LI.
Caesar avidas legiones quo latior populatio foret quattuor in cuneos dispertit; quinquaginta milium spatium ferro flammisque pervastat. non sexus, non aetas miserationem attulit: profana simul et sacra et celeberrimum illis gentibus templum quod Tanfanae vocabant solo aequantur. sine vulnere milites, qui semisomnos, inermos aut palantis ceciderant. excivit ea caedes Bructeros, Tubantes, Vsipetes, saltusque, per quos exercitui regressus, insedere. quod gnarum duci incessitque itineri et proelio. pars equitum et auxiliariae cohortes ducebant, mox prima legio, et mediis impedimentis sinistrum latus unetvicesimani, dextrum quintani clausere, vicesima legio terga firmavit, post ceteri sociorum. sed hostes, donec agmen per saltus porrigeretur, immoti, dein latera et frontem modice adsultantes, tota vi novissimos incurrere. turbabanturque densis Germanorum catervis leves cohortes, cum Caesar advectus ad vicesimanos voce magna hoc illud tempus obliterandae seditionis clamitabat: pergerent, properarent culpam in decus vertere. exarsere animis unoque impetu perruptum hostem redigunt in aperta caeduntque: simul primi agminis copiae evasere silvas castraque communivere. quietum inde iter, fidensque recentibus ac priorum oblitus miles in hibernis locatur.
51.
Germanicus, to cause wider damage, spread out his eager legions on four columns and devastated with fire and steel a territory fifty miles wide. Neither sex nor age met with compassion: they razed to the ground all things standing, whether secular or religious, including the celebrated temple called Tanfana, sacred to the German nations. No losses were incurred, as our soldiers massacred an enemy in their sleep, unarmed, or dispersed. The butchery jolted awake the Bructeri, the Tubantes, and the Usipetes, who ran to control the forests through which our army had to pass on their return. That being known to Germanicus, he prepared to march and fight at the same time. A part of the cavalry and of the auxiliary forces were placed in the van, then the First legion and the baggage in the middle, protected on the left side by the Twenty-first, on the right by the Fifth; the Twentieth legion closed the march, followed by the remaining allied forces. The enemy, however, made no move, until the forests would open up the column, then they made light attacks against the sides and the front, the rearguard receiving the brunt of the assault. The light cohorts were broken up by dense masses of the Germans, when Caesar, riding up to the men of the Twentieth, shouted at the top of his voice that there lay their chance to erase the memory of the revolt. They must rush forward, he cried, and grasp the occasion to turn their guilt into honor. A new courage burned in the men’s hearts and in one massive onset they broke through the enemy, forced them back into the open, and cut them down. Meanwhile the avantgarde left the forest behind and set to build and fortify a camp. From there on the march was safe and the troops, proud of their present successes and forgetful of past events, were received into their winter quarters.
LII.
Nuntiata ea Tiberium laetitia curaque adfecere: gaudebat oppressam seditionem, sed quod largiendis pecuniis et missione festinata favorem militum quaesivisset, bellica quoque Germanici gloria angebatur. rettulit tamen ad senatum de rebus gestis multaque de virtute eius memoravit, magis in speciem verbis adornata quam ut penitus sentire crederetur. paucioribus Drusum et finem Illyrici motus laudavit, sed intentior et fida oratione. cunctaque quae Germanicus indulserat servavit etiam apud Pannonicos exercitus.
52.
The report of these events to Tiberius caused him both joy and anxiety: he was pleased with the repression of the revolt, but the popularity with the soldiers Germanicus had acquired by granting the early discharge and by the promise of donatives, as well as the military glory he had won, made him uneasy. In any case, he gave an account to the senate of what Germanicus had achieved and made a speech praising his bravery, more striking for its ornate style than the sincerity of his feelings. Less he said of Drusus and of the end of the Illyrian mutiny, but with more feeling and candor. All that Germanicus conceded to the German legions Tiberius also extended to the army of Pannonia.
LIII.
Eodem anno Iulia supremum diem obiit, ob impudicitiam olim a patre Augusto Pandateria insula, mox oppido Reginorum, qui Siculum fretum accolunt, clausa. fuerat in matrimonio Tiberii florentibus Gaio et Lucio Caesaribus s preveratque ut inparem; nec alia tam intima Tiberio causa cur Rhodum abscederet. imperium adeptus extorrem, infamem et post interfectum Postumum Agrippam omnis spei egenam inopia ac tabe longa peremit, obscuram fore necem longinquitate exilii ratus. par causa saevitiae in Sempronium Gracchum, qui familia nobili, sollers ingenio et prave facundus, eandem Iuliam in matrimonio Marci Agrippae temeraverat. nec is libidini finis: traditam Tiberio pervicax adulter contumacia et odiis in maritum accendebat; litteraeque quas Iulia patri Augusto cum insectatione Tiberii scripsit a Graccho compositae credebantur. igitur amotus Cercinam, Africi maris insulam, quattuordecim annis exilium toleravit. tunc milites ad caedem missi invenere in prominenti litoris nihil laetum opperientem. quorum adventu breve tempus petivit ut suprema mandata uxori Alliariae per litteras daret, cervicemque percussoribus obtulit; constantia mortis haud in dignus Sempronio nomine vita degeneraverat. quidam non Roma eos milites, sed ab L. Asprenate pro consule Africae missos tradidere auctore Tiberio, qui famam caedis posse in Asprenatem verti frustra speraverat.
53.
In that same year Julia died, having been confined a long time before by her father Augustus to the island of Pandateria for her dissolute conduct and later moved to the fortified town of the Regini, who inhabit the strait of Sicily. She had been married to Tiberius when the Caesars Gaius and Lucius were still in good health, but despised him as her inferior, that being the most personal reason for his retirement to Rhodes. Risen to power, he let her, a banished, dishonored woman, deprived of all hope after the murder of Postumus Agrippa, waste away slowly from hunger and chronic disease. Tiberius thought that the many years of confinement would erase all memory of her and that her death would pass unnoticed. Identically motivated was his cruelty against Sempronius Gracchus, a man of noble birth and ready wit, both gifted and perverse in his use of language, who had pushed the same Julia to adultery with him at the time of her marriage with Marcus Agrippa. His libertinage did not stop there: when Julia was passed on to Tiberius, the obstinate seducer stirred up her defiance and animosity against the new husband. A letter full of hostility towards Tiberius, written by Julia to her father Augustus, was believed to have been composed by Gracchus. Relegated in light of this to Cercina, an island close to the African coast, he lived fourteen years in exile. The soldiers later sent to kill him found him on a promontory along the shore, expecting the worst. On their arrival, he asked of them a little time to write his last instructions to his wife Alliaria, then offered his neck to the executioners, showing in death a firmness not unworthy of the Sempronius name he bore, which he had dishonored in life. Some affirm that, at Tiberius’ solicitation, the soldiers came from the proconsul of Africa, Lucius Asprenas, not from Rome, hoping in vain to have the blame for the bloody deed fall on Asprenas.
LIV.
Idem annus novas caerimonias accepit addito sodalium Augustalium sacerdotio, ut quondam Titus Tatius retinendis Sabinorum sacris sodalis Titios instituerat. sorte ducti e primoribus civitatis unus et viginti: Tiberius Drusus que et Claudius et Germanicus adiciuntur. ludos Augustalis tunc primum coeptos turbavit discordia ex certamine histrionum. indulserat ei ludicro Auaustus, dum Maecenati obtemperat effuso in amorem Bathylli; neque ipse abhorrebat talibus studiis, et civile rebatur misceri voluptatibus vulgi. alia Tiberio morum via: sed populum per tot annos molliter habitum nondum audebat ad duriora vertere.
54.
The same year saw the institution of a new cult, the creation of a priestly college for the worship of Augustus, just as Titus Tatius had done, who had founded the sacerdotal college of the Tatii to conserve the rites of the Sabini. Twenty-one members were drawn by lot from among the foremost men in Rome. Tiberius, Drusus, Claudius, and Germanicus were added to the number. The Augustal games thus inaugurated were troubled by rivalries among the performers. Augustus had tolerated that type of spectacle out of regard for Maecenas’ enthusiastic admiration of Bathyllus, [one of the actors]. Besides, he himself shared the same interest and viewed as good policy to attend spectacles loved by the people. Quite another was Tiberius’ attitude, but he did not as yet dare to impose a stricter conduct to a public accustomed for so long to more relaxed rules.
LV.
Druso Caesare C. Norbano consulibus decernitur Germanico triumphus manente bello; quod quamquam in aestatem summa ope parabat, initio veris et repentino in Chattos excursu praecepit. nam spes incesserat dissidere hostem in Arminium ac Segestem, insignem utrumque perfidia in nos aut fide. Arminius turbator Germaniae, Segestes parari rebellionem saepe alias et supremo convivio, post quod in arma itum, aperuit suasitque Varo ut se et Arminium et ceteros proceres vinciret: nihil ausuram plebem principibus amotis; atque ipsi tempus fore quo crimina et innoxios discerneret. sed Varus fato et vi Armini cecidit; Segestes quamquam consensu gentis in bellum tractus discors manebat, auctis privatim odiis, quod Arminius filiam eius alii pactam rapuerat: gener invisus inimici soceri; quaeque apud concordes vincula caritatis, incitamenta irarum apud infensos erant.
55.
The following year (15 A.D.), Drusus Caesar and Gaius Norbanus being consuls, the honor of a triumph was decreed to Germanicus, even though the war was not at an end. He was making preparations on a large scale for the coming summer, but in early spring, sooner than previously planned, he made an incursion among the Chatti, since there was hope that conflict had arisen, within the enemy’s ranks, between Arminius and Segestes, both familiar to us, the one for his perfidy, the latter for his loyalty to the Romans. Arminius was the rabble-rouser of Germany; Segestes had on several occasions informed us that a rebellion was in the making, and even during the last banqueting which preceded Varus’ debacle he urged the Roman general to have himself, Arminius, and the other tribal chiefs arrested. The people, he said, would venture nothing once the leaders were removed and Varus would have time to sort out the guilty from the innocent. Varus, however, was swept away by fate and by Arminius’ forces. Segestes, though dragged to war by the will of the people, was opposed to it, also because the hatred between him and Arminius, [who was his nephew], had aggravated for personal reasons, since the latter had stolen his daughter, already promised to another, thus becoming the detested son-in-law of his wife’s parent, already inimical to him. What among people living in harmony constitutes a bond of affection had become in their case an incitement to mutual loathing.
LVI.
Igitur Germanicus quattuor legiones, quinque auxiliarium milia et tumultuarias catervas Germanorum cis Rhenum colentium Caecinae tradit; totidem legiones, duplicem sociorum numerum ipse ducit, positoque castello super vestigia paterni praesidii in monte Tauno expeditum exercitum in Chattos rapit, L. Apronio ad munitiones viarum et fluminum relicto. nam (rarum illi caelo) siccitate et amnibus modicis inoffensum iter properaverat, imbresque et fluminum auctus regredienti metuebantur. sed Chattis adeo inprovisus advenit, ut quod imbecillum aetate ac sexu statim captum aut trucidatum sit. iuventus flumen Adranam nando tramiserat, Romanosque pontem coeptantis arcebant. dein tormentis sagittisque pulsi, temptatis frustra condicionibus pacis, cum quidam ad Germanicum perfugissent, reliqui omissis pagis vicisque in silvas disperguntur. Caesar incenso Mattio (id genti caput) aperta populatus vertit ad Rhenum, non auso hoste terga abeuntium lacessere, quod illi moris, quotiens astu magis quam per formidinem cessit. fuerat animus Cheruscis iuvare Chattos, sed exterruit Caecina huc illuc ferens arma; et Marsos congredi ausos prospero proelio cohibuit.
56.
Germanicus, therefore, assigned four legions, five thousand auxiliaries and irregular troops of Germans living west of the Rhine to Caecina; he himself led as many legions and twice the number of auxiliaries. After establishing a fortified position on the ruins of a fort built by his father Tiberius on Mount Taunus and leaving Lucius Apronius to protect the ways of communication on land and on the rivers, he rapidly took his army, unencumbered by luggage, among the Chatti. In fact, he had been able to speed up the march thanks to a drought — a rare thing in that climate – and the low waters in the rivers, but heavy rains and flooding expected on the return leg were causing concern. But so suddenly he fell on the Chatti that all who were unable to flee by reason of age or sex were captured or killed. The younger men had crossed the Adrana river by swimming, and were harassing the Romans occupied to build a bridge, but were chased away by missiles hurled by engines and arrows. Soon they were trying to negotiate peace and when that proved fruitless, some sought protection with Germanicus, the rest dispersed in the forests, abandoning their districts and villages. Germanicus set Mattium, their capitol, on fire, devastated the open fields, then came back to the Rhine, without having his rearguard disturbed by the enemy, their habitual mode of attack, whenever their retreat was motivated by tactics rather than by fear. The Cherusci had intended to help them, but Caecina had brought terror by attacking at different points. In a victorious encounter he also contained the Marsi, who had faced him in great numbers.
LVII.
Neque multo post legati a Segeste venerunt auxilium orantes adversus vim popularium a quis circumsedebatur, validiore apud eos Arminio quoniam bellum suadebat: nam barbaris, quanto quis audacia promptus, tanto magis fidus rebusque motis potior habetur. addiderat Segestes legatis filium, nomine Segimundum: sed iuvenis conscientia cunctabatur. quippe anno quo Germaniae descivere sacerdos apud aram Vbiorum creatus ruperat vittas, profugus ad rebellis. adductus tamen in spem clementiae Romanae pertulit patris mandata benigneque exceptus cum praesidio Gallicam in ripam missus est. Germanico pretium fuit convertere agmen, pugnatumque in obsidentis, et ereptus Segestes magna cum propinquorum et clientium manu. inerant feminae nobiles, inter quas uxor Arminii eademque filia Segestis, mariti magis quam parentis animo, neque victa in lacrimas neque voce supplex; compressis intra sinum manibus gravidum uterum intuens. ferebantur et spolia Varianae cladis, plerisque eorum qui tum in deditionem veniebant praedae data: simul Segestes ipse, ingens visu et memoria bonae societatis inpavidus.
57.
Not much later messengers arrived from Segestes to ask for help against the violence of his compatriots who were keeping him under siege. Arminius had more influence among them, because he was prodding them to go to war, for to barbarians the more audacious a man is in critical situations the more trusted he becomes. To the messengers Segestes had added his son Segimundus, but the young man’s conscience made him hesitant, since in the year in which the German nations rebelled, when he was made a priest in the capital of the Ubii, he had torn the sacred bands and had gone a refugee among the rebels. However, induced by the hope of Roman clemency to deliver his father’s message, he was courteously received and sent with an escort to the Gallic side of the Rhine. Germanicus thought it worthwhile to reverse the direction of march and, after clashing with the besiegers, he liberated Segestes and a large following of relatives and friends. Among them were a number of noble women, including Segestes’ daughter, now Arminius’ wife, temperamentally more in tune with the husband than with the father: she did not give way to tears and words of supplication. She stood with her hands pressed against the folds of her robe and kept her eyes lowered on her pregnant bosom. The spoils of war in the Varian battle were also recovered, which had been given as prizes to many of those who were now surrendering to the Romans. Segestes himself, a gigantic man, came forward without fear, consciously aware of a friendship faithfully kept.
LVIII.
Verba eius in hunc modum fuere: ‘non hic mihi primus erga populum Romanum fidei et constantiae dies. ex quo a divo Augusto civitate donatus sum, amicos inimicosque ex vestris utilitatibus delegi, neque odio patriae (quippe proditores etiam iis quos anteponunt invisi sunt), verum quia Romanis Germanisque idem conducere et pacem quam bellum probabam. ergo raptorem filiae meae, violatorem foederis vestri, Arminium apud Varum, qui tum exercitui praesidebat, reum feci. dilatus segnitia ducis, quia parum praesidii in legibus erat, ut me et Arminium et conscios vinciret flagitavi: testis illa nox, mihi utinam potius novissima! quae secuta sunt defleri magis quam defendi possunt: ceterum et inieci catenas Arminio et a factione eius iniectas perpessus sum. atque ubi primum tui copia, vetera novis et quieta turbidis antehabeo, neque ob praemium, sed ut me perfidia exsolvam, simul genti Germanorum idoneus conciliator, si paenitentiam quam perniciem maluerit. pro iuventa et errore filii veniam precor: filiam necessitate huc adductam fateor. tuum erit consultare utrum praevaleat quod ex Arminio concepit an quod ex me genita est.’ Caesar clementi responso liberis propinquisque eius incolumitatem, ipsi sedem vetere in provincia pollicetur. exercitum reduxit nomenque imperatoris auctore Tiberio accepit. Arminii uxor virilis sexus stirpem edidit: educatus Ravennae puer quo mox ludibrio conflictatus sit in tempore memorabo.
58.
His speech was as follows: “This day is not the first for me of my constancy and fidelity to the Roman people. Ever since the divine Augustus distinguished me with Roman citizenship, I have chosen my friends and enemies with your advantage in mind, not because of hatred against my country (for traitors are odious even in the eyes of the men they distinguish), but truly because I was convinced that Romans and Germans have common interests and because I have always preferred peace to war. Consequently, I informed Varus (then the head of the army) against Arminius, the raptor of my daughter, who has violated your pact of alliance. Frustrated by the indolence of the general and finding little support in the laws, I pressured him to have me, Arminius, and his accomplices arrested. That fateful night is my witness, which I wish had been my last! What followed can be lamented rather than justified. The fact remains that I even had Arminius put in chains and suffered the same fate at the hands of his supporters. Now that I have the good fortune of meeting you for the first time, I declare that I favor the former state of things over the new, peace over conflict, not in order to obtain a recompense, but to clear myself of the suspicion of breach of faith. At the same time, I wish to become an effective pacifier for the good of the German people, should it prefer reformation to ruin. I ask pardon for the juvenile indiscretion of my son; as to my daughter, I acknowledge she has been brought here against her will. It is up to you to decide whether it matters more that she is going to be the mother of Arminius’ offspring or that she is my child.” Caesar’s answer was clement: he promised Segestes protection from harm for his children and relatives and to him residence in the old province. He then led back his army and received the title of Imperator on Tiberius’ proposal. Arminius’ wife gave birth to a son who was educated at Ravenna. I will say more about him later how he became the plaything of ill fortune.
LIX.
Fama dediti benigneque excepti Segestis vulgata, ut quibusque bellum invitis aut cupientibus erat, spe vel dolore accipitur. Arminium super insitam violentiam rapta uxor, subiectus servitio uxoris uterus vaecordem agebant, volitabatque per Cheruscos, arma in Segestem, arma in Caesarem poscens. neque probris temperabat: egregium patrem, magnum imperatorem, fortem exercitum, quorum tot manus unam mulierculam avexerint. sibi tres legiones, totidem legatos procubuisse; non enim se proditione neque adversus feminas gravidas, sed palam adversus armatos bellum tractare. cerni adhuc Germanorum in lucis signa Romana, quae dis patriis suspenderit. coleret Segestes victam ripam, redderet filio sacerdotium hominum: Germanos numquam satis excusaturos quod inter Albim et Rhenum virgas et securis et togam viderint. aliis gentibus ignorantia imperi Romani inexperta esse supplicia, nescia tributa: quae quoniam exuerint inritusque discesserit ille inter numina dicatus Augustus, ille delectus Tiberius, ne inperitum adulescentulum, ne seditiosum exercitum pavescerent. si patriam parentes antiqua mallent quam domi nos et colonias novas, Arminium potius gloriae ac libertatis quam Segestem flagitiosae servitutis ducem sequerentur.
59.
The news of Segestes’ submission and of the favorable treatment he received caused both hope and pain, according as one was against or in favor of the war. Arminius, already a violent man by nature, was driven frantic by the capture of his wife and the subjection to bondage of his unborn scion. Furious, he ran among the Cherusci demanding arms against Segestes, arms against Germanicus. He did not spare derision either: a marvelous father indeed was Segestes, a great general Germanicus, his army how valiant, so much force to abduct a puny wife. He himself had destroyed three legions and as many legates; he had waged war not by subterfuge against pregnant women, but in the open field against armed men. The Roman standards, he cried, were still to be seen suspended by him from trees in the groves sacred to the Germans and devoted to the gods of the fatherland. Let Segestes live on the bank subject to Rome, let him reassign to his son the priestly office to venerate men: true Germans would never find sufficient justification for having being forced to see between the Rhine and the Elbe the symbols of the empire, the rods, the axes, and the toga. Other German nations, in their ignorance of Roman domination, had no knowledge of the tribute, no experience of brutal repression, and because the Cherusci themselves had shaken off those chains and frustrated the plans of that fellow Augustus, newly enrolled among the gods, and of that other man Tiberius, his chosen successor, they had no cause to fear an unseasoned stripling and his mutinous army. If they preferred the ancient land of their ancestors to having masters in their own house and new colonies, they must follow him, Arminius, the champion of glorious liberty, rather than Segestes, the advocate of dishonorable servitude.
LX.
Conciti per haec non modo Cherusci, sed conterminae gentes, tractusque in partis Inguiomerus Arminii patruus, vetere apud Romanos auctoritate; unde maior Caesari metus. et ne bellum mole una ingrueret Caecinam cum quadraginta cohortibus Romanis distrahendo hosti per Bructeros ad flumen Amisiam mittit, equitem Pedo praefectus finibus Frisiorum ducit. ipse inpositas navibus quattuor legiones per lacus vexit; simulque pedes eques classis apud praedictum amnem convenere. Chauci cum auxilia pollicerentur, in commilitium adsciti sunt. Bructeros sua urentis expedita cum manu L Stertinius missu Germanici fudit; interque caedem et praedam repperit undevicesimae legionis aquilam cum Varo amissam. ductum inde agmen ad ultimos Bructerorum, quantumque Amisiam et Lupiam amnis inter vastatum, haud procul Teutoburgiensi saltu in quo reliquiae Vari legionumque insepultae dicebantur.
60.
His prompting stirred up not only the Cherusci, but also the neighboring nations; even Arminius’ uncle was drawn to the party, Inguiomerus, a man respected by the Romans. All this activity deepened Germanicus’ fears, who, to avoid that the war should weigh too heavily on a single front, sent Caecina with forty cohorts through the territory of the Bructeri to the river Amisia, to split up the forces of the enemy. The prefect Peto led the cavalry among the Frisii. Germanicus himself placed four legions on ships and crossed the lakes, so that infantry, cavalry, and the fleet came together in the vicinity of the river just mentioned. A body of troops promised by the Chauci were integrated in our army. Lucius Stertinius, sent out by Germanicus with a force of infantry lightly armed for rapid march, dispersed the Bructeri intent on burning their own villages and in the course of the killing and pillaging found the eagle of the Nineteenth legion destroyed with Varus. The army was led to the farthest limit of the Bructeri, devastating the land between the Amisia and the Lupia rivers, not far from the forest of Teutoburgium inside which, reports said, lay the unburied remains of Varus’ legions.