XLI.
Senatus inchoantibus primoribus ius iurandum concepit quo certatim omnes magistratus, ceteri, ut sententiam rogabantur, deos testis advocabant, nihil ope sua factum quo cuiusquam salus laederetur, neque se praemium aut honorem ex calamitate civium cepisse, trepidis et verba iuris iurandi per varias artis mutantibus, quis flagitii conscientia inerat. probabant religionem patres, periurium arguebant; eaque velut censura in Sariolenum Voculam et Nonium Attianum et Cestium Severum acerrime incubuit, crebris apud Neronem delationibus famosos. Sariolenum et recens crimen urgebat, quod apud Vitellium molitus eadem foret: nec destitit senatus manus intentare Voculae, donec curia excederet. ad Paccium Africanum transgressi eum quoque proturbant, tamquam Neroni Scribonios fratres concordia opibusque insignis ad exitium monstravisset. Africanus neque fateri audebat neque abnuere poterat: in Vibium Crispum, cuius interrogationibus fatigabatur, ultro conversus, miscendo quae defendere nequibat, societate culpae invidiam declinavit.
41.
On the initiative of its leading members, the Senate devised a new oath, by which each senators called the gods to witness that nothing detrimental to the safety of any citizen had ever been done with his help and that he never had derived reward or preferment from anyone’s ruin. All took the oath, the magistrates vying with one another in their eagerness, the rest as they were called on to speak. Those whose conscience was uneasy were frightened and changed in ingenious ways the words [as they repeated the oath]. The Senate warmly approved honest compliance with the sacred oath and denounced any violations. This official condemnation, if one can call it so, loomed more menacing over Sariolenus Vocula, Nonnius Attianus, and Cestius Severus for being repeated informers under Nero. It attacked especially Sariolenus’ recent crimes, for he had tried the same practices under Vitellius. The Senate did not stop showing their fists to him until he left the chamber. Turning their anger next on Paccius Africanus, they assailed him in a like manner, accusing him of having pointed out to Nero as victims the Scribonii brothers, famous for their mutual attachment and great wealth. Africanus neither dared admit his guilt, nor could he deny it, so he tore into Vibius Crispus, who was baiting him with questions, and by inculpating him in turn of crimes he could not deny, he was able to deflect the odium of the assembly by having an associate in felony.
XLII.
Magnam eo die pietatis eloquentiaeque famam Vipstanus Messala adeptus est, nondum senatoria aetate, ausus pro fratre Aquilio Regulo deprecari. Regulum subversa Crassorum et Orfiti domus in summum odium extulerat: sponte [ex sc] accusationem subisse iuvenis admodum, nec depellendi periculi sed in spem potentiae videbatur; et Sulpicia Praetextata Crassi uxor quattuorque liberi, si cognosceret senatus, ultores aderant. igitur Messala non causam neque reum tueri, sed periculis fratris semet opponens flexerat quosdam. occurrit truci oratione Curtius Montanus, eo usque progressus ut post caedem Galbae datam interfectori Pisonis pecuniam a Regulo adpetitumque morsu Pisonis caput obiectaret. ‘hoc certe’ inquit ‘Nero non coegit, nec dignitatem aut salutem illa saevitia redemisti. sane toleremus istorum defensiones qui perdere alios quam periclitari ipsi maluerunt: te securum reliquerat exul pater et divisa inter creditores bona, nondum honorum capax aetas, nihil quod ex te concupisceret Nero, nihil quod timeret. libidine sanguinis et hiatu praemiorum ignotum adhuc ingenium et nullis defensionibus expertum caede nobili imbuisti, cum ex funere rei publicae raptis consularibus spoliis, septuagiens sestertio saginatus et sacerdotio fulgens innoxios pueros, inlustris senes, conspicuas feminas eadem ruina prosterneres, cum segnitiam Neronis incusares, quod per singulas domos seque et delatores fatigaret: posse universum senatum una voce subverti. retinete, patres conscripti, et reservate hominem tam expediti consilii ut omnis aetas instructa sit, et quo modo senes nostri Marcellum, Crispum, iuvenes Regulum imitentur. invenit aemulos etiam infelix nequitia: quid si floreat vigeatque? et quem adhuc quaestorium offendere non audemus, praetorium et consularem ausuri sumus? an Neronem extremum dominorum putatis? idem crediderant qui Tiberio, qui Gaio superstites fuerunt, cum interim intestabilior et saevior exortus est. non timemus Vespasianum; ea principis aetas, ea moderatio: sed diutius durant exempla quam mores. elanguimus, patres conscripti, nec iam ille senatus sumus qui occiso Nerone delatores et ministros more maiorum puniendos flagitabat. optimus est post malum principem dies primus.’
42.
On this occasion Vipstanus Messala, not yet of senatorial age, became famous for his eloquence and brotherly affection, daring to plead for his [half] brother Aquilius Regulus. The fall of the houses of the Crassi and of Orfitus had earned Regulus the bitterest hate. Though quite young and of his own accord, as it appeared, he had taken on the prosecution of the two aged men of consular rank, not to protect himself from attack, but rather in pursuit of power. Now Crassus’ wife, Sulpicia Praetextata, and her four sons were waiting, eager for revenge, for the senate to hear the case. Messala, therefore, was not out to defend his brother or his cause, but had interposed himself to shield his brother from mortal danger and by his pleading had softened some of the senators. Curtius Montanus countered his efforts with a harsh speech in which he went as far as to fling in Regulus’ face that he had given money to Piso’s murderer, after the death of Galba, and had sunk his teeth into Piso’s head. ‘That certainly’, he said addressing Regulus, ‘Nero did not force on you. You purchased neither status nor security by that brutish act. Let us, by all means, put up with the excuses of that sorry lot who preferred to destroy others rather than risk their own ruin. But in your case your father’s exile and the division of his wealth among his creditors had left you safe. You were too young for office: nothing was there that Nero could crave from you, nothing he should fear. It was pure love of killing and a greedy desire for rewards that drove you, whose talents were then unknown and still untried in the courtroom, to steep yourself in noble blood, when you snatched from the ashes of the state the spoils of former consuls, grew fat on seven million sesterces, and decked yourself in priestly glory to plunge innocent children, prominent older citizens, noble women in the same ruinous fall, while you rebuked Nero for taking too long and working too hard — he and his informants—to destroy one family at a time when, as you told him, he had the power to wipe out the entire Senate with one word. See to it, senators, that you protect and preserve a man of such ready wisdom, so that all ages may profit by him and learn how our old men may imitate a Marcellus or a Crispus and our youths a Regulus. Even ill-fated villany finds emulators; what happens then if it thrives and prospers? And if we dare not check this man now, a mere ex questor, shall we dare once he has been praetor or consul? Do you think Nero the last of despots? Those who survived Tiberius and Caligula thought the same, when in fact one more detestable and cruel was waiting his turn. We do not fear Vespasian, his years and moderation being what they are. But a precedent once set outlives the behaviour [of one good ruler]. We are growing weak, senators: we are no longer the Senate which at the fall of Nero demanded that the tyrant’s informers and henchmen be punished in accordance with ancestral custom. The first day after the fall of a bad ruler is the best.’
XLIII.
Tanto cum adsensu senatus auditus est Montanus ut spem caperet Helvidius posse etiam Marcellum prosterni. igitur a laude Cluvii Rufi orsus, qui perinde dives et eloquentia clarus nulli umquam sub Nerone periculum facessisset, crimine simul exemploque Eprium urgebat, ardentibus patrum animis. quod ubi sensit Marcellus, velut excedens curia ‘imus’ inquit, ‘Prisce, et relinquimus tibi senatum tuum: regna praesente Caesare.’ sequebatur Vibius Crispus, ambo infensi, vultu diverso, Marcellus minacibus oculis, Crispus renidens, donec adcursu amicorum retraherentur. cum glisceret certamen, hinc multi bonique, inde pauci et validi pertinacibus odiis tenderent, consumptus per discordiam dies.
43.
Montanus’ words were received with such favor by the assembly, that Helvidius Priscus thought it possible to bring down Marcellus as well. He began therefore by commending Cluvius Rufus, who, though he was Montanus’ equal in wealth and eloquence, had never accused anyone under Nero; then he went on to confront Marcellus with evidence of his crimes measured against Rufus’ exemplary conduct. As Helvidius spoke, the senators’ disapproval of the accused rose to a pitch and, on realizing this, Marcellus appeared to be about to leave the chamber, exclaiming, ‘I go, Priscus, and leave you your Senate. Be king here in Caesar’s presence’. Vibius Crispus followed him; both were offended, but their demeanor differed: Marcellus’ eyes flashed menace, whereas Crispus smiled. Soon, the prompt intervention of friends brought them back and the dispute in the house grew more bitter. The well-meaning majority on one side and an influential minority on the other sparred with obstinate animosity, so the day was wasted in squabbling.
XLIV.
Proximo senatu, inchoante Caesare de abolendo dolore iraque et priorum temporum necessitatibus, censuit Mucianus prolixe pro accusatoribus; simul eos qui coeptam, deinde omissam actionem repeterent, monuit sermone molli et tamquam rogaret. patres coeptatam libertatem, postquam obviam itum, omisere. Mucianus, ne sperni senatus iudicium et cunctis sub Nerone admissis data impunitas videretur, Octavium Sagittam et Antistium Sosianum senatorii ordinis egressos exilium in easdem insulas redegit. Octavius Pontiam Postuminam, stupro cognitam et nuptias suas abnuentem, impotens amoris interfecerat, Sosianus pravitate morum multis exitiosus. ambo gravi senatus consulto damnati pulsique, quamvis concesso aliis reditu, in eadem poena retenti sunt. nec ideo lenita erga Mucianum invidia: quippe Sosianus ac Sagitta viles, etiam si reverterentur: accusatorum ingenia et opes et exercita malis artibus potentia timebantur.
44.
At the next assembly Domitian opened the meeting by expressing the need to efface the anger, the bitterness, and the inescapable trials of the past. Mucianus then spoke at length in support of the informers and also discouraged those who were again setting in motion proceedings undertaken at an earlier date and later dropped. His words were mild as if of one pleading, still the Senate surrendered their newly found freedom of speech the moment it was opposed. To avoid seeming to flout the judgement of the senate and to grant impunity for all crimes committed under Nero, Mucianus drove back to their islands Octavius Sagitta and Antistius Sosianus, both of the senatorial class, who had left their places of banishment. Octavius had seduced one Pontia Postumina and, because she refused to marry him, in a fit of jealousy he murdered her. Sosianus was an evil man who had been the downfall of many. Both had been condemned by a stern decree of the senate and exiled. Even though others were allowed to return, they remained under the same sentence. Yet the hatred felt for Mucianus was not less for that reason: after all Sosianus and Sagitta were men of no consequence, even if they returned. What caused alarm was the ingenuity of the informers, their financial power, their well-honed efficacy in doing harm to others.
XLV.
Reconciliavit paulisper studia patrum habita in senatu cognitio secundum veterem morem. Manlius Patruitus senator pulsatum se in colonia Seniensi coetu multitudinis et iussu magistratuum querebatur; nec finem iniuriae hic stetisse: planctum et lamenta et supremorum imaginem praesenti sibi circumdata cum contumeliis ac probris, quae in senatum universum iacerentur. vocati qui arguebantur, et cognita causa in convictos vindicatum, additumque senatus consultum quo Seniensium plebes modestiae admoneretur. isdem diebus Antonius Flamma Cyrenensibus damnatur lege repetundarum et exilio ob saevitiam.
45.
A judicial inquiry held according to ancient custom reconciled for a while the partisan spirit of the Senate. Manlius Patruitus, a senator, was complaining that he had been beaten up by a mob in the colony at Sena by order, no less, of the local magistrates. He said the outrage had not ended there: surrounded by a crowd, himself had been made the center of a mock funeral, complete with breast beating and lamentations, accompanied by insults and other abuse aimed at the entire senate. Those charged with the misdeed were summoned to appear and, after the case was heard, the culpable were punished. A senate resolution was also passed admonishing the people of Sena to behave more reasonably. In those same days [the proconsul] Antonius Flamma was condemned under the law against extorsion on behalf of the people of Cyrene.
XLVI.
Inter quae militaris seditio prope exarsit. praetorianam militiam repetebant a Vitellio dimissi, pro Vespasiano congregati; et lectus in eandem spem e legionibus miles promissa stipendia flagitabat. ne Vitelliani quidem sine multa caede pelli poterant: sed immensa pecunia tanta vis hominum retinenda erat. ingressus castra Mucianus, quo rectius stipendia singulorum spectaret, suis cum insignibus armisque victores constituit, modicis inter se spatiis discretos. tum Vitelliani, quos apud Bovillas in deditionem acceptos memoravimus, ceterique per urbem et urbi vicina conquisiti producuntur prope intecto corpore. eos Mucianus diduci et Germanicum Britannicumque militem, ac si qui aliorum exercituum, separatim adsistere iubet. illos primus statim aspectus obstupefecerat, cum ex diverso velut aciem telis et armis trucem, semet clausos nudosque et inluvie deformis aspicerent: ut vero huc illuc distrahi coepere, metus per omnis et praecipua Germanici militis formido, tamquam ea separatione ad caedem destinaretur. prensare commanipularium pectora, cervicibus innecti, suprema oscula petere, ne desererentur soli neu pari causa disparem fortunam paterentur; modo Mucianum, modo absentem principem, postremum caelum ac deos obtestari, donec Mucianus cunctos eiusdem sacramenti, eiusdem imperatoris milites appellans, falso timori obviam iret; namque et victor exercitus clamore lacrimas eorum iuvabat. isque finis illa die. paucis post diebus adloquentem Domitianum firmati iam excepere: spernunt oblatos agros, militiam et stipendia orant. preces erant, sed quibus contra dici non posset; igitur in praetorium accepti. dein quibus aetas et iusta stipendia, dimissi cum honore, alii ob culpam, sed carptim ac singuli, quo tutissimo remedio consensus multitudinis extenuatur.
46.
In the meantime a mutiny almost broke out in the army. The praetorians dismissed by Vitellius who had grouped together to join Vespasian, now demanded to be accepted again into the praetorian cohorts. The soldiers selected from the legions, also for service in the guards, were now clamoring for the promised pay. Even the troops that served with Vitellius could not be kept out without much bloody resistance, yet retaining such large forces would be far too costly. [So] Mucianus visited the praetorian camp to make a more accurate assessment of each soldier’s duration of service. He had his victorious troops line up, armed and wearing their distinctive badges, in such a way as to leave some space between companies. Then the Vitellians, both those who had surrendered at Bovillae, as I mentioned, and those rounded up in the city and suburbs, were brought forward disarmed and half naked. Mucianus directed that they be divided into groups, according to whether they were from Germany, Britain, or came from other armies, and be made to take up position separately. The first glimpse the Vitellians had of their situation struck them dumb with horror. They saw facing them a host drawn up as if for battle, bristling with arms. They realized they were surrounded, unarmed, disgracefully filthy. As soon as they began to be led one way or another in groups, panic gripped them all, especially the troops from Germany, who thought they were set apart for wholesale massacre. They took to embracing their fellow soldiers, hanging on their necks, begging a last kiss, imploring not to be left alone to suffer a different fate in a cause for which they all fought. They appealed now to Mucianus, now to the absent emperor, and ultimately to heaven and the gods, until Mucianus put their groundless fears to rest by addressing them all as ‘soldiers bound by the same oath to the same emperor’. The victorious army, for its part, supported their tears by cheering. The day ended there. When Domitian harangued them again a few days later, they received him with restored confidence. The land they were offered as reward for their army service they refused outright and begged instead for service in the praetorian guard and pay. Then those who were of the required age and had served the prescribed number of years were given an honorable discharge; others were dismissed for misconduct, but this was done in easy steps and one by one, the safest way to weaken the united will of a mob.
XLVII.
Ceterum verane pauperie an uti videretur, actum in senatu ut sescentiens sestertium a privatis mutuum acciperetur, praepositusque ei curae Pompeius Silvanus. nec multo post necessitas abiit sive omissa simulatio. abrogati inde legem ferente Domitiano consulatus quos Vitellius dederat, funusque censorium Flavio Sabino ductum, magna documenta instabilis fortunae summaque et ima miscentis.
47.
Turning back to the Senate, a vote was passed to accept a loan of sixty million sesterces from private sources and the task was given to Pompeius Silvanus. Whether the treasury was really empty or it seemed expedient to use penury as an excuse, the fact is that the need either disappeared not long afterwards or the pretense of it was given up. Then, on a proposal put forward by Domitian, the consulships given out by Vitellius were annulled. The honors of a censor’s funeral were given to Flavius Sabinus, striking proof of the arbitrariness of fortune, forever confounding the highest peaks of prosperity with the greatest depths of adversity.
XLVIII.
Sub idem tempus L. Piso pro consule interficitur. ea de caede quam verissime expediam, si pauca supra repetiero ab initio causisque talium facinorum non absurda. legio in Africa auxiliaque tutandis imperii finibus sub divo Augusto Tiberioque principibus proconsuli parebant. mox G. Caesar, turbidus animi ac Marcum Silanum obtinentem Africam metuens, ablatam proconsuli legionem misso in eam rem legato tradidit. aequatus inter duos beneficiorum numerus, et mixtis utriusque mandatis discordia quaesita auctaque pravo certamine. legatorum ius adolevit diuturnitate officii, vel quia minoribus maior aemulandi cura, proconsulum splendidissimus quisque securitati magis quam potentiae consulebant.
48.
At about this time the proconsul Lucius Piso was murdered. My account of his death will be most accurate if I go back and review a few facts which pertain to the sources and motives of such crimes. In the reign of the divine Augustus and of Tiberius, the legion and the auxiliaries serving in Africa, to defend the borders of the empire, took their orders from a proconsul. Later Caligula, a man of unsteady temper who feared Marcus Silanus, then governing Africa, took the legion away from the proconsul and transferred it to a legate sent for the purpose. The power of distributing offices, jobs, and favors being now equally divided between the two and thanks to the confusion of their respective authority, the discord sought by Caligula was magnified by a vicious rivalry. The influence of the legates grew apace, owing to the length of their office or to the fact that that the smaller man is more desirous of excelling, whereas the most prominent proconsuls cared more for a secure life than for power.
XLIX.
Sed tum legionem in Africa regebat Valerius Festus, sumptuosae adulescentiae neque modica cupiens et adfinitate Vitellii anxius. is crebris sermonibus temptaveritne Pisonem ad res novas an temptanti restiterit, incertum, quoniam secreto eorum nemo adfuit, et occiso Pisone plerique ad gratiam interfectoris inclinavere. nec ambigitur provinciam et militem alienato erga Vespasianum animo fuisse; et quidam e Vitellianis urbe profugi ostentabant Pisoni nutantis Gallias, paratam Germaniam, pericula ipsius et in pace suspecto tutius bellum. inter quae Claudius Sagitta, praefectus alae Petrianae, prospera navigatione praevenit Papirium centurionem a Muciano missum, adseveravitque mandata interficiendi Pisonis centurioni data: cecidisse Galerianum consobrinum eius generumque; unam in audacia spem salutis, sed duo itinera audendi, seu mallet statim arma, seu petita navibus Gallia ducem se Vitellianis exercitibus ostenderet. nihil ad ea moto Pisone, centurio a Muciano missus, ut portum Carthaginis attigit, magna voce laeta Pisoni omnia tamquam principi continuare, obvios et subitae rei miraculo attonitos ut eadem adstreperent hortari. vulgus credulum ruere in forum, praesentiam Pisonis exposcere; gaudio clamoribusque cuncta miscebant, indiligentia veri et adulandi libidine. Piso indicio Sagittae vel insita modestia non in publicum egressus est neque se studiis vulgi permisit: centurionemque percontatus, postquam quaesitum sibi crimen caedemque comperit, animadverti in eum iussit, haud perinde spe vitae quam ira in percussorem, quod idem ex interfectoribus Clodii Macri cruentas legati sanguine manus ad caedem proconsulis rettulisset. anxio deinde edicto Carthaginiensibus increpitis, ne solita quidem munia usurpabat, clausus intra domum, ne qua motus novi causa vel forte oreretur.
49.
It so happened that at this time the legion was under the command of Valerius Festus, a young profligate of immoderate ambitions, who felt uneasy about his kinship with Vitellius. Whether he, in his frequent interviews, tempted Piso to revolt or whether he resisted Piso’s overtures, is not known for certain, since no one was present at their private meetings and many tried to win favor with the murderer after Piso’s death. There is no doubt that the province and the legion had been hostile to Vespasian. Besides, some of the Vitellians who had escaped from Rome were pressing on him the fact that Gaul was wavering and Germany was about to rebel, that he himself was in danger, and that war was the safest course for one suspected in time of peace. Meanwhile, the prefect of the Petrian cavalry, Claudius Sagitta, made a rapid crossing [to Africa from Rome] and arrived ahead of Mucianus’ envoy, the centurion Papirius. Sagitta asserted that the centurion had orders to kill Piso and that Galerianus, Piso’s cousin and son-in-law had already lost his life. The only hope of safety for Piso, Sagitta said, lay in boldness, to which two courses of action were open: either to opt immediately for war or to sail to Gaul and offer himself to the Vitellian armies. Piso remained unimpressed by all this and did nothing. As soon as the centurion dispatched by Mucianus reached the port of Carthage, he began to invoke at the top of his voice all the blessings of the world on Piso’s head as if he were emperor, [at the same time] urging those he met (who were speechless at the novel turn of events) to join in the acclamation. The credulous mob crowded into the forum, demanding Piso’s presence, sowing confusion with their clamorous demonstrations of joy, oblivious to the truth and only eager to please. Piso, thanks to Sagitta’s revelations and his own inherent reserve, made no public appearances and did not trust himself to popular favor. On questioning the centurion and discovering that he had tried to create an excuse to inculpate and then kill him, had the man executed, not so much in the hope of protecting his own life, as in anger against the assassin, in that he, one of Clodius Macer’s slayers, had now returned to murder a proconsular governor, his hands still wet with the blood of a legate. He then reprimanded the people of Carthage in an edict that betrayed his alarm and even stopped discharging the usual duties of his office, confining himself to his palace for fear that some cause or accident might trigger new disturbances.
L.
Sed ubi Festo consternatio vulgi, centurionis supplicium veraque et falsa more famae in maius innotuere, equites in necem Pisonis mittit. illi raptim vecti obscuro adhuc coeptae lucis domum proconsulis inrumpunt destrictis gladiis, et magna pars Pisonis ignari, quod Poenos auxiliaris Maurosque in eam caedem delegerat. haud procul cubiculo obvium forte servum quisnam et ubi esset Piso interrogavere. servus egregio mendacio se Pisonem esse respondit ac statim obtruncatur. nec multo post Piso interficitur; namque aderat qui nosceret, Baebius Massa e procuratoribus Africae, iam tunc optimo cuique exitiosus et inter causas malorum quae mox tulimus saepius rediturus. Festus Adrumeto, ubi speculabundus substiterat, ad legionem contendit praefectumque castrorum Caetronium Pisanum vinciri iussit proprias ob simultates, sed Pisonis satellitem vocabat militesque et centuriones quosdam puniit, alios praemiis adfecit, neutrum ex merito, sed ut oppressisse bellum crederetur. mox Oeensium Lepcitanorumque discordias componit, quae raptu frugum et pecorum inter agrestis modicis principiis, iam per arma atque acies exercebantur; nam populus Oeensis multitudine inferior Garamantas exciverat, gentem indomitam et inter accolas latrociniis fecundam. unde artae Lepcitanis res, lateque vastatis agris intra moenia trepidabant, donec interventu cohortium alarumque fusi Garamantes et recepta omnis praeda, nisi quam vagi per inaccessa mapalium ulterioribus vendiderant.
50.
But when the news of the popular commotion, of the centurion’s execution, and of other events true or false reached Festus in magnified form, as is always the case with rumors, he sent out horsemen to kill Piso. Riding at full speed, it was not yet quite daylight when they burst into the governor’s residence, swords in hand. Most of them had never seen Piso, for Festus had assigned the bloody task to Carthaginian and Moorish auxiliaries. Near Piso’s bedchamber they happened to meet a slave and asked him who and where Piso was. With sublime mendacity the slave answered that he was Piso and was cut down on the spot. Soon after Piso himself was murdered, because one who knew him was present, Baebius Massa , one of the imperial agents in Africa –even then the scourge of the best citizens of Rome, someone who was going to reappear too often among the causes of the evils we had soon to endure. From Adrumetum, where he had stopped to watch the unfolding of events, Festus went to rejoin the legion and had Caetronius Pisanus, the prefect of the camp, thrown in prison, maintaining he was Piso’s satellite, though the actual reason was personal rancor. He punished a number of soldiers and centurions, others he rewarded, neither action based on merit, but merely to create the impression he had suppressed a war. A little later he ended the discord between the community of Oea and that of Leptis, which from modest beginnings – the theft of crops and cattle among the peasants—had degenerated into regular armed conflict. Numerically inferior, the people of Oea had in fact called in the Garamantes, an intractable race constantly engaged in robbing their neighbors. For this reason the situation in Leptis was critical. The fields had been ravaged far and wide and the people now lived in fear within the city walls, until the intervention of the Roman cohorts and cavalry dispersed the Garamantes and recovered all plunder, except for one part which the pillagers had sold to distant tribes as they wandered through the inaccessible regions where nomads had their dwellings.