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Tacitus: History Book 4 [10]

10. Musonius Rufus then made a violent attack on Publius Celer, accusing him of having brought about the destruction of Barea Soranus by perjury. By this impeachment all the hatreds of the days of the informers seemed to be revived; but the accused person was so worthless and so guilty that he could not be protected. For indeed the memory of Soranus was held in reverence; Celer had been a professor of philosophy, and had then given evidence against Barea, thus betraying and profaning the friendship of which he claimed to be a teacher. The next day was fixed for the trial. But it was not of Musonius or Publius, it was of Priscus, of Marcellus, and his brother informers, that men were thinking, now that their hearts were once roused to vengeance.

10. Tum invectus est Musonius Rufus in P. Celerem, a quo Baream Soranum falso testimonio circumventum arguebat. ea cognitione renovari odia accusationum videbantur. sed vilis et nocens reus protegi non poterat: quippe Sorani sancta memoria; Celer professus sapientiam, dein testis in Baream, proditor corruptorque amicitiae cuius se magistrum ferebat. proximus dies causae destinatur; nec tam Musonius aut Publius quam Priscus et Marcellus ceterique, motis ad ultionem animis, expectabantur.

11. While things were in this state, while there was division in the Senate, resentment among the conquered, no real authority in the conquerors, and in the country at large no laws and no Emperor, Mucianus entered the capital, and at once drew all power into his own hands. The influence of Primus Antonius and Varus Arrius was destroyed; for the irritation of Mucianus against them, though not revealed in his looks, was but ill-concealed, and the country, keen to discover such dislikes, had changed its tone and transferred its homage. He alone was canvassed and courted, and he, surrounding himself with armed men, and bargaining for palaces and gardens, ceased not, what with his magnificence, his proud bearing, and his guards, to grasp at the power, while he waived the titles of Empire. The murder of Calpurnius Galerianus caused the utmost consternation. He was a son of Caius Piso, and had done nothing, but a noble name and his own youthful beauty made him the theme of common talk; and while the country was still unquiet and delighted in novel topics, there were persons who associated him with idle rumours of Imperial honours. By order of Mucianus he was surrounded with a guard of soldiers. Lest his execution in the capital should excite too much notice, they conducted him to the fortieth milestone from Rome on the Appian Road, and there put him to death by opening his veins. Julius Priscus, who had been prefect of the Praetorian Guard under Vitellius, killed himself rather out of shame than by compulsion. Alfenius Varus survived the disgrace of his cowardice. Asiaticus, who was only a freedman, expiated by the death of a slave his evil exercise of power.

11. Tali rerum statu, cum discordia inter patres, ira apud victos, nulla in victoribus auctoritas, non leges, non princeps in civitate essent, Mucianus urbem ingressus cuncta simul in se traxit. fracta Primi Antonii Varique Arrii potentia, male dissimulata in eos Muciani iracundia, quamvis vultu tegeretur. sed civitas rimandis offensis sagax verterat se transtuleratque: ille unus ambiri, coli. nec deerat ipse, stipatus armatis domos hortosque permutans, apparatu incessu excubiis vim principis amplecti, nomen remittere. plurimum terroris intulit caedes Calpurnii Galeriani. is fuit filius Gai Pisonis, nihil ausus: sed nomen insigne et decora ipsius iuventa rumore vulgi celebrabantur, erantque in civitate adhuc turbida et novis sermonibus laeta qui principatus inanem ei famam circumdarent. iussu Muciani custodia militari cinctus, ne in ipsa urbe conspectior mors foret, ad quadragensimum ab urbe lapidem Appia via fuso per venas sanguine extinguitur. Iulius Priscus praetoriarum sub Vitellio cohortium praefectus se ipse interfecit, pudore magis quam necessitate. Alfenus Varus ignaviae infamiaeque suae superfuit. Asiaticus (is enim libertus) malam potentiam servili supplicio expiavit.

12. At this time the country was hearing with anything but sorrow rumours that daily gained strength of disasters in Germany. Men began to speak of slaughtered armies, of captured encampments, of Gaul in revolt, as if such things were not calamities. Beginning at an earlier period I will discuss the causes in which this war had its origin, and the extent of the movements which it kindled among independent and allied nations.

12. Isdem diebus crebrescentem cladis Germanicae famam nequaquam maesta civitas excipiebat; caesos exercitus, capta legionum hiberna, descivisse Gallias non ut mala loquebantur. id bellum quibus causis ortum, quanto externarum sociarumque gentium motu flagraverit, altius expediam. Batavi, donec trans Rhenum agebant, pars Chattorum, seditione domestica pulsi extrema Gallicae orae vacua cultoribus simulque insulam iuxta sitam occupavere, quam mare Oceanus a fronte, Rhenus amnis tergum ac latera circumluit. nec opibus (rarum in societate validiorum) attritis viros tantum armaque imperio ministrant, diu Germanicis bellis exerciti, mox aucta per Britanniam gloria, transmissis illuc cohortibus, quas vetere instituto nobilissimi popularium regebant. erat et domi delectus eques, praecipuo nandi studio, arma equosque retinens integris turmis Rhenum perrumpere . . .

13. Julius Paullus and Claudius Civilis, scions of the royal family, ranked very high above the rest of their nation. Paullus was executed by Fonteius Capito on a false charge of rebellion. Civilis was put in chains and sent to Nero, and, though acquitted by Galba, again stood in peril of his life in the time of Vitellius, when the army clamoured for his execution. Here were causes of deep offence; hence arose hopes built on our disasters. Civilis, however, was naturally politic to a degree rarely found among barbarians. He was wont to represent himself as Sertorius or Hannibal, on the strength of a similar disfigurement of his countenance. To avoid the opposition which he would encounter as a public enemy, were he openly to revolt from Rome, he affected a friendship for Vespasian and a zealous attachment to his party; and indeed a letter had been despatched to him by Primus Antonius, in which he was directed to divert the reinforcements which Vitellius had called up, and to keep the legions where they were by the feint of an outbreak in Germany. The same policy was suggested by Hordeonius in person; he had a bias towards Vespasian, and feared for the Empire, the utter ruin of which would be very near, were a fresh war with so many thousands of armed men to burst upon Italy.

13. Iulius Paulus et Iulius Civilis regia stirpe multo ceteros anteibant. Paulum Fonteius Capito falso rebellionis crimine interfecit; iniectae Civili catenae, missusque ad Neronem et a Galba absolutus sub Vitellio rursus discrimen adiit, flagitante supplicium eius exercitu: inde causae irarum spesque ex malis nostris. sed Civilis ultra quam barbaris solitum ingenio sollers et Sertorium se aut Annibalem ferens simili oris dehonestamento, ne ut hosti obviam iretur, si a populo Romano palam descivisset, Vespasiani amicitiam studiumque partium praetendit, missis sane ad eum Primi Antonii litteris, quibus avertere accita Vitellio auxilia et tumultus Germanici specie retentare legiones iubebatur. eadem Hordeonius Flaccus praesens monuerat, inclinato in Vespasianum animo et rei publicae cura, cui excidium adventabat, si redintegratum bellum et tot armatorum milia Italiam inrupissent.

14. Civilis, who was resolved on rebellion, and intended, while concealing his ulterior designs, to reveal his other plans as occasion presented itself, set about the work of revolution in this way. By command of Vitellius all the Batavian youth was then being summoned to the conscription, a thing naturally vexatious, and which the officials made yet more burdensome by their rapacity and profligacy, while they selected aged and infirm persons, whom they might discharge for a consideration, and mere striplings, but of distinguished beauty (and many attained even in boyhood to a noble stature), whom they dragged off for infamous purposes. This caused indignation, and the ringleaders of the concerted rebellion prevailed upon the people to refuse the conscription. Civilis collected at one of the sacred groves, ostensibly for a banquet, the chiefs of the nation and the boldest spirits of the lower class. When he saw them warmed with the festivities of the night, he began by speaking of the renown and glory of their race, and then counted the wrongs and the oppressions which they endured, and all the other evils of slavery. "There is," he said, "no alliance, as once there was; we are treated as slaves. When does even a legate come among us, though he come only with a burdensome retinue and in all the haughtiness of power? We are handed over to prefects and centurions, and when they are glutted with our spoils and our blood, then they are changed, and new receptacles for plunder, new terms for spoliation, are discovered. Now the conscription is at hand, tearing, we may say, for ever children from parents, and brothers from brothers. Never has the power of Rome been more depressed. In the winter quarters of the legions there is nothing but property to plunder and a few old men. Only dare to look up, and cease to tremble at the empty names of legions. For we have a vast force of horse and foot; we have the Germans our kinsmen; we have Gaul bent on the same objects. Even to the Roman people this war will not be displeasing; if defeated, we shall still reckon it a service to Vespasian, and for success no account need be rendered."

14. Igitur Civilis desciscendi certus, occultato interim altiore consilio, cetera ex eventu iudicaturus, novare res hoc modo coepit. iussu Vitellii Batavorum iuventus ad dilectum vocabatur, quem suapte natura gravem onerabant ministri avaritia ac luxu, senes aut invalidos conquirendo, quos pretio dimitterent: rursus impubes et forma conspicui (et est plerisque procera pueritia) ad stuprum trahebantur. hinc invidia, et compositae seditionis auctores perpulere ut dilectum abnuerent. Civilis primores gentis et promptissimos vulgi specie epularum sacrum in nemus vocatos, ubi nocte ac laetitia incaluisse videt, a laude gloriaque gentis orsus iniurias et raptus et cetera servitii mala enumerat: neque enim societatem, ut olim, sed tamquam mancipia haberi: quando legatum, gravi quidem comitatu et superbo, cum imperio venire? tradi se praefectis centurionibusque: quos ubi spoliis et sanguine expleverint, mutari, exquirique novos sinus et varia praedandi vocabula. instare dilectum quo liberi a parentibus, fratres a fratribus velut supremum dividantur. numquam magis adflictam rem Romanam nec aliud in hibernis quam praedam et senes: attollerent tantum oculos et inania legionum nomina ne pavescerent. at sibi robur peditum equitumque, consanguineos Germanos, Gallias idem cupientis. ne Romanis quidem ingratum id bellum, cuius ambiguam fortunam Vespasiano imputaturos: victoriae rationem non reddi.

15. Having been listened to with great approval, he bound the whole assembly with barbarous rites and the national forms of oath. Envoys were sent to the Canninefates to urge a common policy. This is a tribe which inhabits part of the island, and closely resembles the Batavians in their origin, their language, and their courageous character, but is inferior in numbers. After this he sent messengers to tamper with the British auxiliaries and with the Batavian cohorts, who, as I have before related, had been sent into Germany, and were then stationed at Mogontiacum. Among the Canninefates there was a certain Brinno, a man of a certain stolid bravery and of distinguished birth. His father, after venturing on many acts of hostility, had scorned with impunity the ridiculous expedition of Caligula. His very name, the name of a family of rebels, made him popular. Raised aloft on a shield after the national fashion, and balanced on the shoulders of the bearers, he was chosen general. Immediately summoning to arms the Frisii, a tribe of the farther bank of the Rhine, he assailed by sea the winter quarters of two cohorts, which was the nearest point to attack. The soldiers had not anticipated the assault of the enemy; even had they done so, they had not strength to repulse it. Thus the camp was taken and plundered. Then the enemy fell upon the sutlers and Roman traders, who were wandering about in every direction, as they would in a time of peace. At the same time they were on the point of destroying the forts, but the prefects of the cohorts, seeing that they could not hold them, set them on fire. The standards, the colours, and what soldiers there were, concentrated themselves in the upper part of the island under the command of Aquilius, a centurion of the first rank, an army in name rather than in strength. Vitellius in fact, after withdrawing the effective troops from the cohorts, had loaded with arms a crowd of idlers from the neighbouring villages of the Nervii and the Germans.

15. Magno cum adsensu auditus barbaro ritu et patriis execrationibus universos adigit. missi ad Canninefatis qui consilia sociarent. ea gens partem insulae colit, origine lingua virtute par Batavis; numero superantur. mox occultis nuntiis pellexit Britannica auxilia, Batavorum cohortis missas in Germaniam, ut supra rettulimus, ac tum Mogontiaci agentis. erat in Canninefatibus stolidae audaciae Brinno, claritate natalium insigni; pater eius multa hostilia ausus Gaianarum expeditionum ludibrium impune spreverat. igitur ipso rebellis familiae nomine placuit impositusque scuto more gentis et sustinentium umeris vibratus dux deligitur. statimque accitis Frisiis (transrhenana gens est) duarum cohortium hiberna proximo +occupata+ Oceano inrumpit. nec providerant impetum hostium milites, nec, si providissent, satis virium ad arcendum erat: capta igitur ac direpta castra. dein vagos et pacis modo effusos lixas negotiatoresque Romanos invadunt. simul excidiis castellorum imminebant, quae a praefectis cohortium incensa sunt, quia defendi nequibant. signa vexillaque et quod militum in superiorem insulae partem congregantur, duce Aquilio primipilari, nomen magis exercitus quam robur: quippe viribus cohortium abductis Vitellius e proximis Nerviorum Germanorumque pagis segnem numerum armis oneraverat.

16. Civilis, thinking that he must proceed by craft, actually blamed the prefects for having deserted the forts, saying that he would himself, with the cohort under his command, quell the disturbance among the Canninefates, and that they had better return to their respective winter quarters. It was evident, however, that there was some treacherous design beneath this advice, that the cohorts would be dispersed only to be more easily crushed, and that the guiding hand in the war was not Brinno but Civilis; for indications of the truth, which the Germans, a people who delight in war, could not long conceal, were gradually coming to light. When stratagem proved ineffectual, he resorted to force, arranging in distinct columns the Canninefates, the Batavians, and the Frisii. The Roman army was drawn up to meet them not far from the river Rhine, and the ships, which, after burning the forts, they had stranded at that point, were arranged so as to front the enemy. Before the struggle had lasted long, a cohort of Tungrians carried over their standards to Civilis. The other troops, paralysed by the unexpected desertion, were cut down alike by friends and foes. In the fleet there was the same treachery. Some of the rowers were Batavians, and they hindered the operations of the sailors and combatants by an apparent want of skill; then they began to back water, and to run the sterns on to the hostile shore. At last they killed the pilots and centurions, unless these were willing to join them. The end was that the whole fleet of four and twenty vessels either deserted or was taken.

16. Civilis dolo grassandum ratus incusavit ultro praefectos quod castella deseruissent: se cum cohorte, cui praeerat, Canninefatem tumultum compressurum, illi sua quisque hiberna repeterent. subesse fraudem consilio et dispersas cohortis facilius opprimi, nec Brinnonem ducem eius belli, sed Civilem esse patuit, erumpentibus paulatim indiciis, quae Germani, laeta bello gens, non diu occultaverant. ubi insidiae parum cessere, ad vim transgressus Canninefatis, Frisios, Batavos propriis cuneis componit: derecta ex diverso acies haud procul a flumine Rheno et obversis in hostem navibus, quas incensis castellis illuc adpulerant. nec diu certato Tungrorum cohors signa ad Civilem transtulit, perculsique milites improvisa proditione a sociis hostibusque caedebantur. eadem etiam <in> navibus perfidia: pars remigum e Batavis tamquam imperitia officia nautarum propugnatorumque impediebant; mox contra tendere et puppis hostili ripae obicere: ad postremum gubernatores centurionesque, nisi eadem volentis, trucidant, donec universa quattuor et viginti navium classis transfugeret aut caperetur.

17. For the moment this was a brilliant success, and it had its use for the future. They possessed themselves of some arms and some vessels, both of which they wanted, while they became very famous throughout Germany as the champions of liberty. The tribes of Germany immediately sent envoys with offers of troops. The co-operation of Gaul Civilis endeavoured to secure by politic liberality, sending back to their respective states the captured prefects of cohorts, and giving permission to their men to go or stay as they preferred. He offered to those who stayed service on honourable terms, to those who departed the spoils of the Roman army. At the same time he reminded them in confidential conversations of the wrongs which they had endured for so many years, while they falsely gave to a wretched slavery the name of peace. "The Batavians," he said, "though free of tribute, have yet taken up arms against our common masters. In the first conflict the soldiers of Rome have been routed and vanquished. What will be the result if Gaul throws off the yoke? What strength is there yet left in Italy? It is by the blood of the provinces that the provinces are conquered. Think not of how it fared with the armies of Vindex. It was by Batavian cavalry that the Aedui and the Arverni were trampled down, and among the auxiliaries of Verginius there were found Belgian troops. To those who will estimate the matter aright it is evident that Gaul fell by her own strength. But now all are on the same side, and we have whatever remnant of military vigour still flourished in the camps of Rome. With us too are the veteran cohorts to which the legions of Otho lately succumbed. Let Syria, Asia Minor, and the East, habituated as it is to despotism, submit to slavery; there are many yet alive in Gaul who were born before the days of tribute. It was only lately indeed that Quintilius Varus was slain, and slavery driven out of Germany. And the Emperor who was challenged by that war was not a Vitellius, but a Caesar Augustus. Freedom is a gift bestowed by nature even on the dumb animals. Courage is the peculiar excellence of man, and the Gods help the braver side. Let us then, who are free to act and vigorous, fall on a distracted and exhausted enemy. While some are supporting Vespasian, and others Vitellius, opportunities are opening up for acting against both."

17. Clara ea victoria in praesens, in posterum usui; armaque et navis, quibus indigebant, adepti magna per Germanias Galliasque fama libertatis auctores celebrabantur. Germaniae statim misere legatos auxilia offerentis: Galliarum societatem Civilis arte donisque adfectabat, captos cohortium praefectos suas in civitates remittendo, cohortibus, abire an manere mallent, data potestate. manentibus honorata militia, digredientibus spolia Romanorum offerebantur: simul secretis sermonibus admonebat malorum, quae tot annis perpessi miseram servitutem falso pacem vocarent. Batavos, quamquam tributorum expertis, arma contra communis dominos cepisse; prima acie fusum victumque Romanum. quid si Galliae iugum exuant? quantum in Italia reliquum? provinciarum sanguine provincias vinci. ne Vindicis aciem cogitarent: Batavo equite protritos Aeduos Arvernosque; fuisse inter Verginii auxilia Belgas, vereque reputantibus Galliam suismet viribus concidisse. nunc easdem omnium partis, addito si quid militaris disciplinae in castris Romanorum viguerit; esse secum veteranas cohortis, quibus nuper Othonis legiones procubuerint. servirent Syria Asiaque et suetus regibus Oriens: multos adhuc in Gallia vivere ante tributa genitos. nuper certe caeso Quintilio Varo pulsam e Germania servitutem, nec Vitellium principem sed Caesarem Augustum bello provocatum. libertatem natura etiam mutis animalibus datam, virtutem proprium hominum bonum; deos fortioribus adesse: proinde arriperent vacui occupatos, integri fessos. dum alii Vespasianum, alii Vitellium foveant, patere locum adversus utrumque.

18. Civilis, bent on winning Gaul and Germany if his purposes should prosper, was on the point of securing supremacy over the most powerful and most wealthy of the states. His first attempts Hordeonius Flaccus had encouraged by affecting ignorance. But when messengers came hurrying in with intelligence that a camp had been stormed, that cohorts had been cut to pieces, and that the Roman power had been expelled from the island of the Batavians, the general ordered the legate, Munius Lupercus, who was in command of the winter quarters of two legions, to advance against the enemy. Lupercus in great haste threw across the Rhine such legionaries as were on the spot, some Ubian troops who were close at hand, and some cavalry of the Treveri, who were stationed at no great distance; these were accompanied by some Batavian horse, who, though they had been long disaffected, yet still simulated loyalty in order that by betraying the Romans in the moment of actual conflict they might receive a higher price for their desertion. Civilis, surrounding himself with the standards of the captured cohorts, to keep their recent honours before the eyes of his own men, and to terrify the enemy by the remembrance of defeat, now directed his own mother and sisters, and the wives and children of all his men, to stand in the rear, where they might encourage to victory, or shame defeat. The war-song of the men, and the shrill cries of the women, rose from the whole line, and an answering but far less vigorous cheer, came from the legions and auxiliaries. The Batavians had exposed the left wing by their desertion, and they immediately turned against our men. Still the legionaries, though their position was alarming, kept their arms and their ranks. The auxiliaries of the Ubii and the Treveri broke at once in shameful flight, and dispersed over the whole country. On that side the Germans threw the weight of their attack. Meanwhile the legions had an opportunity of retreating into what was called the Old Camp. Claudius Labeo, prefect of the Batavian horse, who had been the rival of Civilis in some local contest, was sent away into the country of the Frisii; to kill him might be to give offence to his countrymen, while to keep him with the army might be to sow the seeds of discord.

18. sic in Gallias Germaniasque intentus, si destinata provenissent, validissimarum ditissimarumque nationum regno imminebat. At Flaccus Hordeonius primos Civilis conatus per dissimulationem aluit: ubi expugnata castra, deletas cohortis, pulsum Batavorum insula Romanum nomen trepidi nuntii adferebant, Munium Lupercum legatum (is duarum legionum hibernis praeerat) egredi adversus hostem iubet. Lupercus legionarios e praesentibus, Vbios e proximis, Trevirorum equites haud longe agentis raptim transmisit, addita Batavorum ala, quae iam pridem corrupta fidem simulabat, ut proditis in ipsa acie Romanis maiore pretio fugeret. Civilis captarum cohortium signis circumdatus, ut suo militi recens gloria ante oculos et hostes memoria cladis terrerentur, matrem suam sororesque, simul omnium coniuges parvosque liberos consistere a tergo iubet, hortamenta victoriae vel pulsis pudorem. ut virorum cantu, feminarum ululatu sonuit acies, nequaquam par a legionibus cohortibusque redditur clamor. nudaverat sinistrum cornu Batavorum ala transfugiens statimque in nos versa. sed legionarius miles, quamquam rebus trepidis, arma ordinesque retinebat. Vbiorum Trevirorumque auxilia foeda fuga dispersa totis campis palantur: illuc incubuere Germani, et fuit interim effugium legionibus in castra, quibus Veterum nomen est. praefectus alae Batavorum Claudius Labeo, oppidano certamine aemulus Civili, ne interfectus invidiam apud popularis vel, si retineretur, semina discordiae praeberet, in Frisios avehitur.

19. About the same time the messenger despatched by Civilis came up with the cohorts of the Batavians and the Canninefates, while by the orders of Vitellius they were advancing towards Rome. At once, inflated with pride and haughtiness, they demanded, by way of remuneration for their march, a donative, double pay, and an increase in the number of cavalry, things indeed which Vitellius had promised, but which they now asked, not with the thought of obtaining them, but as a pretext for mutiny. Flaccus, by his many concessions, had produced no other effect but to make them insist with more energy on what they knew he must refuse. Treating him with contempt, they made their way towards Lower Germany, to join Civilis. Hordeonius, assembling the tribunes and centurions, asked their opinion as to whether he should use coercion with those who refused obedience. Soon, yielding to his natural timidity and to the alarm of his officers, who were troubled by the suspicious temper of the auxiliaries and by the fact that the ranks of the legions had been recruited by a hurried conscription, he resolved to confine his troops to the camp. Then, repenting of his resolve, and finding that the very men who had advised it now disapproved it, he seemed bent on pursuing the enemy, and wrote to Herennius Gallus, legate of the first legion, who was then holding Bonna, that he was to prevent the Batavians from crossing the Rhine, and that he would himself hang on their rear with his army. They might have been crushed, if Hordeonius, moving from one side, and Gallus from the other, had enclosed them between their armies. But Flaccus abandoned his purpose, and, in other despatches to Gallus, recommended him not to threaten the departing foe. Thence arose a suspicion that the war was being kindled with the consent of the legates, and that everything which had happened, or was apprehended, was due, not to the cowardice of the troops, or to the strength of the enemy, but to the treachery of the generals.

19. Isdem diebus Batavorum et Canninefatium cohortis, cum iussu Vitellii in urbem pergerent, missus a Civile nuntius adsequitur. intumuere statim superbia ferociaque et pretium itineris donativum, duplex stipendium, augeri equitum numerum, promissa sane a Vitellio, postulabant, non ut adsequerentur, sed causam seditioni. et Flaccus multa concedendo nihil aliud effecerat quam ut acrius exposcerent quae sciebant negaturum. spreto Flacco inferiorem Germaniam petivere ut Civili iungerentur. Hordeonius adhibitis tribunis centurionibusque consultavit num obsequium abnuentis vi coerceret; mox insita ignavia et trepidis ministris, quos ambiguus auxiliorum animus et subito dilectu suppletae legiones angebant, statuit continere intra castra militem: dein paenitentia et arguentibus ipsis qui suaserant, tamquam secuturus scripsit Herennio Gallo legionis primae legato, qui Bonnam obtinebat, ut arceret transitu Batavos: se cum exercitu tergis eorum haesurum. et opprimi poterant si hinc Hordeonius, inde Gallus, motis utrimque copiis, medios clausissent. Flaccus omisit inceptum aliisque litteris Gallum monuit ne terreret abeuntis: unde suspicio sponte legatorum excitari bellum cunctaque quae acciderant aut metuebantur non inertia militis neque hostium vi, sed fraude ducum evenire.

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