XI.
Tali rerum statu, cum discordia inter patres, ira apud victos, nulla in victoribus auctoritas, non leges, non princeps in civitate essent, Mucianus urbem ingressus cuncta simul in se traxit. fracta Primi Antonii Varique Arrii potentia, male dissimulata in eos Muciani iracundia, quamvis vultu tegeretur. sed civitas rimandis offensis sagax verterat se transtuleratque: ille unus ambiri, coli. nec deerat ipse, stipatus armatis domos hortosque permutans, apparatu incessu excubiis vim principis amplecti, nomen remittere. plurimum terroris intulit caedes Calpurnii Galeriani. is fuit filius Gai Pisonis, nihil ausus: sed nomen insigne et decora ipsius iuventa rumore vulgi celebrabantur, erantque in civitate adhuc turbida et novis sermonibus laeta qui principatus inanem ei famam circumdarent. iussu Muciani custodia militari cinctus, ne in ipsa urbe conspectior mors foret, ad quadragensimum ab urbe lapidem Appia via fuso per venas sanguine extinguitur. Iulius Priscus praetoriarum sub Vitellio cohortium praefectus se ipse interfecit, pudore magis quam necessitate. Alfenus Varus ignaviae infamiaeque suae superfuit. Asiaticus (is enim libertus) malam potentiam servili supplicio expiavit.
11.
That was the state of things in Rome — dissention in the Senate, resentment within the beaten party, lack of authority among the victors, no laws and no emperor in the city – when Mucianus arrived and took everything into his own hands. The power of Primus Antonius and Varus Arrius was broken, Mucianus’ displeasure towards them being poorly concealed, although he kept his face from showing it. But Rome, with its flair for detecting enmities, had been quick to turn and transfer its servile deference to Mucianus: he only was sought after, he only was fawned on. Nor did he himself fail in his role: by his armed escort, his constant trading one house or garden for another, his style of living, his train of followers, the guards at his door, he was keeping a tight hold on an emperor’s powers, renouncing nothing but the name. No other crime caused as much terror as the murder of Calpurnius Galerianus. He was the son of Gaius Pisus, had never ventured anything [that could compromise him], but his noble name and his handsome young looks attracted the attention of the populace. In a city still simmering with unrest and eager for talk of radical change, there were people that made him the center of empty gossip about his possible accession to the throne. On Mucianus’ orders, he was surrounded by soldiers and, out of fear that his death within the city might attract too much notice, he was taken forty miles outside Rome on the Appian way and executed by letting him bleed to death. Julius Priscus, the praefect of the praetorian cohorts under Vitellius, killed himself more out of shame than because he was forced to. Alfenus Varus survived his cowardice and infamy. As for Asiaticus, who was a freedman, he paid for his pernicious influence by being crucified.
XII.
Isdem diebus crebrescentem cladis Germanicae famam nequaquam maesta civitas excipiebat; caesos exercitus, capta legionum hiberna, descivisse Gallias non ut mala loquebantur. id bellum quibus causis ortum, quanto externarum sociarumque gentium motu flagraverit, altius expediam. Batavi, donec trans Rhenum agebant, pars Chattorum, seditione domestica pulsi extrema Gallicae orae vacua cultoribus simulque insulam iuxta sitam occupavere, quam mare Oceanus a fronte, Rhenus amnis tergum ac latera circumluit. nec opibus (rarum in societate validiorum) attritis viros tantum armaque imperio ministrant, diu Germanicis bellis exerciti, mox aucta per Britanniam gloria, transmissis illuc cohortibus, quas vetere instituto nobilissimi popularium regebant. erat et domi delectus eques, praecipuo nandi studio, arma equosque retinens integris turmis Rhenum perrumpere . . .
12.
During this time the people of Rome were hearing, without the least sign of anxiety, mounting rumors of disasters in Germany. The talk was of armies wiped out, of legionary camps in enemy hands, of Gallic provinces in revolt, as if these were not misfortunes. What causes gave the initial impulse to this war and to what degree it raged while this insurrection of foreign and allied nations lasted, I shall now explain in greater depth. The Batavi were a tribe of the Chatti so long as they lived across the Rhine. Driven out by domestic broils, they settled along the still uninhabited northern edge of Gaul [on the left bank of the Rhine] and also on a nearby island, which is washed in front by the ocean and by the Rhine at its back and on the sides. They are exempt from the tribute – a rare thing in an alliance with a stronger power – and furnish the empire only men and arms. Our wars in Germany gave them ample training and they added to their fame by serving in Britain, where their cohorts had been transferred, commanded by the noblest of their nation, in keeping with ancient custom. They also had an elite body of cavalry at home with exceptional swimming skills that enable them to cross the Rhine in unbroken formation without letting go of their horses and arms…
XIII.
Iulius Paulus et Iulius Civilis regia stirpe multo ceteros anteibant. Paulum Fonteius Capito falso rebellionis crimine interfecit; iniectae Civili catenae, missusque ad Neronem et a Galba absolutus sub Vitellio rursus discrimen adiit, flagitante supplicium eius exercitu: inde causae irarum spesque ex malis nostris. sed Civilis ultra quam barbaris solitum ingenio sollers et Sertorium se aut Annibalem ferens simili oris dehonestamento, ne ut hosti obviam iretur, si a populo Romano palam descivisset, Vespasiani amicitiam studiumque partium praetendit, missis sane ad eum Primi Antonii litteris, quibus avertere accita Vitellio auxilia et tumultus Germanici specie retentare legiones iubebatur. eadem Hordeonius Flaccus praesens monuerat, inclinato in Vespasianum animo et rei publicae cura, cui excidium adventabat, si redintegratum bellum et tot armatorum milia Italiam inrupissent.
13.
Julius Paulus and Claudius Civilis, both of royal stock, were well above the rest of their community. Fronteius Capito had Paulus executed on false accusations of revolt. Civilis was put in chains and sent to Nero, but was absolved by Galba. Under Vitellius he again was in danger for his life because the army was demanding his punishment. From this arose his resentment against Rome and our own internal quarrels gave him hope. But Civilis had a degree of political shrewdness uncommon among barbarians: he conducted himself like another Sertorius or Hannibal, his face being similarly disfigured; fearing he might be pursued as an enemy if he openly rebelled against the Roman people, he pretended to be Vespasian’s friend and a supporter of his cause. Indeed he had received a message from Primus Antonius, enjoining him to divert the auxiliary troops summoned by Vitellius and to try to hold back the legions on pretence of a German insurrection. Hordeonius Flaccus himself had recommended the same strategy, partly because he inclined towards Vitellius, partly out of concern for the state, whose ruin was imminent if war flared up again and so many thousands of men in arms poured down into Italy.
XIV.
Igitur Civilis desciscendi certus, occultato interim altiore consilio, cetera ex eventu iudicaturus, novare res hoc modo coepit. iussu Vitellii Batavorum iuventus ad dilectum vocabatur, quem suapte natura gravem onerabant ministri avaritia ac luxu, senes aut invalidos conquirendo, quos pretio dimitterent: rursus impubes et forma conspicui (et est plerisque procera pueritia) ad stuprum trahebantur. hinc invidia, et compositae seditionis auctores perpulere ut dilectum abnuerent. Civilis primores gentis et promptissimos vulgi specie epularum sacrum in nemus vocatos, ubi nocte ac laetitia incaluisse videt, a laude gloriaque gentis orsus iniurias et raptus et cetera servitii mala enumerat: neque enim societatem, ut olim, sed tamquam mancipia haberi: quando legatum, gravi quidem comitatu et superbo, cum imperio venire? tradi se praefectis centurionibusque: quos ubi spoliis et sanguine expleverint, mutari, exquirique novos sinus et varia praedandi vocabula. instare dilectum quo liberi a parentibus, fratres a fratribus velut supremum dividantur. numquam magis adflictam rem Romanam nec aliud in hibernis quam praedam et senes: attollerent tantum oculos et inania legionum nomina ne pavescerent. at sibi robur peditum equitumque, consanguineos Germanos, Gallias idem cupientis. ne Romanis quidem ingratum id bellum, cuius ambiguam fortunam Vespasiano imputaturos: victoriae rationem non reddi.
14.
His mind now set on revolt, Civilis then kept his ultimate design secret for the present and, while waiting for events to dictate his other plans, he began to stir things up in the manner described below. The Batavian youth was being called to enlist by Vitellius’ orders and the agents were making this naturally irksome obligation even worse by their rapacity and lechery. [On one hand] they would go after the aged and the infirm, then let them off at a price; on the other hand they would drag off mere children because of their good looks –most Batavians are uncommonly tall when still very young—then used them to satisfy their lust. These practices aroused indignation and the leaders of a revolt then being organized incited the people to refuse the conscription. Civilis invited the community leaders and the most daring men among the populace to a meeting in a sacred grove under the pretext of a banquet and when he saw that the night’s revelries had inflamed their spirits, he began by expanding on the glory of the nation, then named one by one the injustices, the extorsions, and the evils of servitude. They were treated, he said, not like allies, as was formerly the case, but as slaves. When did the governor ever come among them with sovereign authority, even if accompanied by an overbearing and insolent retinue? They were left at the mercy of prefects and centurions, and when these had sated themselves with blood and plunder, others would take their place and new pockets to fill would be found together with new names for more exactions. Now they were saddled with the levy, by which children were separated from parents, brothers from brothers, most likely forever. Never had Rome’s fortunes been at a lower ebb. The winter camps had nothing in them but plunder and men too old to fight. Let them only raise their eyes and cease being cowed by the empty name of legions. They themselves, on the contrary, had strong infantry and cavalry available; they also had the support of their German brothers and of the Gallic provinces, all sharing their desires. Even the Romans would regard that war without displeasure: if the war went against the Batavi, they would still gain credit with Vespasian; if they won, there would be no need to justfy victory.
XV.
Magno cum adsensu auditus barbaro ritu et patriis execrationibus universos adigit. missi ad Canninefatis qui consilia sociarent. ea gens partem insulae colit, origine lingua virtute par Batavis; numero superantur. mox occultis nuntiis pellexit Britannica auxilia, Batavorum cohortis missas in Germaniam, ut supra rettulimus, ac tum Mogontiaci agentis. erat in Canninefatibus stolidae audaciae Brinno, claritate natalium insigni; pater eius multa hostilia ausus Gaianarum expeditionum ludibrium impune spreverat. igitur ipso rebellis familiae nomine placuit impositusque scuto more gentis et sustinentium umeris vibratus dux deligitur. statimque accitis Frisiis (transrhenana gens est) duarum cohortium hiberna proxima +occupata+ Oceano inrumpit. nec providerant impetum hostium milites, nec, si providissent, satis virium ad arcendum erat: capta igitur ac direpta castra. dein vagos et pacis modo effusos lixas negotiatoresque Romanos invadunt. simul excidiis castellorum imminebant, quae a praefectis cohortium incensa sunt, quia defendi nequibant. signa vexillaque et quod militum in superiorem insulae partem congregantur, duce Aquilio primipilari, nomen magis exercitus quam robur: quippe viribus cohortium abductis Vitellius e proximis Nerviorum Tungrorumque pagis segnem numerum armis oneraverat.
15.
These words were received with great enthusiasm and Civilis bound the entire assembly to his cause with the barbarian rites and solemn oaths of their nation. Emissaries were sent to the Canninefates to have them join forces with the Batavi. This tribe occupies a part of the island and are similar to the Batavi in origin, language, and warlike qualities, but not as numerous. Then, by secret messages, he won over the auxiliaries from Britain, those Batavian cohorts that had been sent to Germany, as I mentioned earlier, and were then stationed at Mogontiacum. There was among the Canninefates a man of reckless audacity named Brinno; he was of noble descent and his father had on many occasions dared to engage in hostile activities, treating with contempt the buffoonery of Gaius’ expeditions without being punished. Thus, Brinno was a favorite with the people in view of the fame of his rebellious family. Hoisted on a shield after the custom of the nation and swayed to and fro on the shoulders of the bearers, he was elected leader. At once he summoned to his aid the Frisians — a tribe beyond the Rhine – and from the sea he broke into the winter camp of the two nearest cohorts. The soldiers had not expected the onslaught, and even if they had there were not enough forces to repel it, so the camp was captured and looted. Next, the enemy fell on the sutlers and Roman merchands, who moved about and spread everywhere, as they always do in time of peace. Our forts were about to be destroyed, had the prefects of the cohorts not set them on fire, being unable to defend them. The ensigns and standards and whatever troops remained were brought together in the upper portion of the island, an army more in name than in strength under the command of Aquilius, a senior centurion,. Indeed Vitellius had withdrawn all the effective troops of the cohorts and, [to replace them], had encumbered with weapons an inept mob from the nearest Nervian and Tungrian districts.
XVI.
Civilis dolo grassandum ratus incusavit ultro praefectos quod castella deseruissent: se cum cohorte, cui praeerat, Canninefatem tumultum compressurum, illi sua quisque hiberna repeterent. subesse fraudem consilio et dispersas cohortis facilius opprimi, nec Brinnonem ducem eius belli, sed Civilem esse patuit, erumpentibus paulatim indiciis, quae Germani, laeta bello gens, non diu occultaverant. ubi insidiae parum cessere, ad vim transgressus Canninefatis, Frisios, Batavos propriis cuneis componit: derecta ex diverso acies haud procul a flumine Rheno et obversis in hostem navibus, quas incensis castellis illuc adpulerant. nec diu certato Tungrorum cohors signa ad Civilem transtulit, perculsique milites improvisa proditione a sociis hostibusque caedebantur. eadem etiam <in> navibus perfidia: pars remigum e Batavis tamquam imperitia officia nautarum propugnatorumque impediebant; mox contra tendere et puppis hostili ripae obicere: ad postremum gubernatores centurionesque, nisi eadem volentis, trucidant, donec universa quattuor et viginti navium classis transfugeret aut caperetur.
16.
Persuaded that deceit was the best way forward, Civilis had the impudence to rebuke the prefects for deserting the forts. He himself, he said, with the cohort he commanded was going to suppress the rebellion of the Canninefates. The prefects ought to return each to his winter camp. Gradually, however, as more and more evidence broke through the veil of secrecy –- bellicose people itching for action, like the Germans, were a poor hand at keeping secrets for long—it became evident that Civilis’ advice concealed a trap: the cohorts, if they dispersed, would be more easily destroyed. Equally obvious was that Civilis, not Brinno, was the head of the revolt. When treachery failed, Civilis had recourse to war and arranged the Canninefates, the Frisii, and the Batavi in separate wedge formations. On the opposite side the Roman line of battle was drawn up straight quite close to the Rhine and the ships (which were brought there following the burning of the forts) were placed with their prows turned towards the enemy. Soon after the battle began, a cohort of the Tungri deserted to Civilis and our soldiers, dismayed by this sudden betrayal, were being cut down by both the enemy and their own allies. On the ships the same perfidy occurred: a number of the rowers, who were Batavi, hindered the work of both sailors and fighting men by feigning clumsiness. Soon they began to row backwards, directing the sterns towards the bank held by the enemy. In the end they took to murdering any pilot or centurion who opposed their intentions, until the entire fleet of twenty-four ships either changed side or was captured.
XVII.
Clara ea victoria in praesens, in posterum usui; armaque et navis, quibus indigebant, adepti magna per Germanias Galliasque fama libertatis auctores celebrabantur. Germaniae statim misere legatos auxilia offerentis: Galliarum societatem Civilis arte donisque adfectabat, captos cohortium praefectos suas in civitates remittendo, cohortibus, abire an manere mallent, data potestate. manentibus honorata militia, digredientibus spolia Romanorum offerebantur: simul secretis sermonibus admonebat malorum, quae tot annis perpessi miseram servitutem falso pacem vocarent. Batavos, quamquam tributorum expertis, arma contra communis dominos cepisse; prima acie fusum victumque Romanum. quid si Galliae iugum exuant? quantum in Italia reliquum? provinciarum sanguine provincias vinci. ne Vindicis aciem cogitarent: Batavo equite protritos Aeduos Arvernosque; fuisse inter Verginii auxilia Belgas, vereque reputantibus Galliam suismet viribus concidisse. nunc easdem omnium partis, addito si quid militaris disciplinae in castris Romanorum viguerit; esse secum veteranas cohortis, quibus nuper Othonis legiones procubuerint. servirent Syria Asiaque et suetus regibus Oriens: multos adhuc in Gallia vivere ante tributa genitos. nuper certe caeso Quintilio Varo pulsam e Germania servitutem, nec Vitellium principem sed Caesarem Augustum bello provocatum. libertatem natura etiam mutis animalibus datam, virtutem proprium hominum bonum; deos fortioribus adesse: proinde arriperent vacui occupatos, integri fessos. dum alii Vespasianum, alii Vitellium foveant, patere locum adversus utrumque.
17.
This was a brilliant success for the moment and a useful one for the future. They had obtained weapons and ships, which they lacked, and had acquired great renown throughout the German and Gallic provinces as the defenders of liberty. The German tribes at once sent delegations offering support. As for Gaul, Civilis was trying to secure an alliance by artful liberality, such as sending back to their tribes the prefects of the cohorts captured in the fighting and allowing the soldiers of these units to either stay or leave, as they chose. To those who remained he offered honorable service in his army, to those who left the plunder taken from the Romans. In private talks, meantime, he reminded them of the suffering they had borne for so many years and of the oppressive servitude they mistook for peace. The Batavi,[he said], had initiated the fight against the common despot, although they were exempt of the tribute. In the first encounter the Romans had melted away, defeated. What would happen if Gaul threw off the yoke? What was there left in Italy? Rome conquered provinces with the blood of the provinces. They should not be misled by Vindex’ war: the Aedui and the Arverni were crushed by the Batavian cavalry. Among Verginius Varus’ auxiliaries there were Belgian troops and it would be right to say that Gaul was enslaved by her own hands. Now a common goal united them and they had all in addition the skills that service in the Roman army had so effectively given them. He had with him the cohorts of veterans to which not long before the legions of Otho had succumbed. They should leave slavery to Syria, Asia, and the Orient, places accustomed to the rule of kings. Many were still alive in Gaul who were born before the tribute was imposed. Indeed it was only recently that the Germans were freed from servitude with the death of Quintus Varus. The prince they had confronted was not a Vitellius, but Caesar Augustus himself. Liberty had been granted by nature even to dumb animals, but valor was the special appanage of man. The gods stood by the more resolute. So let them, now that their hands were disengaged and their forces fresh, pounce upon the Romans embroiled in civil war and exhausted. As long as one side favored Vespasian and the other Vitellius, the field was open to action against both.
XVIII.
Sic in Gallias Germaniasque intentus, si destinata provenissent, validissimarum ditissimarumque nationum regno imminebat. At Flaccus Hordeonius primos Civilis conatus per dissimulationem aluit: ubi expugnata castra, deletas cohortis, pulsum Batavorum insula Romanum nomen trepidi nuntii adferebant, Munium Lupercum legatum (is duarum legionum hibernis praeerat) egredi adversus hostem iubet. Lupercus legionarios e praesentibus, Vbios e proximis, Trevirorum equites haud longe agentis raptim transmisit, addita Batavorum ala, quae iam pridem corrupta fidem simulabat, ut proditis in ipsa acie Romanis maiore pretio fugeret. Civilis captarum cohortium signis circumdatus, ut suo militi recens gloria ante oculos et hostes memoria cladis terrerentur, matrem suam sororesque, simul omnium coniuges parvosque liberos consistere a tergo iubet, hortamenta victoriae vel pulsis pudorem. ut virorum cantu, feminarum ululatu sonuit acies, nequaquam par a legionibus cohortibusque redditur clamor. nudaverat sinistrum cornu Batavorum ala transfugiens statimque in nos versa. sed legionarius miles, quamquam rebus trepidis, arma ordinesque retinebat. Vbiorum Trevirorumque auxilia foeda fuga dispersa totis campis palantur: illuc incubuere Germani, et fuit interim effugium legionibus in castra, quibus Veterum nomen est. praefectus alae Batavorum Claudius Labeo, oppidano certamine aemulus Civili, ne interfectus invidiam apud popularis vel, si retineretur, semina discordiae praeberet, in Frisios avehitur.
18.
His sights thus firmly set on the German and Gallic provinces, Civilis was determined, if his plan turned out to be a success, to make himself king of these most powerful and richest nations. Flaccus Hordeonius, for his part, actually fostered Civilis’ initial attempts by pretending to be unaware of them. When dismayed messengers brought in news of the captured camp, of the destruction of the cohorts, and of the removal of any sign of Roman presence in the island of the Batavians, he issued orders to Munius Lupercus, who as legate was in charge of the winter quarters of two legions, to march against the enemy. Lupercus lost no time in moving across the Rhine to the island all the legionaries he had available, the neighboring Ubii auxiliaries, and the cavalry of the Treveri stationed nearby. To these forces he added a unit of Batavian cavalry that had long before gone over to Civilis, but feigned continued loyalty with the intention of betraying the Romans during the fighting to get a higher reward for their treachery. Civilis surrounded himself with the standards of the captured cohorts to keep under the eyes of his men the proof of their recent success and strike terror into the hearts of the enemy by the memory of their defeat. He also had his mother and sisters, as well as the wives and small children of his soldiers, place behind the troops, to steel them for victory or shame them in case of reverse. As their battle line resounded with the war songs of the men and the drawn-out cries of the women, the responding clamor of the legions and cohorts was far less vigorous. Already the deserting Batavian cavalry had turned against us and exposed our left wing, but the legionaries, though their plight was serious, kept their arms and held formation. The auxiliaries of the Ubii and the Treveri cowardly took to their heels and scattered in all directions. The Germans went after them and this allowed the legions meanwhile to find refuge in their camp called Vetera. The prefect of the Batavian cavalry unit, Claudius Labeo, who had once opposed Civilis in a local dispute, was removed [by Civilis’ orders] to the country of the Frisii for fear that, if killed, his death might excite popular anger or, if allowed to stay, that his presence might foster discord.
XIX.
Isdem diebus Batavorum et Canninefatium cohortis, cum iussu Vitellii in urbem pergerent, missus a Civile nuntius adsequitur. intumuere statim superbia ferociaque et pretium itineris donativum, duplex stipendium, augeri equitum numerum, promissa sane a Vitellio, postulabant, non ut adsequerentur, sed causam seditioni. et Flaccus multa concedendo nihil aliud effecerat quam ut acrius exposcerent quae sciebant negaturum. spreto Flacco inferiorem Germaniam petivere ut Civili iungerentur. Hordeonius adhibitis tribunis centurionibusque consultavit num obsequium abnuentis vi coerceret; mox insita ignavia et trepidis ministris, quos ambiguus auxiliorum animus et subito dilectu suppletae legiones angebant, statuit continere intra castra militem: dein paenitentia et arguentibus ipsis qui suaserant, tamquam secuturus scripsit Herennio Gallo legionis primae legato, qui Bonnam obtinebat, ut arceret transitu Batavos: se cum exercitu tergis eorum haesurum. et opprimi poterant si hinc Hordeonius, inde Gallus, motis utrimque copiis, medios clausissent. Flaccus omisit inceptum aliisque litteris Gallum monuit ne terreret abeuntis: unde suspicio sponte legatorum excitari bellum cunctaque quae acciderant aut metuebantur non inertia militis neque hostium vi, sed fraude ducum evenire.
19.
In the meantime, an envoy with a message from Civilis caught up with the cohorts of Batavi and Canninefates marching towards Rome, as ordered by Vitellius. They at once grew contemptuous and arrogant, demanded a gratuity as payment for their journey, double salary, and an increase of their cavalry contingent. No douibt those things had been promised by Vitellius, but their intention was not to obtain them, rather they sought a pretext for mutiny. Flaccus by conceding much achieved nothing, except to make them more intransigent in demanding what they knew he would refuse. Paying no heed to Flaccus’ offers, they proceeded to Lower Germany to join Civilis. Hordeonius summomed tribunes and centurions to a council and asked whether he should check by force this breach of discipline. But his natural timidity and the fears of his officers –the doubtful loyalty of the auxiliaries and the conscript added in a hurry to the legions made them wary—soon prevailed and he decided to keep the soldiers in camp. Then he regretted his decision at the instance of the same people who had previously advised it. Acting as if he meant to engage in pursuit, he wrote to Herennius Gallus, the legate of the First legion stationed at Bonna, to prevent the Batavi from passing. [He added that] he himself would cling to their rear. Indeed the rebels might have been wiped out if Hordeonius from one side and Gallus from the other had moved their troops in position and penned in the enemy in the middle. Flaccus cancelled his plan and in another letter cautioned Gallus not to harass the retreating Batavi. From that arose the suspicion that the war was set going with the consent of the Roman officers and that all the tribulations of the past and those the men feared would be ahead were to be ascribed not to the soldiers’ want of spirit or the enemy’s toughness, but to the treachery of the commanders.
XX.
Batavi cum castris Bonnensibus propinquarent, praemisere qui Herennio Gallo mandata cohortium exponeret. nullum sibi bellum adversus Romanos, pro quibus totiens bellassent: longa atque inrita militia fessis patriae atque otii cupidinem esse. si nemo obsisteret, innoxium iter fore: sin arma occurrant, ferro viam inventuros. cunctantem legatum milites perpulerant fortunam proelii experiretur. tria milia legionariorum et tumultuariae Belgarum cohortes, simul paganorum lixarumque ignava sed procax ante periculum manus omnibus portis prorumpunt ut Batavos numero imparis circumfundant. illi veteres militiae in cuneos congregantur, densi undique et frontem tergaque ac latus tuti; sic tenuem nostrorum aciem perfringunt. cedentibus Belgis pellitur legio, et vallum portasque trepidi petebant. ibi plurimum cladis: cumulatae corporibus fossae, nec caede tantum et vulneribus, sed ruina et suis plerique telis interiere. victores colonia Agrippinensium vitata, nihil cetero in itinere hostile ausi, Bonnense proelium excusabant, tamquam petita pace, postquam negabatur, sibimet ipsi consuluissent.
20.
When the Batavian troops were nearing the Roman camp at Bonna, they sent someone ahead to set forth before Herennius Gallus the demands of the cohorts. They were not at war with the Romans, the man explained, for whom they had so often fought. Weary of their long and unrewarding service, they yearned for home and rest. If no one confronted them, their march would be peaceful. But if arms opposed them they would force a passage with their swords. Gallus was hesitant, but his soldiers prevailed on him to risk battle. Three thousand legionaries, some Belgian cohorts raised in haste, as well as a mob of peasants and camp followers –a cowardly lot full of daring when out of danger—shot forth from every gate to surround the less numerous Batavi. The latter, experienced fighters grown old in the service, grouped themselves in wedge formation, closely packed on all sides and protected in front, on the flanks, and in the rear. Thus arrayed, they broke our thin line. The Belgian cohorts gave way and the legion was pushed back. In the panic, all made for the rampart and the gates of the camp. It was here that casualties were highest. The ditches were full of corpses and very many died, not killed or wounded by the enemy, but trampled down in the rout or even pierced by their own weapons. The victors skirted Colonia Agrippinensis and engaged in no other hostile acts during the rest of their journey. Their excuse for the scuffle at Bonna was that they had appealed for peace and after it was refused they had to look to themselves.