12the growing rumour of a reverse in germany264 had not as yet caused any alarm in rome. people alluded to the loss of armies, the capture of the legions' winter quarters, the defection of the gallic provinces as matters of indifference. i must now go back and explain the origin of this war, and of the widespread rebellion of foreign and allied tribes which now broke into flame.
the batavi were once a tribe of the chatti,265 living on the further bank of the rhine. but an outbreak of civil war had driven them across the river, where they settled in a still unoccupied district on the frontier of gaul and also in the neighbouring island, enclosed on one side by the ocean and on the other three sides by the rhine.266 there they fared better than most tribes who ally themselves to a stronger power. their resources are still intact, and they have only to contribute men and arms for the imperial army.267 after 112a long training in the german wars, they still further increased their reputation in britain, where their troops had been sent, commanded according to an ancient custom by some of the noblest chiefs. there still remained behind in their own country a picked troop of horsemen with a peculiar knack of swimming, which enabled them to make a practice268 of crossing the rhine with unbroken ranks without losing control of their horses or their weapons.
13of their chieftains two outshone the rest. these were julius paulus and julius civilis, both of royal stock. paulus had been executed by fonteius capito on a false charge of rebellion.269 on the same occasion civilis was sent in chains to nero. galba, however, set him free, and under vitellius he again ran great risk of his life, when the army clamoured for his execution.270 this gave him a motive for hating rome, and our misfortunes fed his hopes. he was, indeed, far cleverer than most barbarians, and professed to be a second sertorius or hannibal, because they all three had the same physical defect.271 he was afraid that if he openly rebelled against the roman people they would treat him as an enemy, and march on him at once, so he pretended to be a keen supporter of vespasian's party. this much was true, that antonius113 primus had written instructing him to divert the auxiliaries whom vitellius had summoned, and to delay the legions on the pretence of a rising in germany. moreover, hordeonius flaccus272 had given him the same advice in person, for flaccus was inclined to support vespasian and anxious for the safety of rome, which was threatened with utter disaster, if the war were to break out afresh and all these thousands of troops come pouring into italy.
14having thus made up his mind to rebel, civilis concealed in the meantime his ulterior design, and while intending to guide his ultimate policy by future events, proceeded to initiate the rising as follows. the young batavians were by vitellius' orders being pressed for service, and this burden was being rendered even more irksome than it need have been by the greed and depravity of the recruiting officers. they took to enrolling elderly men and invalids so as to get bribes for excusing them: or, as most of the batavi are tall and good-looking in their youth, they would seize the handsomest boys for immoral purposes. this caused bad feeling; an agitation was organized, and they were persuaded to refuse service. accordingly, on the pretext of giving a banquet, civilis summoned the chief nobles and the most determined of the tribesmen to a sacred grove. then, when he saw them excited by their revelry and the late hour of the night, he began to speak of the glorious past of the batavi and to enumerate the wrongs they had suffered, the injustice 114and extortion and all the evils of their slavery. 'we are no longer treated,' he said, 'as we used to be, like allies, but like menials and slaves. why, we are never even visited by an imperial governor273—irksome though the insolence of his staff would be. we are given over to prefects and centurions; and when these subordinates have had their fill of extortion and of bloodshed, they promptly find some one to replace them, and then there are new pockets to fill and new pretexts for plunder. now conscription is upon us: children are to be torn from parents, brother from brother, never, probably, to meet again. and yet the fortunes of rome were never more depressed. their cantonments contain nothing but loot and a lot of old men. lift up your eyes and look at them. there is nothing to fear from legions that only exist on paper.274 and we are strong. we have infantry and cavalry: the germans are our kinsmen: the gauls share our ambition. even the romans will be grateful if we go to war.275 if we fail, we can claim credit for supporting vespasian: if we succeed, there will be no one to call us to account.'
15his speech was received with great approval, and he at once bound them all to union, using the barbarous ceremonies and strange oaths of his country. they 115then sent to the canninefates to join their enterprise. this tribe inhabits part of the island,276 and though inferior in numbers to the batavi, they are of the same race and language and the same courageous spirit. civilis next sent secret messages to win over the batavian troops, which after serving as roman auxiliaries in britain had been sent, as we have already seen,277 to germany and were now stationed at mainz.278
one of the canninefates, brinno by name, was a man of distinguished family and stubborn courage. his father had often ventured acts of hostility, and had with complete impunity shown his contempt for caligula's farcical expedition.279 to belong to such a family of rebels was in itself a recommendation. he was accordingly placed on a shield, swung up on the shoulders of his friends, and thus elected leader after the fashion of the tribe. summoning to his aid the frisii280—a tribe from beyond the rhine—he fell upon two cohorts of auxiliaries whose camp lay close to the neighbouring shore.281 the attack was unexpected, and the troops, even if they had foreseen it, were not strong enough to offer resistance: so the camp was taken and looted. they then fell on the roman camp-116followers and traders, who had gone off in all directions as if peace were assured. finding the forts now threatened with destruction, the roman officers set fire to them, as they had no means of defence. all the troops with their standards and colours retired in a body to the upper end of the island, led by aquilius, a senior centurion. but they were an army in name only, not in strength, for vitellius had withdrawn all the efficient soldiers and had replaced them by a useless mob, who had been drawn from the neighbouring nervian and german villages and were only embarrassed by their armour.282
16civilis thought it best to proceed by guile, and actually ventured to blame the roman officers for abandoning the forts. he could, he told them, with the cohort under his command, suppress the outbreak of the canninefates without their assistance: they could all go back to their winter-quarters. however, it was plain that some treachery underlay his advice—it would be easier to crush the cohorts if they were separated—and also that civilis, not brinno, was at the head of this war. evidence of this gradually leaked out, as the germans loved war too well to keep 117the secret for long. finding his artifice unsuccessful, civilis tried force instead, forming the canninefates, frisii and batavi into three separate columns.283 the roman line faced them in position near the rhine bank.284 they had brought their ships there after the burning of the forts, and these were now turned with their prows towards the enemy. soon after the engagement began a tungrian cohort deserted to civilis, and the romans were so startled by this unexpected treachery that they were cut to pieces by their allies and their enemies combined. similar treachery occurred in the fleet. some of the rowers, who were batavians, feigning clumsiness tried to impede the sailors and marines in the performance of their functions, and after a while openly resisted them and turned the ships' sterns towards the enemy's bank. finally, they killed the pilots and centurions who refused to join them, and thus all the twenty-four ships of the flotilla either deserted to the enemy or were captured by them.
17this victory made civilis immediately famous and proved subsequently very useful. having now got the ships and the weapons which they needed, he and his 118followers were enthusiastically proclaimed as champions of liberty throughout germany and gaul. the german provinces immediately sent envoys with offers of help, while civilis endeavoured by diplomacy and by bribery to secure an alliance with the gauls. he sent back the auxiliary officers whom he had taken prisoner, each to his own tribe, and offered the cohorts the choice of either going home or remaining with him. those who remained were given an honourable position in his army: and those who went home received presents out of the roman spoil. at the same time civilis talked to them confidentially and reminded them of the miseries they had endured for all these years, in which they had disguised their wretched slavery under the name of peace. 'the batavi,' he would say, 'were excused from taxation, and yet they have taken arms against the common tyrant. in the first engagement the romans were routed and beaten. what if gaul throws off the yoke? what forces are there left in italy? it is with the blood of provincials that their provinces are won. don't think of the defeat of . why, it was the batavian cavalry which trampled on the aedui and arverni,285 and there were belgic auxiliaries in verginius' force. the truth is that gaul succumbed to her own armies. but now we are all united in one party, fortified, moreover, by the military discipline which prevails in roman camps:119 and we have on our side the veterans before whom otho's legions lately bit the dust. let syria and asia play the slave: the east is used to tyrants: but there are many still living in gaul who were born before the days of tribute.286 indeed, it is only the other day287 that quintilius varus was killed, when slavery was driven out of germany, and they brought into the field not the emperor vitellius but caesar augustus himself. why, liberty is the natural prerogative even of dumb animals: courage is the peculiar attribute of man. heaven helps the brave. come, then, fall upon them while your hands are free and theirs are tied, while you are fresh and they are weary. some of them are for vespasian, others for vitellius; now is your chance to crush both parties at once.'
18civilis thus had his eye on gaul and germany and aspired, had his project prospered, to become king of two countries, one pre-eminent in wealth and the other in military strength.
