c. 68.] THE GERMANS REPULSED. 47 tribunes and centurions satisfied them the while that it was a false alarm. 67. Then assembling them in the court, and desiring them to hear him with silence, he warned them of their difficulties, and their duty under them: "That their sole hope of safety was in their valor, but that must be guided by counsel; that they must keep close within their camp till the enemy, in hopes of taking it by storm, came up nearer to them, then make a sudden sally on every side, that by this sally they might make good their way to the Rhine; but if they fled, more forests, deeper marshes, and the fierce attack of the foe still remained to them; but that if they conquered, honor and renown awaited them." He reminded them of all that was dear to them at home, and the rewards to be obtained in the camp, but suppressed all mention of defeat. He next distributed horses, first his own, then those of the tribunes and leaders of the legions, to all the bravest warriors, without any flattery, that these first, and afterward the infantry, might charge the enemy. 68. The Germans were in no less agitation, from hope, eagerness, and the opposite counsels of their leaders. Arminius proposed, "To let them march out, and to beset them again in their way when they got into marshes and difficult passes." Inguiomer advised measures more resolute and acceptable to barbarians,-"To invest the camp; it would be quickly captured; there would be more captives, and the plunder uninjured." As soon therefore as it was light, they level the ditch, cast hurdles into it, attempt to scale the palisade, there being but few men on the rampart, and those who were, standing as if paralyzed by fear. But when they were hampered in the fortifications, the signal was given to the cohorts; the cornets and trumpets sounded at once, and instantly, shouting and charging, they poured down upon their rear, telling them tauntingly, "That here were no thickets, no marshes, but equal chances in a fair field." The enemy, expecting an easy conquest, and that the Romans were few and half armed, were overpowered with the sounds of trumpets and glitter of arms, which were then magnified in proportion as they were unexpected; and they fell like men who, as they are void of moderation in prosperity, are also destitute of conduct in distress. Arminius fled from the fight unhurt, Inguiomer severely wounded. The men were slaughtered as long as day and rage lasted. At length at night the legions returned, and though distressed by the same want of provisions, and more wounds, yet in victory they found all things-health, vigor, and abundance. 69. Meanwhile, a report had spread that an army was cut off, and a body of Germans on full march to invade Gaul; so that, under the terror of this news, there were those whose cowardice would have emboldened them to demolish the bridge upon the Rhine, had not Agrippina forbidden the infamous attempt; but this high-minded woman took upon herself all the duties of a general, and distributed to the soldiers gratuitously medicines and clothes, according as any one was in want or wounded. Caius Plinius,' the writer of the German wars, relates that she stood at the head of the bridge as the legions returned, and bestowed on them thanks and praises; a behavior which sunk deep into the heart of Tiberius, "for these attentions he thought were not disinterested; nor was it against foreigners she sought to win the army; for nothing was now left the generals to do, when a woman paid her visits of inspections to the companies, attended the standards, and presumed to distribute largesses; as if before she had shown but small tokens of ambitious designs, in carrying her child (the son of the general) in a soldier's uniform about the camp, and desiring that he be styled Cæsar Caligula. Already Agrippina was in greater credit with the army than the lieutenant-generals, or even the generals, a woman had suppressed a sedition which the authority of the emperor was not able to restrain. These jealousies were inflamed and ministered to by Sejanus, who was well acquainted with the temper of Tiberius, and supplied him with materials for hatred prospectively, that he might treasure them up in his heart, and draw them out augmented in bitterness. 70, Germanicus handed over the second and fourteenth of the legions, which he had brought in ships to Publius Vitellius to conduct them by land, that his fleet, thus lightened, might sail on the shoally sea, or run aground with safety when the tide ebbed. Vitellius at first marched without The author of the Natural History. c. 71.] DANGER OF THE LEGIONS. 49 interruption while the ground was dry, or the tide flowed within bounds; presently the ocean beginning to swell by the action of the northwest wind upon it, and also by the influence of the equinoctial constellation, at which season the sea swells most, the troops were miserably harassed and driven about. The lands were completely inundated; the sea, the shore, the fields, had one uniform face: no distinction of depths from shallows, of firm from treacherous footing; they were overturned by billows, absorbed by the eddies; beasts of burden, baggage, and dead bodies floated among them and came in contact with them. The several companies were mixed at random, wading now breast high, now up to their chin; sometimes the ground failing them they fell, some never more to rise; their cries and mutual encouragements availed them nothing, the noise of the water drowning them; no difference between the coward and the brave, the wise and the foolish; none between circumspection and hap-hazard, but all were involved in the sweeping torrent. Vitellius at length, having by great exertion gained the higher ground, withdrew the legions thither, where they passed the night without fire and without food, many of them naked or lamed, not less miserable than men inclosed by an enemy, for even such had the resource of an honorable death, while these must perish ingloriously; daylight restored the land, and they marched to the river Unsingis, whither Germanicus had gone with the fleet. The legions were then embarked, while rumor reported that they were sunk; nor was their escape believed till Germanicus and the army were seen to return. 71. Stertinius, who had been sent before to receive the submission of Sigimer, the brother of Segestes, had now brought him and his son to the city of the Ubians; both were pardoned, the father promptly, the son with more hesitation, because he was said to have insulted the corpse of Varus. For the rest, Spain, Italy, and the Gauls vied in supplying the losses of the army, offering arms, horses, money, whatever each had at hand. Germanicus applauding their zeal, accepted only the horses and arms for the war; with his own money he assisted the soldiers; and, to soften by kindness also the memory of the late disaster, he visited the wounded, extolled the exploits of individuals, and, looking at their wounds, with hopes encouraged some, with a sense of glory animated VOL. I.-C others, and by affability and attention confirmed them all in devotion to himself and to the service. 72. The ornaments of triumph1 were this year decreed to Aulus Cæcina, Lucius Apronius, and Caius Silius, for their services under Germanicus. The title of father of his country, so often forced by the people upon Tiberius, was rejected by him; nor would he permit swearing upon his acts, though the same was voted by the senate, urging "the instability of all mortal things, and that the higher he was raised the more slippery was his position;" he did not, however, thus get credit for a popular spirit, for he had revived the law of treason a law which, in the days of our ancestors, had indeed the same name, but different questions were tried under it. If any one impaired the majesty of the Roman people by betraying an army, by exciting sedition among the commons, in short, by any maladministration of the public affairs, the actions were matter of trial, but words were free. Augustus2 was the first who used to take cognizance of libels under pretense of this law, incensed by the insolence of Cassius Severus, which had prompted him to asperse distinguished persons of both sexes by coarse lampoons. Soon after, Tiberius, when Pompeius Macer, the prætor, consulted him "whether trials should be had under this law?" answered, "that the laws must be executed." He also was exasperated by the publication of satirical verses written by unknown authors, exposing his cruelty, his pride, and dissensions with his mother. The triumphal insignia were, a golden crown, an ivory chair (sella curulis), an ivory sceptre (called scipio), and a painted robe. Livy, lib. xxx. s. 15. 2 By a law of the Twelve Tables, defamatory libels were strictly prohibited. We read in Aulus Gellius, lib. iii. cap. 3, that Nævius, the comic poet, was thrown into prison for certain defamatory verses in one of his plays. Horace says, the poets were by the Twelve Tables restrained within due bounds: "Quin etiam lex, Poenaque lata, malo quæ nollet carmine quemquam Ad bene dicendum delectandumque redacti."-Epist. ad Aug. Augustus, not satisfied with the penalties of the old law, revived the charge of violated majesty, which had been invented by Sylla. Tiberius felt the lash of satire, and was therefore willing to enforce the rule laid down by Augustus. c. 74.] RISE OF INFORMERS. 51 73. It will be worth the trouble to relate here the pretended crimes charged in the cases of Falanius and Rubrius, two Roman knights of small fortunes, that it may be known from what beginnings, and with what subtlety on the part of Tiberius, this grievous mischief crept in, how it was again restrained, how at last it blazed out and bore down all before it. To Falanius was objected by his accuser, that " among the adorers of Augustus, of which there was a sort of college in every house, he had admitted one Cassius, a mimic and infamous character, and, having sold his gardens, had likewise with them transferred the statue of Augustus." Against Rubrius it was charged, "that he had sworn falsely by the divinity of Augustus." When these accusations were known to Tiberius he wrote to the consuls, "that heaven was not therefore decreed to his father, that that honor should be perverted to the destruction of citizens; that Cassius the player was wont to assist others of his profession at the interludes consecrated by his mother to the memory of Augustus; nor was it incompatible with religious adorations, that his bust, like other images of the gods, was comprehended in the sale of houses and gardens. That the oath was to be regarded in the same light as if he had sworn falsely by the name of Jupiter, but to the gods belonged the avenging of injuries done to the gods." 74. Not long after, Granius Marcellus, prætor of Bithynia, was prosecuted for high treason by his own quæstor, Čepio Crispinus; Romanus Hispo supporting the charge. This Cepio began a species of avocation, which through the miserable times and the daring wickedness of men afterward became very common and notorious; for, at first needy and obscure but of a restless spirit, by creeping into the good graces of the prince, who was naturally cruel, by secret informations, and thus imperiling the life of all the most distinguished citizens, he acquired influence with one, but the hatred of all, and thus exhibited an example, by following which men from being poor became rich, from being contemptible became formidable, 1 To preserve the majesty of the Roman people was the scope and spirit of the Lex Majestatis. Under the emperors, the majesty of the people was annihilated. Whoever was obnoxious to the prince, or his favorites, was brought within the law of majesty. Every thing was a state-crime. |