XI.
Igitur castris, uti diximus, ante moenia Hierosolymorum positis instructas legiones ostentavit: Iudaei sub ipsos muros struxere aciem, rebus secundis longius ausuri et, si pellerentur, parato perfugio. Missus in eos eques cum expeditis cohortibus ambigue certavit; mox cessere hostes et sequentibus diebus crebra pro portis proelia serebant, donec adsiduis damnis intra moenia pellerentur. Romani ad obpugnandum versi; neque enim dignum videbatur famem hostium opperiri, poscebantque pericula, pars virtute, multi ferocia et cupidine praemiorum. Ipsi Tito Roma et opes voluptatesque ante oculos; ac ni statim Hierosolyma conciderent, morari videbantur. Sed urbem arduam situ opera molesque firmaverant, quis vel plana satis munirentur. Nam duos collis in immensum editos claudebant muri per artem obliqui aut introrsus sinuati, ut latera obpugnantium ad ictus patescerent. Extrema rupis abrupta, et turres, ubi mons iuvisset, in sexagenos pedes, inter devexa in centenos vicenosque attollebantur, mira specie ac procul intuentibus pares. Alia intus moenia regiae circumiecta, conspicuoque fastigio turris Antonia, in honorem M. Antonii ab Herode appellata.
11.
So, as I said earlier, Titus set up camp before the walls of Jerusalem and displayed his legions drawn up for battle. The Jews formed up under the walls, intending to press forward their advantage in case of success or, if the worst happened, to take refuge inside the walls. Titus sent against them his cavalry and light infantry, but the fight was indecisive. Then the enemy retired and in the following days fought a series of engagements in front of the gates, until their steadily mounting losses forced them behind the walls. The Roman troops prepared for an assault, for it seemed shameful to them to wait for Jews to be reduced by hunger and clamored for more dangerous action, some to prove their valor, many to still their thirst for blood or lust for gain. Even Titus was picturing to himself the luxuries and the easy life of Rome, but these seemed far off unless they stormed Jerusalem immediately. The city, however, already difficult to take because of its elevated position, had been reinforced by massive man-made defenses, strong enough to secure even flat ground. In fact, its two hills, which rise to great heights, were enclosed by ingeniously built walls that diverged now outwards, now inwards in such a way as to expose the flanks of attackers to the defenders’ missiles. The outer edges of the elevated ground were sheer cliffs and towers rose to sixty feet where the hill added its own height and to one hundred and twenty feet where the ground fell. They were wonderful things to see, all appearing equally tall to distant observers. Inside the city walls, other fortifications surrounded the royal palace and on a prominent summit stood Antony’s tower, so named by Herod in honor of Marc Antony.
XII.
Templum in modum arcis propriique muri, labore et opere ante alios; ipsae porticus, quis templum ambibatur, egregium propugnaculum. Fons perennis aquae, cavati sub terra montes et piscinae cisternaeque servandis imbribus. Providerant conditores ex diversitate morum crebra bella: inde cuncta quamvis adversus longum obsidium; et a Pompeio expugnatis metus atque usus pleraque monstravere. Atque per avaritiam Claudianorum temporum empto iure muniendi struxere muros in pace tamquam ad bellum, magna conluvie et ceterarum urbium clade aucti; nam pervicacissimus quisque illuc perfugerat eoque seditiosius agebant. Tres duces, totidem exercitus: extrema et latissima moenium Simo, mediam urbem Ioannes [quem et Bargioram vocabant], templum Eleazarus firmaverat. Multitudine et armis Ioannes ac Simo, Eleazarus loco pollebat: sed proelia dolus incendia inter ipsos, et magna vis frumenti ambusta. Mox Ioannes, missis per speciem sacrificandi qui Eleazarum manumque eius obtruncarent, templo potitur. Ita in duas factiones civitas discessit, donec propinquantibus Romanis bellum externum concordiam pareret.
12.
The temple was built like a fortress with walls of its own, constructed with greater care and labor than any of the others. The covered way that surrounded the temple was itself a valid barrier. The site had a spring that never went dry, the hills had chambers carved out underground and pools and cisterns to preserve rainwater. The founders of the city had anticipated frequent hostilities in view of their customs being contrary to those of neighboring peoples, therefore all possible precautions were taken against a long siege, and after Pompey had captured Jerusalem, fear and bitter experience suggested many others. What is more, during Claudius’ reign, the Jews, exploiting the emperor’s avarice, had paid for permission to refortify the city, so that in time of peace they built walls as if they were already at war. The population was now swollen by large packs of riffraff and of escapees from towns that had been destroyed; in fact, the most fanatical elements had found refuge in Jerusalem and so sedition was on the rise. The army consisted of three parts, each with its own general. The outer and largest round of walls was defended by Simon, the city in the middle by John, also called Barjoras, and the temple by Eleazar: John and Simon were superior in troops and armament, Eleazar held the strongest position, but between them there were constant skirmishes, acts of treachery, and cases of arson, a large part of the grain supply being lost to fire. Then John seized the temple, after sending some of his men, under pretext of offering a sacrifice, to massacre Eleazar and his supporters. The city became split into two factions, until, with the approach of the Romans, war with a foreign enemy brought about concord.
XIII.
Evenerant prodigia, quae neque hostiis neque votis piare fas habet gens superstitioni obnoxia, religionibus adversa. Visae per caelum concurrere acies, rutilantia arma et subito nubium igne conlucere templum. Apertae repente delubri fores et audita maior humana vox excedere deos; simul ingens motus excedentium. Quae pauci in metum trahebant: pluribus persuasio inerat antiquis sacerdotum litteris contineri eo ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens profectique Iudaea rerum potirentur. Quae ambages Vespasianum ac Titum praedixerat, sed vulgus more humanae cupidinis sibi tantam fatorum magnitudinem interpretati ne adversis quidem ad vera mutabantur. Multitudinem obsessorum omnis aetatis, virile ac muliebre secus, sexcenta milia fuisse accepimus: arma cunctis, qui ferre possent, et plures quam pro numero audebant. Obstinatio viris feminisque par; ac si transferre sedis cogerentur, maior vitae metus quam mortis. Hanc adversus urbem gentemque Caesar Titus, quando impetus et subita belli locus abnueret, aggeribus vineisque certare statuit: dividuntur legionibus munia et quies proeliorum fuit, donec cuncta expugnandis urbibus reperta apud veteres aut novis ingeniis struerentur.
13.
Prodigious phenomena had occurred, but this people, given as it is to superstition and hostile to true pity, considers a crime to ward them off by sacrifices and vows. Hosts locked in combat were seen to clash in the sky, arms flashing red, and the temple was aglow with fire from heaven. The doors of the sanctuary had suddenly opened and a voice greater than man’s proclaimed that the gods were abandoning the temple. At that moment a great stirring was heard, as of a mass exodus. Only a few saw these events as ominous: the majority deeply believed what was written in the ancient records of the priests, namely that in their own time the Orient would rise to power and men setting out from Judaea would conquer the world. These obscure predictions had pointed to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people, as is the way with human selfishness, interpreted this great destiny in their favor and not even in adversity could they be made to face the truth. We are told that the number of besieged of every age, both men and women, were six hundred thousand. Arms were issued to all who could bear them, and many more came forward than was expected from the size of the population. Men and women were equally determined to fight and if they were forced to abandon their homes, the fear of life ahead was greater than the fear of death. It was against such a city and people that Caesar Titus, since the terrain made a direct assault or surprise attack unlikely to succeed, resolved to proceed using earthworks and movable shelters. The work was divided among the legions and fighting came to a halt until all possible means ever invented by the ancients or by modern ingenuity for reducing a city were ready for action.
XIV.
At Civilis post malam in Treviris pugnam reparato per Germaniam exercitu apud Vetera castra consedit, tutus loco, et ut memoria prosperarum illic rerum augescerent barbarorum animi. Secutus est eodem Cerialis, duplicatis copiis adventu secundae et tertiae decimae et quartae decimae legionum; cohortesque et alae iam pridem accitae post victoriam properaverant. Neuter ducum cunctator, sed arcebat latitudo camporum suopte ingenio umentium; addiderat Civilis obliquam in Rhenum molem, cuius obiectu revolutus amnis adiacentibus superfunderetur. Ea loci forma, incertis vadis subdola et nobis adversa: quippe miles Romanus armis gravis et nandi pavidus, Germanos fluminibus suetos levitas armorum et proceritas corporum attollit.
14.
[Harking back to the German revolt], after his crippling setback in the country of the Treveri, Civilis had made good his losses with men from all over Germany, then set up camp at Vetera, both because the place was well protected and because he wanted to hearten his barbarian soldiery with the memory of their former success there. Cerialis went after him with a force now doubled by the arrival of the Second, Sixth, and Fourteenth legion: the auxiliary cohorts and cavalry units, summoned long before, had hurried to join him after the victory. Neither Civilis nor Cerialis were temporizers, but large tracts of naturally swampy ground kept them apart. In addition, Civilis had built a dam obliquely into the Rhine, so the refluent river would flood the adjacent territory. Those were the conditions on the ground, dangerously hostile to our men because of the unpredictable nature of the shallows: the Roman soldier is heavily armed and shy of swimming; the Germans, beside being used to rivers, are lightly armed and their tall stature makes it easy to keep heads above water.
XV.
Igitur lacessentibus Batavis ferocissimo cuique nostrorum coeptum certamen, deinde orta trepidatio, cum praealtis paludibus arma equi haurirentur. Germani notis vadis persultabant, omissa plerumque fronte latera ac terga circumvenientes. Neque ut in pedestri acie comminus certabatur, sed tamquam navali pugna vagi inter undas aut, si quid stabile occurrebat, totis illic corporibus nitentes, vulnerati cum integris, periti nandi cum ignaris in mutuam perniciem implicabantur. Minor tamen quam pro tumultu caedes, quia non ausi egredi paludem Germani in castra rediere. Eius proelii eventus utrumque ducem diversis animi motibus ad maturandum summae rei discrimen erexit. Civilis instare fortunae, Cerialis abolere ignominiam: Germani prosperis feroces, Romanos pudor excitaverat. Nox apud barbaros cantu aut clamore, nostris per iram et minas acta.
15.
So, challenged by the Batavi, our bravest troops closed with the enemy, but alarm quickly spread when they saw arms and horses swallowed up by the deep bogs. The Germans, being familiar with the fords, roamed at will and by avoiding more often than not our center would try to envelop our flanks and rear. The fighting was not like an infantry engagement at close quarters, but more like a sea fight: men adrift in the waters or, if any solid ground came within reach, striving with all their might towards it to gain a foothold; wounded and uninjured men, swimmers and non-swimmers grappled with one another, all intent on mutual destruction. Yet our losses were not proportionate to the chaotic nature of the engagement, since the Germans returned to their camp [at Vetera], having not dared to fight outside the flooded plain. The issue of the clash spurred both commanders, but for opposite reasons, to precipitate a final decision. Civilis was eager to pursue his advantage, Cerialis was burning to efface his discomfiture: success made the Germans defiant; shame goaded the Romans. The native warriors spent the night singing and shouting, the Romans nursing their anger and muttering threats.
XVI.
Postera luce Cerialis equite et auxiliariis cohortibus frontem explet, in secunda acie legiones locatae, dux sibi delectos retinuerat ad improvisa. Civilis haud porrecto agmine, sed cuneis adstitit: Batavi Cugernique in dextro, laeva ac propiora flumini Transrhenani tenuere. Exhortatio ducum non more contionis apud universos, sed ut quosque suorum advehebantur. Cerialis veterem Romani nominis gloriam, antiquas recentisque victorias; ut perfidum ignavum victum hostem in aeternum exciderent, ultione magis quam proelio opus esse. Pauciores nuper cum pluribus certasse, ac tamen fusos Germanos, quod roboris fuerit: superesse qui fugam animis, qui vulnera tergo ferant. Proprios inde stimulos legionibus admovebat, domitores Britanniae quartadecimanos appellans; principem Galbam sextae legionis auctoritate factum; illa primum acie secundanos nova signa novamque aquilam dicaturos. Hinc praevectus ad Germanicum exercitum manus tendebat, ut suam ripam, sua castra sanguine hostium reciperarent. Alacrior omnium clamor, quis vel ex longa pace proelii cupido vel fessis bello pacis amor, praemiaque et quies in posterum sperabatur.
16.
The next morning Cerialis filled the front of his battle line with the cavalry and the auxiliary infantry and placed in the second line the legions, reserving the elite troops for himself as commander to meet any unforeseen eventuality. Civilis faced him with a restricted front and with his troops arranged in column formations. The Batavi and the Cugerni were on the right wing and the forces from across the Rhine held his left and all points closer to the river. The two leaders did not rally their soldiers in a body, as in a general assembly, rather as they themselves rode past any of the men while they formed up. Cerialis called to mind the glory of the Roman name, the past and recent victories, and exhorted the troops to destroy once and for all a vicious and cowardly enemy, one they had whipped before. They were to punish more than fight him. With smaller numbers they had but lately battled against larger forces than those before them, yet the mainstay of their army, the Germans, had been beaten. What remained, he said, were men who bore defeat in their hearts and scars on their back. To further motivate the troops, he then spoke words that were a stimulus appropriate to each of the legions, addressing the Fourteenth as the tamer of Britain, reminding the Sixth that on their initiative Galba had become emperor, and admonishing the Second that they were to dedicate their new standards and eagle in the imminent first taste of battle. Riding on from there to the army of Germany, he begged them with hands stretched forth to win back, by the blood of the enemy, the bank of the Rhine and the camp that were rightfully theirs. The soldiers cheered enthusiastically, both those who were eager to fight after a long peace and those who, tired of war, desired peace and longed for the rewards and rest awaiting them.
XVII.
Nec Civilis silentem struxit aciem, locum pugnae testem virtutis ciens: stare Germanos Batavosque super vestigia gloriae, cineres ossaque legionum calcantis. Quocumque oculos Romanus intenderet, captivitatem clademque et dira omnia obversari. Ne terrerentur vario Trevirici proelii eventu: suam illic victoriam Germanis obstitisse, dum omissis telis praeda manus impediunt: sed cuncta mox prospera et hosti contraria evenisse. Quae provideri astu ducis oportuerit, providisse, campos madentis et ipsis gnaros, paludes hostibus noxias. Rhenum et Germaniae deos in aspectu: quorum numine capesserent pugnam, coniugum parentum patriae memores: illum diem aut gloriosissimum inter maiores aut ignominiosum apud posteros fore. Ubi sono armorum tripudiisque–ita illis mos–adprobata sunt dicta, saxis glandibusque et ceteris missilibus proelium incipitur, neque nostro milite paludem ingrediente et Germanis, ut elicerent, lacessentibus.
17.
On his part Civilis, far from forming his men in silence, was calling on the site of the coming battle to be a witness to their prowess. The Germans and the Batavi, he cried, were standing on the living proof of their glory, treading underfoot the ashes and bones of Roman legions. Wherever a Roman soldier looked around him, captivity, disaster, and unimaginable horror stared back at him. They must not be intimidated by the undecisive outcome of the battle among the Treveri. There the Germans were thwarted by their own victory, when they dropped their weapons and loaded their hands with plunder. But later all had turned out well for them and badly for the enemy. All stratagems a skilled general could devise he had employed, such as the flooded plain – familiar to themselves only — and the marshes that had proven deadly to the Romans. The Rhine and the gods of Germany stood before them and by their power they must fight, mindful of their wives, parents and fatherland. That day, he said, was fated to be either the most glorious their forefathers had ever witnessed or one of infamy in the eyes of their descendants. After they all approved his words with the clashing of arms and ritual dances, as is their custom, they commenced hostilities with showers of stones, leaden balls, and other missiles. As our men declined to enter the marshes, the Germans kept provoking them with taunts to tempt them on.
XVIII.
Absumptis quae iaciuntur et ardescente pugna procursum ab hoste infestius: immensis corporibus et praelongis hastis fluitantem labantemque militem eminus fodiebant; simul e mole, quam eductam in Rhenum rettulimus, Bructerorum cuneus transnatavit. Turbata ibi res et pellebatur sociarum cohortium acies, cum legiones pugnam excipiunt suppressaque hostium ferocia proelium aequatur. Inter quae perfuga Batavus adiit Cerialem, terga hostium promittens, si extremo paludis eques mitteretur: solidum illa et Cugernos, quibus custodia obvenisset, parum intentos. Duae alae cum perfuga missae incauto hosti circumfunduntur. Quod ubi clamore cognitum, legiones a fronte incubuere, pulsique Germani Rhenum fuga petebant. Debellatum eo die foret, si Romana classis sequi maturasset: ne eques quidem institit, repente fusis imbribus et propinqua nocte.
18.
Having run out of missiles and the battle heating up, the enemy attacked with greater violence. Their tall stature and exceptionally long spears enabled them to hit our soldiers from afar, who were slipping and sliding [at the water edge]. Meanwhile a column of Bructeri swam across the river from the barrage into the Rhine I mentioned earlier. On that side confusion broke out in our ranks and already the line of auxiliary infantry was giving way, when the legions intervened, stopped the enemy’s onslaught, and stabilized the combat. Just then a Batavian deserter approached Cerialis, offering to reveal the way to the enemy’s rear if he sent a body of cavalry to the end of the marsh. The ground was firm that way, he said, and the Cugerni, who had the keeping of the place, were not on their guard. Two cavalry squadrons were dispatched with the deserter as a guide and they surrounded the unsuspecting enemy. When loud shouting signaled the event, the legions charged in front and the beaten Germans fled towards the Rhine. That day could have ended the war, had the Roman fleet speeded up the chase. [As it was], not even the cavalry pressed forward, prevented by a sudden downpour and gathering dusk.
XIX.
Postera die quartadecima legio in superiorem pro vinciam Gallo Annio missa: Cerialis exercitum decima ex Hispania legio supplevit: Civili Chaucorum auxilia venere. Non tamen ausus oppidum Batavorum armis tueri, raptis quae ferri poterant, ceteris iniecto igni, in insulam concessit, gnarus deesse navis efficiendo ponti, neque exercitum Romanum aliter transmissurum: quin et diruit molem a Druso Germanico factam Rhenumque prono alveo in Galliam ruentem, disiectis quae morabantur, effudit. Sic velut abacto amne tenuis alveus insulam inter Germanosque continentium terrarum speciem fecerat. Transiere Rhenum Tutor quoque et Classicus et centum tredecim Trevirorum senatores, in quis fuit Alpinius Montanus, quem a Primo Antonio missum in Gallias superius memoravimus. Comitabatur eum frater D. Alpinius; simul ceteri miseratione ac donis auxilia concibant inter gentis periculorum avidas.
19.
The next day the Fourteenth legion was sent to Gallus Annius in Upper Germany and Cerialis replaced it in his army with the Tenth legion from Spain. Civilis was reinforced by auxiliaries coming from the Chauci. Yet, not venturing to defend the main stronghold of the Batavi, he removed all that could be carried away, set fire to the rest, and repaired to the island, well aware that Cerialis had no boats to construct a bridge, the only way for the Roman army to get across the river. He even demolished the barrage built by Drusus Germanicus and, by removing the obstacle that kept the current in check, sent the Rhine rushing towards Gaul, following the natural incline of its bed. So, with the river being in a sense driven away and the waters between the island and the German territory reduced to a mere thread, the dry land appeared continuous. {Following Civilis], Tutor and Classicus also crossed over to the island and with them one hundred and thirteen senators of the Treveri, among them Alpinius Montanus, whom, as I mentioned earlier, Primus Antonius had sent to the Gallic provinces. D. Alpinius, his brother, accompanied him. The other leaders of the revolt were meanwhile trying, either by the pity they inspired or by the gifts they offered, to muster reinforcements among the danger-loving German nations.
XX.
Tantumque belli superfuit ut praesidia cohortium alarum legionum uno die Civilis quadripertito invaserit, decimam legionem Arenaci, secundam Batavoduri et Grinnes Vadamque, cohortium alarumque castra, ita divisis copiis ut ipse et Verax, sorore eius genitus, Classicusque ac Tutor suam quisque manum traherent, nec omnia patrandi fiducia, sed multa ausis aliqua in parte fortunam adfore: simul Cerialem neque satis cautum et pluribus nuntiis huc illuc cursantem posse medio intercipi. Quibus obvenerant castra decimanorum, obpugnationem legionis arduam rati egressum militem et caedendis materiis operatum turbavere, occiso praefecto castrorum et quinque primoribus centurionum paucisque militibus: ceteri se munimentis defendere. Interim Germanorum manus Batavoduri interrumpere inchoatum pontem nitebantur: ambiguum proelium nox diremit.
20.
The war was so far from ended that in one day Civilis launched a four-pronged assault on the permanent camps of the auxiliary cohorts, of the cavalry, and of the legions as well: the Tenth legion was attacked at Arenacum, the Second at Batavodurum, and the auxiliary infantry and cavalry at Grinnes and Vada respectively. The German forces were divided in such a way that Civilis himself, Verax, his sister’s son, Classicus and Tutor each led his own contingent, not in the hope of succeeding everywhere, but expecting rather that by risking much, fortune would favor them at some point. Also, [they knew that] Cerialis was rather careless and might be intercepted while he rushed here and there in response to multiple warnings of attacks. The forces in charge of storming the camp of the Tenth legion, knowing full well how arduous it was to challenge a legion, fell upon some troops that had left the camp and were engaged in falling timber. They killed the prefect of the camp, five senior centurions, and a few soldiers: the rest fought back from behind the fortifications. Meanwhile a body of Germans were trying to destroy a bridge under construction at Batavodurum, but darkness left the combat undecided.