LXI.
Adiuncto Britannico exercitu ingens viribus opibusque Vitellius duos duces, duo itinera bello destinavit: Fabius Valens adlicere vel, si abnuerent, vastare Gallias et Cottianis Alpibus Italiam inrumpere, Caecina propiore transitu Poeninis iugis degredi iussus. Valenti inferioris exercitus electi cum aquila quintae legionis et cohortibus alisque, ad quadraginta milia armatorum data; triginta milia Caecina e superiore Germania ducebat, quorum robur legio unaetvicensima fuit. addita utrique Germanorum auxilia, e quibus Vitellius suas quoque copias supplevit, tota mole belli secuturus.
61.
With the addition of the British army, Vitellius had enormous power and resources at his disposal. He appointed two generals and had a twofold approach to the war. Fabius Valens was directed to try and persuade the Gallic provinces to join their cause; if they refused he was to ravage their territory, then force a way into Italy by the Cottian Alps. Caecina’s orders were to descend into Italy by a shorter route through the Pennine Alps. Valens was given about forty thosand men, comprising picked troops from the army of Lower Germany, the entire Fifth legion, and the auxiliary cohorts and cavalry. Caecina was at the head of the army of Upper Germany, thirty thousand strong, its core being the Twenty-first legion. To both armies were added a part of the German auxiliary troops, which Vitellius used to supplement his own forces, as he himself was about to follow with the bulk of his strength.
LXII.
Mira inter exercitum imperatoremque diversitas: instare miles, arma poscere, dum Galliae trepident, dum Hispaniae cunctentur: non obstare hiemem neque ignavae pacis moras: invadendam Italiam, occupandam urbem; nihil in discordiis civilibus festinatione tutius, ubi facto magis quam consulto opus esset. torpebat Vitellius et fortunam principatus inerti luxu ac prodigis epulis praesumebat, medio diei temulentus et sagina gravis, cum tamen ardor et vis militum ultro ducis munia implebat, ut si adesset imperator et strenuis vel ignavis spem metumve adderet. instructi intentique signum profectionis exposcunt. nomen Germanici Vitellio statim additum: Caesarem se appellari etiam victor prohibuit. laetum augurium Fabio Valenti exercituique, quem in bellum agebat, ipso profectionis die aquila leni meatu, prout agmen incederet, velut dux viae praevolavit, longumque per spatium is gaudentium militum clamor, ea quies interritae alitis fuit ut haud dubium magnae et prosperae rei omen acciperetur.
62.
The contrast between Vitellius and his troops was striking. The troops were impatient, demanded action now that Gaul was dispirited and Spain undecided. Winter was no obstacle, [they said], a craven reverence for peace must not hold them back. It was imperative that they invade Italy, capture Rome. Nothing was safer in civil discords than speed. The times called for action, not debate. On his part, Vitellius idled his time away in a state of torpor and enjoyed ahead of time his imperial status in slothful luxury and prodigious feasting. By midday he was usually drunk and glutted with heavy food. Yet the alacrity and vigour of the soldiers was such that, of their own accord, they fulfilled all the functions of command, as if Vitellius’ presence was there only to motivate the brave with hope and the faint-hearted with fear. The name of Germanicus was immediately bestowed on him: even after his victory he refused to be addressed as Caesar. One happy omen was granted Valens and the army he was leading out to war. On the same day they started out, an eagle flew, gently gliding, just ahead of the army in its advance, as if to show the way, and for a long while the cries of joy of the soldiers and the placid flight of the unruffled bird were taken for a sure sign of a great and successful enterprise.
LXIII.
Et Treviros quidem ut socios securi adiere: Divoduri (Mediomatricorum id oppidum est) quamquam omni comitate exceptos subitus pavor terruit, raptis repente armis ad caedem innoxiae civitatis, non ob praedam aut spoliandi cupidine, sed furore et rabie et causis incertis eoque difficilioribus remediis, donec precibus ducis mitigati ab excidio civitatis temperavere; caesa tamen ad quattuor milia hominum. isque terror Gallias invasit ut venienti mox agmini universae civitates cum magistratibus et precibus occurrerent, stratis per vias feminis puerisque: quaeque alia placamenta hostilis irae, non quidem in bello sed pro pace tendebantur.
63.
And indeed they entered the territory of the Treveri in all confidence, as is natural among allies. [However], at Divodurum, the main center of the Mediomatrici, even though they had been received with utmost cordiality, a sudden panic broke out. The soldiers scrambled to seize their weapons and began the slaughter of innocent civilians, not from love of booty or a desire to loot, but driven by blind, senseless rage, and impulses unknown to themselves, for that very reason harder to control. In the end they were prevailed on to desist from destroying the entire community by the urging of their general. Nevertheless, close to four thousand people had been cut down, and such alarm spread through Gaul that at the approach of the army whole towns rushed out to meet it, their magistrates pleading for mercy and women and children prostrating themselves along the path [of the advancing columns]. Whatever else could appease an enemy’s anger was offered just to secure peace, albeit nothing like a state of war existed.
LXIV.
Nuntium de caede Galbae et imperio Othonis Fabius Valens in civitate Leucorum accepit. nec militum animus in gaudium aut formidine permotus: bellum volvebat. Gallis cunctatio exempta est: in Othonem ac Vitellium odium par, ex Vitellio et metus. proxima Lingonum civitas erat, fida partibus. benigne excepti modestia certavere, sed brevis laetitia fuit cohortium intemperie, quas a legione quarta decima, ut supra memoravimus, digressas exercitui suo Fabius Valens adiunxerat. iurgia primum, mox rixa inter Batavos et legionarios, dum his aut illis studia militum adgregantur, prope in proelium exarsere, ni Valens animadversione paucorum oblitos iam Batavos imperii admonuisset. frustra adversus Aeduos quaesita belli causa: iussi pecuniam atque arma deferre gratuitos insuper commeatus praebuere. quod Aedui formidine Lugdunenses gaudio fecere. sed legio Italica et ala Tauriana abductae: cohortem duodevicensimam Lugduni, solitis sibi hibernis, relinqui placuit. Manlius Valens legatus Italicae legionis, quamquam bene de partibus meritus, nullo apud Vitellium honore fuit: secretis eum criminationibus infamaverat Fabius ignarum et, quo incautior deciperetur, palam laudatum.
64.
The news of Galba’s murder and of Otho’s rise to power reached Fabius Valens in the country of the Leuci. The soldiers’ reaction was neither joy nor fear: their thoughts were fixed on war. For the Gauls all grounds for further vacillation were removed. They hated Otho and Vitellius equally, but Vitellius inspired them with fear as well. The Lingones, loyal to Vitellius’ party, were next in the army’s path. Amicably received, the soldiers outdid one another in proper conduct, but the joy was short-lived because of the excesses of the [Batavian] cohorts, which, as we mentioned, had been separated from the Fourteenth legion, then added to Valens’ army. Insults at first, then blows were traded between the Batavi and the men of the legions. As more soldiers joined one side or the other, the brawl almost flared up into a battle, had not Valens, by castigating a few, called to order the Batavi, already forgetful of authority. In vain did Valens’ army seek a pretext for war against the Aedui: required to contribute money and arms, they added food supplies without charge. What the Aedui did out of fear, the people of Lyon did with joy. They lost, however, the Italica legion and the Taurian cavalry unit, [both stationed there], for it was decided to leave in place only the Eighteenth cohort, normally in winter quarters at Lyon. Manlius Valens, the commander of the Italica legion, was not at all in Vitellius’ good graces, in spite of his good services to the party. He had defamed and accused Vitellius behind his back, while praising him to his face, in order to [better] deceive him when less wary.
LXV.
Veterem inter Lugdunensis [et Viennensis] discordiam proximum bellum accenderat. multae in vicem clades, crebrius infestiusque quam ut tantum propter Neronem Galbamque pugnaretur. et Galba reditus Lugdunensium occasione irae in fiscum verterat; multus contra in Viennensis honor: unde aemulatio et invidia et uno amne discretis conexum odium. igitur Lugdunenses extimulare singulos militum et in eversionem Viennensium impellere, obsessam ab illis coloniam suam, adiutos Vindicis conatus, conscriptas nuper legiones in praesidium Galbae referendo. et ubi causas odiorum praetenderant, magnitudinem praedae ostendebant, nec iam secreta exhortatio, sed publicae preces: irent ultores, excinderent sedem Gallici belli: cuncta illic externa et hostilia: se, coloniam Romanam et partem exercitus et prosperarum adversarumque rerum socios, si fortuna contra daret, iratis ne relinquerent.
65.
The recent war [against Vindex] had intensified the animosity existing for a long time between Lyon and Vienna. They had caused much damage to each other, too often and too bitterly to be ascribed solely to partisanship in the struggle between Nero and Galba. Moreover, to vent his displeasure, Galba had confiscated the revenues of Lyon, while treating the city of Vienna with much partiality. Hence the rivalry, the jealosy, the hatred connecting two communities separated only by a river. So the people of Lyon worked on the feelings of one soldier after another, inciting these to destroy Vienna, calling to mind the blockade its people had imposed on their colony, the support it had given Vindex, and the legions it had but lately raised in defense of Galba. After harping on all the reasons for hating their neighbors, they would point to the enormous booty to be gained. This they did no longer in secret, but by appealing to the troops quite openly. They urged them to march out as their avengers and obliterate that breeding ground of war in Gaul. At Vienna, [they said], all was foreign and hostile. They, the citizens of Lyon, were the exact opposite: a Roman colony, part of the Roman army, loyal allies of Rome in prosperity and adversity. If Fortune turned against them, were they to be abandoned to the fury of their enemies?
LXVI.
His et pluribus in eundem modum perpulerant ut ne legati quidem ac duces partium restingui posse iracundiam exercitus arbitrarentur, cum haud ignari discriminis sui Viennenses, velamenta et infulas praeferentes, ubi agmen incesserat, arma genua vestigia prensando flexere militum animos; addidit Valens trecenos singulis militibus sestertios. tum vetustas dignitasque coloniae valuit et verba Fabi salutem incolumitatemque Viennensium commendantis aequis auribus accepta; publice tamen armis multati, privatis et promiscis copiis iuvere militem. sed fama constans fuit ipsum Valentem magna pecunia emptum. is diu sordidus, repente dives mutationem fortunae male tegebat, accensis egestate longa cupidinibus immoderatus et inopi iuventa senex prodigus. lento deinde agmine per finis Allobrogum ac Vocontiorum ductus exercitus, ipsa itinerum spatia et stativorum mutationes venditante duce, foedis pactionibus adversus possessores agrorum et magistratus civitatum, adeo minaciter ut Luco (municipium id Vocontiorum est) faces admoverit, donec pecunia mitigaretur. quotiens pecuniae materia deesset, stupris et adulteriis exorabatur. sic ad Alpis perventum.
66.
With these and other arguments in the same vein, they had worked up the soldiers’ sentiments to such a peak that even the legion commanders and the heads of the party began to doubt their own ability to rein in the anger of the army. But by this time the Viennese had realized their danger. Proffering tokens of humble submission as the army approached and clinging fast to the soldiers’ weapons, knees, and feet, they suceeded in mitigating their hostility. Also, Valens gave a gratuity of three hundred sesterces to each soldier. Only then were the antiquity and dignity of the city regarded with respect; only then were the soldiers’ ears receptive to Fabius’ admonishments to refrain from causing death or injury to the Viennese. The community, however, had to deliver up its arms and private citizens were required to help the soldiers with various kinds of supplies. But a rumor persisted that Valens himself was bought with a large sum. Destitute for many years, then suddenly rich, he was a poor hand at disguising his changed fortunes. Excessive in his appetite, awakened by long privations and a beggarly youth, he turned prodigal in later years. The army’s subsequent progress through the country of the Allobroges and of the Vocontii was slow, while the general turned even the itinerary of each day’s march and the changes from one camp to another into salable commodities. He negotiated shameless arrangements, to the disadvantage of landowners and local magistrates, using threats to have his way, as he did when he came near setting Lucus ablaze, a town of the Vocontii, until he was placated with a bribe. Whenever no money was to be had, prostitution and adultery were the way to appease him. Thus they finally reached the Alps.
LXVII.
Plus praedae ac sanguinis Caecina hausit. inritaverant turbidum ingenium Helvetii, Gallica gens olim armis virisque, mox memoria nominis clara, de caede Galbae ignari et Vitellii imperium abnuentes. initium bello fuit avaritia ac festinatio unaetvicensimae legionis; rapuerant pecuniam missam in stipendium castelli quod olim Helvetii suis militibus ac stipendiis tuebantur. aegre id passi Helvetii, interceptis epistulis, quae nomine Germanici exercitus ad Pannonicas legiones ferebantur, centurionem et quosdam militum in custodia retinebant. Caecina belli avidus proximam quamque culpam, antequam paeniteret, ultum ibat: mota propere castra, vastati agri, direptus longa pace in modum municipii extructus locus, amoeno salubrium aquarum usu frequens; missi ad Raetica auxilia nuntii ut versos in legionem Helvetios a tergo adgrederentur.
67.
Caecina’s appetite for loot and blood had been even greater. His turbulent nature was roused to anger by the Helvetii, a tribe once famous for its warlike people, but later only for the memory of its good name. Unaware of Galba’s murder, they refused to acknowledge Vitellius as emperor. War broke out because of the overreaching avidity of the Twenty-first legion. Its soldiers had made away with the money sent to pay the garrison of a local fort, which the Helvetii had long maintained with their own troops and at their own expense. Resenting the outrage, the Helvetii intercepted a message, written in the name of the army of Germany and destined to the legions of Pannonia, and held in custody a centurion and some soldiers. Ever hankering for a fight, Caecina’s instinct was to punish at once any hostility he met with, without waiting for repentance. At once he moved the camp, ravaged the fields, and stormed a place that over the years of peace had grown to the status of municipal town, much frequented for the enjoyable and salutary use of its waters. He also sent messengers to the Raetian auxiliaries, directing them to attack the Helvetii in the rear while they faced the legions.
LXVIII.
Illi ante discrimen feroces, in periculo pavidi, quamquam primo tumultu Claudium Severum ducem legerant, non arma noscere, non ordines sequi, non in unum consulere. exitiosum adversus veteranos proelium, intuta obsidio dilapsis vetustate moenibus; hinc Caecina cum valido exercitu, inde Raeticae alae cohortesque et ipsorum Raetorum iuventus, sueta armis et more militiae exercita. undique populatio et caedes: ipsi medio vagi, abiectis armis, magna pars saucii aut palantes, in montem Vocetium perfugere. ac statim immissa cohorte Thraecum depulsi et consectantibus Germanis Raetisque per silvas atque in ipsis latebris trucidati. multa hominum milia caesa, multa sub corona venundata. cumque dirutis omnibus Aventicum gentis caput infesto agmine peteretur, missi qui dederent civitatem, et deditio accepta. in Iulium Alpinum e principibus ut concitorem belli Caecina animadvertit: ceteros veniae vel saevitiae Vitellii reliquit.
68.
Fierce before the battle, the Helvetii showed little courage in the moment of danger. At the first sign of trouble they had chosen Claudius Severus as their leader, but they had no combat experience, no discipline, no grasp of tactics. A frontal engagement against veteran troops was to be a disaster for them; to sustain a siege behind walls made ruinous by time was equally perilous. On one side was Caecina with a powerful army, on the other the Raetian infantry and cavalry, backed by Raetian draftees, young men inured to arms and trained for war. All around one saw nothing but devastation and carnage. Caught in the middle, the Helvetii wandered about between the two sides, then threw away their arms and sought refuge on Mt. Vocetius, most of them injured or unable to keep up. But a cohort of Thracian auxiliaries, sent out after the fugitives, dislodged them, then German and Raetian troops pursued them through the forest and massacred them in the very places they had relied on for safety. Several thousand men were killed and several more were auctioned off as slaves. Once the work of destruction was complete, the army marched against Aventicum, the capital of the Helvetii. Its citizens sent out deputies to arrange a surrender, which was accepted. Julius Alpinus, one of the main instigators of the war, was executed on Caecina’s orders. The rest was abandoned to the mercy or cruelty of Vitellius.
LXIX.
Haud facile dictu est, legati Helvetiorum minus placabilem imperatorem an militem invenerint. civitatis excidium poscunt, tela ac manus in ora legatorum intentant. ne Vitellius quidem verbis et minis temperabat, cum Claudius Cossus, unus ex legatis, notae facundiae sed dicendi artem apta trepidatione occultans atque eo validior, militis animum mitigavit. ut est mos, vulgus mutabile subitis et tam pronum in misericordiam quam immodicum saevitia fuerat: effusis lacrimis et meliora constantius postulando impunitatem salutemque civitati impetravere.
69.
It would be quite difficult to decide whether the envoys of the Helvetii found Vitellius or the soldiers less implacable. The latter clamored for the destruction of Aventicum, waving their fists and their weapons in the envoys’ faces; even Vitellius showed no restraint in uttering threats. Later, however, one of the envoys by the name of Claudius Cossus, who had a notable facility with words, but masked this talent by appearing nervous –which made him a more effective speaker—was able to allay the soldiers’ hostility. As is often the case, a sudden change of mood came over the multitude: they became as lenient in their compassion as they had been excessive in their cruelty. They now shed tears and were pressing in their demands of better treament for the Helvetii, thus securing the impunity and safety of Aventicum.
LXX.
Caecina paucos in Helvetiis moratus dies dum sententiae Vitellii certior fieret, simul transitum Alpium parans, laetum ex Italia nuntium accipit alam Silianam circa Padum agentem sacramento Vitellii accessisset. pro consule Vitellium Siliani in Africa habuerant; mox a Nerone, ut in Aegyptum praemitterentur, exciti et ob bellum Vindicis revocati ac tum in Italia manentes, instinctu decurionum, qui Othonis ignari, Vitellio obstricti robur adventantium legionum et famam Germanici exercitus attollebant, transiere in partis et ut donum aliquod novo principi firmissima transpadanae regionis municipia, Mediolanum ac Novariam et Eporediam et Vercellas, adiunxere. id Caecinae per ipsos compertum. et quia praesidio alae unius latissima Italiae pars defendi nequibat, praemissis Gallorum Lusitanorumque et Britannorum cohortibus et Germanorum vexillis cum ala Petriana, ipse paulum cunctatus est num Raeticis iugis in Noricum flecteret adversus Petronium Vrbicum procuratorem, qui concitis auxiliis et interruptis fluminum pontibus fidus Othoni putabatur. sed metu ne amitteret praemissas iam cohortis alasque, simul reputans plus gloriae retenta Italia et, ubicumque certatum foret, Noricos in cetera victoriae praemia cessuros, Poenino itinere subsignanum militem et grave legionum agmen hibernis adhuc Alpibus transduxit.
70.
Caecina remained a few days among the Helvetii waiting for news of Vitellius’ decision [on the fate of Aventicum], at the same time preparing to cross the Alps. He was gladdened by reports from Italy that the Silian cavalry unit, stationed near the Po River, had sworn allegiance to Vitellius. This unit, which had served under Vitellius at the time of his proconsulate in Africa and was later summoned by Nero in order to be sent in advance to Egypt, was later recalled owing to Vindex’ revolt and was now in Italy. Its men, at the instance of their officers who did not know Otho, but were devoted to Vitellius and exalted the might of the approaching legions and the fame of the army of Germany, crossed over to Vitellius and, as a sort of present to the new prince, they won over to his cause the major towns of the transpadane region, Mediolanum, Novaria, Eporedia, and Vercellae. Caecina came to know this from the people of these towns and, because a single cavalry unit could not effectively guard the most extensive part of Italy, he sent ahead to these regions his auxiliary cohorts of Gauls, Lusitanians, and Britons, as well as detachments of German cavalry with the ala Petriana or ‘Petra’s cavalry regiment’. He himself hesitated a while whether he should make a detour into Noricum to counter the procurator Petronius Urbicus, who was thought to be on Otho’s side, having mobilized his auxiliary troops and even cut the bridges. He feared, however, that he might lose the auxiliary infantry and cavalry he had ordered to precede him. He reflected at the same time that there was more glory in holding Italy and that, no matter where the war was going to be fought, Noricum was sure to be included among the spoils of victory. Thus, by the Pennine pass he led his detachments of legionary troops and the heavy column of the legions over the Alps, still covered in snow.