XXXI.
Iam legiones in testudinem glomerabantur, et alii tela saxaque incutiebant, cum languescere paulatim Vitellianorum animi. ut quis ordine anteibat, cedere fortunae, ne Cremona quoque excisa nulla ultra venia omnisque ira victoris non in vulgus inops, sed in tribunos centurionesque, ubi pretium caedis erat, reverteretur. gregarius miles futuri socors et ignobilitate tutior perstabat: vagi per vias, in domibus abditi pacem ne tum quidem orabant, cum bellum posuissent. primores castrorum nomen atque imagines Vitellii amoliuntur; catenas Caecinae (nam etiam tunc vinctus erat) exolvunt orantque ut causae suae deprecator adsistat. aspernantem tumentemque lacrimis fatigant, extremum malorum, tot fortissimi viri proditoris opem invocantes; mox velamenta et infulas pro muris ostentant. cum Antonius inhiberi tela iussisset, signa aquilasque extulere; maestum inermium agmen deiectis in terram oculis sequebatur. circumstiterant victores et primo ingerebant probra, intentabant ictus: mox, ut praeberi ora contumeliis et posita omni ferocia cuncta victi patiebantur, subit recordatio illos esse qui nuper Bedriaci victoriae temperassent. sed ubi Caecina praetexta lictoribusque insignis, dimota turba, consul incessit, exarsere victores: superbiam saevitiamque (adeo invisa scelera sunt), etiam perfidiam obiectabant. obstitit Antonius datisque defensoribus ad Vespasianum dimisit.
31.
The legions were already arranging themselves in testudo formation, while others hurled stones and other missiles, when gradually the courage of the Vitellians began to falter. Those highest in rank accepted the inevitable, out of fear that no quarter would be given should Cremona be stormed like the camp and that all the victor’s rage would fall not on the destitute mob, but on officers and centurions whose death was not without profit. The ordinary soldiers, oblivious of the future and feeling safe in their obscurity, were determined to resist. Roaming through the streets or finding shelter in houses, they did not pray for peace, not even after abandoning the fight. The top officers of the camp removed the name and images of Vitellius and freed Caecina from his shackles (for he was even then kept confined). They implored him to intercede in their behalf and when he rebuffed them with disdain, they kept appealing to him in tears. All these hardened warriors begging for the aid of a traitor was indeed Fortune’s cruelest blow. Soon they displayed from the walls [the emblems of surrender], olive branches wrapped in woolen fillets, and, after Antonius had given the order to cease hostilities, they carried out their standards and eagles. A sad column of unarmed soldiers followed, their eyes cast on the ground. The victorious troops stood around and at first jeered at them and made menacing gestures, but soon, when the beaten men meekly offered their faces to insults and patiently endured every indignity, the Flavian troops began to remember that these were the same men who not long before had not abused of their victory at Bedriacum. Yet, when Caecina came forward wearing the official robe as consul, preceeded by lictors to clear the crowd before him, the victors’anger was aroused. They scoffed at him for his arrogance, his cruelty, and – so deeply hated are such crimes – even his treasonable conduct. Antonius stepped in, provided an escort, and sent him to Vespasian.
XXXII.
Plebs interim Cremonensium inter armatos conflictabatur; nec procul caede aberant, cum precibus ducum mitigatus est miles. et vocatos ad contionem Antonius adloquitur, magnifice victores, victos clementer, de Cremona in neutrum. exercitus praeter insitam praedandi cupidinem vetere odio ad excidium Cremonensium incubuit. iuvisse partis Vitellianas Othonis quoque bello credebantur; mox tertiadecimanos ad extruendum amphitheatrum relictos, ut sunt procacia urbanae plebis ingenia, petulantibus iurgiis inluserant. auxit invidiam editum illic a Caecina gladiatorum spectaculum eademque rursus belli sedes et praebiti in acie Vitellianis cibi, caesae quaedam feminae studio partium ad proelium progressae; tempus quoque mercatus ditem alioqui coloniam maiore opum specie complebat. ceteri duces in obscuro: Antonium fortuna famaque omnium oculis exposuerat. is balineas abluendo cruori propere petit. excepta vox est, cum teporem incusaret, statim futurum ut incalescerent: vernile dictum omnem invidiam in eum vertit, tamquam signum incendendae Cremonae dedisset, quae iam flagrabat.
32.
At the same time the people of Cremona suffered much abuse from the troops all around them. They came near being massacred, had not the officers pacified the soldiers by their entreaties. Antonius called a general assembly, praised the victors in glowing terms, spoke compassionate words to the vanquished, but said nothing definite about Cremona. The reason the Flavian army was implacably set on destroying Cremona, apart from an innate thirst for pillage, was a longstanding animosity against the town. They believed, among other things, that Cremona had supported the Vitellian cause in the struggle with Otho. A while later, with the insolence typical of city mobs, they had played tricks on and mocked while at work the men of the Thirteenth legion, who had been left at Cremona to build an amphitheater. There were other causes for resentment: the gladiatorial games given there by Caecina, the fact that the town had been chosen twice by the opposing party as their base of operations, the food supplied to the Vitellians troops during action, the death on the battlefield of some of the local women fighting in support of the enemy. Also, the market season filled a colony already opulent with an even more irresistable show of plenty. All the Flavian generals, with the exception of Antonius, went unnoticed. Fame and fortune directed all eyes on him. [After the battle] he hurried off to the baths to wash away the stains of blood; when he happened to complain of the temperature of the water, the voice [of a slave] was heard answering that things would soon be heating up. [Thus] the words of a slave turned all odium on Antonius, as if he had given the order to set Cremona on fire, when in fact the town was already burning.
XXXIII.
Quadraginta armatorum milia inrupere, calonum lixarumque amplior numerus et in libidinem ac saevitiam corruptior. non dignitas, non aetas protegebat quo minus stupra caedibus, caedes stupris miscerentur. grandaevos senes, exacta aetate feminas, vilis ad praedam, in ludibrium trahebant: ubi adulta virgo aut quis forma conspicuus incidisset, vi manibusque rapientium divulsus ipsos postremo direptores in mutuam perniciem agebat. dum pecuniam vel gravia auro templorum dona sibi quisque trahunt, maiore aliorum vi truncabantur. quidam obvia aspernati verberibus tormentisque dominorum abdita scrutari, defossa eruere: faces in manibus, quas, ubi praedam egesserant, in vacuas domos et inania templa per lasciviam iaculabantur; utque exercitu vario linguis moribus, cui cives socii externi interessent, diversae cupidines et aliud cuique fas nec quicquam inlicitum. per quadriduum Cremona suffecit. cum omnia sacra profanaque in igne considerent, solum Mefitis templum stetit ante moenia, loco seu numine defensum.
33.
Forty thousand soldiers burst into the town. The number of army servants and sutlers was even larger and more practiced in all forms of cruelty and lust. Neither social standing nor age spared anyone from indiscriminate rape and murder. Decrepit old men and wizened old women, worthless as spoils, were dragged off to become objects of derision. Any young woman or attractive man, who fell in the way of these marauders, was brutally pulled one way or another by violent hands and usually ended up provoking a deadly contest among the aggressors. While some of the looters helped themselves to the coin treasure and the massive gold offerings of the temples, others intervened and, if stronger, slew them. Some, passing over loot readily available, had recourse to blows or even torture to find the owners’ hidden wealth or to dig up buried treasure. Out of sheer malice, they would throw the torches they carried into the empty houses and deserted temples they had just ransacked. As is to be expected with an army so diverse in language and customs, made up of Roman citzens, allied troops, and foreign volunteers, appetites took various forms. Each man had his own set of morals and nothing was unlawful. Cremona fed the looting for four days. When all things sacred and profane disappeared in the flames, only the temple to Mefitis was left standing before the walls, either protected by the nature of the site or by the goddess herself.
XXXIV.
Hic exitus Cremonae anno ducentesimo octogesimo sexto a primordio sui. condita erat Ti. Sempronio P. Cornelio consulibus, ingruente in Italiam Annibale, propugnaculum adversus Gallos trans Padum agentis et si qua alia vis per Alpis rueret. igitur numero colonorum, opportunitate fluminum, ubere agri, adnexu conubiisque gentium adolevit floruitque, bellis externis intacta, civilibus infelix. Antonius pudore flagitii, crebrescente invidia, edixit ne quis Cremonensem captivum detineret. inritamque praedam militibus effecerat consensus Italiae, emptionem talium mancipiorum aspernantis: occidi coepere; quod ubi enotuit, a propinquis adfinibusque occulte redemptabantur. mox rediit Cremonam reliquus populus: reposita fora templaque magnificentia municipum; et Vespasianus hortabatur.
34.
So ended Cremona in the two hundred and eighty-sixth year since its birth. It had been founded by the consuls Tiberius Sempronius and Publius Cornelius, at the time Hannibal was bearing down on Italy, to be a barrier against the Gauls settled north of the Po or against other incursions breaking through the Alps. Owing to the large numbers of colonists, the advantageous presence of rivers, the fertility of the soil, the ties formed by associations and marriages with other populations, Cremona grew and prospered. Spared by foreign wars it succumbed to civil strife. Antonius, ashamed of this horrid crime and faced with growing discontent, issued a decree prohibiting anyone from holding captive any native of Cremona. [In fact], such booty had already lost all value to the soldiers, because of the consensus among Italians not to buy slaves who were former citizens of the town. So the soldiers began to murder their prisoners, but as soon as rumors of their impending doom spread, these were secretly ransomed with the help of kinfolk or relatives by marriage. By and by what remained of the people of Cremona returned to the town. The temples and public squares were restored, thanks to the generosity of neighboring communities. Also, Vespasian kept sending words of encouragement.
XXXV.
Ceterum adsidere sepultae urbis ruinis noxia tabo humus haud diu permisit. ad tertium lapidem progressi vagos paventisque Vitellianos, sua quemque apud signa, componunt; et victae legiones, ne manente adhuc civili bello ambigue agerent, per Illyricum dispersae. in Britanniam inde et Hispanias nuntios famamque, in Galliam Iulium Calenum tribunum, in Germaniam Alpinium Montanum praefectum cohortis, quod hic Trevir, Calenus Aeduus, uterque Vitelliani fuerant, ostentui misere. simul transitus Alpium praesidiis occupati, suspecta Germania, tamquam in auxilium Vitellii accingeretur.
35.
Under no circumstances was it possible for the Flavian army to remain much longer among the ruins of a town buried in ashes. The ground was made infectious by putrid blood. They moved out three miles from Cremona and collected the scattered and demoralized Vitellian forces, placing each man back with his unit. The defeated legions were then dispersed through Illyricum to keep them from engaging in suspect activities while the civil war was still on. Then messengers were dispatched with the news to Britain and Spain. Julius Colenus, a tribune, was sent to Gaul and Alpinius Montanus, the prefect of a cohort, to Germany, because he was a Trevir and Calenus an Aeduan. Both had sided with Vitellius and were chosen to underscore the Flavian success. At the same time the Alpine passes were occupied, for fear that Germany might intervene to help Vitellius.
XXXVI.
At Vitellius profecto Caecina, cum Fabium Valentem paucis post diebus ad bellum impulisset, curis luxum obtendebat: non parare arma, non adloquio exercitioque militem firmare, non in ore vulgi agere, sed umbraculis hortorum abditus, ut ignava animalia, quibus si cibum suggeras, iacent torpentque, praeterita instantia futura pari oblivione dimiserat. atque illum in nemore Aricino desidem et marcentem proditio Lucilii Bassi ac defectio classis Ravennatis perculit; nec multo post de Caecina adfertur mixtus gaudio dolor et descivisse et ab exercitu vinctum. plus apud socordem animum laetitia quam cura valuit. multa cum exultatione in urbem revectus frequenti contione pietatem militum laudibus cumulat; Publilium Sabinum praetorii praefectum ob amicitiam Caecinae vinciri iubet, substituto in locum eius Alfeno Varo.
36.
Turning now to Vitellius, a few days after Caecina had departed he had prevailed on Valens to leave for war, then he gave himself up to dissipation in an effort to conceal his anxiety. He made no preparations for the struggle ahead, did not address the troops nor keep them trained to strengthen morale, and abstained from appearing in public. Instead, out of view in the shady recesses of his gardens, he was like those slothful beasts which lie inactive and sluggish once you gorge them with food. He had dismissed from his mind the past, the present, and the future with equal indifference. And it was while loitering lazy and apathetic among the bowers of Aricia that the news of Lucilius Bassus’ treason and of the defection of the Ravenna fleet shook him awake. Soon after, reports came in that Caecina had deserted, but that the troops had arrested him. It was both good news and bad news, yet in an obtuse nature like his, joy prevailed by far over grief. He returned exultant to Rome and to a packed assembly he praised the loyalty of his troops to the sky. He gave orders to jail Publius Sabinus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard, in view of his intimacy with Caecina, and replaced him with Alfenus Varus.
XXXVII.
Mox senatum composita in magnificentiam oratione adlocutus, exquisitis patrum adulationibus attollitur. initium atrocis in Caecinam sententiae a L. Vitellio factum; dein ceteri composita indignatione, quod consul rem publicam, dux imperatorem, tantis opibus tot honoribus cumulatus amicum prodidisset, velut pro Vitellio conquerentes, suum dolorem proferebant. nulla in oratione cuiusquam erga Flavianos duces obtrectatio: errorem imprudentiamque exercituum culpantes, Vespasiani nomen suspensi et vitabundi circumibant, nec defuit qui unum consulatus diem (is enim in locum Caecinae supererat) magno cum inrisu tribuentis accipientisque eblandiretur. pridie kalendas Novembris Rosius Regulus iniit eiuravitque. adnotabant periti numquam antea non abrogato magistratu neque lege lata alium suffectum; nam consul uno die et ante fuerat Caninius Rebilus C. Caesare dictatore, cum belli civilis praemia festinarentur.
37.
Soon after, he addressed the senate in a speech lofty in tone and the senate responded with lavish adulation. A proposal for rigorous measures against Caecina was put forward by Lucius Vitellius, [the emperor’s brother]; then the other senators – pretending to be outraged because Caecina as consul had betrayed the state, as general his emperor, as a friend the man who had heaped honors and wealth on him – appeared to sympathize with Vitellius when in fact they were venting their own frustration. None of the speakers said a disparaging word against the Fabian leaders. All blamed the errors and lack of judgement of the armies, all avoided mentioning Vespasian by name, using very vague and circumspect language. There was even someone who managed to wheedle out of Vitellius the one remaining day of the consulship left vacant by Caecina – a favor that earned both giver and receiver a great deal of contempt: Rosius Regulus both entered and left office on the last day of October. Legal experts remarked that never before had a new consul been appointed in place of another, unless the office was vacated or a new law passed, for a one-day consul had been seen before, namely Caninius Rebilus in Caesar’s time, when there was a hurry to recompense services in the civil war.
XXXVIII.
Nota per eos dies Iunii Blaesi mors et famosa fuit, de qua sic accepimus. gravi corporis morbo aeger Vitellius Servilianis hortis turrim vicino sitam conlucere per noctem crebris luminibus animadvertit. sciscitanti causam apud Caecinam Tuscum epulari multos, praecipuum honore Iunium Blaesum nuntiatur; cetera in maius, de apparatu et solutis in lasciviam animis. nec defuere qui ipsum Tuscum et alios, sed criminosius Blaesum incusarent, quod aegro principe laetos dies ageret. ubi asperatum Vitellium et posse Blaesum perverti satis patuit iis qui principum offensas acriter speculantur, datae L. Vitellio delationis partes. ille infensus Blaeso aemulatione prava, quod eum omni dedecore maculosum egregia fama anteibat, cubiculum imperatoris reserat, filium eius sinu complexus et genibus accidens. causam confusionis quaerenti, non se proprio metu nec sui anxium, sed pro fratre, pro liberis fratris preces lacrimasque attulisse. frustra Vespasianum timeri, quem tot Germanicae legiones, tot provinciae virtute ac fide, tantum denique terrarum ac maris immensis spatiis arceat: in urbe ac sinu cavendum hostem, Iunios Antoniosque avos iactantem, qui se stirpe imperatoria comem ac magnificum militibus ostentet. versas illuc omnium mentis, dum Vitellius amicorum inimicorumque neglegens fovet aemulum principis labores e convivio prospectantem. reddendam pro intempestiva laetitia maestam et funebrem noctem, qua sciat et sentiat vivere Vitellium et imperare et, si quid fato accidat, filium habere.
38.
The death of Junius Blaesus, being revealed at that time, caused quite a stir. Here is what we know. While a serious indisposition was detaining Vitelluius in the Servilian gardens, he noticed that a tall building nearby was illuminated by many lights during the night. When he asked the reason, he was told a large feast was being offered by Caecina Tuscus especially in honor of Junius Blaesus. Vitellius was also given an overblown account of the elaborate preparations for the banquet and of the immoderately jovial mood of the guests. Naturally there were some who accused Tuscus himself and the others – but Blaesus with more acrimony than any – of spending time in jollity while the emperor was sick. When it became quite apparent to those who closely spy out the resentments of princes, that Vitellius was vexed and that it was possible to bring Blaesus to ruin, the role of informer was assigned to Lucius Vitellius. He was bitterly hostile to Blaesus from base envy, for the latter, a man of blameless reputation, excelled him, who was marked with every form of depravity. Bursting into the imperial chamber, he took Vitellius’ son in his arms and fell on his knees. To Vitellius asking the cause of such display of emotion, he answered it was not out of personal fear or concern for himself, but for the good of his brother and of his brother’s children that he brought entreaties and tears. There was no cause, he said, to fear Vespasian, when so many legions of Germany, so many stalwart and loyal provinces, and, lastly, such vast expanse of land and sea made his approach impossible. The enemy he must guard against was in Rome, close to his bosom, a man always boasting of his ancestors, be they the Junii or the Antonii, a man who strutted before the troops to show himself gracious and munificent, the scion of imperial stock. All attention was turned to him, while he, Vitellius, neglectful of friends and foes, fostered a rival who watched his prince’s trials from his banquet couch. Such ill-timed gaiety should be repaid with a night of suffering and death, which would make him see and feel that Vitellius was alive and in command, and had a son to take his place should misfortune strike.
XXXIX.
Trepidanti inter scelus metumque, ne dilata Blaesi mors maturam perniciem, palam iussa atrocem invidiam ferret, placuit veneno grassari; addidit facinori fidem notabili gaudio, Blaesum visendo. quin et audita est saevissima Vitellii vox qua se (ipsa enim verba referam) pavisse oculos spectata inimici morte iactavit. Blaeso super claritatem natalium et elegantiam morum fidei obstinatio fuit. integris quoque rebus a Caecina et primoribus partium iam Vitellium aspernantibus ambitus abnuere perseveravit. sanctus, inturbidus, nullius repentini honoris, adeo non principatus adpetens, parum effugerat ne dignus crederetur.
39.
Vitellius, dithering between crime and fear, worried that delaying Blaesus’ death might invite his own downfall or, if he ordered the murder openly, deep hatred against himself, thought it best to use poison. He gave proof of his crime by his excessive joy when paying [the dying] Blaesus a visit. Furthermore, he was overheard making a most damning remark, boasting – I quote his own words– that he had feasted his eyes on the spectacle of his enemy’s death. To nobility of birth and unimpeachable manners Blaesus added steadfast loyalty. Even when the emperor’s position was not yet compromised, he kept rejecting the advances made by Caecina and the party leaders, who were already turning against Vitellius. Righteous, peace-loving, indifferent to the lures of rapid advancement and even more of supreme power, he had done not enough to avoid the danger of being thought worthy of the principate.
XL.
Fabius interim Valens multo ac molli concubinarum spadonumque agmine segnius quam ad bellum incedens, proditam a Lucilio Basso Ravennatem classem pernicibus nuntiis accepit. et si coeptum iter properasset, nutantem Caecinam praevenire aut ante discrimen pugnae adsequi legiones potuisset; nec deerant qui monerent ut cum fidissimis per occultos tramites vitata Ravenna Hostiliam Cremonamve pergeret. aliis placebat accitis ex urbe praetoriis cohortibus valida manu perrumpere: ipse inutili cunctatione agendi tempora consultando consumpsit; mox utrumque consilium aspernatus, quod inter ancipitia deterrimum est, dum media sequitur, nec ausus est satis nec providit.
40.
At this time Fabius Valens, with a vast unmartial train of concubines and eunuchs, was moving on far too slowly for a general going to war, when messengers riding posthaste brought dire news of Bassus’ subversion of the Ravenna fleet. Yet, if he had quickened his pace, he might have steadied the faltering Caecina or joined the legions before the decisive engagement. Some of his officers did in fact advise him to take his best men and, by hidden tracks, make for Hostilia or Cremona, thereby avoiding Ravenna. Others thought it was better for him to send to Rome for the Praetorian cohorts, then to break through the enemy lines with this solid body of troops. Valens himself kept temporizing and wasting all opportunities for action in fruitless discussion. In the end he rejected both proposals and chose a middle course – the worst of decisions in crises. [In doing so,] he was neither audacious nor provident enough.