No More Learning

This victory delighted Vespasian: everything was succeeding beyond his
hopes: and to crown all the news of the battle of Cremona now reached
him in Egypt. He hurried forward all the faster towards Alexandria
with the object of bringing starvation[126] upon Vitellius' defeated
troops and the inhabitants of Rome, who were already feeling the pinch
of diminished imports. For he was at the same time making preparations
for an invasion of the adjacent province of Africa[127] by land and
sea. By cutting off their corn supply he hoped to reduce the enemy to
famine and disunion.

FOOTNOTES:

[114] The marines (see ii. 67, i. 6).

[115] X Gemina, VI Victrix.

[116] They occupied a large district of the north of England,
from the Trent to the Tyne.

[117] As a matter of fact his triumph took place in 44.
Caratacus was brought to Rome in 51. Perhaps Tacitus regards
this in itself as a 'triumph', or else he makes a venial
mistake.

[118] The rebellion on the Rhine is described in Books IV and V.

[119] In Roumania.

[120] Ferrata. Cp. ii. 83.

[121] This little kingdom west of Trebizond was left to Rome
by Polemo II, A. D. 63. Nero made it a Roman province under the
name of Pontus Polemoniacus.

[122] Trebizond.

[123] Mucianus had 'ordered the fleet to move from Pontus to
Byzantium' (ii. 83). This leads some editors to change the
text, and others to suppose that a few ships were left behind.

[124] Literally, arched boats. Tacitus describes somewhat
similar craft in _Germania_, 44.

[125] The Khopi, which flows from the Caucasus into the Euxine.

[126] Cp. chap. 8.

[127] Africa came next to Egypt in importance as a Roman
granary (cp. i. 73).


ANTONIUS' ADVANCE FROM CREMONA

Thus[128] a world-wide convulsion marked the passing of the 49
imperial power into new hands. Meanwhile, after Cremona, the behaviour
of Antonius Primus was not so blameless as before. He had settled the
war, he felt; the rest would be plain sailing. Or, perhaps, in such a
nature as his success only brought to light his greed and arrogance
and all his other dormant vices. While harrying Italy like a conquered
country, he courted the goodwill of his troops and used every word and
every action to pave his way to power. He allowed his men to appoint
centurions themselves in place of those who had fallen, and thus gave
them a taste for insubordination; for their choice fell on the most
turbulent spirits. The generals no longer commanded the men, but were
dragged at the heels of their caprices. This revolutionary system,
utterly fatal to good discipline, was exploited by Antonius for his
own profit. [129] Of Mucianus' approach he had no fears, and thus made
a mistake even more fatal than despising Vespasian. [130]

His advance, however, continued. As winter was at hand[131] and 50
the Po had inundated the meadows, his column marched unencumbered by
heavy baggage. The main body of the victorious legions was left
behind at Verona, together with such of the soldiers as were
incapacitated by wounds or old age, and many besides who were still in
good condition. Having already broken the back of the campaign,
Antonius felt strong enough with his auxiliary horse and foot and some
picked detachments from the legions. The Eleventh[132] had voluntarily
joined the advance. They had held back at first, but, seeing Antonius'
success, were distressed to think they had had no share in it. The
column was also accompanied by a force of six thousand Dalmatian
troops, which had been recently raised. The ex-consul, Pompeius
Silvanus,[133] commanded the column, but the actual control was in the
hands of a general named Annius Bassus. Silvanus was quite ineffective
as a general, and wasted every chance of action in talking about it.
Bassus, while showing all due respect, managed him completely, and was
always ready with quiet efficiency to do anything that had to be done.
Their force was further increased by enlisting the best of the marines
from the Ravenna fleet, who were clamouring for service in the
legions. The vacancies in the fleet were filled by Dalmatians. The
army and its generals halted at Fanum Fortunae,[134] still hesitating
what policy to adopt, for they had heard that the Guards were on the
move from Rome, and supposed that the Apennines were held by troops.
And they had fears of their own. Supplies were scarce in a district
devastated by war. The men were mutinous and demanded 'shoe-money',[135]
as they called the donative, with alarming insistence. No provision
had been made either for money or for stores. The precipitate greed of
the soldiers made further difficulties, for they each looted what
might have served for them all.

I find among the best authorities evidence which shows how 51
wickedly careless were the victorious army of all considerations of
right and wrong. They tell how a trooper professed that he had killed
his brother in the last battle, and demanded a reward from his
generals. The dictates of humanity forbade them to remunerate such a
murder, but in the interests of civil war they dared not punish it.
They had put him off with the plea that they could not at the moment
reward his service adequately. And there the story stops. However, a
similar crime had occurred in earlier civil wars. In the battle which
Pompeius Strabo fought against Cinna at the Janiculum,[136] one of his
soldiers killed his own brother and then, realizing what he had done,
committed suicide. This is recorded by Sisenna. [137] Our ancestors, it
seems, had a livelier sense than we have both of the glory of good
deeds and the shame of bad. [138] These and other such instances from
past history may be appropriately cited, whenever the subject seems to
demand either an example of good conduct or some consolation for a
crime.

Antonius and his fellow generals decided to send the cavalry ahead 52
to explore the whole of Umbria, and to see whether any of the
Apennines were accessible by a gentler route; to summon the eagles and
standards[139] and all the troops at Verona,[140] and to fill the Po
and the sea with provision ships. Some of the generals continually
suggested obstacles. Antonius had grown too big for his place, and
they had surer hopes of reward from Mucianus. He was distressed that
victory had come so soon, and felt that, if he was not present when
Rome was taken, he would lose his share in the war and its glory. So
he kept on writing to Antonius and Varus in ambiguous terms, sometimes
urging them to 'press forward on their path', sometimes expatiating on
'the manifold value of delay'. He thus managed to arrange that he
could disclaim responsibility in case of a reverse, or acknowledge
their policy as his own if it succeeded. To Plotius Grypus, whom
Vespasian had lately raised to senatorial rank and put in command of a
legion, and to his other trusty friends he sent less ambiguous
instructions, and they all wrote back criticizing the haste with which
Antonius and Varus acted. This was just what Mucianus wanted. He
forwarded the letters to Vespasian with the result that Antonius'
plans and exploits were not appreciated as highly as Antonius had
hoped. This he took very ill and threw the blame on Mucianus, 53
whose charges he conceived had cheapened his exploits. Being little
accustomed to control his tongue or to obey orders, he was most
unguarded in his conversation and composed a letter to Vespasian in
presumptuous language which ill befitted a subject, making various
covert charges against Mucianus. 'It was I,' he wrote, 'who brought
the legions of Pannonia into the field:[141] it was my stimulus which
stirred up the officers in Moesia:[142] it was by my persistence that
we broke through the Alps, seized hold of Italy and cut off the German
and Raetian auxiliaries. [143] When Vitellius' legions were all
scattered and disunited, it was I who flung the cavalry on them like a
whirlwind, and then pressed home the attack with the infantry all day
and all night. That victory is my greatest achievement and it is
entirely my own. As for the mishap at Cremona, that was the fault of
the war. In old days the civil wars cost the country far more damage
and involved the destruction of more than one town. It is not with
couriers and dispatches that I serve my master, but with my sword in
my hand. Nor can it be said that I have interfered with the glory of
the men who have meanwhile settled matters in Dacia. [144] What peace
in Moesia is to them, the safety and welfare of Italy are to me. It
was my encouragement which brought the provinces of Gaul and of Spain,
the strongest parts of the whole world, over to Vespasian's side. But
my labours will prove useless, if the reward for the dangers I have
run is to fall to the man who was not there to share them. ' All this
reached the ears of Mucianus and a serious quarrel resulted. Antonius
kept it up in a frank spirit of dislike, while Mucianus showed a
cunning which was far more implacable.

FOOTNOTES:

[128] The narrative is here resumed from the end of chap. 35.

[129] Would-be centurions doubtless bribed him to influence
the soldiers in their favour.

[130] Vespasian was too big to mind being despised; Mucianus
was not, and eventually retaliated (cp. iv. 11).

[131] November.

[132] From Dalmatia (see ii. 11, 67).

[133] Governor of Dalmatia (cp. ii. 86).

[134] Fano.

[135] Apparently soldiers' slang. Probably at some period an
officer had bribed his men under the pretence of making
special grants for the purchase of nails for their shoes.

[136] 87 B. C.

[137] L. Cornelius Sisenna, who died 67 B. C. in Pompey's war
against the pirates, wrote a history of his own time, dealing
in particular with Sulla's wars.

[138] This or some similar incident seems to have become a
respected commonplace of history and poetry (cp. chap. 25).

[139] i. e. the main body of the legions.

[140] See chap. 50.

[141] See ii. 86.

[142] i. e. Aponius, Vipstanus Messala, Dillius, and Numisius
(see ii. 85, iii. 9, 10).

[143] Cp. chap. 8.

[144] i. e. Mucianus and his officers (see chap. 46).


VITELLIUS' MEASURES OF DEFENCE

After the crushing defeat at Cremona Vitellius stupidly suppressed 54
the news of the disaster, thus postponing not the danger itself but
only his precautions against it. Had he admitted the facts and sought
advice, hope and strength were still left to him: his pretension that
all went well only made matters worse. He was himself extraordinarily
silent about the war, and in Rome all discussion of the subject was
forbidden. This only increased the number of people who, if permitted,
would have told the truth, but in the face of this prohibition spread
grossly exaggerated rumours. Nor were the Flavian leaders slow to
foster these rumours. Whenever they captured Vitellian spies they
escorted them round the camp to show them the strength of the winning
army, and sent them back again. Vitellius cross-examined each of them
in private and then had them murdered. A centurion named Julius
Agrestis, after many interviews, in which he endeavoured in vain to
fire Vitellius' courage, at last with heroic persistence induced the
emperor to send him to inspect the enemy's forces and discover what
had really happened at Cremona. He made no attempt to deceive Antonius
by concealing the object of his mission, but openly avowed the
emperor's instructions, stated his intentions and demanded to be shown
everything. He was given guides, who showed him the field of battle,
the ruins of Cremona and the captured legions. Back went Agrestis to
Vitellius. Finding that the emperor disbelieved his report and even
suggested that he had been bribed, he said, 'You want some certain
evidence and, since you have no further use for me either alive or
dead, I will give you evidence that you can believe. ' And he was as
good as his word. He went straight from the emperor's presence and
committed suicide. Some say he was killed by order of Vitellius, but
they give the same account of his heroic devotion. [145]

Vitellius was like a man roused from sleep. He dispatched Julius 55
Priscus and Alfenus Varus[146] with fourteen cohorts of Guards and all
his available cavalry to hold the Apennines. A legion levied from the
marines[147] was sent after them. This large army of picked men and
horses, if there had been any general to lead it, was strong enough to
have even taken the offensive. His other cohorts[148] were given to
his brother, Lucius Vitellius, for the protection of the city. The
emperor himself gave up none of his habitual luxuries, but, feeling
nervous and depressed, he hurried on the elections and nominated
consuls for several years in advance. He lavished special
charters[149] on allied communities and extended Latin rights[150] to
foreign towns: he remitted taxation here, granted immunities there. In
fact, he took no thought for the future, and did his best to cripple
the empire. However, the mob accepted these munificent grants with
open mouths. Fools paid money for them, but wise men held them
invalid, since they could be neither given nor received without a
revolution. At last he yielded to the demands of the army and joined
the camp at Mevania,[151] where they had taken up their position. A
long train of senators followed him, many moved by their ambition, but
most by their fears. Here he was still undecided and at the mercy of
treacherous advice.

During one of his speeches a portent occurred. A cloud of 56
ill-omened birds[152] flew over his head and its density obscured the
daylight. To this was added another omen of disaster. A bull broke
from the altar, scattered the utensils for the ceremony, and escaped
so far away that it had to be killed instead of being sacrificed
according to the proper ritual. But the chief portent was Vitellius
himself. He was ignorant of soldiering, incapable of forethought: knew
nothing of drill or scouting, or how far operations should be pressed
forward or protracted. He always had to ask some one else. At every
fresh piece of news his expression and gait betrayed his alarm. And
then he would get drunk. At last he found camp life too tedious, and
on learning of a mutiny in the fleet at Misenum[153] he returned to
Rome. Every fresh blow terrified him, but of the real crisis he seemed
insensible. For it was open to him to cross the Apennines and with his
full strength unimpaired to attack the enemy while they were worn out
with cold and hunger. But by breaking up his forces he sent his
keenest soldiers, stubbornly loyal to the last, to be killed or taken
prisoner. The more experienced of his centurions disapproved of this
policy and would have told him the truth, if they had been consulted.
But the emperor's intimates refused them admittance. He had, indeed,
formed a habit of regarding wholesome advice as unpleasant, and
refusing to listen to any that was not agreeable, and in the long run
fatal.

In civil war individual enterprise counts for much. The mutiny of 57
the fleet at Misenum had been engineered by Claudius Faventinus, a
centurion whom Galba had dismissed in disgrace. To obtain his object
he had forged a letter from Vespasian promising rewards for treachery.
The admiral, Claudius Apollinaris,[154] was neither a staunch loyalist
nor an enthusiastic traitor. Accordingly Apinius Tiro, an ex-praetor,
who happened to be at Minturnae,[155] offered to take the lead of the
rebels. They proceeded to win over the colonies and country towns.
Puteoli in particular was strong for Vespasian, while Capua remained
loyal to Vitellius, for they dragged their local jealousies into the
civil war. To pacify the excited troops Vitellius chose Claudius
Julianus, who had lately been in command of the fleet at Misenum and
had allowed lax discipline. To support him he was given one cohort of
the city garrison and the force of gladiators already serving under
him. The two parties encamped close to one another, and it was not
long before Julianus came over to Vespasian's side. They then joined
forces and occupied Tarracina,[156] which owed its strength more to
its walls and situation than to the character of its new garrison.

When news of this reached Vitellius, he left part of his force at 58
Narnia[157] with the prefects of the Guard,[158] and sent his brother
Lucius with six regiments of Guards and five hundred horse to cope
with the threatened outbreak in Campania. His own nervous depression
was somewhat relieved by the enthusiasm of the troops and of the
populace, who clamoured loudly for arms. For he dignified this
poor-spirited mob, which would never dare to do anything but shout, by
the specious titles of 'the army' or 'his legions'. His friends were
all untrustworthy in proportion to their eminence; but on the advice
of his freedmen he held a levy for conscription and swore in all who
gave their names. As their numbers were too great, he gave the task of
selection to the two consuls. From each of the senators he levied a
fixed number of slaves and a weight of silver. The knights offered
money and personal service, while even freedmen volunteered similar
assistance.
Indeed, protestations of loyalty prompted by fear, had
gradually changed into real sympathy. People began to feel pity, not
perhaps so much for Vitellius as for the throne and its misfortunes.
He himself by his looks, his voice, his tears made ceaseless demands
upon their compassion, promising rewards lavishly and, as men do when
they are frightened, beyond all limits. He had hitherto refused the
title of Caesar,[159] but he now expressed a wish for it. He had a
superstitious respect for the name, and in moments of terror one
listens as much to gossip as to sound advice. However, while a rash
and ill-conceived undertaking may prosper at the outset, in time it
always begins to flag. Gradually the senators and knights deserted
him. At first they hesitated and waited till his back was turned, but
soon they ceased to care and openly showed their disrespect. At last
Vitellius grew ashamed of the failure of his efforts and excused them
from the services which they refused to render.

FOOTNOTES:

[145] This incident was probably another historical
commonplace. See the story from Plutarch (ii. 46, note 316),
which is also told by Suetonius and Dio.

[146] The prefects of the Guards (cp. ii. 92).

[147] At Misenum. (Leg. II Adjutrix. ) The Ravenna marines were
on the Flavian side (see chap. 50).

[148] i. e. the rest of the Guards (2), with the city garrison (4),
and police (7) (cp. ii. 93).

[149] i. e. granting them special privileges denied to other
communities in the same province.

[150] A sort of 'half-way house to Roman citizenship'. Full
commercial rights were included but not those of
intermarriage. It was possible for individual citizens in a
Latin town to obtain the full rights of a Roman.

[151] Bevagna.

[152] Dio makes them vultures and the scene a sacrifice: they
scattered the victims and nearly knocked Vitellius off his
pulpit.

[153] Described in the following chapter.

[154] He had succeeded Bassus (iii. 12).

[155] Near the mouth of the Liris.

[156] Horace's 'Anxur perched on gleaming rocks'. It lay near
the Pontine marshes on the Appian way.

[157] Narni.

[158] Priscus and Varus (see chap. 55).

[159] i. 62, ii. 62.


THE PASSAGE OF THE APENNINES

The occupation of Mevania[160] had terrified Italy with the 59
prospect of a revival of the war, but Vitellius' cowardly retreat[161]
sensibly strengthened the popularity of the Flavian party. The
Samnites, Pelignians, and Marsians were now induced to rise. They were
jealous of Campania for stealing a march on them, and the change of
masters, as so often happens, made them perform all their military
duties with the utmost alacrity. But in crossing the Apennines
Antonius' army suffered severely from the rough December weather.
Though they met with no opposition, they found it hard enough to
struggle through the snow, and realized what danger they would have
had to face if Vitellius had not happened to turn back. Certainly
chance helped the Flavian generals quite as often as their own
strategy. Here they came across Petilius Cerialis,[162] who had been
enabled by his knowledge of the country to elude Vitellius' outposts,
disguised as a peasant. As he was a near relative of Vespasian and a
distinguished soldier he was given a place on the staff. Several
authorities say that Flavius Sabinus and Domitian[163] were also
afforded facilities for escape, and that Antonius sent messengers who
contrived by various devices to get through to them, and made
arrangements for an interview and safe conduct. Sabinus, however,
pleaded that his health was unequal to the fatigue of such a bold
step. Domitian was quite ready to venture, but although the guards to
whom Vitellius had entrusted him, promised that they would share his
flight, he was afraid they might be laying a trap for him. As a matter
of fact, Vitellius was too anxious for the safety of his own relatives
to plot any harm against Domitian.

Arrived at Carsulae[164] the Flavian generals took a few days' 60
rest and awaited the arrival of the main legionary force. [165] The
place suited them admirably for an encampment. It commanded a wide
view, and with so many prosperous towns in the rear their supplies
were safe. The Vitellians too, were only ten miles away, and they had
hopes of negotiating treason with them. The soldiers chafed at this
delay, preferring victory to peace. They did not even want to wait for
their own legions, for there would be more plunder than danger to
share with them. Antonius accordingly summoned a meeting of the men
and explained to them that Vitellius still had troops at his command.
Reflection might make them waver, despair would steel their hearts. In
civil war, he told them, the first steps may be left to chance,
nothing but careful strategy can win the final victory. The fleet at
Misenum and the richest districts of Campania had already deserted
Vitellius, and in the whole world nothing was left to him now except
the country between Narnia and Tarracina. The battle of Cremona had
brought them credit enough, and the destruction of the town more than
enough discredit. Their desire must be not to take Rome but to save
it. They would gain richer rewards and far more glory if they could
show that they had saved the senate and people of Rome without
shedding a drop of blood. Such considerations as these calmed their
excitement, and it was not long before the legions arrived.

Alarmed at the repute of this augmented army, Vitellius' Guards 61
began to waver. There was no one to encourage them to fight, while
many urged them to desert, being eager to hand over their companies or
squadrons to the enemy and by such a gift to secure the victor's
gratitude for the future. These also let the Flavians know that the
next camp at Interamna[166] had a garrison of four hundred cavalry.
Varus was promptly sent off with a light marching force, and the few
who offered resistance were killed. The majority threw away their arms
and begged for quarter. Some escaped to the main camp[167] and spread
universal panic by exaggerating the strength and prowess of the enemy,
in order to mitigate the disgrace of losing the fort. In the Vitellian
camp all offences went unpunished: desertion met with sure reward.
Their loyalty soon gave way and a competition in treachery began.
Tribunes and centurions deserted daily, but not the common soldiers,
who had grown stubbornly faithful to Vitellius. At last, however,
Priscus and Alfenus[168] abandoned the camp and returned to Vitellius,
thus finally releasing all the others from any obligation to blush for
their treachery.

About the same time Fabius Valens[169] was executed in his prison 62
at Urbinum, and his head was exhibited to Vitellius' Guards to show
them that further hope was vain. For they cherished a belief that
Valens had made his way into Germany, and was there mustering his old
force and fresh troops as well. This evidence of his death threw them
into despair. The Flavian army was vastly inspirited by it and
regarded Valens' death as the end of the war.

Valens had been born at Anagnia of an equestrian family. He was a man
of loose morality, not without intellectual gifts, who by indulging in
frivolity posed as a wit. In Nero's time he had acted in a
harlequinade at the Juvenalian Games. [170] At first he pleaded
compulsion, but afterwards he acted voluntarily, and his performances
were rather clever than respectable. Rising to the command of a
legion, he supported Verginius[171] and then defamed his character. He
murdered Fonteius Capito,[171] whose loyalty he had undermined--or
perhaps because he had failed to do so. He betrayed Galba and remained
faithful to Vitellius, a merit to which the treachery of others served
as a foil.

Now that their hopes were crushed on all sides, the Vitellians 63
prepared to go over to the enemy. But even at this crisis they saved
their honour by marching down with their standards and colours to the
plains below Narnia, where the Flavian army was drawn up in full
armour ready for battle in two deep lines on either side of the road.
The Vitellians marched in between and were surrounded. Antonius then
spoke to them kindly and told them to remain, some at Narnia and some
at Interamna. He also left behind some of the victorious legions,
which were strong enough to quell any outbreak but would not molest
them so long as they remained quiet.

FOOTNOTES:

[160] See chap. 55.

[161] See chap. 56.

[162] A distinguished officer, who successfully crushed the
rebellion on the Rhine (Book IV), and became governor of
Britain in 71.

[163] Vespasian's brother and younger son were both in Rome,
the former still holding the office of city prefect (cp. i. 46).

[164] Casigliano.

[165] From Verona (see chap. 52).

[166] Terni.

[167] At Narnia.

[168] The two prefects of the guard.

[169] See chap. 43.

[170] Properly a festival to celebrate the first cutting of
the beard. Nero forced high officials and their wives to take
part in unseemly performances (ii. 62), and the festivities
became a public scandal, culminating in Nero's own appearance
as a lyrist.

[171] See i. 7, 8.


THE ABDICATION OF VITELLIUS AND THE BURNING OF THE CAPITOL

During these days Antonius and Varus kept sending messages to
Vitellius, in which they offered him his life, a gift of money, and
the choice of a safe retreat in Campania, if he would stop the war and
surrender himself and his children to Vespasian. Mucianus wrote him
letters to the same effect. Vitellius usually took these offers
seriously and talked about the number of slaves he would have and the
choice of a seaside place. He had sunk, indeed, into such mental
torpor that, if other people had not remembered that he was an
emperor, he was certainly beginning to forget it himself. However, 64
it was to Flavius Sabinus, the City Prefect, that the leading men at
Rome addressed themselves. They urged him secretly not to lose all
share in the glory of victory. They pointed out that the City Garrison
was under his own command, and that he could count on the police and
their own bands of slaves, to say nothing of the good fortune of the
party and all the advantage that victory gives. He must not leave all
the glory to Antonius and Varus. Vitellius had nothing left but a few
regiments of guards, who were seriously alarmed at the bad news which
came from every quarter. As for the populace, their feelings soon
changed, and if he put himself at their head, they would be just as
loud in their flattery of Vespasian. Vitellius himself could not even
cope with success, and disaster had positively paralysed him. The
credit of ending the war would go to the man who seized the city. It
was eminently fitting that Sabinus should secure the throne for his
brother, and that Vespasian should hold him higher than any one else.

Age had enfeebled Sabinus, and he showed no alacrity to listen to 65
such talk as this. Some people covertly insinuated that he was jealous
of his brother's success and was trying to delay its realization.
Flavius Sabinus was the elder brother and, while they were both
private persons, he had been the richer and more influential. It was
also believed that he had been chary in helping Vespasian to recover
his financial position, and had taken a mortgage on his house and
estates. Consequently, though they remained openly friendly, there
were suspicions of a secret enmity between them. The more charitable
explanation is that Sabinus's gentle nature shrank from the idea of
bloodshed and massacre, and that this was his reason for so constantly
discussing with Vitellius the prospects of peace and a capitulation on
terms. After several interviews at his house they finally came to a
settlement--so the report went--at the Temple of Apollo. [172] To the
actual conversation there were only two witnesses, Cluvius Rufus[173]
and Silius Italicus,[174] but the expression of their faces was
watched from a distance. Vitellius was said to look abject and
demoralized: Sabinus showed less sign of pride than of pity.

Had Vitellius found it no harder to persuade his friends than to 66
make his own renunciation, Vespasian's army might have marched into
Rome without bloodshed. But as it was, each of his friends in
proportion to his loyalty persisted in refusing terms of peace. They
pointed to the danger and disgrace. Would their conqueror keep his
promises any longer than he liked? However great Vespasian's
self-confidence, he could not allow Vitellius to live in private. Nor
would the losers acquiesce: their very pity would be a menace. [175]
'Of course,' they said, 'you are an old man. You have done with
fortune, good or bad. But what sort of repute or position would your
son Germanicus[176] enjoy? At present they are promising you money and
a household, and the pleasant shores of Campania. But when once
Vespasian has seized the throne, neither he nor his friends nor even
his army will feel their safety assured until the rival claimant is
dead. They imprisoned Fabius Valens and meant to make use of him if a
crisis occurred, but they found him too great an incubus. You may be
sure that Antonius and Fuscus and that typical representative of the
party, Mucianus, will have no choice but to kill you. Julius Caesar
did not let Pompey live unmolested, nor Augustus Antony. [177] Do you
suppose that Vespasian's is a loftier disposition? Why, he was one of
your father's dependants,[178] when your father was Claudius's
colleague. [179] No, think of your father's censorship, his three
consulships,[179] and all the honour your great house has won. You
must not disgrace them. Despair, at least, should nerve your courage.
The troops are steadfast; you still enjoy the people's favour. Indeed,
nothing worse can happen to you than what we are eager to face of our
own free will. If we are defeated, we must die; if we surrender, we
must die. All that matters is whether we breathe our last amid mockery
and insult or bravely and with honour. '

But Vitellius was deaf to all courageous counsel. His mind was 67
obsessed with pity for his wife and children, and an anxious fear that
obstinate resistance might make the conqueror merciless towards them.
He had also a mother,[180] very old and infirm, but she had
opportunely died a few days before and thus forestalled the ruin of
her house. All she had got out of her son's principate was sorrow and
a good name. On December 17 he heard the news that the legion and the
Guards at Narnia had deserted him and surrendered to the enemy. He at
once put on mourning and left the palace, surrounded by his sorrowful
household. His small son was carried in a little litter, as though
this had been his funeral. The populace uttered untimely flatteries:
the soldiers kept an ominous silence.

On that day there was no one so indifferent to the tragedy of 68
human life as to be unmoved by this spectacle. A Roman emperor,
yesterday master of the inhabited world, had left the seat of his
authority, and was now passing through the streets of the city,
through the crowding populace, quitting the throne. Such a sight had
never been seen or heard of before. The dictator, Caesar, had been the
victim of sudden violence; Caligula of a secret conspiracy. Nero's had
been a stealthy flight to some obscure country house under cover of
night. Piso and Galba might almost be said to have fallen on the field
of battle. But here was Vitellius--before the assembly of his own
people, his own soldiers around him, with women even looking
on--uttering a few sentences suitable to his miserable situation. He
said it was in the interest of peace and of his country that he now
resigned. He begged them only to retain his memory in their hearts and
to take pity on his brother, his wife, and his little innocent
children. As he said this, he held out his son to them and commended
him, now to individuals, now to the whole assembly. At last tears
choked his voice. Turning to the consul, Caecilius Simplex,[181] who
was standing by, he unstrapped his sword and offered to surrender it
as a symbol of his power over the life and death of his subjects. The
consul refused. The people in the assembly shouted 'No'. So he left
them with the intention of depositing the regalia in the Temple of
Concord and then going to his brother's house. But he was faced with a
still louder uproar. They refused to let him enter a private house,
and shouted to him to return to the palace. They blocked every other
way and only left the road leading into the Via Sacra open. [182] Not
knowing what else to do, Vitellius returned to the palace.

A rumour of his abdication had preceded him, and Flavius Sabinus 69
had sent written instructions to the Guards'[183] officers to keep the
men in hand. Thus the whole empire seemed to have fallen into
Vespasian's lap. The chief senators, the majority of the knights, and
the whole of the city garrison and the police came flocking to the
house of Flavius Sabinus. There they heard the news of the popular
enthusiasm for Vitellius and the threatening attitude of the German
Guards. [184] But Sabinus had gone too far to draw back, and when he
showed hesitation, they all began to urge him to fight, each being
afraid for his own safety if the Vitellians were to fall on them when
they were disunited and consequently weaker. However, as so often
happens on these occasions, every one offered to give advice but few
to share the danger. While Sabinus' Body Guard were marching down by
the Fundane reservoir[185] they were attacked by some of the most
determined Vitellians. The surprise was unpremeditated, but the
Vitellians got the best of an unimportant skirmish. In the panic
Sabinus chose what was at the moment the safest course, and occupied
the summit of the Capitol,[186] where his troops were joined by a few
senators and knights. It is not easy to record their names, since
after Vespasian's victory crowds of people claimed credit for this
service to the party. There were even some women who endured the
siege, the most famous of them being Verulana Gratilla, who had
neither children nor relatives to attract her, but only her love of
danger.