XXI.
Id vero aegre tolerante milite prope seditionem ventum, cum progressi equites sub ipsa moenia vagos e Cremonensibus corripiunt, quorum indicio noscitur sex Vitellianas legiones omnemque exercitum, qui Hostiliae egerat, eo ipso die triginta milia passuum emensum, comperta suorum clade in proelium accingi ac iam adfore. is terror obstructas mentis consiliis ducis aperuit. sistere tertiam decimam legionem in ipso viae Postumiae aggere iubet, cui iuncta a laevo septima Galbiana patenti campo stetit, dein septima Claudiana, agresti fossa (ita locus erat) praemunita; dextro octava per apertum limitem, mox tertia densis arbustis intersepta. hic aquilarum signorumque ordo: milites mixti per tenebras, ut fors tulerat; praetorianum vexillum proximum tertianis, cohortes auxiliorum in cornibus, latera ac terga equite circumdata; Sido atque Italicus Suebi cum delectis popularium primori in acie versabantur.
21.
But the soldiers had no patience with all this and indeed were approaching open mutiny, when a body of cavalry that had advanced to the very walls of Cremona caught some stragglers from the town, whose information revealed that six Vitellian legions and all the troops operating out of Hostilia had advanced thirty miles that same day and, on hearing of their party’s debacle, were gearing up for battle and would soon arrive. This alarming new development opened the soldiers’ obdurate ears to Antonius’ advice. He gave orders that the Thirteenth legion take up position on the actual causeway of the Via Postumia; on the left of the Thirteenth was added the Seventh Galbiana, deployed in open country, then the Seventh Claudiana protected in front, as it happened, by a field ditch. On the right of the Thirteenth was the Eighth legion along an open country lane and, beyond, the Third, fragmented by dense thickets. Such was the disposition of eagles and standards, but within the ranks there was confusion, as soldiers were unable to find their units in the dark and took their places at random. The praetorian detachment was next to the Third legion, the auxiliary cohorts in the wings, and the cavalry protected the flanks and rear. The Suebian chiefs Sido and Italicus, with the best of their people, were in the front line.
XII.
At Vitellianus exercitus, cui adquiescere Cremonae et reciperatis cibo somnoque viribus confectum algore atque inedia hostem postera die profligare ac proruere ratio fuit, indigus rectoris, inops consilii, tertia ferme noctis hora paratis iam dispositisque Flavianis impingitur. ordinem agminis disiecti per iram ac tenebras adseverare non ausim, quamquam alii tradiderint quartam Macedonicam dextrum suorum cornu, quintam et quintam decimam cum vexillis nonae secundaeque et vicensimae Britannicarum legionum mediam aciem, sextadecimanos duoetvicensimanosque et primanos laevum cornu complesse. Rapaces atque Italici omnibus se manipulis miscuerant; eques auxiliaque sibi ipsi locum legere. proelium tota nocte varium, anceps, atrox, his, rursus illis exitiabile. nihil animus aut manus, ne oculi quidem provisu iuvabant. eadem utraque acie arma, crebris interrogationibus notum pugnae signum, permixta vexilla, ut quisque globus capta ex hostibus huc vel illuc raptabat. urgebatur maxime septima legio, nuper a Galba conscripta. occisi sex primorum ordinum centuriones, abrepta quaedam signa: ipsam aquilam Atilius Verus primi pili centurio multa cum hostium strage et ad extremum moriens servaverat.
22.
As to the Vitellian army, the best course open to them was to rest at Cremona and restore their strength with food and sleep, then the next day to attack and rout an enemy weakened by cold and hunger. Instead, without either a leader or a plan, between eight and nine in the evening, they threw themselves at the Flavians, who were in position and ready to receive them. I would not presume to give with any assurance the Vitellian order of battle, thrown [as it was] into confusion by the soldiers’ anger and by darkness. Others, however, have left recorded that the Fourth Macedonian occupied their right wing, the Fifth and Fifteenth, with detachments of the Ninth, Second, and Twentieth legions from Britain, were in the center, and the Sixteenth, Twenty-second, and First legions formed the left wing. The men of the Rapax and Italica legions attached themselves to the other companies [in the line]. The cavalry and auxiliary troops chose their own posts. The battle lasted all night, variable, indecisive, vicious, costly now to one side, now to the other. Neither valor, nor strength, nor power of sight was of any avail. Both sides were similarly equipped; the passwords, being frequently asked, were soon revealed; the standards became confused, as bands of fighting men carried off in this or that direction those they had captured from the enemy. The Seventh legion, recently drafted by Galba, came under heaviest pressure. Six lead centurions were killed and a few standards taken. The legion’s senior centurion, Atilius Varus, was able to save the eagle itself only by great slaughter of the enemy and ultimately at the cost of his own life.
XXIII.
Sustinuit labentem aciem Antonius accitis praetorianis. qui ubi excepere pugnam, pellunt hostem, dein pelluntur. namque Vitelliani tormenta in aggerem viae contulerant ut tela vacuo atque aperto excuterentur, dispersa primo et arbustis sine hostium noxa inlisa. magnitudine eximia quintae decimae legionis ballista ingentibus saxis hostilem aciem proruebat. lateque cladem intulisset ni duo milites praeclarum facinus ausi, arreptis e strage scutis ignorati, vincla ac libramenta tormentorum abscidissent. statim confossi sunt eoque intercidere nomina: de facto haud ambigitur. neutro inclinaverat fortuna donec adulta nocte luna surgens ostenderet acies falleretque. sed Flavianis aequior a tergo; hinc maiores equorum virorumque umbrae, et falso, ut in corpora, ictu tela hostium citra cadebant: Vitelliani adverso lumine conlucentes velut ex occulto iaculantibus incauti offerebantur.
23.
Antonius reinforced the weakening line by calling up the Praetorian Guard. Upon first engaging the enemy, they pushed them back, only to be repulsed themselves, for the Vitellians had massed their war engines on the causeway to gain a commanding position free of obstacles from which to hurl their missiles. At first their strikes had been haphazard or had struck the trees without hurt to the enemy. A gigantic catapult operated by the Fifteenth legion was now pounding the Flavian lines with huge stones. The damage would have been extensive, if two soldiers had not hazarded a deed of exceptional bravery. Grasping shields from the enemy’s fallen to pass unnoticed, they severed the ropes by which the engine was tethered and operated. They were instantly killed and as a result their names went lost. About the deed itself there can be no doubt. Fortune had not yet favored one side or the other, until, later in the night, the rising moon revealed the contending forces in its deceiving light. The Flavians, however, were advantaged as it shone from behind; therefore the shadows cast by men and horses were amplified and the enemy, mistaking the shadows for the bodies, aimed their throws too short. The Vitellians, on the other hand, standing clear in the light, presented without knowing easy targets to their adversaries, who were aiming their shots, as it were, from concealed positions.
XXIV.
Igitur Antonius, ubi noscere suos noscique poterat, alios pudore et probris, multos laude et hortatu, omnis spe promissisque accendens, cur resumpsissent arma, Pannonicas legiones interrogabat: illos esse campos, in quibus abolere labem prioris ignominiae, ubi reciperare gloriam possent. tum ad Moesicos conversus principes auctoresque belli ciebat: frustra minis et verbis provocatos Vitellianos, si manus eorum oculosque non tolerent. haec, ut quosque accesserat; plura ad tertianos, veterum recentiumque admonens, ut sub M. Antonio Parthos, sub Corbulone Armenios, nuper Sarmatas pepulissent. mox infensus praetorianis ‘vos’ inquit, ‘nisi vincitis, pagani, quis alius imperator, quae castra alia excipient? illic signa armaque vestra sunt, et mors victis; nam ignominiam consumpsistis.’ undique clamor, et orientem solem (ita in Syria mos est) tertiani salutavere.
24.
Now that Antonius could recognize his men and be known by them, he roused their courage by shaming and rebuking some, by praising and encouraging many, and by holding out the hope of rewards to all. He kept asking the troops of the Pannonian legions why they had resumed fighting. There, [he would say], was the very plain where they could wash the stain of their former disgrace and redeem their honor. In addressing next the Moesian troops he appealed to them as the main promoters of the war. In vain, he said, had they provoked the Vitellians with menacing words, if now they could not withstand their gaze and their blows. Thus he spoke as he passed by each unit, but he harangued the men of the Thirteenth legion at greater length, reminding them of their ancient and recent exploits, how they had repulsed the Parthians under Marc Antony, the Arminians under Corbulo, and lately the Sarmatians. Next, turning angrily to the Praetorians, ‘You peasants’, he cried, ‘which other emperor, which other camp will accept you, unless you are not victorius here? Over there, in the enemy line, are your standards and your arms, and your death too if you are beaten, for as for disgrace, you have drunk it all already’. As the sun rose, a shout of approval was raised on all sides: the troops of the Third legion welcomed the sun with cheers, as was their custom in Syria.
XXV.
Vagus inde an consilio ducis subditus rumor, advenisse Mucianum, exercitus in vicem salutasse. gradum inferunt quasi recentibus auxiliis aucti, rariore iam Vitellianorum acie, ut quos nullo rectore suus quemque impetus vel pavor contraheret diduceretve. postquam impulsos sensit Antonius, denso agmine obturbabat. laxati ordines abrumpuntur, nec restitui quivere impedientibus vehiculis tormentisque. per limitem viae sparguntur festinatione consectandi victores. eo notabilior caedes fuit, quia filius patrem interfecit. rem nominaque auctore Vipstano Messala tradam. Iulius Mansuetus ex Hispania, Rapaci legioni additus, impubem filium domi liquerat. is mox adultus, inter septimanos a Galba conscriptus, oblatum forte patrem et vulnere stratum dum semianimem scrutatur, agnitus agnoscensque et exanguem amplexus, voce flebili precabatur placatos patris manis, neve se ut parricidam aversarentur: publicum id facinus; et unum militem quotam civilium armorum partem? simul attollere corpus, aperire humum, supremo erga parentem officio fungi. advertere proximi, deinde plures: hinc per omnem aciem miraculum et questus et saevissimi belli execratio. nec eo segnius propinquos adfinis fratres trucidant spoliant: factum esse scelus loquuntur faciuntque.
25.
A vague rumor arose, whether caused by the shouting or deliberately started by Antonius, that Mucianus had arrived and that the two armies had exchanged greetings. The Flavian forces moved boldly forward, as if they had received reinforcements. The Vitellian line was now less consistent, as is the tendency of troops without a leader, who become pressed together or spaced apart by their own impetuosity or fear. When Antonius sensed they were about to give way, he pressed them with a dense body of troops. Their ranks lost cohesion and dissolved. They could not reform, prevented as they were by wagons and machines blocking the way. The victorious Flavians, in the haste of the chase, pulled away from one another and dispersed along the sides of the Postumian road. An episode that keenly marked the carnage was the murder of a man by his own son. I will pass on the story and the names on the authority of Vipstanus Messala. Julius Mansuetus from Spain, recruited into the Rapax legion, had left a young son behind. Not long after, the latter was old enough to be inducted into the Seventh legion by Galba. Coming by chance face-to-face with his father [during the fighting], he struck him down with a mortal wound. As he searched the expiring man, each recognized the other. Embracing his father as he died, in a tearful voice he implored his victim’s spirit to be merciful and not to turn from him in horror as a parricide. It was everyone’s crime, [he moaned], not his only; what part could one soldier play in civil broils? With these anguished words, he lifted up the body and began digging a grave, intent on discharging the last duties towards his parent. First the soldiers near him and then many others noticed his doings; soon throughout the line there were cries of wonder, of grief, of indignation against a war so utterly cruel. But that did not make them one jot less eager to kill and strip bare their own kinsmen, family relations, and brothers. They all said it was a horrible crime, but went on doing the same.
XXVI.
Vt Cremonam venere, novum immensumque opus occurrit. Othoniano bello Germanicus miles moenibus Cremonensium castra sua, castris vallum circumiecerat eaque munimenta rursus auxerat. quorum aspectu haesere victores, incertis ducibus quid iuberent. incipere obpugnationem fesso per diem noctemque exercitu arduum et nullo iuxta subsidio anceps: sin Bedriacum redirent, intolerandus tam longi itineris labor, et victoria ad inritum revolvebatur: munire castra, id quoque propinquis hostibus formidolosum, ne dispersos et opus molientis subita eruptione turbarent. quae super cuncta terrebat ipsorum miles periculi quam morae patientior: quippe ingrata quae tuta, ex temeritate spes; omnisque caedes et vulnera et sanguis aviditate praedae pensabantur.
26.
When the Flavian troops reached Cremona, a new task of gigantic magnitude confronted them. In the war against Otho the army of Germany had encircled the town walls with their camp and the camp with a rampart. These defences they later strengthened. The victors’ advance stopped short at the sight of the fortifications and the generals were undecided what orders to give. To begin the assault with troops spent by the labors of the preceding day and night was difficult and risky, as no reserves were available anywhere near. If they returned to Bedriacum, the toil of such a long march would be unbearable and their victory all for nothing. To build a fortified camp in the vicinity of the enemy was also fraught with danger, for the Vitellians might cause confusion among them by a sudden sortie while they were scattered and busy at work. But the officers were most afraid of their own men, who preferred danger to delay: they had no patience with safety and placed all their confidence in boldness. In their eyes, carnage, wounds, bloodshed were a fair price to pay for their love of plunder.
XXVII.
Huc inclinavit Antonius cingique vallum corona iussit. primo sagittis saxisque eminus certabant, maiore Flavianorum pernicie, in quos tela desuper librabantur; mox vallum portasque legionibus attribuit, ut discretus labor fortis ignavosque distingueret atque ipsa contentione decoris accenderentur. proxima Bedriacensi viae tertiani septimanique sumpsere, dexteriora valli octava ac septima Claudiana; tertiadecimanos ad Brixianam portam impetus tulit. paulum inde morae, dum ex proximis agris ligones dolabras et alii falcis scalasque convectant: tum elatis super capita scutis densa testudine succedunt. Romanae utrimque artes: pondera saxorum Vitelliani provolvunt, disiectam fluitantemque testudinem lanceis contisque scrutantur, donec soluta compage scutorum exanguis aut laceros prosternerent multa cum strage. incesserat cunctatio, ni duces fesso militi et velut inritas exhortationes abnuenti Cremonam monstrassent.
27.
Antonius tended to side with the soldiers’ wishes and ordered them to form a ring all around the camp rampart. At first they exchanged arrows and stones at a distance with more losses on the Flavian side, as misiles were aimed at them from above. Then Antonius divided among the legions the assault against the rampart and camp gates, expecting that the assignment of separate tasks would distinguish the brave from the coward and also stimulate the men by the mere competition for honor. The Third and the Seventh Galbiana legions were put in control of the section nearest the road to Bedriacum; the Eighth and the Seventh Claudiana took position on their right. The Thirteenth legion advanced boldly to the gate towards Brixia. There followed a brief pause while men gathered picks and mattocks from neighboring fields and others brought hooks and ladders. Soon the soldiers, with the shields raised above their heads, approached the rampart in massive testudo formation. Both sides relied on Roman modes of fighting. The Vitellians rolled down stones of great weight and whenever they were able to upset and loosen up the roof of shields, they prodded and pushed it with lances and pikes, until the arrangement of shields fell in disarray, then finished off in great numbers the dying and mangled assailants. The offensive had begun to dwindle, unless the officers had kept pointing to their men, who were exhausted and almost spurning any word of encouragement, the town of Cremona [the reward of their suffering].
XXVIII.
Hormine id ingenium, ut Messala tradit, an potior auctor sit C. Plinius, qui Antonium incusat, haud facile discreverim, nisi quod neque Antonius neque Hormus a fama vitaque sua quamvis pessimo flagitio degeneravere. non iam sanguis neque vulnera morabantur quin subruerent vallum quaterentque portas, innixi umeris et super iteratam testudinem scandentes prensarent hostium tela brachiaque. integri cum sauciis, semineces cum expirantibus volvuntur, varia pereuntium forma et omni imagine mortium.
28.
Whether this expedient was Hormus’ idea, as Messala says, or whether Gaius Pliny, who accuses Antonius, is the better source, I cannot easily decide. What I can say is that, whether it was Antonius or Hormus, this exceptional piece of knavery was very much in keeping with their life and reputation. No longer did bloodshed and injuries hold the men back from undermining the rampart and breaking down the gates. Hoisting themselves up on the shoulders of their comrades and clambering onto the roof of the reformed testudo, they managed to clutch at the weapons and hands of the besieged. The wounded and the unhurt, the unconscious and the expiring, all rolled together in a heap and perished in a thousand ways, death taking all forms.
XXIX.
Acerrimum tertiae septimaeque legionum certamen; et dux Antonius cum delectis auxiliaribus eodem incubuerat. obstinatos inter se cum sustinere Vitelliani nequirent et superiacta tela testudine laberentur, ipsam postremo ballistam in subeuntis propulere, quae ut ad praesens disiecit obruitque quos inciderat, ita pinnas ac summa valli ruina sua traxit; simul iuncta turris ictibus saxorum cessit, qua septimani dum nituntur cuneis, tertianus securibus gladiisque portam perfregit. primum inrupisse C. Volusium tertiae legionis militem inter omnis auctores constat. is in vallum egressus, deturbatis qui restiterant, conspicuus manu ac voce capta castra conclamavit; ceteri trepidis iam Vitellianis seque e vallo praecipitantibus perrupere. completur caede quantum inter castra murosque vacui fuit.
29.
The Third and Seventh legions were most pressing in their attacks and Antonius himself, with picked auxiliaries, concentrated his efforts in the same sector. When in the end the Vitellians could no longer resist the combined fury of an obstinate adversary and saw the missiles they hurled from above glance off the testudo, they pushed the ballista itself down on the assailants. This for a moment unsettled or crushed those on whom it fell, but as it did so it carried with it the parapet and the top of the rampart. At the same time an adjoining tower collapsed under a hail of stones. While the men of the Seventh labored in wedge formation to force a passage through the breach, those of the Third demolished the gate using axes and swords. All sources concur that the first man to break into the Vitellian camp was Gaius Volusius of the Third. On climbing the rampart, he overthrew those who resisted, then, drawing attention by his hand waving and loud shouting, he signalled that the camp was taken. The rest rushed in and the Vitellians, now seized by panic, threw themselves down from the rampart. The entire space between the camp and the walls of Cremona was filled with the slain.
XXX.
Ac rursus nova laborum facies: ardua urbis moenia, saxeae turres, ferrati portarum obices, vibrans tela miles, frequens obstrictusque Vitellianis partibus Cremonensis populus, magna pars Italiae stato in eosdem dies mercatu congregata, quod defensoribus auxilium ob multitudinem, obpugnantibus incitamentum ob praedam erat. rapi ignis Antonius inferrique amoenissimis extra urbem aedificiis iubet, si damno rerum suarum Cremonenses ad mutandam fidem traherentur. propinqua muris tecta et altitudinem moenium egressa fortissimo quoque militum complet; illi trabibus tegulisque et facibus propugnatores deturbant.
30.
But fresh toil faced them again: steep city-walls, towers of stone, gates protected by iron barriers, soldiers brandishing weapons, Cremona’s large population faithful to Vitellius. A multitude from all parts of Italy had convened to attend the fair held at that time of the year. Their presence meant more strength for the besieged and greater opportunity of plunder for the besiegers. Antonius ordered to find torches and to set the best houses outside the city on fire, to see if the inhabitants might be induced by the loss of their holdings to change side. The roofs of the houses that were near the walls and surpassed them in height he filled with his best troops to drive the defenders from their posts using spars, roof tiles, and firebrands.