fuerat sparguntur per Gallias litera; momentoque temporis flagrabat ingens bellum, Illyricis exercitibus palam desciscentibus, ceteris fortunam secuturis.

87. Dum hæc per provincias a Vespasiano ducibusque partium geruntur, Vitellius contemtior in dies segniorque, ad omnes municipiorum villarumque amoenitates resistens, gravi Urbem agmine petebat. Sexaginta millia armatorum sequebantur, licentia corrupta: calonum numerus amplior, procacissimis etiam inter servos lixarum ingeniis tot legatorum amicorumque comitatus, inhabilis ad parendum, etiam si summa modestia regeretur. Onerabant multitudinem obvii ex Urbe senatores equitesque; quidam metu, multi per adulationem, ceteri ac paulatim omnes, ne, aliis proficiscentibus, ipsi remanerent. Adgregabantur e plebe, flagitiosa per obsequia Vitellio cogniti, șcurræ, histriones, aurigæ, quibus ille amicitiarum dehonestamentis mire gaudebat. Nec coloniæ modo, aut municipia, congestu copiarum, sed ipsi cultores arvaque, maturis jam frugibus, ut hostile solum vastabantur.

h

i

88. Multæ et atroces inter se militum cædes, post seditionem Ticini coeptam manente legionum auxiliorumque discordia; ubi adversus paganos certandum foret, con-, sensu. Sed plurima strages ad septimum ab Urbe lapidem: singulis ibi militibus Vitellius paratos cibos, ut gladiatoriam saginam, dividebat: et effusa plebes totis se

d Resistens] Stopping, remaining. So Phædr. i, 12. Ad fontem cervus cum bibisset, restitit, Et in liquore vidit effigiem suam.'

e

Sexag. m. armatorum] Vitellius's army had been larger, as we saw in H. i, 61. 64. ii, 57. but many thousands had perished at the place called Castorum, and Bebriacum, H. ii, 24. 42. and there had been great slaughter in various revolts, H. ii, 68. 88. The numbers of the legions and the auxiliaries were reduced; dismissions from the service were granted promiscuously to all who applied for them; the Batavian cohorts were ordered back to Germany; the Gallic auxiliaries were dismissed to their respective states: H. ii, 69. It is clear then from Tacitus, how the army of Vitellius was diminished: Saville therefore unreasonably censures the historian,

as Ryck has rightly remarked.

f Calonum numerus amplior] There was such a number of drudges and attendants, who served rather the ends of luxury than of active employment. See H. i, 49. That there were so many of these men in these luxurious times and under so luxurious an emperor, no one will wonder at, who has learned that when Cn. Manlius and Servilius Cæpio were overcome by the Cimbri, militum millia octoginta occisa [fuisse], calonum ac lixarum quadraginta.' Liv. Epit. lxvii.

plies.

Copiarum] Provisions and sup

h Ticini captam] ch. 68. Paganos] See H. i, 53. Sept.-lapidem] Seven miles from the city, and therefore near what is now called Prima Porta.

castris miscuerat. Incuriosos milites, vernacula, ut rebantur, urbanitate, quidam spoliavere, abscisis furtim balteis,'' an accincti forent,' rogitantes. Non tulit ludibrium insolens contumeliæ animus: inermem populum gladiis invasere: cæsus inter alios pater militis, cum filium comitaretur; deinde agnitus, et, vulgata cæde, temperatum ab innoxiis." In Urbe tamen trepidatum, præcurrentibus passim militibus. Forum maxime petebant, cupidine visendi locum in quo Galba jacuisset." Nec minus sævum spectaculum erant ipsi, tergis ferarum et ingentibus telis horrentes, cum turbam populi per inscitiam parum vitarent, aut, ubi lubicro viæ vel occursu alicujus procidissent, ad jurgium, mox ad manus et ferrum transirent. Quin et tribuni præfectique cum terrore et armatorum catervis volitabant.

89. Ipse Vitellius, a Ponte Milvio, insigni equo, paludatus accinctusque, senatum et populum ante se agens, quominus, ut captam, Urbem ingrederetur, amicorum consilio deterritus, sumta prætexta et composito agmine, incessit. Quatuor legionum aquila per frontem, totidemque circa e legionibus aliis vexilla, mox duodecim alarum signa, et post peditum ordines, eques: dein quatuor et triginta cohortes, ut nomina gentium aut species armorum forent, discreta. Ante aquilam præfecti castrorum tribunique et primi centurionum, candida veste; ceteri juxta suam quisque centuriam, armis donisque fulgentes: et mili

Balteis] Varro de L. L. lib. iv. 'Balteum, cingulum e corio, bullatum.' A sword-belt.

Ab innoxiis] The farther effusion of the blood of the innocent was stopped.

" Galba jac.] The lake of Curtius: H. i, 41.

Tergis ferarum] In the manner of the Germans. Germ. 17.

P Ponte Milvio] See A. xiii, 47. Paludatus] The paludamentum was a military vest.

r Prætexta] The ensign of peace. Suetonius describes otherwise the entrance of Vitellius, in Vitell. 11. Urbem denique ad classicum introiit paludatus, ferroque succinctus, inter signa atque vexilla, sagulatis comitibus, ac detectis commilitonum armis.' But that credit is to be given rather

to Tacitus than to Suetonius, is clear from two coins of Vitellius in Oisel's Thesaurus Select. Numism. Tab. xcii, 4, 5. p. 454. In one is ADVENTVS AVGVSTI: Vitellius sits on horseback in his paludamentum': in the other is ADVENTVS AVGVSTI: Rome with a helmet on her head is receiving Vitellius in his toga. P. de Grainville without good reason defends Suetonius against Tacitus, from a coin in his possession, in which Vitellius was dressed in the paludamentum: Mémoires pour l'Hist. des Sciences et des beaux Arts, année 1703. Avril, p. 969.

• Ante aquilam] So Lipsius well: each before his eagle : otherwise aquilas would be a truer reading, for there were four.

Donisque] Spears, trappings, col

น

tum phalera torquesque splendebant: decora facies, et non Vitellio Principe dignus exercitus. Sic Capitolium ingressus, atque ibi matrem complexus, Augustæ nomine honoravit.

90. Postera die, tamquam apud alterius civitatis senatum populumque, magnificam orationem de semetipso promsit, industriam temperantiamque suam laudibus_attollens; consciis flagitiorum ipsis, qui aderant, omnique Italia, per quam somno et luxu pudendus incesserat. Vulgus tamen, vacuum curis, et sine falsi verique discrimine solitas adulationes edoctum, clamore et vocibus adstrepebat: abnuentique nomen Augusti, expressere, ut adsumeret; tam frustra, quam recusaverat.

91. Apud civitatem, cuncta interpretantem, funesti ominis loco acceptum est, quod, maximum pontificatum = adeptus, Vitellius de cærimoniis publicis quintodecimo Calendas Augusti edixisset," antiquitus infausto die Cremerensi Alliensique cladibus: adeo omnis humani divinique juris expers, pari libertorum amicorumque socordia, velut inter temulentos agebat. Sed comitia consulum cum

Max. pontif.] It was only on the 18th of July that Vitellius was made pontifex maximus. Hence Suet. Vitell. 11. Omni divino humanoque jure neglecto, Alliensi die pontificatum maximum cepit.' Before he was pontifex, but not pontifex maximus. On this subject is a remarkable coin of Vitellius in the Numismatic Catalogue of the Museum of the Turonensis Soc. Jesu, p. 59. A. VITELLIVS GERMAN. IMP. PONT. The head of Vitellius. On the reverse, VICTORIA AVG.

Edix.] What was forbidden by the Roman superstition. Liv. vi, 1. De diebus religiosis agitari cœptum, diemque a. d. xv. Calendas Sextiles duplici clade insignem, (quo die ad

с

Cremeram Fabii cæsi; quo deinde ad Alliam cum exitio Urbis fœde pugnatum) a posteriore clade Alliensem appellarunt, insignemque rei nulli publice privatimque agendæ fecerunt.'

b Cladibus] At Cremera, a river of Tuscany, now called the Varca, the 300 Fabii were killed by the Veians, A.U.C. 277. At Allia the Romans were vanquished by the Gauls, A.U.C. 364.

'Alliensi clade nulla fœdior: itaque hunc diem fastis Roma damnavit. Florus i, 13. and Cic. Ep. ad Att. ix, 5. Majores nostri funestiorem diem esse voluerunt Alliensis pugnæ quam Urbis captæ, quod hoc malum ex illo: itaque alter religiosus etiam nunc dies, alter in vulgus ignotus.' In the Tabula Antiatina, edited and illustrated by Vulpius, xXV. K. AVG. DIES ALL. ATR. i. e. quintodecimo Kalendas Augusti, dies Alliensis atra.' Allia flows through the Sabine country. Many think it is the Rio di Mosso: but Venuti, in a learned dissertation prefixed to a magnificent edition of Virgil, lately published by P. Anton. Ambrogi, S. J. thinks it is the Torrente di Catino.

• Comitia consulum] In A. i, 81.

d

candidatis civiliter celebrans, omnem infimæ plebis rumorem, in theatro ut spectator, in circo ut fautor, adfectavit: quæ, grata sane et popularia, si a virtutibus proficiscerentur; memoria vitæ prioris, indecora et vilia accipiebanVentitabat in senatum, etiam cum parvis de rebus patres consulerentur: ac forte Priscus Helvidius, prætor designatus, contra studium ejus censuerat. Commotus primo Vitellius, non tamen ultra, quam tribunos plebis in auxilium spretæ potestatis' advocavit: mox, mitigantibus amicis, qui altiorem ejus iracundiam verebantur, ‘nihil novi accidisse,' respondit, quod duo senatores in republica dissentirent: solitum se etiam Thraseæ contradicere.' Inrisere plerique impudentiam æmulationis: aliis id ipsum placebat, quod neminem ex præpotentibus, sed Thraseam, ad exemplar veræ gloriæ legisset.

92. Præposuerat prætorianis P. Sabinum, a præfectura cohortis; Julium Priscum, tum centurionem: Priscus, Valentis, Sabinus Cæcinæ gratia pollebant. Inter discordes Vitellio nihil auctoritatis: munia imperii Cæcina ac Valens obibant; olim anxii odiis, quæ, bello et castris male dissimulata, pravitas amicorum, et foecunda gignendis inimicitiis civitas auxerat, dum ambitu, comitatu, et immensis salutantium agminibus contendunt comparanturque; variis in hunc aut illum Vitellii inclinationibus. Nec umquam satis fida potentia, ubi nimia est. Simul ipsum Vitellium, subitis offensis aut intempestivis blanditiis mutabilem, contemnebant metuebantque. Nec eo segnius invaserant domos, hortos, opesque imperii: cum flebilis et

we saw the consular comitia, in which the consuls were created: but Vitellius attended the comitia like any other citizen with the candidates for the consulate he attempted to conciliate the popular favor by being present in the theatre as a common spectator, and in the circus as a patron. This conduct would have gained him great applause, had not the memory of his former life been vile and disgraceful. Of these comitia Suetonius writes, Vitell. 11. Comitia in decem annos ordinavit, seque perpetuum consulem.' With how much more condescension Trajan attended the comitia of the consuls, is shown by Pliny,

Paneg. 63. &c.

d Vitæ prioris] Which he had passed among stage-players and carriage-drivers, for the sake of pleasing Caius and Nero. See Suet. Vitell. 4. 12.

e Pr. Helvidius] A great man, often spoken of in A. xii. xiii. and xvi. as well as hereafter.

Thraseam] Thrasea Pætus. A. xiv, 12. xvi, 21. &c.

A præf. cohortis] Who had commanded only a prætorian cohort. This P. Sabinus is a different person from Flavius Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian, and often mentioned before.

h

egens nobilium turba, quos ipsos liberosque patriæ Galba reddiderat, nulla Principis misericordia juvarentur. Gratum primoribus civitatis, etiam plebes adprobavit, quod reversis ab exilio jura libertorum concessisset: quamquam id omni modo servilia ingenia corrumpebant, abditis pecuniis per occultos aut ambitiosos sinus;* et quidam in domum Cæsaris transgressi, atque ipsis dominis. potentiores. '

m

93. Sed miles, plenis castris, et, redundante multitudine, in porticibus aut delubris et Urbe tota vagus, non principia noscere, non servare vigilias, neque labore firmari: per inlecebras Urbis et inhonesta dictu, corpus otio, animum libidinibus imminuebant. Postremo, ne salutis quidem cura, infamibus Vaticani locis" magna pars tetendit; unde crebræ in vulgus mortes: et, adjacente Tiberi, Germanorum Gallorumque obnoxia morbis corpora fluminis aviditas et æstus impatientia labefecit. Insuper confusus, pravitate vel ambitu, ordo militiæ. Sedecim prætoriæ, quatuor urbanæ cohortes scribebantur, queis singula millia inessent. Plus in eo delectu Valens audebat, tamquam ipsum Cæcinam periculo exemisset: sane ad

Nobilium turba] Whom Nero had ruined and banished, and Galba had recalled.

* Jura libertorum] These rights lay in being supplied with provisions and a share in the property of the freedmen. Ulpian. Tit. 29. de bonis libertorum, n. 1. Civis Romani liberti hæreditatem lex duodecim Tabularum patrono defert, si intestato sine suo hærede libertus decesserit.' We have the prætor's edict in the same place: Ex edicto prætoris, si testamento facto libertus moriatur, aut ut nihil, aut minus quam partem dimidiam bonorum patrono relinquat, contra tabulas testamenti, partis dimidiæ bonorum possessio illi datur, nisi libertus aliquem ex naturalibus liberis successorem sibi relinquat; sive intes: tato decedat, et uxorem forte in manum, vel adoptivum filium relinquat, æque partis mediæ bonorum possessio contra suos hæredes patrono datur.' Many other rights of patrons may be seen in Digest. lib. 38. tit. i. ii.

and v.

k Ambitiosos sinus] They concealed their money in obscure places, or deposited it in the custody of the great. Of the servility of freedmen, notice has been taken in the Annals.

Dominis potentiores] And therefore it was useless or dangerous for masters to think of exercising their right.

Principia] Where were the eagles, the standards, and the military forum. See A. i, 61.

Infam.-locis] The lands round the Vatican were at this time infested with stagnant water, serpents, and bad air. Now however they are inhabited, and in this quarter is St. Peter's Church. Some still complain of the unwholesome air in these parts, and hence the popes seldom inhabit the Vatican, but usually the Quirinal Palace, now Monte Cavallo.

Sedec. præt.] Their number therefore was increased. Before this there had been only nine prætorian cohorts, and three city cohorts: A. iv, 5.