LXXI.
Vixdum regresso in Capitolium Martiale furens miles aderat, nullo duce, sibi quisque auctor. cito agmine forum et imminentia foro templa praetervecti erigunt aciem per adversum collem usque ad primas Capitolinae arcis fores. erant antiquitus porticus in latere clivi dextrae subeuntibus, in quarum tectum egressi saxis tegulisque Vitellianos obruebant. neque illis manus nisi gladiis armatae, et arcessere tormenta aut missilia tela longum videbatur: faces in prominentem porticum iecere et sequebantur ignem ambustasque Capitolii fores penetrassent, ni Sabinus revulsas undique statuas, decora maiorum, in ipso aditu vice muri obiecisset. tum diversos Capitolii aditus invadunt iuxta lucum asyli et qua Tarpeia rupes centum gradibus aditur. improvisa utraque vis; propior atque acrior per asylum ingruebat. nec sisti poterant scandentes per coniuncta aedificia, quae ut in multa pace in altum edita solum Capitolii aequabant. hic ambigitur, ignem tectis obpugnatores iniecerint, an obsessi, quae crebrior fama, dum nitentis ac progressos depellunt. inde lapsus ignis in porticus adpositas aedibus; mox sustinentes fastigium aquilae vetere ligno traxerunt flammam alueruntque. sic Capitolium clausis foribus indefensum et indireptum conflagravit.
71.
Martialis had hardly returned to the Capitol when the enraged Vitellian soldiers came into view. They had no leader, each acted on his own; at a run they went past the Forum and the temples that overlooked it, then in battle formation they advanced up the slope as far as the first gate of the Capitoline citadel. There was in former times, on the right as one goes up the hill, a series of porticos on the roofs of which the defenders had taken position and were now pelting the Vitellians with stones and tiles. These had no other weapons than their swords, but thought it would take too long to bring up machines and missile weapons. [Instead] they threw brands at the porticoes jutting out above, and then followed the fire as it advanced. They would have forced the charred gates of the Capitol, if Sabinus had not torn from their bases all the statues he could find –raised in honor of our ancestors- and thrown them across the entrance as a barricade. Next the Vitellians assailed the approaches at either end of the Capitol, one near the grove of the Asylum, the other where the Tarpeian Rock is reached by a hundred steps. Both assaults were unexpected, but the one along the Asylum was closer and more threatening. The Flavians were unable to stop those who had climbed up the buildings located next [to the Capitol], the height of which during decades of peace had so risen that their roofs were on a level with the floor of the Capitol. There is doubt at this point whether it was the besiegers who threw fire onto the roofs or, according to the more accepted tradition, the besieged in their attempt to dislodge the attackers who were clambering up and advancing. From these buildings the fire spread to the shrines adjoining the temple. Soon the rafters supporting the roofs and made of old timber attracted the flames and fed them. So it was that the Capitol burnt to the ground with its doors closed. No one protected it, but no one plundered it.
LXXII.
Id facinus post conditam urbem luctuosissimum foedissimumque rei publicae populi Romani accidit, nullo externo hoste, propitiis, si per mores nostros liceret, deis, sedem Iovis Optimi Maximi auspicato a maioribus pignus imperii conditam, quam non Porsenna dedita urbe neque Galli capta temerare potuissent, furore principum excindi. arserat et ante Capitolium civili bello, sed fraude privata: nunc palam obsessum, palam incensum, quibus armorum causis? quo tantae cladis pretio stetit? pro patria bellavimus? voverat Tarquinius Priscus rex bello Sabino, ieceratque fundamenta spe magis futurae magnitudinis quam quo modicae adhuc populi Romani res sufficerent. mox Servius Tullius sociorum studio, dein Tarquinius Superbus capta Suessa Pometia hostium spoliis extruxere. sed gloria operis libertati reservata: pulsis regibus Horatius Pulvillus iterum consul dedicavit ea magnificentia quam immensae postea populi Romani opes ornarent potius quam augerent. isdem rursus vestigiis situm est, postquam interiecto quadringentorum quindecim annorum spatio L. Scipione C. Norbano consulibus flagraverat. curam victor Sulla suscepit, neque tamen dedicavit: hoc solum felicitati eius negatum. Lutatii Catuli nomen inter tanta Caesarum opera usque ad Vitellium mansit. ea tunc aedes cremabatur.
72.
This crime was the most deplorable, the most atrocious that the republic of the Roman people had ever suffered since its inception. Though no external enemy was at our doors, though the gods were propitious –if our perverse conduct would only have allowed it- it came to pass that the seat of Jupiter Optimus Maximus was destroyed by the frenzy of our emperors. Yet neither Porsenna, when the city had surrendered, nor the Gauls when they seized it, would desecrate this temple founded by our forefathers with solemn auspices to be the pledge of empire. To be sure, the Capitol had burned before in a civil war, but at the criminal hands of private citizens. This time it was openly laid siege to, openly set on fire, for what military reason? What was the gain from so great a disaster? Was the fight in defense of our country? King Tarquinius Priscus had vowed to build it in the Sabine war and had laid the foundations relying more on the expectations of future greatness than on what the meager resources of the Roman people could provide. Later Servius Tullius raised the building thanks to the generous assistance of the allies, and after him Tarquinius Superbus with the spoils of the enemy following the capture of Suessa Pometia. But the honor of completing the work was reserved for the age of liberty. After the kings were expelled, Horatius Pulvillus dedicated the temple in his second consulship with such sumptuousness that later the immense resources of the Roman people could only embellish than add to its splendor. It was rebuilt on the same site, after an interval of four hundred and fifteen years, when it burned down during the consulate of Lucius Scipio and Gaius Norbanus. The victorious Sulla himself took on the task, though he did not live long enough to dedicate it, the only thing his good fortune denied him. The name of Lutatius Catulus, [the man who dedicated the new temple], remained inscribed down to Vitellius’ time amongst the many great embellishments of the Capitol contributed by the Caesars. Such was the temple that now went up in flames.
LXXIII.
Sed plus pavoris obsessis quam obsessoribus intulit. quippe Vitellianus miles neque astu neque constantia inter dubia indigebat: ex diverso trepidi milites, dux segnis et velut captus animi non lingua, non auribus competere, neque alienis consiliis regi neque sua expedire, huc illuc clamoribus hostium circumagi, quae iusserat vetare, quae vetuerat iubere: mox, quod in perditis rebus accidit, omnes praecipere, nemo exequi; postremo abiectis armis fugam et fallendi artis circumspectabant. inrumpunt Vitelliani et cuncta sanguine ferro flammisque miscent. pauci militarium virorum, inter quos maxime insignes Cornelius Martialis, Aemilius Pacensis, Casperius Niger, Didius Scaeva, pugnam ausi obtruncantur. Flavium Sabinum inermem neque fugam coeptantem circumsistunt, et Quintium Atticum consulem, umbra honoris et suamet vanitate monstratum, quod edicta in populum pro Vespasiano magnifica, probrosa adversus Vitellium iecerat. ceteri per varios casus elapsi, quidam servili habitu, alii fide clientium contecti et inter sarcinas abditi. fuere qui excepto Vitellianorum signo, quo inter se noscebantur, ultro rogitantes respondentesve audaciam pro latebra haberent.
73.
But the fire spread more panic among the besieged than among the assailants: indeed the Vitellian soldiers lacked neither cunning nor resolution in the face of danger. Their opponents were unsure of themselves, their leader indecisive, almost dazed, unable to use his voice or to listen. He would not follow the advice of others nor implement his own. Distracted this way and that by the shouts of the attackers, he would forbid what he had just ordered and order what he had just forbidden. Soon, as happens when all is lost, all gave orders, none carried them out. In the end they threw away their arms and began to look about for ways to escape and avoid detection. The Vitellians came on in a furious rush and indiscriminate butchery and burning began. The few professional soldiers who stubbornly resisted, the most notable among them Cornelius Martialis, Aemilius Pacensis, Casperius Niger, Didius Scaeva, were cut down. Flavius Sabinus, unarmed and not attempting to escape, was surrounded and so was the consul Quintus Atticus, made noticeable both by the last glimmer of honor attached to his office and by his own vanity, in that he had [foolishly] rained edicts on the people exalting Vespasian and disparaging Vitellius. The rest of the besieged escaped by various stratagems, some disguised as slaves, others sheltered by the loyalty of dependents and hidden among the clutter of storage rooms. A few, having overheard the password by which the Vitellians recognized one another, and in turn demanding or answering it themselves, used audacity as a means of concealment.
LXXIV.
Domitianus prima inruptione apud aedituum occultatus, sollertia liberti lineo amictu turbae sacricolarum immixtus ignoratusque, apud Cornelium Primum paternum clientem iuxta Velabrum delituit. ac potiente rerum patre, disiecto aeditui contubernio, modicum sacellum Iovi Conservatori aramque posuit casus suos in marmore expressam; mox imperium adeptus Iovi Custodi templum ingens seque in sinu dei sacravit. Sabinus et Atticus onerati catenis et ad Vitellium ducti nequaquam infesto sermone vultuque excipiuntur, frementibus qui ius caedis et praemia navatae operae petebant. clamore a proximis orto sordida pars plebis supplicium Sabini exposcit, minas adulationesque miscet. stantem pro gradibus Palatii Vitellium et preces parantem pervicere ut absisteret: tum confossum laceratumque et absciso capite truncum corpus Sabini in Gemonias trahunt.
74.
As soon as the Vitellians broke into the citadel, Domitian hid himself in the abode of the temple’s guardian. Through the good offices of a freedman and wearing a linen robe he mingled with a crowd of worshippers, then slipped away unmolested to the house of Cornelius Primus, one of his father’s clients, near the Velabrum. After his father became emperor, Domitian demolished the lodge of the temple’s keeper and built a modest chapel to Jupiter the Preserver and an altar portraying his narrow escape in marble. Later, when he himself was emperor, he consecrated a vast temple to Jupiter the Guardian with a sculpted image of himself in the arms of the god. Sabinus and Atticus, weighed down by chains, were taken to Vitellius, who received them with words and looks that were not in the least hostile, in spite of the indignant cries of the bystanders, demanding the right to kill the prisoners and the reward for their part in capturing them. Taking up the clamor of those nearest the emperor, the vilest segment of the multitude loudly demanded the death of Sabinus, mingling threats with flattery. Vitellius, standing before the steps of the palace, was about to intercede, but was forced to withdraw. Then they ran Sabinus through, mangled his body, cut off his head, and dragged his headless corpse to the Gemonian steps.
LXXV.
Hic exitus viri haud sane spernendi. quinque et triginta stipendia in re publica fecerat, domi militiaeque clarus. innocentiam iustitiamque eius non argueres; sermonis nimius erat: id unum septem annis quibus Moesiam, duodecim quibus praefecturam urbis obtinuit, calumniatus est rumor. in fine vitae alii segnem, multi moderatum et civium sanguinis parcum credidere. quod inter omnis constiterit, ante principatum Vespasiani decus domus penes Sabinum erat. caedem eius laetam fuisse Muciano accepimus. ferebant plerique etiam paci consultum dirempta aemulatione inter duos, quorum alter se fratrem imperatoris, alter consortem imperii cogitaret. sed Vitellius consulis supplicium poscenti populo restitit, placatus ac velut vicem reddens, quod interrogantibus quis Capitolium incendisset, se reum Atticus obtulerat eaque confessione, sive aptum tempori mendacium fuit, invidiam crimenque agnovisse et a partibus Vitellii amolitus videbatur.
75.
Such was the end of a man by no means unworthy of respect. He spent thirty-five years in the service of the state and distinguished himself both at home and in the field. His integrity and fair-mindedness cannot be disputed. He had the tendency to talk too much, the one fault public opinion charged him with during the seven years as governor of Moesia and the twelve as prefect of Rome. Towards the end of his life some people thought him inert, but many judged him to be a moderate man, reluctant to shed the blood of citizens. One thing that all allow is that the prestige of his family, before Vespasian became emperor, was in the hands of Sabinus. I have heard that his murder gave Mucianus pleasure and many have even said that Sabinus’ death was a good thing for peace, since it removed the fierce rivalry beteen the two men, one of whom viewed hiself as Vespasian’s brother, the other as the emperor’s partner. As to the consul Quintus Atticus, Vitellius refused to have him executed in response to the wishes of the people. His animosity had vanished and he wanted to render, as it were, service for service, for Atticus had acknowledged himself guilty when asked who had set fire to the capitol. Either that was a lie suited to the necessity of the moment or by that avowal he gave the impression of taking upon himself both the crime and the odium attached to it and to have cleared Vitellius’ party of any blame.
LXXVI.
Isdem diebus L. Vitellius positis apud Feroniam castris excidio Tarracinae imminebat, clausis illic gladiatoribus remigibusque, qui non egredi moenia neque periculum in aperto audebant. praeerat, ut supra memoravimus, Iulianus gladiatoribus, Apollinaris remigibus, lascivia socordiaque gladiatorum magis quam ducum similes. non vigilias agere, non intuta moenium firmare: noctu dieque fluxi et amoena litorum personantes, in ministerium luxus dispersis militibus, de bello tantum inter convivia loquebantur. paucos ante dies discesserat Apinius Tiro donisque ac pecuniis acerbe per municipia conquirendis plus invidiae quam virium partibus addebat.
76.
While this was going on in Rome, Lucius Vitellius had set up camp near Feronia, intent on destroying Terracina, where the gladiators and sailors had shut themselves in, not daring to venture outside the walls and face danger in the open. As I mentioned before, Julianus was at the head of the gladiators, Apollinaris of the marines and by their dissolute conduct and slothful temperament they resembled more gladiators than commanding officers. They did not bother with watches; they took no measures to strengthen the weak parts of the walls. Night and day they plunged into a life of luxury, making the charming beaches echo with their revelries. The soldiers were sent out everywhere to bring in whatever could minister to their excesses and war was mentioned only at the banquet table. Some days earlier Apinius Tiro had left Terracina and the harshness he used in requisitioning money and gifts among the neighboring communities attracted more hatred than support to Vespasian’s cause.
LXXVII.
Interim ad L. Vitellium servus Vergilii Capitonis perfugit pollicitusque, si praesidium acciperet, vacuam arcem traditurum, multa nocte cohortis expeditas summis montium iugis super caput hostium sistit: inde miles ad caedem magis quam ad pugnam decurrit. sternunt inermos aut arma capientis et quosdam somno excitos, cum tenebris, pavore, sonitu tubarum, clamore hostili turbarentur. pauci gladiatorum resistentes neque inulti cecidere: ceteri ad navis ruebant, ubi cuncta pari formidine implicabantur, permixtis paganis, quos nullo discrimine Vitelliani trucidabant. sex Liburnicae inter primum tumultum evasere, in quis praefectus classis Apollinaris; reliquae in litore captae, aut nimio ruentium onere pressas mare hausit. Iulianus ad L. Vitellium perductus et verberibus foedatus in ore eius iugulatur. fuere qui uxorem L. Vitellii Triariam incesserent, tamquam gladio militari cincta inter luctum cladisque expugnatae Tarracinae superbe saeveque egisset. ipse lauream gestae prospere rei ad fratrem misit, percontatus statim regredi se an perdomandae Campaniae insistere iuberet. quod salutare non modo partibus Vespasiani, sed rei publicae fuit. nam si recens victoria miles et super insitam pervicaciam secundis ferox Romam contendisset, haud parva mole certatum nec sine exitio urbis foret. quippe L. Vitellio quamvis infami inerat industria, nec virtutibus, ut boni, sed quo modo pessimus quisque, vitiis valebat.
77.
At about this time, a slave of Vergilius Capito sought refuge with Lucius Vitellius, promising, if troops were given to him, to hand over the undefended fortress of Terracina. Late at night, he led out some cohorts in fighting trim and positioned them on the heights directly above the enemy. The attackers then swooped down to what was more wholesale slaughter than a battle. They cut down men without weapons or about to seize them, some just roused from sleep, while all were thrown into confusion by darkness, stark terror, the blare of trumpets, and the tumultuous shouts of the enemy. A few gladiators opposed resistance and did not die unavenged. The rest rushed to the fleet, where everything became entangled in the same panic, local people mingling with the soldiers and being butchered indiscriminately by the Vitellians. Six Liburnian galleys were able to escape – with them Apollinaris, the fleet prefect, – in the first phase of the attack. The other ships were captured on the beach or were swallowed by the waves under the weight of the multitude trying to get on board. Julianus was dragged before Lucius Vitellius and ignominouly flogged before having his throat cut in the victor’s presence. Some have accused Triaria, L. Vitellius’ wife, of girding on a soldier’s sword and conducting herself in an unbecoming and cruel manner amid the suffering and bloodshed that followed the storming of Terracina. As for L.Vitellius, he sent his brother a dispatch, adorned with laurel leaves, to announce his success and ask whether he should return immediately or put an end to the rebellion in Campania. His decision to await his brother’s orders was a lucky break not only for Vespasian and his party, but for the state as well. For if the troops had made for Rome immediately, fresh from victory and made ruthless by success adding itself to their innate ferocity, the fighting would have been terrible and fatal to the city. Indeed Lucius Vitellius was no laggard, despite his unsavory reputation, but derived his energy not from his virtues, like all good men, but from his vices, as the worst possible villains do.
LXXVIII.
Dum haec in partibus Vitellii geruntur, digressus Narnia Vespasiani exercitus festos Saturni dies Ocriculi per otium agitabat. causa tam pravae morae ut Mucianum opperirentur. nec defuere qui Antonium suspicionibus arguerent tamquam dolo cunctantem post secretas Vitellii epistulas, quibus consulatum et nubilem filiam et dotalis opes pretium proditionis offerebat. alii ficta haec et in gratiam Muciani composita; quidam omnium id ducum consilium fuisse, ostentare potius urbi bellum quam inferre, quando validissimae cohortes a Vitellio descivissent, et abscisis omnibus praesidiis cessurus imperio videbatur: sed cuncta festinatione, deinde ignavia Sabini corrupta, qui sumptis temere armis munitissimam Capitolii arcem et ne magnis quidem exercitibus expugnabilem adversus tris cohortis tueri nequivisset. haud facile quis uni adsignaverit culpam quae omnium fuit. nam et Mucianus ambiguis epistulis victores morabatur, et Antonius praepostero obsequio, vel dum regerit invidiam, crimen meruit; ceterique duces dum peractum bellum putant, finem eius insignivere. ne Petilius quidem Cerialis, cum mille equitibus praemissus, ut transversis itineribus per agrum Sabinum Salaria via urbem introiret, satis maturaverat, donec obsessi Capitolii fama cunctos simul exciret.
78.
While all this was taking place on the Vitellian side, Vespasian’s army, after leaving Narni, was celebrating the festival of Saturn in all tranquillity at Otriculum. The reason they gave for such deplorable delay was that they were waiting for Mucianus’ arrival. The opportunity was not lost by some to cast suspicion on Antonius, alleging he had caused the delay on purpose after receiving a secret letter from Vitellius, in which the emperor was offering him the consulate, the hand of his unmarried daughter, and an opulent dowry as the recompense of treason. Others have dismissed these accusations as pure fiction, concocted to gain Mucianus’ favor. Some say the delay was part of a general plan to frighten Rome with the prospect of war, instead of directly visiting war on her, since the pick of Vitellius’ cohorts had already deserted and it was evident that, without support, he would soon abdicate. [They say] the whole wait-and-see plan had been regrettably ruined by the hasty intervention and gross ineptitude of Sabinus, who, after rashly taking up arms, had not been able to hold the citadel on Capitol hill – impregnable even to large armies – against a mere three cohorts. It would be difficult to impute to any one leader a blame that was shared by all. In fact, Mucianus slowed down the victorious troops by his ambiguous messages; Antonius deserved censure by his misguided compliance with Mucianus’ suggestions or by trying by his obedience to palm off responsibitity on him; as to the other generals, their belief that the war was over contributed to make its final stage sadly famous. Even Petilius Cerialis, sent ahead with a thousand troopers with orders to cut across the Sabine territory by the shortest road and enter Rome from the Via Salaria, did not advance with sufficient speed, until the news that the Capitol was under attack jolted everyone into action at the same time.
LXXIX.
Antonius per Flaminiam ad Saxa rubra multo iam noctis serum auxilium venit. illic interfectum Sabinum, conflagrasse Capitolium, tremere urbem, maesta omnia accepit; plebem quoque et servitia pro Vitellio armari nuntiabatur. et Petilio Ceriali equestre proelium adversum fuerat; namque incautum et tamquam ad victos ruentem Vitelliani, interiectus equiti pedes, excepere. pugnatum haud procul urbe inter aedificia hortosque et anfractus viarum, quae gnara Vitellianis, incomperta hostibus metum fecerant. neque omnis eques concors, adiunctis quibusdam, qui nuper apud Narniam dediti fortunam partium speculabantur. capitur praefectus alae Iulius Flavianus; ceteri foeda fuga consternantur, non ultra Fidenas secutis victoribus.
79.
Antonius followed the Via Flaminia and arrived at Rubra Saxa well into the night, too late to be of help. There he was told of Sabinus’ murder, of the burning of the Capitol, of the state of panic in Rome, in short all the dreadful news. Reports came in that even the people and the slaves were arming to support Vitellius. In addition, Petilius Cerialis had been worsted in a cavalry clash: a mixed force of Vitellian infantry and cavalry had intercepted him while he recklessly rushed forward, as if the enemy were already beaten. The fighting occurred not far from the city among the buildings, the gardens, and in the twists and turns of narrow streets. These places, familiar to the Vitellians, were unknown to their adversaries and filled them with fear. Moreover, Cerialis’ men were not all united in purpose. Some new members to the force came from the troops that had before surrendered at Narnia and these watched closely the fortunes of both parties, reluctant to engage. The prefect of a cavalry squadron, Julius Flavianus, was captured. The rest of the force fled in unseemly disorder, but were not pursued beyond Fidenae.
LXXX.
Eo successu studia populi aucta; vulgus urbanum arma cepit. paucis scuta militaria, plures raptis quod cuique obvium telis signum pugnae exposcunt. agit grates Vitellius et ad tuendam urbem prorumpere iubet. mox vocato senatu deliguntur legati ad exercitus ut praetexto rei publicae concordiam pacemque suaderent. varia legatorum sors fuit. qui Petilio Ceriali occurrerant extremum discrimen adiere, aspernante milite condiciones pacis. vulneratur praetor Arulenus Rusticus: auxit invidiam super violatum legati praetorisque nomen propria dignatio viri. pulsantur comites, occiditur proximus lictor, dimovere turbam ausus: et ni dato a duce praesidio defensi forent, sacrum etiam inter exteras gentis legatorum ius ante ipsa patriae moenia civilis rabies usque in exitium temerasset. aequioribus animis accepti sunt qui ad Antonium venerant, non quia modestior miles, sed duci plus auctoritatis.
80.
This victory increased the fervor of the people. The masses took up arms. A few had shields, most seized what weapons they could find, and all demanded the signal for battle. Vitellius gave them thanks and bade them hurry forth to defend the city. Soon after the senate was summoned and envoys were chosen who were to go to the Flavian army and plead on behalf of peace and concord in the interest of the country. The reception of these delegates varied. Those meeting with Petilius Cerialis ran the greatest risk, as his soldiers refused to listen to any terms of peace. The praetor Arulenus Rusticus was wounded and what made the crime more heinous was not only that the quality of envoy and praetor was violated, but also the man’s high repute. His following was driven off, the lictor nearest him was killed for daring to open a way through the crowd. Had Cerialis not provided the delegation with an armed escort, this insane furor of civil strife would have desecrated with lethal force even the privileged status of ambassadors – sacred among all nations – right before the very walls of their own city. The envoys who came to see Antonius were received more courteously, not because his troops were less hostile, but because he had better control over them.