Book 4 [50]
Reading tools
Contents
Search
Display
Soundscape
Focus mode
Listen
Offline
Save
Collection
Tacitus: History Book 4 [50]
| 50. But when the agitation of the people, the execution of the centurion, and other news, true or false, exaggerated as usual by report, came to the ears of Festus, he sent some cavalry to put Piso to death. They rode over at full speed, and broke into the dwelling of the proconsul in the dim light of early dawn, with their swords drawn in their hands. Many of them were unacquainted with the person of Piso, for the legate had selected some Moorish and Carthaginian auxiliaries to perpetrate the deed. Near the proconsul's chamber they chanced to meet a slave, and asked him who he was, and where Piso was to be found? The slave with a noble untruth replied, "I am he," and was immediately cut down. Soon after Piso was killed, for there was on the spot one who recognized him, Baebius Massa, one of the procurators of Africa, a name even then fatal to the good, and destined often to reappear among the causes of the sufferings which he had ere long to endure. From Adrumetum, where he had stayed to watch the result, Festus went to the legion, and gave orders that Cetronius Pisanus, prefect of the camp, should be put in irons. He did this out of private pique, but he called the man an accomplice of Piso. Some few centurions and soldiers he punished, others he rewarded, neither the one nor the other deservedly, but he wished men to believe that he had extinguished a war. He then put an end to a quarrel between the Censes and the Leptitani, which, originating in robberies of corn and cattle by two rustic populations, had grown from this insignificant beginning till it was carried on in pitched battles. The people of Ceea, who were inferior in numbers, had summoned to their aid the Garamantes, a wild race incessantly occupied in robbing their neighbours. This had brought the Leptitani to extremities; their territories had been ravaged far and wide, and they were trembling within their walls, when the Garamantes were put to flight by the arrival of the auxiliary infantry and cavalry, and the whole of the booty was recaptured, with the exception of some which the plunderers, in their wanderings through inaccessible hamlets, had sold to more distant tribes. | 50. Sed ubi Festo consternatio vulgi, centurionis supplicium veraque et falsa more famae in maius innotuere, equites in necem Pisonis mittit. illi raptim vecti obscuro adhuc coeptae lucis domum proconsulis inrumpunt destrictis gladiis, et magna pars Pisonis ignari, quod Poenos auxiliaris Maurosque in eam caedem delegerat. haud procul cubiculo obvium forte servum quisnam et ubi esset Piso interrogavere. servus egregio mendacio se Pisonem esse respondit ac statim obtruncatur. nec multo post Piso interficitur; namque aderat qui nosceret, Baebius Massa e procuratoribus Africae, iam tunc optimo cuique exitiosus et inter causas malorum quae mox tulimus saepius rediturus. Festus Adrumeto, ubi speculabundus substiterat, ad legionem contendit praefectumque castrorum Caetronium Pisanum vinciri iussit proprias ob simultates, sed Pisonis satellitem vocabat militesque et centuriones quosdam puniit, alios praemiis adfecit, neutrum ex merito, sed ut oppressisse bellum crederetur. mox Oeensium Lepcitanorumque discordias componit, quae raptu frugum et pecorum inter agrestis modicis principiis, iam per arma atque acies exercebantur; nam populus Oeensis multitudine inferior Garamantas exciverat, gentem indomitam et inter accolas latrociniis fecundam. unde artae Lepcitanis res, lateque vastatis agris intra moenia trepidabant, donec interventu cohortium alarumque fusi Garamantes et recepta omnis praeda, nisi quam vagi per inaccessa mapalium ulterioribus vendiderant. |
| 51. Vespasian had heard of the victory of Cremona, and had received favourable tidings from all quarters, and he was now informed of the fall of Vitellius by many persons of every rank, who, with a good fortune equal to their courage, risked the perils of the wintry sea. Envoys had come from king Vologesus to offer him 40,000 Parthian cavalry. It was a matter of pride and joy to him to be courted with such splendid offers of help from the allies, and not to want them. He thanked Vologesus, and recommended him to send ambassadors to the Senate, and to learn for himself that peace had been restored. While his thoughts were fixed on Italy and on the state of the Capital, he heard an unfavourable account of Domitian, which represented him as overstepping the limits of his age and the privileges of a son. He therefore entrusted Titus with the main strength of the army to complete what had yet to be done in the Jewish war. | 51. At Vespasiano post Cremonensem pugnam et prosperos undique nuntios cecidisse Vitellium multi cuiusque ordinis, pari audacia fortunaque hibernum mare adgressi, nuntiavere. aderant legati regis Vologaesi quadraginta milia Parthorum equitum offerentes. magnificum laetumque tantis sociorum auxiliis ambiri neque indigere: gratiae Vologaeso actae mandatumque ut legatos ad senatum mitteret et pacem esse sciret. Vespasianus in Italiam resque urbis intentus adversam de Domitiano famam accipit, tamquam terminos aetatis et concessa filio egrederetur: igitur validissimam exercitus partem Tito tradit ad reliqua Iudaici belli perpetranda. |
| 52. It was said that Titus before his departure had a long interview with his father, in which he implored him not to let himself be easily excited by the reports of slanderers, but to shew an impartial and forgiving temper towards his son. "Legions and fleets," he reminded him, "are not such sure bulwarks of Imperial power as a numerous family. As for friends, time, altered fortunes, perhaps their passions or their errors, may weaken, may change, may even destroy, their affection. A man's own race can never be dissociated from him, least of all with Princes, whose prosperity is shared by others, while their reverses touch but their nearest kin. Even between brothers there can be no lasting affection, except the father sets the example." Vespasian, delighted with the brotherly affection of Titus rather than reconciled to Domitian, bade his son be of good cheer, and aggrandise the State by war and deeds of arms. He would himself provide for the interests of peace, and for the welfare of his family. He then had some of the swiftest vessels laden with corn, and committed them to the perils of the still stormy sea. Rome indeed was in the very critical position of not having more than ten days' consumption in the granaries, when the supplies from Vespasian arrived. | 52. Titum, antequam digrederetur, multo apud patrem sermone orasse ferunt ne criminantium nuntiis temere accenderetur integrumque se ac placabilem filio praestaret. non legiones, non classis proinde firma imperii munimenta quam numerum liberorum; nam amicos tempore, fortuna, cupidinibus aliquando aut erroribus imminui, transferri, desinere: suum cuique sanguinem indiscretum, sed maxime principibus, quorum prosperis et alii fruantur, adversa ad iunctissimos pertineant. ne fratribus quidem mansuram concordiam, ni parens exemplum praebuisset. Vespasianus haud aeque Domitiano mitigatus quam Titi pietate gaudens, bono esse animo iubet belloque et armis rem publicam attollere: sibi pacem domumque curae fore. tum celerrimas navium frumento onustas saevo adhuc mari committit: quippe tanto discrimine urbs nutabat ut decem haud amplius dierum frumentum in horreis fuerit, cum a Vespasiano commeatus subvenere. |
| 53. The work of rebuilding the Capitol was assigned by him to Lucius Vestinius, a man of the Equestrian order, who, however, for high character and reputation ranked among the nobles. The soothsayers whom he assembled directed that the remains of the old shrine should be removed to the marshes, and the new temple raised on the original site. The Gods, they said, forbade the old form to be changed. On the 21st of June, beneath a cloudless sky, the entire space devoted to the sacred enclosure was encompassed with chaplets and garlands. Soldiers, who bore auspicious names, entered the precincts with sacred boughs. Then the vestal virgins, with a troop of boys and girls, whose fathers and mothers were still living, sprinkled the whole space with water drawn from the fountains and rivers. After this, Helvidius Priscus, the praetor, first purified the spot with the usual sacrifice of a sow, a sheep, and a bull, and duly placed the entrails on turf; then, in terms dictated by Publius Aelianus, the high-priest, besought Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, and the tutelary deities of the place, to prosper the undertaking, and to lend their divine help to raise the abodes which the piety of men had founded for them. He then touched the wreaths, which were wound round the foundation stone and entwined with the ropes, while at the same moment all the other magistrates of the State, the Priests, the Senators, the Knights, and a number of the citizens, with zeal and joy uniting their efforts, dragged the huge stone along. Contributions of gold and silver and virgin ores, never smelted in the furnace, but still in their natural state, were showered on the foundations. The soothsayers had previously directed that no stone or gold which had been intended for any other purpose should profane the work. Additional height was given to the structure; this was the only variation which religion would permit, and the one feature which had been thought wanting in the splendour of the old temple. | 53. Curam restituendi Capitolii in Lucium Vestinum confert, equestris ordinis virum, sed auctoritate famaque inter proceres. ab eo contracti haruspices monuere ut reliquiae prioris delubri in paludes aveherentur, templum isdem vestigiis sisteretur: nolle deos mutari veterem formam. XI kalendas Iulias serena luce spatium omne quod templo dicabatur evinctum vittis coronisque; ingressi milites, quis fausta nomina, felicibus ramis; dein virgines Vestales cum pueris puellisque patrimis matrimisque aqua e fontibus amnibusque hausta perluere. tum Helvidius Priscus praetor, praeeunte Plautio Aeliano pontifice, lustrata suovetaurilibus area et super caespitem redditis extis, Iovem, Iunonem, Minervam praesidesque imperii deos precatus uti coepta prosperarent sedisque suas pietate hominum inchoatas divina ope attollerent, vittas, quis ligatus lapis innexique funes erant, contigit; simul ceteri magistratus et sacerdotes et senatus et eques et magna pars populi, studio laetitiaque conixi, saxum ingens traxere. passimque iniectae fundamentis argenti aurique stipes et metallorum primitiae, nullis fornacibus victae, sed ut gignuntur: praedixere haruspices ne temeraretur opus saxo aurove in aliud destinato. altitudo aedibus adiecta: id solum religio adnuere et prioris templi magnificentiae defuisse credebatur. |
| 54. Meanwhile the tidings of the death of Vitellius, spreading through Gaul and Germany, had caused a second war. Civilis had thrown aside all disguise, and was now openly assailing the Roman power, while the legions of Vitellius preferred even a foreign yoke to the rule of Vespasian. Gaul had gathered fresh courage from the belief that the fortunes of our armies had been everywhere disastrous; for a report was rife that our winter camps in Moesia and Pannonia were hemmed in by the Sarmatians and Dacians. Rumours equally false were circulated respecting Britain. Above all, the conflagration of the Capitol had made them believe that the end of the Roman Empire was at hand. The Gauls, they remembered, had captured the city in former days, but, as the abode of Jupiter was uninjured, the Empire had survived; whereas now the Druids declared, with the prophetic utterances of an idle superstition, that this fatal conflagration was a sign of the anger of heaven, and portended universal empire for the Transalpine nations. A rumour had also gone forth that the chiefs of Gaul, whom Otho had sent against Vitellius, had, before their departure, bound themselves by a compact not to fall the cause of freedom, should the power of Rome be broken by a continuous succession of civil wars and internal calamities. | 54. Audita interim per Gallias Germaniasque mors Vitellii duplicaverat bellum. nam Civilis omissa dissimulatione in populum Romanum ruere, Vitellianae legiones vel externum servitium quam imperatorem Vespasianum malle. Galli sustulerant animos, eandem ubique exercituum nostrorum fortunam rati, vulgato rumore a Sarmatis Dacisque Moesica ac Pannonica hiberna circumsederi; paria de Britannia fingebantur. sed nihil aeque quam incendium Capitolii, ut finem imperio adesse crederent, impulerat. captam olim a Gallis urbem, sed integra Iovis sede mansisse imperium: fatali nunc igne signum caelestis irae datum et possessionem rerum humanarum Transalpinis gentibus portendi superstitione vana Druidae canebant. incesseratque fama primores Galliarum ab Othone adversus Vitellium missos, antequam digrederentur, pepigisse ne deessent libertati, si populum Romanum continua civilium bellorum series et interna mala fregissent. |
| 55. Before the murder of Flaccus Hordeonius nothing had come out by which any conspiracy could be discovered. After his death, messengers passed to and fro between Civilis and Classicus, commander of the cavalry of the Treveri. Classicus was first among his countrymen in rank and wealth; he was of a royal house, of a race distinguished both in peace and war, and he himself claimed to be by family tradition the foe rather than the ally of the Romans. Julius Tutor and Julius Sabinus joined him in his schemes. One was a Trever, the other a Lingon. Tutor had been made by Vitellius guardian of the banks of the Rhine. Sabinus, over and above his natural vanity, was inflamed with the pride of an imaginary descent, for he asserted that his great-grandmother had, by her personal charms, attracted the admiration of the divine Julius, when he was campaigning in Gaul. These two men held secret conferences to sound the views of the rest of their countrymen, and when they had secured as accomplices such as they thought suitable for their purpose, they met together in a private house in the Colonia Agrippinensis; for the State in its public policy was strongly opposed to all such attempts. Some, however, of the Ubii and Tungri were present but the Treveri and Lingones had the greatest weight in the matter. Nor could they endure the delay of deliberation; they rivalled each other in vehement assertions that the Romans were in a frenzy of discord, that their legions had been cut to pieces, that Italy was laid waste, that Rome itself was at that very moment undergoing capture, while all her armies were occupied by wars of their own. If they were but to secure the passes of the Alps with bodies of troops, Gaul, with her own freedom firmly established, might look about her, and fix the limits of her dominion. | 55. Ante Flacci Hordeonii caedem nihil prorupit quo coniuratio intellegeretur: interfecto Hordeonio commeavere nuntii inter Civilem Classicumque praefectum alae Trevirorum. Classicus nobilitate opibusque ante alios: regium illi genus et pace belloque clara origo, ipse e maioribus suis hostis populi Romani quam socios iactabat. miscuere sese Iulius Tutor et Iulius Sabinus, hic Trevir, hic Lingonus, Tutor ripae Rheni a Vitellio praefectus; Sabinum super insitam vanitatem falsae stirpis gloria incendebat: proaviam suam divo Iulio per Gallias bellanti corpore atque adulterio placuisse. hi secretis sermonibus animos ceterorum scrutari, ubi quos idoneos rebantur conscientia obstrinxere, in colonia Agrippinensi in domum privatam conveniunt; nam publice civitas talibus inceptis abhorrebat; ac tamen interfuere quidam Vbiorum Tungrorumque. sed plurima vis penes Treviros ac Lingonas, nec tulere moras consultandi. certatim proclamant furere discordiis populum Romanum, caesas legiones, vastatam Italiam, capi cum maxime urbem, omnis exercitus suis quemque bellis distineri: si Alpes praesidiis firmentur, coalita libertate disceptaturas Gallias quem virium suarum terminum velint. |
| 56. These views were no sooner stated than approved. As to the survivors of the Vitellianist army, they doubted what to do; many voted for putting to death men so turbulent and faithless, stained too with the blood of their generals. Still the policy of mercy prevailed. To cut off all hope of quarter might provoke an obstinate resistance. It would be better to draw them into friendly union. If only the legates of the legions were put to death, the remaining multitude, moved by the consciousness of guilt and the hope of escape, would readily join their cause. | 56. Haec dicta pariter probataque: de reliquiis Vitelliani exercitus dubitavere. plerique interficiendos censebant, turbidos, infidos, sanguine ducum pollutos: vicit ratio parcendi, ne sublata spe veniae pertinaciam accenderent: adliciendos potius in societatem. legatis tantum legionum interfectis, ceterum vulgus conscientia scelerum et spe impunitatis facile accessurum. ea primi concilii forma missique per Gallias concitores belli; simulatum ipsis obsequium quo incautiorem Voculam opprimerent. nec defuere qui Voculae nuntiarent, sed vires ad coercendum deerant, infrequentibus infidisque legionibus. inter ambiguos milites et occultos hostis optimum e praesentibus ratus mutua dissimulatione et isdem quibus petebatur grassari, in coloniam Agrippinensem descendit. illuc Claudius Labeo, quem captum et [extra commentum] amendatum in Frisios diximus, corruptis custodibus perfugit; pollicitusque, si praesidium daretur, iturum in Batavos et potiorem civitatis partem ad societatem Romanam retracturum, accepta peditum equitumque modica manu nihil apud Batavos ausus quosdam Nerviorum Baetasiorumque in arma traxit, et furtim magis quam bello Canninefatis Marsacosque incursabat. |
| 57. Lured on by the treacherous representations of the Gauls, Vocula marched against the enemy. He was near the Old Camp, when Classicus and Tutor, who had gone on in advance under the pretence of reconnoitring, concluded an agreement with the German chiefs. They then for the first time separated themselves from the legions, and formed a camp of their own, with a separate line of entrenchment, while Vocula protested that the power of Rome was not so utterly shaken by civil war as to have become contemptible even to Treveri and Lingones. "There are still," he said, "faithful provinces, victorious armies, the fortune of the Empire, and avenging Gods. Thus it was that Sacrovir and the Aedui in former days, Vindex and the Gauls in more recent times, were crushed in a single battle. The breakers of treaties may look for the vengeance of the same Deities, and the same doom. Julius and Augustus understood far better the character of the people. Galba's policy and the diminution of their tribute have inspired them with hostile feelings. They are now enemies, because their yoke is easy; when they have been plundered and stripped, they will be friends." After uttering this defiance, finding that Classicus and Tutor persisted in their treachery, he changed his line of march, and retired to Novesium. The Gauls encamped at a distance of two miles, and plied with bribes the centurions and soldiers who visited them there, striving to make a Roman army commit the unheard of baseness of swearing allegiance to foreigners, and pledge itself to the perpetration of this atrocious crime by murdering or imprisoning its officers. Vocula, though many persons advised him to escape, thought it best to be bold, and, summoning an assembly, spoke as follows: | 57. Vocula Gallorum fraude inlectus ad hostem contendit; nec procul Veteribus aberat, cum Classicus ac Tutor per speciem explorandi praegressi cum ducibus Germanorum pacta firmavere. tumque primum discreti a legionibus proprio vallo castra sua circumdant, obtestante Vocula non adeo turbatam civilibus armis rem Romanam ut Treviris etiam Lingonibusque despectui sit. superesse fidas provincias, victores exercitus, fortunam imperii et ultores deos. sic olim Sacrovirum et Aeduos, nuper Vindicem Galliasque singulis proeliis concidisse. eadem rursus numina, eadem fata ruptores foederum expectarent. melius divo Iulio divoque Augusto notos eorum animos: Galbam et infracta tributa hostilis spiritus induisse. nunc hostis, quia molle servitium; cum spoliati exutique fuerint, amicos fore. haec ferociter locutus, postquam perstare in perfidia Classicum Tutoremque videt, verso itinere Novaesium concedit: Galli duum milium spatio distantibus campis consedere. illuc commeantium centurionum militumque emebantur animi, ut (flagitium incognitum) Romanus exercitus in externa verba iurarent pignusque tanti sceleris nece aut vinculis legatorum daretur. Vocula, quamquam plerique fugam suadebant, audendum ratus vocata contione in hunc modum disseruit: |
| 58. "Never, when I have addressed you, have I felt more anxious for your welfare, never more indifferent about my own. Of the destruction that threatens me I can hear with cheerfulness; and amid so many evils I look forward to death as the end of my sufferings. For you I feel shame and compassion. Against you indeed no hostile ranks are gathering. That would be but the lawful course of war, and the right which an enemy may claim. But Classicus hopes to wage with your strength his war against Rome, and proudly offers to your allegiance an empire of Gaul. Though our fortune and courage have for the moment failed us, have we so utterly forgotten the old memories of those many times when the legions of Rome resolved to perish but not to be driven from their post? Often have our allies endured to see their cities destroyed, and with their wives and children to die in the flames, with only this reward in their death, the glory of untarnished loyalty. At this very moment our legions at the Old Camp are suffering the horrors of famine and of siege, and cannot be shaken by threats or by promises. We, besides our arms, our numbers, and the singular strength of our fortifications, have corn and supplies sufficient for a campaign however protracted. We had lately money enough even to furnish a donative; and, whether you choose to refer the bounty to Vitellius or Vespasian, it was at any rate from a Roman Emperor that you received it. If you, who have been victorious in so many campaigns, who have so often routed the enemy at Gelduba and at the Old Camp, yet shrink from battle, this indeed is an unworthy fear. Still you have an entrenched camp; you have fortifications and the means of prolonging the war, till succouring armies pour in from the neighbouring provinces. It may be that I do not satisfy you; you may fall back on other legates or tribunes, on some centurion, even on some common soldier. Let not this monstrous news go forth to the whole world, that with you in their train Civilis and Classicus are about to invade Italy. Should the Germans and the Gauls lead you to the walls of the capital, will you lift up arms against your Country? My soul shudders at the imagination of so horrible a crime. Will you mount guard for Tutor, the Trever? Shall a Batavian give the signal for battle? Will you serve as recruits in the German battalions? What will be the issue of your wickedness when the Roman legions are marshalled against you? Will you be a second time deserters, a second time traitors, and brave the anger of heaven while you waver between your old and your new allegiance? I implore and entreat thee, O Jupiter, supremely good and great, to whom through eight hundred and twenty years we have paid the honours of so many triumphs, and thou, Quirinus, father of Rome, that, if it be not your pleasure that this camp should be preserved pure and inviolate under my command, you will at least not suffer it to be polluted and defiled by a Tutor and a Classicus. Grant that the soldiers of Rome may either be innocent of crime, or at least experience a repentance speedy and without remorse." | 58. 'Numquam apud vos verba feci aut pro vobis sollicitior aut pro me securior. nam mihi exitium parari libens audio mortemque in tot malis [hostium] ut finem miseriarum expecto: vestri me pudet miseretque, adversus quos non proelium et acies parantur; id enim fas armorum et ius hostium est: bellum cum populo Romano vestris se manibus gesturum Classicus sperat imperiumque et sacramentum Galliarum ostentat. adeo nos, si fortuna in praesens virtusque deseruit, etiam vetera exempla deficiunt, quotiens Romanae legiones perire praeoptaverint ne loco pellerentur? socii saepe nostri excindi urbis suas seque cum coniugibus ac liberis cremari pertulerunt, neque aliud pretium exitus quam fides famaque. tolerant cum maxime inopiam obsidiumque apud Vetera legiones nec terrore aut promissis demoventur: nobis super arma et viros et egregia castrorum munimenta frumentum et commeatus quamvis longo bello pares. pecunia nuper etiam donativo suffecit, quod sive a Vespasiano sive a Vitellio datum interpretari mavultis, ab imperatore certe Romano accepistis. tot bellorum victores, apud Geldubam, apud Vetera, fuso totiens hoste, si pavetis aciem, indignum id quidem, sed est vallum murique et trahendi artes, donec e proximis provinciis auxilia exercitusque concurrant. sane ego displiceam: sunt alii legati, tribuni, centurio denique aut miles. ne hoc prodigium toto terrarum orbe vulgetur, vobis satellitibus Civilem et Classicum Italiam invasuros. an, si ad moenia urbis Germani Gallique duxerint, arma patriae inferetis? horret animus tanti flagitii imagine. Tutorine Treviro agentur excubiae? signum belli Batavus dabit, et Germanorum catervas supplebitis? quis deinde sceleris exitus, cum Romanae legiones contra derexerint? transfugae e transfugis et proditores e proditoribus inter recens et vetus sacramentum invisi deis errabitis? te, Iuppiter optime maxime, quem per octingentos viginti annos tot triumphis coluimus, te, Quirine Romanae parens urbis, precor venerorque ut, si vobis non fuit cordi me duce haec castra incorrupta et intemerata servari, at certe pollui foedarique a Tutore et Classico ne sinatis, militibus Romanis aut innocentiam detis aut maturam et sine noxa paenitentiam.' |
| 59. They received his speech with feelings that varied between hope, fear, and shame. Vocula then left them, and was preparing to put an end to his life, when his freedmen and slaves prevented him from anticipating by his own act a most miserable death. Classicus despatched one Aemilius Longinus, a deserter from the first legion, and speedily accomplished the murder. With respect to the two legates, Herennius and Numisius, it was thought enough to put them in chains. Classicus then assumed the insignia of Roman Imperial power, and entered the camp. Hardened though he was to every sort of crime, he could only find words enough to go through the form of oath. All who were present swore allegiance to the empire of Gaul. He distinguished the murderer of Vocula by high promotion, and the others by rewards proportioned to their services in crime. | 59. Varie excepta oratio inter spem metumque ac pu dorem. digressum Voculam et de supremis agitantem liberti servique prohibuere foedissimam mortem sponte praevenire. et Classicus misso Aemilio Longino, desertore primae legionis, caedem eius maturavit; Herennium et Numisium legatos vinciri satis visum. dein sumptis Romani imperii insignibus in castra venit. nec illi, quamquam ad omne facinus durato, verba ultra suppeditavere quam ut sacramentum recitaret: iuravere qui aderant pro imperio Galliarum. interfectorem Voculae altis ordinibus, ceteros, ut quisque flagitium navaverat, praemiis attollit. Divisae inde inter Tutorem et Classicum curae. Tutor valida manu circumdatos Agrippinensis quantumque militum apud superiorem Rheni ripam in eadem verba adigit, occisis Mogontiaci tribunis, pulso castrorum praefecto, qui detractaverant: Classicus corruptissimum quemque e deditis pergere ad obsessos iubet, veniam ostentantis, si praesentia sequerentur: aliter nihil spei, famem ferrumque et extrema passuros. adiecere qui missi erant exemplum suum. |
Ask PRATIBHA about this text
Answers quote this scripture directly and show their sources.
Reflect on this passage
Only you can see these notes. They stay on this device.