: vigilias, stationes, et si qua alia praesens usus indixerat, ipsi partiebantur. id militaris animos altius coniectantibus praecipuum indicium magni atque inplacabilis motus, quod neque disiecti nec paucorum instinctu, set pariter ardescerent, pariter silerent, tanta aequalitate et constantia ut regi crederes.
32.
Caecina, the legate, did not confront them: the general madness had deprived him of all firmness. Suddenly, losing all restraint, they threw themselves, sword in hand, on the centurions, the habitual object of the soldiers’ hatred and first target of their ferocity. They forced them to the ground and belabored them with sticks, sixty men against one, to equal the number of centurions in a legion. Battered and torn and in some cases senseless, they were pitched outside the rampart or into the Rhine. One of them, Septimius, who had taken shelter near the tribunal and clung to the legs of Caecina, was doggedly clamored for until he was led away for execution. Cassius Chaerea, then a fearless youth, later famous for killing Caligula, opened up a path for himself with his sword among the throng of armed men facing him. From there on, no tribune, no prefect of the camp had any shred of authority left. Posting of sentinels, guard stations, and other tasks required at any moment by military routine were divided by the soldiers among themselves without being told. To those able to penetrate deeply the state of mind of the soldiers, the most alarming aspect of this gigantic and intractable mutiny was the fact that not in isolation nor at the instigation of a few, but all equally gave vent to their furor, all equally fell silent in an accord so well regulated that one would think they had a leader.
XXXIII.
Interea Germanico per Gallias, ut diximus, census accipienti excessisse Augustum adfertur. neptem eius Agrippinam in matrimonio pluresque ex ea liberos habebat, ipse Druso fratre Tiberii genitus, Augustae nepos, set anxius occultis in se patrui aviaeque odiis quorum causae acriores quia iniquae. quippe Drusi magna apud populum Romanum memoria, credebaturque, si rerum potitus foret, libertatem redditurus; unde in Germanicum favor et spes eadem. nam iuveni civile ingenium, mira comitas et diversa ab Tiberii sermone vultu, adrogantibus et obscuris. accedebant muliebres offensiones novercalibus Liviae in Agrippinam stimulis, atque ipsa Agrippina paulo commotior, nisi quod castitate et mariti amore quamvis indomitum animum in bonum vertebat.
33.
At this time news of Augustus’ death were brought to Germanicus, who, as mentioned earlier, was occupied with the tributary census in the Gallic provinces. He had married Augustus’ niece Agrippina and was having several children by her. Himself, the son of Tiberius’ brother Drusus and grandson of Livia Augusta, lived in constant fear of his uncle’s and of his grandmother’s hidden hate against his person, all the harder to bear the more its causes were unfair. The fact was that the remembrance of Drusus was grateful to the Roman people, as it was thought that he would have brought back the republic had he risen to power. From that came also Germanicus’ popularity and the same hope of liberty. The young man was indeed considerate with people and exceptionally cordial, in stark contrast with the arrogant and impenetrable looks and speech of Tiberius. Added to that were the squabbles of the women, fanned by Livia’s acerbity, innate to stepmothers, towards Agrippina and the tendency of the latter to answer in kind, only that in her case she would turn to good purposes her fiery intemperance, thanks to her feminine honesty and her love for her husband.
XXXIV.
Sed Germanicus quanto summae spei propior, tanto impensius pro Tiberio niti. Seque et proximos et Belgarum civitates in verba eius adigit. dehinc audito legionum tumultu raptim profectus obvias extra castra habuit, deiectis in terram oculis velut paenitentia. postquam vallum iniit dissoni questus audiri coepere. et quidam prensa manu eius per speciem exosculandi inseruerunt digitos ut vacua dentibus ora contingeret; alii curvata senio membra ostendebant. adsistentem contionem, quia permixta videbatur, discedere in manipulos iubet: sic melius audituros responsum; vexilla praeferri ut id saltem discerneret cohortis: tarde obtemperavere. tunc a veneratione Augusti orsus flexit ad victorias triumphosque Tiberii, praecipuis laudibus celebrans quae apud Germanias illis cum legionibus pulcherrima fecisset. Italiae inde consensum, Galliarum fidem extollit; nil usquam turbidum aut discors. silentio haec vel murmure modico audita sunt.
34.
Germanicus, however, the closer he was to the summit of power the more selflessly he acted in favor of Tiberius. He swore loyalty to him and had his following, as well as the communities of the Belgae, do the same. He then left in a great hurry as soon as he heard of the upheaval among the legions and met the troops outside the camp, their eyes cast down as if in an attitude of repentance. When he passed beyond the rampart, confused outcry reached his ears: some of the soldiers after grasping his hand as if to kiss it, would insert the fingers into their mouths to have him feel the toothless gums; others showed their bodies bent by old age. To the multitude of soldiers, which seemed to stand around in disorderly fashion, he commanded to form into maniples, but the response was that they would hear him better as they were. He then directed that the standards be brought forward, so at least to enable him to distinguish the cohorts. They reluctantly complied. He began with a devout homage to Augustus, then turned to speak of the victories and triumphs of Tiberius, praising in particular his splendid accomplishments in the German provinces at the head of the very legions he was now addressing. Next, he exalted the unanimous accord in Italy, the fidelity of the Gallic provinces, and the total absence everywhere of turmoil or discord. His words were listened to in silence or with light murmurs.
XXXV.
Vt seditionem attigit, ubi modestia militaris, ubi veteris disciplinae decus, quonam tribunos, quo centuriones exegissent, rogitans, nudant universi corpora, cicatrices ex vulneribus, verberum notas exprobrant; mox indiscretis vocibus pretia vacationum, angustias stipendii, duritiam operum ac propriis nominibus incusant vallum, fossas, pabuli materiae lignorum adgestus, et si qua alia ex necessitate aut adversus otium castrorum quaeruntur. atrocissimus veteranorum clamor oriebatur, qui tricena aut supra stipendia numerantes, mederetur fessis, neu mortem in isdem laboribus, sed finem tam exercitae militiae neque inopem requiem orabant. fuere etiam qui legatam a divo Augusto pecuniam reposcerent, faustis in Germanicum ominibus; et si vellet imperium promptos ostentavere. tum vero, quasi scelere contaminaretur, praeceps tribunali desiluit. opposuerunt abeunti arma, minitantes, ni regrederetur; at ille moriturum potius quam fidem exueret clamitans, ferrum a latere diripuit elatumque deferebat in pectus, ni proximi prensam dextram vi attinuissent. extrema et conglobata inter se pars contionis ac, vix credibile dictu, quidam singuli propius incedentes feriret hortabantur; et miles nomine Calusidius strictum obtulit gladium, addito acutiorem esse. saevum id malique moris etiam furentibus visum, ac spatium fuit quo Caesar ab amicis in tabernaculum raperetur.
35.
When he touched on the rebellion and asked where their soldierly behavior and their pride of discipline had gone, what they had done with their tribunes and centurions, all bared their bodies and flaunted their scars left by wounds and the marks of the beatings. Soon a confusion of voices denounced the cost of exemptions from duty, the niggardly pay, the back-breaking nature of the camp work, which they specified by name: raising the rampart, digging the ditches, gathering forage, collecting construction materials, bringing in firewood and any other stint of work that had to be done or was devised to keep them busy. Most violent of all was the clamor raised by the veteran soldiers, who, counting their thirty years or more of service, begged that respite be granted to the weary, not death in more of the same labors, but an end to such debilitating toil, without the prospect of going hungry in their retirement. There were even those who claimed payment of the money left to them by the divine Augustus and wished Germanicus the best of futures for obliging. They went so far as saying they were ready in case he wanted the empire. At that it was indeed as if he were being besmirched with their crime: at once he slid down from the tribune and was going to leave, but was confronted by the armed crowd, voicing threats if he did not return. Germanicus, while loudly protesting he would rather die than break his oath of loyalty, pulled out the sword from his side, raised it, and was going to plunge it in his chest had not those next to him stayed his hand by force. The troops farther away, massed together in a dense body, and, incredibly, even some advancing closer towards him, were loudly daring him to go ahead and strike himself. A soldier, one named Calusidius, indeed offered him his own drawn sword, saying that his was sharper. The act and words seemed savage and uncalled-for even to an enrages mob and time enough was given to permit Caesar to be dragged away by friends into his tent.
XXXVI.
Consultatum ibi de remedio; etenim nuntiabatur parari legatos qui superiorem exercitum ad causam eandem traherent; destinatum excidio Vbiorum oppidum, imbutasque praeda manus in direptionem Galliarum erupturas. augebat metum gnarus Romanae seditionis et, si omitteretur ripa, invasurus hostis: at si auxilia et socii adversum abscedentis legiones armarentur, civile bellum suscipi. periculosa severitas, flagitiosa largitio: seu nihil militi sive omnia concede[re]ntur in ancipiti res publica. igitur volutatis inter se rationibus placitum ut epistulae nomine principis scriberentur: missionem dari vicena stipendia meritis, exauctorari qui sena dena fecissent ac retineri sub vexillo ceterorum inmunes nisi propulsandi hostis, legata quae petiverant exsolvi duplicarique.
36.
There it was discussed how best to resolve the grave impasse. In fact, rumors circulated that a delegation was being prepared to draw to the cause the superior army, that the main town of the Ubii was to be sacked, and that the rebel army, hungry for more plunder, would break into Gaul and ravage it as well. Of greatest concern was the enemy on the other side of the Rhine: aware of the Roman revolt, if the bank were left undefended, he would invade; on the other hand, if the auxiliary forces and the allies were to be used against the defecting legions, civil war was unleashed. Severe repression was dangerous and appeasement unacceptable. The state was in danger whether they conceded nothing or everything. Thus, after weighing all possible options, it was decided to produce a message written in Tiberius’ name: it granted final discharge from the army after twenty years of service; those who had completed sixteen years would be retired from active service and be retained among the veterans, exonerated from all duties except if needed to repulse an enemy. Augustus’ legacy, which they had demanded, was to be honored and the amount doubled.
XXXVII.
Sensit miles in tempus conficta statimque flagitavit. missio per tribunos maturatur, largitio differebatur in hiberna cuiusque. non abscessere quintani unetvicesimanique donec isdem in aestivis contracta ex viatico amicorum ipsiusque Caesaris pecunia persolveretur. primam ac vicesimam legiones Caecina legatus in civitatem Vbiorum reduxit turpi agmine cum fisci de imperatore rapti inter signa interque aquilas veherentur. Germanicus superiorem ad exercitum profectus secundam et tertiam decumam et sextam decumam legiones nihil cunctatas sacramento adigit. quartadecumani paulum dubitaverant: pecunia et missio quamvis non flagitantibus oblata est.
37.
The soldiers sensed it was all an improvised invention to gain time and exacted the immediate implementation of the offers. The full discharges were handled by the tribunes; payment of the legacy to each man was left for later in the winter camp, but the men of the Fifth and Twenty-first legions did not budged until they were paid right there in the summer camp, the full sum being taken from the funds reserved to cover the travel expenses of Germanicus himself and of his following. The legate Caecina took the First and Twentieth legions back among the Ubii, a shabby marching column, for among the eagles and the standards were carried the bags of the money wangled from Germanicus. He left to join the superior army and there had the Second, Thirteenth, and Sixteenth legions take, without hesitation, the oath of loyalty to Tiberius. The men of the Fourteenth showed some reluctance; the money and the discharge, even though they had not demanded them, were extended to them as well.
XXXVIII.
At in Chaucis coeptavere seditionem praesidium agitantes vexillarii discordium legionum et praesenti duorum militum supplicio paulum repressi sunt. iusserat id M’. Ennius castrorum praefectus, bono magis exemplo quam concesso iure. deinde intumescente motu profugus repertusque, postquam intutae latebrae, praesidium ab audacia mutuatur: non praefectum ab iis, sed Germanicum ducem, sed Tiberium imperatorem violari. simul exterritis qui obstiterant, raptum vexillum ad ripam vertit, et si quis agmine decessisset, pro desertore fore clamitans, reduxit in hiberna turbidos et nihil ausos.
38.
There was, nevertheless, an attempt at revolt among the veterans of the seditious legions doing garrison duty among the Chauci, but was repressed to a degree by the immediate execution of two soldiers. The measure had been ordered by Manius Ennius, the camp prefect, more to set a good example than because he had the authority. Later, as the disturbance intensified, Ennius, now a fugitive, was discovered and, having no safe place where to hide, found protection in his own audacity. Facing his pursuers, he shouted that they were not doing violence to a mere prefect, but to Germanicus, their general, and to Tiberius, their emperor. The mutineers being thrown off balance by his words, he grabbed the ensign and started towards the bank of the river, bawling that anyone who left the column would be considered a deserter. Thus, he led them back, too stunned to dare anything, to the winter camp.
XXXIX.
Interea legati ab senatu regressum iam apud aram Vbiorum Germanicum adeunt. duae ibi legiones, prima atque vicesima, veteranique nuper missi sub vexillo hiemabant. pavidos et conscientia vaecordes intrat metus venisse patrum iussu qui inrita facerent quae per seditionem expresserant. utque mos vulgo quamvis falsis reum subdere, Munatium Plancum consulatu functum, principem legationis, auctorem senatus consulti incusant; et nocte concubia vexillum in domo Germanici situm flagitare occipiunt, concursuque ad ianuam facto moliuntur foris, extractum cubili Caesarem tradere vexillum intento mortis metu subigunt. mox vagi per vias obvios habuere legatos, audita consternatione ad Germanicum tendentis. ingerunt contumelias, caedem parant, Planco maxime, quem dignitas fuga impediverat; neque aliud periclitanti subsidium quam castra primae legionis. illic signa et aquilam amplexus religione sese tutabatur, ac ni aquilifer Calpurnius vim extremam arcuisset, rarum etiam inter hostis, legatus populi Romani Romanis in castris sanguine suo altaria deum commaculavisset. luce demum, postquam dux et miles et facta noscebantur, ingressus castra Germanicus perduci ad se Plancum imperat recepitque in tribunal. tum fatalem increpans rabiem, neque militum sed deum ira resurgere, cur venerint legati aperit; ius legationis atque ipsius Planci gravem et immeritum casum, simul quantum dedecoris adierit legio, facunde miseratur, attonitaque magis quam quieta contione legatos praesidio auxiliarium equitum dimittit.
39.
In the interim, the delegation sent by the senate presented itself to Germanicus, who had just returned to the capital of the Ubii. Two legions had their winter camp there, the First and the Twentieth, together with the veterans recently transferred to the reserve. Fearful and conscious of their misdemeanor, these veterans were now terrified that the delegation had come with instructions from the senate to annul the concessions secured by their revolt. In the usual way of mobs, which always must find a scapegoat, however misguided their notions, they blamed now Munatius Plancus, the proconsular head of the delegation, for being the instigator of the senate’s decision. Early in the night they began to clamor for their ensign, kept in the lodgings of Caesar himself. Rushing in a mass to the entrance of his quarters, they forced the door, and dragged him from his bed, obliging him under threat of death to surrender the ensign. Soon after, while wandering in disorder through the streets, they ran into the envoys from Rome, who, upon hearing of the commotion, were on their way to Germanicus. The throng hurled abuse at them and were preparing for worse, their main target being Plancus, whose high station kept him from ignominious flight. In mortal danger, no other refuge was open to him than the camp of the First legion. There, embracing the standards and the eagle, he sought protection in their sacred character, but had nor the eagle-bearer Calpurnius protected him from extreme violence, a legate of the Roman people –a rare event even among enemies—would have stained with his blood, in a Roman camp, the altars of the gods. When finally day dawned and the general, the soldiers, and the entire incident could be clearly seen, Germanicus entered the camp, gave orders that Plancus be brought to him, and received him on the tribune. Then, exclaiming against the fatal furor of the night, more the explosion of the gods’ anger, he said, than that of the soldiers, he explained why the delegation had come and in eloquent language expressed regret for the violation of the delegates’s immunity, a grave and unmerited affront, and the risk incurred by Plancus, at the same time deploring the serious demerit the legion had brought upon itself. The assembly was left more perplexed than reassured. The delegation was dismissed, a body of auxiliary cavalry providing escort.
XL.
Eo in metu arguere Germanicum omnes quod non ad superiorem exercitum pergeret, ubi obsequia et contra rebellis auxilium: satis superque missione et pecunia et mollibus consultis peccatum vel si vilis ipsi salus, cur filium parvulum, cur gravidam coniugem inter furentis et omnis humani iuris violatores haberet? illos saltem avo et rei publicae redderet. diu cunctatus aspernantem uxorem, cum se divo Augusto ortam neque degenerem ad pericula testaretur, postremo uterum eius et communem filium multo cum fletu complexus, ut abiret perpulit. incedebat muliebre et miserabile agmen, profuga ducis uxor, parvulum sinu filium gerens, lamentantes circum amicorum coniuges quae simul trahebantur nec minus tristes qui manebant.
40.
At this critical moment Germanicus was blamed by everyone for failing to go to the superior army, where obedient troops and support against the rebels were available to him. It was bad enough, they said, that he had given in with regard to the early discharge and the money reward, in addition to the weak punitive measures he had taken. Even if he had little concern for his own safety, why did he keep his infant son and his pregnant wife among enraged men, ready to violate all rules of human decency? At least he should restore both of them unharmed to their grandsire and the state. He hesitated a long time to do so, also because his wife resisted, saying that she was Augustus’ granddaughter and would remain so in the face of danger. In the end, among many tears, embracing her, soon to be a mother again, and their son, he forced her to go. The lamentable procession of women began to advance, the general’s spouse forced to abandon her husband holding her baby to her breast and, around her weeping, the wives of friends sent away with her. Not less sad were those who were staying behind.