LXI.
Inter magnorum virorum discrimina, pudendum dictu, Mariccus quidam, e plebe Boiorum, inserere sese fortunae et provocare arma Romana simulatione numinum ausus est. iamque adsertor Galliarum et deus (nam id sibi indiderat) concitis octo milibus hominum proximos Aeduorum pagos trahebat, cum gravissima civitas electa iuventute, adiectis a Vitellio cohortibus, fanaticam multitudinem disiecit. captus in eo proelio Mariccus; ac mox feris obiectus quia non laniabatur, stolidum vulgus inviolabilem credebat, donec spectante Vitellio interfectus est.
61.
While great men ran the risk of thus losing their lives, a certain Mariccus (I am embarassed to have to mention this), a lowborn member of the Boii, dared interfere with Fortune’s affairs and challenge the Roman army by pretending to be divinely inspired. Already this champion of Gallic freedom, this god –for he had given himself that title—had raised eight thousand men and attracted to his cause the nearest districts of the Aedui, when this most dependable of nations sent out an elite force of its young men, supplemented by cohorts provided by Vitellius, to disperse the fanatical mob. Taken prisoner in the battle, he was thrown to wild beasts but was not torn to pieces, a marvel the senseless populace attributed to his inviolability, until he was killed in the presence of Vitellius himself.
LXII.
Nec ultra in defectores aut bona cuiusquam saevitum: rata fuere eorum qui acie Othoniana ceciderant, testamenta aut lex intestatis: prorsus, si luxuriae temperaret, avaritiam non timeres. epularum foeda et inexplebilis libido: ex urbe atque Italia inritamenta gulae gestabantur, strepentibus ab utroque mari itineribus; exhausti conviviorum apparatibus principes civitatum; vastabantur ipsae civitates; degenerabat a labore ac virtute miles adsuetudine voluptatum et contemptu ducis. praemisit in urbem edictum quo vocabulum Augusti differret, Caesaris non reciperet, cum de potestate nihil detraheret. pulsi Italia mathematici; cautum severe ne equites Romani ludo et harena polluerentur. priores id principes pecunia et saepius vi perpulerant, ac pleraque municipia et coloniae aemulabantur corruptissimum quemque adulescentium pretio inlicere.
62.
The harsh measures against the Othonian rebels or anyone’s property went no further. The wills of those killed fighting for Otho were ratified and for those fallen without a will the law of intestacy was applied. All in all, had Vitellius kept his gluttony in check, his rapacity need not have been feared. But he had an unseemly and insatiable passion for the table. From the capital and from Italy delicacies were fetched to stimulate his appetite. The roads from the sea on either side of Italy reverberated [with the comings and goings of transport vehicles]. The notables of every town [he passed through] lost fortunes in peparing feasts to entertain him, nay, the communities themselves were beggared. The soldiers, degraded by habitual pleasures and by the contempt they felt for their chief, lost all their pluck and endurance. He sent ahead a proclamation to Rome by which he deferred the title of Augustus and refused that of Caesar, albeit without abridging any of his powers. Astrologers were banned from Italy and severe warnings were issued to the equestrian order not to disgrace themselves by frequenting gladiatorial schools or the arena. Former emperors had encouraged the practice by offering money or even by use of force, and many provincial towns and colonies vied with one another in luring their most dissolute young men with promises of gold.
LXIII.
Sed Vitellius adventu fratris et inrepentibus dominationis magistris superbior et atrocior occidi Dolabellam iussit, quem in coloniam Aquinatem sepositum ab Othone rettulimus. Dolabella audita morte Othonis urbem introierat: id ei Plancius Varus praetura functus, ex intimis Dolabellae amicis, apud Flavium Sabinum praefectum urbis obiecit, tamquam rupta custodia ducem se victis partibus ostentasset; addidit temptatam cohortem quae Ostiae ageret; nec ullis tantorum criminum probationibus in paenitentiam versus seram veniam post scelus quaerebat. cunctantem super tanta re Flavium Sabinum Triaria L. Vitellii uxor, ultra feminam ferox, terruit ne periculo principis famam clementiae adfectaret. Sabinus suopte ingenio mitis, ubi formido incessisset, facilis mutatu et in alieno discrimine sibi pavens, ne adlevasse videretur, impulit ruentem.
63.
Vitellius, however, was becoming more cruel and intransigent under the influence of his brother [Lucius], who had joined him, and of those who worm their way into favor to give lessons in despotism. He gave orders for the execution of Dolabella, who, as mentioned earlier, had been relegated by Otho to the colony of Aquinum and who, on hearing of Otho’s death, had returned to Rome. Plancius Varus, an ex-praetor and one of Dolabella’s closest friends, denounced him to the city prefect, Flavius Sabinus, for breaking out of confinement, claiming he had done so to offer himself as a leader of the defeated Othonian party, adding that the cohort stationed at Ostia had been tampered with. Since no evidence could be found for such crimes, Varus felt remorse for his action and sought a belated pardon [for his friend] after irreparable harm [had been done]. Flavius Sabinus was reluctant to act in view of the gravity of the matter, but Triara, the wife of the emperor’s brother Lucius Vitellius, and a woman merciless beyond her sex, warned him not to seek fame for clemency at the emperor’s peril. Sabinus was a mild man by nature, but was easily swayed when frightened. Fearing for himself in a danger not his own, he hastened Dolabella’s fall to avoid giving the impression he had tried to help him.
LXIV.
Igitur Vitellius metu et odio quod Petroniam uxorem eius mox Dolabella in matrimonium accepisset, vocatum per epistulas vitata Flaminiae viae celebritate devertere Interamnium atque ibi interfici iussit. longum interfectori visum: in itinere ac taberna proiectum humi iugulavit, magna cum invidia novi principatus, cuius hoc primum specimen noscebatur. et Triariae licentiam modestum e proximo exemplum onerabat, Galeria imperatoris uxor non immixta tristibus; et pari probitate mater Vitelliorum Sextilia, antiqui moris: dixisse quin etiam ad primas filii sui epistulas ferebatur, non Germanicum a se sed Vitellium genitum. nec ullis postea fortunae inlecebris aut ambitu civitatis in gaudium evicta domus suae tantum adversa sensit.
64.
So Vitellius, who not only feared Dolabella but also hated him for marrying his former wife Petronia soon after his divorce, summoned him by letter ordering him to avoid the congested Flaminian Way and make a detour to Interamnium, where he had arranged for his murder. The assassin thought the journey too long: on the way he stopped at a tavern, threw Dolabella on the ground and cut his throat, a brutal act that reflected badly on the new principate and first revealed Vitellius’ style of government. Triara’s shameless arrogance was made stark by a model of decency near her, the emperor’s wife Galeria, who never allowed herself any involvement in these ghastly doings. Of equal probity was Sextilia, the mother of the two Vitellii, a woman of ancient morals. It was even said that on receiving the first letters from her son, [as emperor], she exclaimed she had brought into the world no Germanicus, but a Vitellius. And even later she was never moved to joy by Fortune’s seductions or the city’s devotion and only felt the impending doom of her house.
LXV.
Digressum a Luguduno Vitellium Cluvius Rufus adsequitur omissa Hispania, laetitiam et gratulationem vultu ferens, animo anxius et petitum se criminationibus gnarus. Hilarus Caesaris libertus detulerat tamquam audito Vitellii et Othonis principatu propriam ipse potentiam et possessionem Hispaniarum temptasset, eoque diplomatibus nullum principem praescripsisset; [et] interpretabatur quaedam ex orationibus eius contumeliosa in Vitellium et pro se ipso popularia. auctoritas Cluvii praevaluit ut puniri ultro libertum suum Vitellius iuberet. Cluvius comitatui principis adiectus, non adempta Hispania, quam rexit absens exemplo L. [Arrunti. sed] Arruntium Tiberius Caesar ob metum, Vitellius Cluvium nulla formidine retinebat. non idem Trebellio Maximo honos: profugerat Britannia ob iracundiam militum; missus est in locum eius Vettius Bolanus e praesentibus.
65.
After Vitellius had set out from Lugdunum, he was joined by Cluvius Rufus, who had left Spain. Though he bore a joyful congratulatory air, he was anxious at heart, knowing he was the target of serious accusations. Hilarus, an imperial freedman, had denounced him, alleging that on hearing of Otho’s death and of Vitellius’ bid for the throne, he had tried to secure power for himself by holding on to Spain. For that reason he had not written the name of any emperor at the head of travel vouchers. Hilarus also construed certain passages in Cluvius’ speeches as abusive of Vitellius and intended to curry popular favor for his own ends. Cluvius’ prestige carried such weight that Vitellius even had his own freedman disciplined and admitted Cluvius to his suite, allowing him to retain the province of Spain, which he governed in absentia on the example of Lucius Arruntius. But whereas Arruntius was kept in Rome by Tiberius Caesar out of fear, Vitellius had full trust in Cluvius. The same honor was denied Trebellius Maximus, who had left Britain driven away by his troops’ anger. In his place Vitellius sent Vettius Bolanus, a member of his retinue.
LVI.
Angebat Vitellium victarum legionum haudquaquam fractus animus. sparsae per Italiam et victoribus permixtae hostilia loquebantur, praecipua quartadecimanorum ferocia, qui se victos abnuebant: quippe Bedriacensi acie vexillariis tantum pulsis viris legionis non adfuisse. remitti eos in Britanniam, unde a Nerone exciti erant, placuit atque interim Batavorum cohortis una tendere ob veterem adversus quartadecimanos discordiam. nec diu in tantis armatorum odiis quies fuit: Augustae Taurinorum, dum opificem quendam Batavus ut fraudatorem insectatur, legionarius ut hospitem tuetur, sui cuique commilitones adgregati a conviciis ad caedem transiere. et proelium atrox arsisset, ni duae praetoriae cohortes causam quartadecimanorum secutae his fiduciam et metum Batavis fecissent: quos Vitellius agmini suo iungi ut fidos, legionem Grais Alpibus traductam eo flexu itineris ire iubet quo Viennam vitarent; namque et Viennenses timebantur. nocte, qua proficiscebatur legio, relictis passim ignibus pars Taurinae coloniae ambusta, quod damnum, ut pleraque belli mala, maioribus aliarum urbium cladibus oblitteratum. quartadecimani postquam Alpibus degressi sunt, seditiosissimus quisque signa Viennam ferebant: consensu meliorum conpressi et legio in Britanniam transvecta.
66.
What gave Vitellius cause for alarm was the undaunted spirit of the defeated legions. Dispersed throughout Italy, they mingled with the victors and spread subversion, the Fourteenth legion with special animosity, whose soldiers refused to admit they had been beaten, in fact pointing out that the legion’s main force had been absent from the battle at Bedriacum and that only a few of their detached units had been repulsed. Vitellius decided to send these troops back to England, wherefrom Nero had summoned them and meanwhile to have them share the same camp with the Batavian cohorts, on account of the deep-rooted resentment of the latter against the men of the Fourteenth. The truce did not last long among this mass of armed men so violently hostile to one another. At [Colonia] Augusta Taurinorum, a Batavian soldier was railing at a local artisan, accusing him of being a thief, when a legionary intervened in defense of the man who was his host. More Batavians and more legionaries soon gathered around and insults quickly gave way to blows. A bloody battle would have ensued had not two praetorian cohorts, by supporting the men of the legion, heartened one side and discouraged the other. Vitellius then had the Batavians join his train, being men of proven devotion, and ordered the legion to pass over the Graian Alps and from there take a route that would allow them to avoid Vienna, for he mistrusted the Viennese as well. The night the legion left, fires were left burning everywhere and part of the colony of the Taurini went up in flames, but the disaster, like all calamities of war, was eclipsed by greater evils suffered by other cities. After the descent of the Alps [into Gaul], the most turbulent elements of the Fourteenth legion were making for Vienna, but were restrained by the concerted efforts of the better soldiers. Thus the legion passed into Britain.
LVII.
Proximus Vitellio e praetoriis cohortibus metus erat. separati primum, deinde addito honestae missionis lenimento, arma ad tribunos suos deferebant, donec motum a Vespasiano bellum crebresceret: tum resumpta militia robur Flavianarum partium fuere. prima classicorum legio in Hispaniam missa ut pace et otio mitesceret, undecima ac septima suis hibernis redditae, tertiadecimani struere amphitheatra iussi; nam Caecina Cremonae, Valens Bononiae spectaculum gladiatorum edere parabant, numquam ita ad curas intento Vitellio ut voluptatum oblivisceretur.
67.
[After the legions], the next souce of fear for Vitellius were the praetorian cohorts. First they were kept separate, then, mollified by the offer of an honorable discharge, they began to turn in their weapons to the tribunes, but as the war started by Vespasian gained momentum, they resumed service and became the mainstay of the Flavian army. The First legion of marine infantry was sent to Spain, in the hope idleness and peace would tame its spirit. The Eleventh and Seventh were returned to their winter quarters and the men of the Thirteenth were ordered to build amphitheatres, for gladiatorial shows were being prepared by Caecina at Cremona and Valens at Bononia, Vitellius being never so engrossed in affairs of state as to forget his pleasures.
LXVIII.
Et [victas] quidem partis modeste distraxerat: apud victores orta seditio, ludicro initio ni numerus caesorum invidiam Vitellio auxisset. discubuerat Vitellius Ticini adhibito ad epulas Verginio. legati tribunique ex moribus imperatorum severitatem aemulantur vel tempestivis conviviis gaudent; proinde miles intentus aut licenter agit. apud Vitellium omnia indisposita, temulenta, pervigiliis ac bacchanalibus quam disciplinae et castris propiora. igitur duobus militibus, altero legionis quintae, altero e Galli auxiliaribus, per lasciviam ad certamen luctandi accensis, postquam legionarius prociderat, insultante Gallo et iis qui ad spectandum convenerant in studia diductis, erupere legionarii in perniciem auxiliorum ac duae cohortes interfectae. remedium tumultus fuit alius tumultus. pulvis procul et arma aspiciebantur: conclamatum repente quartam decimam legionem verso itinere ad proelium venire; sed erant agminis coactores: agniti dempsere sollicitudinem. interim Verginii servus forte obvius ut percussor Vitellii insimulatur: et ruebat ad convivium miles, mortem Verginii exposcens. ne Vitellius quidem, quamquam ad omnis suspiciones pavidus, de innocentia eius dubitavit: aegre tamen cohibiti qui exitium consularis et quondam ducis sui flagitabant. nec quemquam saepius quam Verginium omnis seditio infestavit: manebat admiratio viri et fama, set oderant ut fastiditi.
68.
Without a doubt Vitellius had succeded in dispersing the defeated forces without violence. As for the victors, a riot broke out among them, begun almost in jest, but which only added to Vitellius’ discredit, because of the massacre that followed. He was dining at Ticinum and had invited Verginius to the banquet. Legion commanders and their officers take their cue from the conduct of the emperors and either emulate their severity or take their pleasures in long elaborate banquets; their soldiers likewise are either well-behaved or rowdy. In Vitellius’ army, all was disorder and drunkenness, a climate more in keeping with nocturnal orgies and wild bacchanals than with the discipline of an armed camp. So it came about that two soldiers, one from the Fifth legion, the other a Gallic auxiliary, had a wrestling match to measure their strength, first in fun, then becoming more and more enraged [as they struggled]. The legionary went down and, when the Gaul scoffed at him and those who had gathered around sided with the one or the other, the legionaries suddenly hurled themselves at the auxiliaries with murderous intent, wiping out two cohorts. The uproar was brought under control by another disturbance. When a cloud of dust and the glint of arms were spotted in the distance, at once a shout went up that the Fourteenth legion had turned back and was coming to fight. In fact they were troops of the legion’s rearguard in charge of collecting strugglers and as soon as they were recognized, the commotion quieted down. Meanwhile a slave of Verginius, who happened to pass by, was accused of planning to assassinate Vitellius and the soldiers rushed to the banquet hall clamoring for Verginius’ death. Not even Vitellius, who trembled at the least suspicion, doubted for a moment of Verginius’ innocence, yet it was with great difficulty that he managed to contain the troops bent on murdering this ex-consul and their own former general. In fact, no one was plagued by all kinds of mutiny more often than Verginius: the soldiers could not help admiring him and his conduct, but resented him for disdaining their offer of the empire.
LXIX.
Postero die Vitellius senatus legatione, quam ibi opperiri iusserat, audita transgressus in castra ultro pietatem militum conlaudavit, frementibus auxiliis tantum impunitatis atque adrogantiae legionariis accessisse. Batavorum cohortes, ne quid truculentius auderent, in Germaniam remissae, principium interno simul externoque bello parantibus fatis. reddita civitatibus Gallorum auxilia, ingens numerus et prima statim defectione inter inania belli adsumptus. ceterum ut largitionibus adfectae iam imperii opes sufficerent, amputari legionum auxiliorumque numeros iubet vetitis supplementis; et promiscae missiones offerebantur. exitiabile id rei publicae, ingratum militi, cui eadem munia inter paucos periculaque ac labor crebrius redibant: et vires luxu corrumpebantur, contra veterem disciplinam et instituta maiorum apud quos virtute quam pecunia res Romana melius stetit.
69.
Next day Vitellius gave audience to delegates from the Senate, whom he had directed to wait on him there, [at Ticinum], then went to the camp and even praised the troops for their devotion, to the dismay of the auxiliaries, indignant that the monstrous arrogance of the legionaries should go unpunished. The cohorts of the Batavi, out of fear of some brutal reprisal on their part, were sent back to Germany, that action being the seed of a war both internal and foreign that fate was preparing. The Gallic auxiliaries were returned to their states, an impressive number of men brought in at the start of Vitellius’ revolt, to add to the display of strength. For the rest, to ensure that the finances of the empire, already stretched by gratuities, might suffice [for running the government], Vitellius ordered that the number of legion and of auxiliary units be reduced and vetoed further recruiting. At the same time discharge was offered to any soldier without restrictions. These measures were disastrous to the state and odious to the soldiers, on a smaller number of whom now fell the sams duties, so that danger and toil came to them more often. Their excesses also sapped their vigor, in contrast to the discipline and principles practised by our ancestors, in whose hands the state found a more solid foundation in virtue than in money.
LXX.
Inde Vitellius Cremonam flexit et spectato munere Caecinae insistere Bedriacensibus campis ac vestigia recentis victoriae lustrare oculis concupivit, foedum atque atrox spectaculum. intra quadragensimum pugnae diem lacera corpora, trunci artus, putres virorum equorumque formae, infecta tabo humus, protritis arboribus ac frugibus dira vastitas. nec minus inhumana pars viae quam Cremonenses lauru rosaque constraverant, extructis altaribus caesisque victimis regium in morem; quae laeta in praesens mox perniciem ipsis fecere. aderant Valens et Caecina, monstrabantque pugnae locos: hinc inrupisse legionum agmen, hinc equites coortos, inde circumfusas auxiliorum manus: iam tribuni praefectique, sua quisque facta extollentes, falsa vera aut maiora vero miscebant. vulgus quoque militum clamore et gaudio deflectere via, spatia certaminum recognoscere, aggerem armorum, strues corporum intueri mirari; et erant quos varia sors rerum lacrimaeque et misericordia subiret. at non Vitellius flexit oculos nec tot milia insepultorum civium exhorruit: laetus ultro et tam propinquae sortis ignarus instaurabat sacrum dis loci.
70.
From Ticinum Vitellius made a detour to reach Cremona, where he attended the gladiatorial games prepared by Caecina. Next he expressed the desire to set foot on the open fields around Bedriacum in order to view with his own eyes the vestiges of his recent victory. The sight was hideous and terrifying. Almost forty days after the battle one still saw mangled bodies everywhere, severed limbs, decomposing corpses of men and horses, now mere shapes on the ground, the soil tainted with putrid ooze, a sinister devastation of overthrown trees and crops trampled flat. No less revolting was the spectacle that part of the road presented where the Cremonese had strewn laurel branched and roses, erected altars, and slain victims, as if welcoming an eastern despot. But their present adulation was to bring ruin to themselves later. Valens and Caecina accompanied Vitellius, pointing out the places of the battle. From here had the columns of infantry rushed to the attack; from this place had the cavalry charge started; from over there had the auxiliaries moved to surround the [the enemy]. Now tribunes and prefects, each exalting his own deeds of valor, mixed truth and fiction, or at least stretched the facts. Throngs of soldiers left the high road with cries of joy to revisit the spots where they had fought and stared in wonder at the trophy of captured arms and at the mounds of corpses. There were some to whom thoughts of the caprices of human fortune filled with pity and moved to tears. But Vitellius never averted his eyes from the ghastly scene of so many thousands of unburied citizens, never felt its horror, nay, he rejoiced in it, little knowing how near his own end was, and even erected a sanctuary in token of gratitude to the deity of the place.