Tacitus: HISTORIAE

[1] Eiusdem anni principio Caesar Titus, perdomandae Iudaeae delectus a patre et privatis utriusque rebus militia clarus, maiore tum vi famaque agebat, certantibus provinciarum et exercituum studiis. Atque ipse, ut super fortunam crederetur, decorum se promptumque in armis ostendebat, comitate et adloquiis officia provocans ac plerumque in opere, in agmine gregario militi mixtus, incorrupto ducis honore. Tres eum in Iudaea legiones, quinta et decima et quinta decima, vetus Vespasiani miles, excepere.

[1] At the beginning of the same year Caesar Titus, chosen by his father for the thorough subjugation of Judea and, in the private condition of both, famous in soldiery, was then advancing with greater force and fame, the zeal of the provinces and the armies vying. And he himself, that he might be thought above mere fortune, showed himself decorous and prompt in arms, by comity and addresses calling forth services, and very often, at work and on the march, mingled with the common soldier, with the honor of a leader untainted. Three legions in Judea—the Fifth, the Tenth, and the Fifteenth—the veteran soldiery of Vespasian, received him.

Addidit e Syria duodecimam et adductos Alexandria duoetvicensimanos tertianosque; comitabantur viginti sociae cohortes, octo equitum alae, simul Agrippa Sohaemusque reges et auxilia regis Antiochi validaque et solito inter accolas odio infensa Iudaeis Arabum manus, multi quos urbe atque Italia sua quemque spes acciverat occupandi principem adhuc vacuum. His cum copiis finis hostium ingressus composito agmine, cuncta explorans paratusque decernere, haud procul Hierosolymis castra facit.

He added from Syria the Twelfth, and, brought from Alexandria, the Twenty-Second and the Third; there accompanied him twenty allied cohorts, eight wings of cavalry, together with the kings Agrippa and Sohaemus and the auxiliaries of King Antiochus, and a band of Arabs strong and, with the usual hatred among neighbors, hostile to the Jews, and many whom from the City and from Italy each man’s own hope had summoned, to preoccupy a principate still vacant. With these forces he entered the borders of the enemy with the column in order, reconnoitering everything and prepared to decide the issue, and he makes camp not far from Jerusalem.

[2] Sed quoniam famosae urbis supremum diem tradituri sumus, congruens videtur primordia eius aperire. Iudaeos Creta insula profugos novissima Libyae insedisse memorant, qua tempestate Saturnus vi Iovis pulsus cesserit regnis. Argumentum e nomine petitur: inclutum in Creta Idam montem, accolas Idaeos aucto in barbarum cognomento Iudaeos vocitari.

[2] But since we are about to hand down the last day of a famed city, it seems congruent to lay open its beginnings. They relate that the Jews, refugees from the island of Crete, settled in the farthest reaches of Libya, at that time when Saturn, driven out by the force of Jove, yielded his realms. An argument is sought from the name: on Crete there is the renowned Mount Ida; the inhabitants are called Idaeans, and, with the name augmented into a barbarian cognomen, they are called Judaeans.

Quidam regnante Iside exundantem per Aegyptum multitudinem ducibus Hierosolymo ac Iuda proximas in terras exoneratam; plerique Aethiopum prolem, quos rege Cepheo metus atque odium mutare sedis perpulerit. Sunt qui tradant Assyrios convenas, indigum agrorum populum, parte Aegypti potitos, mox proprias urbis Hebraeas- que terras et propiora Syriae coluisse. Clara alii Iudaeorum initia, Solymos, carminibus Homeri celebratam gentem, conditae urbi Hierosolyma nomen e suo fecisse.

Some say that, in the reign of Isis, a multitude overflowing throughout Egypt was discharged into the neighboring lands under leaders Hierosolymus and Juda; most [say they were] the offspring of the Ethiopians, whom, under King Cepheus, fear and hatred drove to change their seats. There are those who hand down that they were Assyrian immigrants, a people indigent of fields, who gained possession of a part of Egypt, and soon thereafter cultivated their own city and the Hebrew lands and the regions nearer to Syria. Others make illustrious the beginnings of the Jews: that the Solymi, a nation celebrated in the songs of Homer, gave to the founded city the name Hierosolyma from their own.

[3] Plurimi auctores consentiunt orta per Aegyptum tabe quae corpora foedaret, regem Bocchorim adito Hammonis oraculo remedium petentem purgare regnum et id genus hominum ut invisum deis alias in terras avehere iussum. Sic conquisitum collectumque vulgus, postquam vastis locis relictum sit, ceteris per lacrimas torpentibus, Moysen unum exulum monuisse ne quam deorum hominumve opem expectarent utrisque deserti, sed sibimet duce caelesti crederent, primo cuius auxilio praesentis miserias pepulissent. Adsensere atque omnium ignari fortuitum iter incipiunt.

[3] Very many authors agree that, when a pestilence had arisen throughout Egypt which defiled bodies, King Bocchoris, having approached the oracle of Hammon seeking a remedy, was ordered to purge the kingdom and to carry off to other lands that kind of men, as odious to the gods. Thus, when the rabble had been hunted out and gathered together, after it was left in desolate places, while the rest were numbed with tears, Moses, one of the exiles, advised that they should not expect any aid of gods or men, abandoned by both, but should trust themselves to a celestial leader, by whose aid first they had driven off their present miseries. They assented and, ignorant of everything, they begin a chance-directed journey.

Sed nihil aeque quam inopia aquae fatigabat, iamque haud procul exitio totis campis procubuerant, cum grex asinorum agrestium e pastu in rupem nemore opacam concessit. Secutus Moyses coniectura herbidi soli largas aquarum venas aperit. Id levamen; et continuum sex dierum iter emensi septimo pulsis cultoribus obtinuere terras, in quis urbs et templum dicata.

But nothing wearied them so much as the lack of water, and now, not far from destruction, they had fallen prostrate over the whole plains, when a herd of wild asses, returning from pasture, withdrew to a rocky height with a shady grove. Moses, following, by conjecture from the grassy soil, opened broad veins of waters. That was a relief; and, having measured out a continuous march of six days, on the seventh, with the cultivators driven out, they obtained lands, in which a city and a temple were dedicated.

[4] Moyses quo sibi in posterum gentem firmaret, novos ritus contrariosque ceteris mortalibus indidit. Profana illic omnia quae apud nos sacra, rursum concessa apud illos quae nobis incesta. Effigiem animalis, quo monstrante errorem sitimque depulerant, penetrali sacravere, caeso ariete velut in contumeliam Hammonis; bos quoque immolatur, quoniam Aegyptii Apin colunt.

[4] Moses, in order that he might fortify the nation for himself for the future, instituted new rites, and contrary to the rest of mortals. There, everything is profane which with us is sacred; and, conversely, things permitted among them are for us incestuous. They consecrated in the inner shrine the effigy of the animal, by whose showing they had driven away their wandering and thirst, a ram having been slain, as if in contumely of Hammon; a bull too is immolated, since the Egyptians worship Apis.

Sue abstinent memoria cladis, quod ipsos scabies quondam turpaverat, cui id animal obnoxium. Longam olim famem crebris adhuc ieiuniis fatentur, et raptarum frugum argumentum panis Iudaicus nullo fermento detinetur. Septimo die otium placuisse ferunt, quia is finem laborum tulerit; dein blandiente inertia septimum quoque annum ignaviae datum.

They abstain from the swine in memory of a disaster, because scabies had once disfigured them, to which animal that disease is liable. They acknowledge a long famine of old by their still frequent fasts, and, as a proof of plundered grain, Jewish bread is detained by no ferment. They report that leisure on the seventh day pleased them, because that day brought an end of labors; then, with inertia coaxing, the seventh year too was granted to sloth.

Alii honorem eum Saturno haberi, seu principia religionis tradentibus Idaeis, quos cum Saturno pulsos et conditores gentis accepimus, seu quod de septem sideribus, quis mortales reguntur, altissimo orbe et praecipua potentia stella Saturni feratur, ac pleraque caelestium viam suam et cursus septenos per numeros commeare.

Others hold that that honor is paid to Saturn, either because the Idaeans, handing down the principles of the religion—whom we have received as having been driven out together with Saturn and as founders of the nation—or because, of the seven stars by which mortals are ruled, the star of Saturn is borne in the highest orb and with preeminent potency, and most of the celestial things travel their own way and courses in sevens through numbers.

[5] Hi ritus quoquo modo inducti antiquitate defenduntur: cetera instituta, sinistra foeda, pravitate valuere. Nam pessimus quisque spretis religionibus patriis tributa et stipes illuc congerebant, unde auctae Iudaeorum res, et quia apud ipsos fides obstinata, misericordia in promptu, sed adversus omnis alios hostile odium. Separati epulis, discreti cubilibus, proiectissima ad libidinem gens, alienarum concubitu abstinent; inter se nihil inlicitum.

[5] These rites, however they were introduced, are defended by antiquity; the other institutions, sinister and foul, have prevailed by depravity. For every very worst man, with the ancestral religions spurned, used to pile up tributes and offerings there, whence the fortunes of the Jews were increased; and because among themselves fidelity is obstinate, mercy is at the ready, but toward all others there is hostile hatred. Separated at banquets, set apart in beds, a people most abandoned to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women; among themselves, nothing is illicit.

Circumcidere genitalia instituerunt ut diversitate noscantur. Transgressi in morem eorum idem usurpant, nec quicquam prius imbuuntur quam contemnere deos, exuere patriam, parentes liberos fratres vilia habere. Augendae tamen multitudini consulitur; nam et necare quemquam ex agnatis nefas, animosque proelio aut suppliciis peremptorum aeternos putant: hinc generandi amor et moriendi contemptus.

They instituted the circumcision of the genitals so that by a difference they may be recognized. Those who have crossed over into their custom usurp the same, and they are imbued with nothing sooner than to contemn the gods, to cast off the fatherland, to hold parents, children, brothers as of little worth. Yet provision is made for the augmenting of the multitude; for to slay anyone of the agnates is a nefas, and they think the souls of those done away with in battle or by punishments to be eternal: hence a love of begetting and a contempt of dying.

Corpora condere quam cremare e more Aegyptio, eademque cura et de infernis persuasio, caelestium contra. Aegyptii pleraque animalia effigiesque compositas venerantur, Iudaei mente sola unumque numen intellegunt: profanos qui deum imagines mortalibus materiis in species hominum effingant; summum illud et aeternum neque imitabile neque interiturum. Igitur nulla simulacra urbibus suis, nedum templis sistunt; non regibus haec adulatio, non Caesaribus honor.

They inter bodies rather than cremate, in the Egyptian manner; and they have the same care and persuasion concerning the infernal, but contrariwise concerning the celestial. The Egyptians venerate most animals and composite effigies, the Jews by mind alone apprehend the one numen: profane, in their judgment, are those who fashion images of god in mortal materials into the forms of men; that highest and eternal is neither imitable nor perishable. Therefore they set up no simulacra in their cities, much less in temples; not for kings this adulation, not for the Caesars this honor.

Sed quia sacerdotes eorum tibia tympanisque concinebant, hedera vinciebantur vitisque aurea templo reperta, Liberum patrem coli, domitorem Orientis, quidam arbitrati sunt, nequaquam congruentibus institutis. Quippe Liber festos laetosque ritus posuit, Iudaeorum mos absurdus sordidusque.

But because their priests performed in concert with flute and drums, were wreathed with ivy, and a golden vine was found in the temple, some supposed that Liber Father, the tamer of the Orient, was being worshipped—by no means with congruent institutions. For indeed Liber established festal and cheerful rites; the custom of the Jews is absurd and sordid.

[6] Terra finesque qua ad Orientem vergunt Arabia terminantur, a meridie Aegyptus obiacet, ab occasu Phoenices et mare, septentrionem e latere Syriae longe prospectant. Corpora hominum salubria et ferentia laborum. Rari imbres, uber solum: [exuberant] fruges nostrum ad morem praeterque eas balsamum et palmae.

[6] The land and the borders where they incline toward the Orient are bounded by Arabia; on the south Egypt lies opposite; on the west the Phoenicians and the sea; toward the north they look far out from the side of Syria. The bodies of the men are salubrious and enduring of labors. Rains are rare, the soil is fertile: [there abound] crops after our manner, and besides these, balsam and palms.

Palmetis proceritas et decor, balsamum modica arbor: ut quisque ramus intumuit, si Vim ferri adhibeas, pavent venae; fragmine lapidis aut testa aperiuntur; umor in usu medentium est. Praecipuum montium Libanum erigit, mirum dictu, tantos inter ardores opacum fidumque nivibus; idem amnem Iordanen alit funditque. Nec Iordanes pelago accipitur, sed unum atque alterum lacum integer perfluit, tertio retinetur.

Palm-groves have stature and comeliness; the balsam is a modest tree: whenever a branch swells, if you apply the force of iron, the veins shrink back; they are opened with a fragment of stone or a potsherd; the moisture is in the use of physicians. Foremost of the mountains Lebanon rises—marvelous to say—shady amid such great heats and trustworthy for snows; the same both nourishes and pours forth the river Jordan. Nor is the Jordan received by the sea, but it flows, unmingled, through one lake and another; by a third it is held.

Lacus immenso ambitu, specie maris, sapore corruptior, gravitate odoris accolis pestifer, neque vento impellitur neque piscis aut suetas aquis volucris patitur. Inertes undae superiacta ut solido ferunt; periti imperitique nandi perinde attolluntur. Certo anni bitumen egerit, cuius legendi usum, ut ceteras artis, experientia docuit.

The lake, of immense ambit, with the aspect of a sea, more corrupt in savor, by the heaviness of its odor pestiferous to the neighboring inhabitants, is driven by no wind, nor does it suffer fish or a bird accustomed to the waters. Its inert waves bear up things thrown upon it as on solid ground; those skilled and unskilled at swimming are lifted up alike. At a fixed time of the year it ejects bitumen, the practice of gathering which, as with the other arts, experience has taught.

Ater suapte natura liquor et sparso aceto concretus innatat; hunc manu captum, quibus ea cura, in summa navis trahunt: inde nullo iuvante influit oneratque, donec abscindas. Nec abscindere aere ferrove possis: fugit cruorem vestemque infectam sanguine, quo feminae per mensis exolvuntur. Sic veteres auctores, sed gnari locorum tradunt undantis bitumine moles pelli manuque trahi ad litus, mox, ubi vapore terrae, vi solis inaruerint, securibus cuneisque ut trabes aut saxa discindi.

Black by its own nature, a liquid, and, once vinegar is sprinkled, congealed, it floats; this, seized by hand by those whose concern it is, they drag onto the ship’s deck: then, with no one aiding, it flows in and loads it down, until you cut it off. Nor can you cut it off with bronze or iron: it shuns gore and a garment stained with the blood by which women are discharged through their menses. Thus the ancient authors; but those knowing the places hand down that billowing masses of bitumen are driven off and drawn by hand to the shore, soon, when by the heat of the earth, by the force of the sun they have dried out, to be split with axes and wedges as beams or rocks.

[7] Haud procul inde campi quos ferunt olim uberes magnisque urbibus habitatos fulminum iactu arsisse; et manere vestigia, terramque ipsam, specie torridam, vim frugiferam perdidisse. Nam cuncta sponte edita aut manu sata, sive herba tenus aut flore seu solitam in speciem adolevere, atra et inania velut in cinerem vanescunt. Ego sicut inclitas quondam urbis igne caelesti flagrasse concesserim, ita halitu lacus infici terram, corrumpi superfusum spiritum, eoque fetus segetum et autumni putrescere reor, solo caeloque iuxta gravi.

[7] Not far from there are plains which they say were once rich and inhabited by great cities, burned by the casting of thunderbolts; and the traces remain, and the land itself, with a scorched aspect, has lost its fruit-bearing force. For all things produced of their own accord or sown by hand, whether they grow only up to the blade or to blossom or to their accustomed form, turn black and void and vanish as if into ash. I, even as I would concede that once-renowned cities blazed with celestial fire, so think that by the exhalation of the lake the earth is tainted, the overlying spirit (air) is corrupted, and for that reason the produce of the crops and of autumn putrefies, the soil and the sky being alike oppressive.

Et Belius amnis Iudaico mari inlabitur, circa cuius os lectae harenae admixto nitro in vitrum excoquuntur. Modicum id litus et egerentibus inexhaustum.

And the river Belus flows into the Judaean sea, around whose mouth the gathered sands, with nitre mixed in, are fused into glass. That strand is small, and inexhaustible for those who dig it out.

[8] Magna pars Iudaeae vicis dispergitur, habent et oppida; Hierosolyma genti caput. Illic immensae opulentiae templum, et primis munimentis urbs, dein regia, templum intimis clausum. Ad fores tantum Iudaeo aditus, limine praeter sacerdotes arcebantur.

[8] A great part of Judaea is dispersed in villages; they also have towns; Jerusalem is the head of the nation. There, a temple of immense opulence, and the city with its first fortifications, then the royal palace, the temple shut in by the inmost. Access for a Jew only up to the doors; at the threshold, all except the priests were warded off.

Dum Assyrios penes Medosque et Persas Oriens fuit, despectissima pars servientium: postquam Macedones praepolluere, rex Antiochus demere superstitionem et mores Graecorum dare adnisus, quo minus taeterrimam gentem in melius mutaret, Parthorum bello prohibitus est; nam ea tempestate Arsaces desciverat. Tum Iudaei Macedonibus invalidis, Parthis nondum adultis—et Romani procul erant—, sibi ipsi reges imposuere; qui mobilitate vulgi expulsi, resumpta per arma dominatione fugas civium, urbium eversiones, fratrum coniugum parentum neces aliaque solita regibus ausi superstitionem fovebant, quia honor sacerdotii firmamentum potentiae adsumebatur.

While the East was under the Assyrians and the Medes and the Persians, it was the most despised part of the subject peoples: after the Macedonians prevailed mightily, King Antiochus, having endeavored to remove superstition and to give the customs of the Greeks, was prevented from changing that most loathsome nation for the better by the Parthian war; for at that time Arsaces had defected. Then the Jews—with the Macedonians weak, the Parthians not yet full-grown—and the Romans were far off—set up kings for themselves; who, expelled by the mobility (fickleness) of the crowd, and, dominion having been resumed by arms, daring the flights (exiles) of citizens, the overthrows of cities, the killings of brothers, spouses, and parents, and other things usual to kings, were fostering superstition, because the honor of the priesthood was being assumed as a firmament of power.

[9] Romanorum primus Cn. Pompeius Iudaeos domuit templumque iure victoriae ingressus est: inde vulgatum nulla intus deum effigie vacuam sedem et inania arcana. Muri Hierosolymorum diruti, delubrum mansit. Mox civili inter nos bello, postquam in dicionem M. Antonii provinciae cesserant, rex Parthorum Pacorus Iudaea potitus interfectusque a P. Ventidio, et Parthi trans Euphraten redacti: Iudaeos C. Sosius subegit.

[9] The first of the Romans, Cn. Pompeius, subdued the Jews and entered the temple by the right of victory: from that it was made public that within there was no effigy of a god—an empty seat and vain arcana. The walls of Jerusalem were torn down, the shrine remained. Soon, in the civil war among us, after the provinces had passed into the control of M. Antonius, Pacorus, king of the Parthians, having gotten possession of Judea, was killed by P. Ventidius, and the Parthians were driven back across the Euphrates: the Jews were subdued by C. Sosius.

Regnum ab Antonio Herodi datum victor Augustus auxit. Post mortem Herodis, nihil expectato Caesare, Simo quidam regium nomen invaserat. Is a Quintilio Varo obtinente Syriam punitus, et gentem coercitam liberi Herodis tripertito rexere.

The victorious Augustus enlarged the kingdom that had been given to Herod by Antony. After the death of Herod, without waiting at all for Caesar, a certain Simon had usurped the royal name. He, while Quintilius Varus was holding Syria, was punished; and, the nation restrained, Herod’s children ruled it in a threefold division.

Sub Tiberio quies. Dein iussi a C. Caesare effigiem eius in templo locare arma potius sumpsere, quem motum Caesaris mors diremit. Claudius, defunctis regibus aut ad modicum redactis, Iudaeam provinciam equitibus Romanis aut libertis permisit, e quibus Antonius Felix per omnem saevitiam ac libidinem ius regium servili ingenio exercuit, Drusilla Cleopatrae et Antonii nepte in matrimonium accepta, ut eiusdem Antonii Felix progener, Claudius nepos esset.

Under Tiberius, quiet. Then, having been ordered by Gaius Caesar to place his effigy in the temple, they took up arms instead; a commotion which Caesar’s death broke off. Claudius, the kings having died or been reduced to a modest measure, entrusted the province of Judaea to Roman equestrians or freedmen; of these, Antonius Felix, through every savagery and libidinousness, exercised the royal right with a servile disposition, Drusilla, granddaughter of Cleopatra and Antony, having been taken in marriage, so that Felix was the son-in-law of that same Antony, and Claudius his grandson.

[10] Duravit tamen patientia Iudaeis usque ad Gessium Florum procuratorem: sub eo bellum ortum. Et comprimere coeptantem Cestium Gallum Syriae legatum varia proelia ac saepius adversa excepere. Qui ubi fato aut taedio occidit, missu Neronis Vespasianus fortuna famaque et egregiis ministris intra duas aestates cuncta camporum omnisque praeter Hierosolyma urbis victore exercitu tenebat.

[10] Nevertheless, patience endured among the Jews up to the procurator Gessius Florus: under him the war arose. And Cestius Gallus, the legate of Syria, attempting to repress it, was met by various battles, more often adverse. When he, whether by fate or by weariness, fell, Vespasian, sent by Nero, with fortune and fame and with outstanding officers, within two summers held with a conquering army all the plains and all the cities save Jerusalem.

Proximus annus civili bello intentus quantum ad Iudaeos per otium transiit. Pace per Italiam parta et externae curae rediere: augebat iras quod soli Iudaei non cessissent; simul manere apud exercitus Titum ad omnis principatus novi eventus casusve utile videbatur.

The next year, intent on civil war, so far as concerned the Jews, passed in leisure. With peace won throughout Italy and foreign concerns returned: it heightened angers that the Jews alone had not yielded; at the same time it seemed useful that Titus remain with the armies for all outcomes or contingencies of the new principate.

[11] Igitur castris, uti diximus, ante moenia Hierosolymorum positis instructas legiones ostentavit: Iudaei sub ipsos muros struxere aciem, rebus secundis longius ausuri et, si pellerentur, parato perfugio. Missus in eos eques cum expeditis cohortibus ambigue certavit; mox cessere hostes et sequentibus diebus crebra pro portis proelia serebant, donec adsiduis damnis intra moenia pellerentur. Romani ad obpugnandum versi; neque enim dignum videbatur famem hostium opperiri, poscebantque pericula, pars virtute, multi ferocia et cupidine praemiorum.

[11] Therefore, with the camp, as we have said, pitched before the walls of Jerusalem, he displayed the drawn-up legions: the Jews formed a battle-line right under the walls, ready in favorable circumstances to venture farther, and, if they were driven back, with a refuge prepared. Cavalry, sent against them with light (expedited) cohorts, fought with an ambiguous result; soon the enemy yielded, and in the following days they were sowing frequent battles before the gates, until by continual losses they were driven within the walls. The Romans turned to assault; for it did not seem worthy to wait for the enemy’s starvation, and they were demanding perils—some through virtue, many through ferocity and a desire for rewards.

Ipsi Tito Roma et opes voluptatesque ante oculos; ac ni statim Hierosolyma conciderent, morari videbantur. Sed urbem arduam situ opera molesque firmaverant, quis vel plana satis munirentur. Nam duos collis in immensum editos claudebant muri per artem obliqui aut introrsus sinuati, ut latera obpugnantium ad ictus patescerent.

To Titus himself, Rome and wealth and pleasures were before his eyes; and unless Jerusalem fell at once, they seemed a delay. But the city, steep by its site, had been strengthened by works and massive structures, by which even level ground would be fortified enough. For walls, oblique by artifice or sinuated inward, enclosed two hills raised to an immense height, so that the flanks of the assailants lay open to blows.

Extrema rupis abrupta, et turres, ubi mons iuvisset, in sexagenos pedes, inter devexa in centenos vicenosque attollebantur, mira specie ac procul intuentibus pares. Alia intus moenia regiae circumiecta, conspicuoque fastigio turris Antonia, in honorem M. Antonii ab Herode appellata.

The extremities of the cliff were abrupt, and the towers—where the mountain had assisted—were raised to 60 feet; among the declivities they were lifted to 120, a marvelous sight and, to those viewing from afar, equal. Other walls within encircled the royal palace, and, with a conspicuous crest, the Tower Antonia, named by Herod in honor of Marcus Antonius.

[12] Templum in modum arcis propriique muri, labore et opere ante alios; ipsae porticus, quis templum ambibatur, egregium propugnaculum. Fons perennis aquae, cavati sub terra montes et piscinae cisternaeque servandis imbribus. Providerant conditores ex diversitate morum crebra bella: inde cuncta quamvis adversus longum obsidium; et a Pompeio expugnatis metus atque usus pleraque monstravere.

[12] The Temple in the manner of a citadel and with its own walls, in labor and workmanship surpassing others; the porticoes themselves, with which the temple was encircled, an excellent bulwark. A perennial spring of water, hills hollowed beneath the earth and pools and cisterns for preserving rainwater. The founders had anticipated, from the diversity of customs, frequent wars: hence everything, even against a long siege; and, after they had been stormed by Pompey, fear and experience pointed out most things.

Atque per avaritiam Claudianorum temporum empto iure muniendi struxere muros in pace tamquam ad bellum, magna conluvie et ceterarum urbium clade aucti; nam pervicacissimus quisque illuc perfugerat eoque seditiosius agebant. Tres duces, totidem exercitus: extrema et latissima moenium Simo, mediam urbem Ioannes [quem et Bargioram vocabant], templum Eleazarus firmaverat. Multitudine et armis Ioannes ac Simo, Eleazarus loco pollebat: sed proelia dolus incendia inter ipsos, et magna vis frumenti ambusta.

And through the avarice of the Claudian times, having bought the right of fortifying, they built walls in peace as if for war, augmented by a great confluence and by the calamity of the other cities; for all the most pervicacious had fled thither and therefore they acted the more seditiously. Three leaders, just so many armies: the outermost and broadest of the walls, Simon; the middle city, John [whom they also called Bargiora]; the temple Eleazar had fortified. In multitude and in arms John and Simon were strong; Eleazar was strong by the site: but there were battles, deceit, and fires among themselves, and a great quantity of grain was burned.

Mox Ioannes, missis per speciem sacrificandi qui Eleazarum manumque eius obtruncarent, templo potitur. Ita in duas factiones civitas discessit, donec propinquantibus Romanis bellum externum concordiam pareret.

Soon John, having sent, under the pretext of sacrificing, those who would cut down Eleazar and his band, takes possession of the temple. Thus the city split into two factions, until, with the Romans drawing near, the external war produced concord.

[13] Evenerant prodigia, quae neque hostiis neque votis piare fas habet gens superstitioni obnoxia, religionibus adversa. Visae per caelum concurrere acies, rutilantia arma et subito nubium igne conlucere templum. Apertae repente delubri fores et audita maior humana vox excedere deos; simul ingens motus excedentium.

[13] Prodigies had occurred, which a people subject to superstition and averse to religious rites deems it not right to expiate with victims nor with vows. Battle-lines were seen to clash across the sky, rutilant arms, and suddenly the temple to blaze with the fire of the clouds. The doors of the shrine were suddenly opened and a voice greater than human was heard that the gods were departing; at the same time a vast motion of those departing.

Quae pauci in metum trahebant: pluribus persuasio inerat antiquis sacerdotum litteris contineri eo ipso tempore fore ut valesceret Oriens profectique Iudaea rerum potirentur. Quae ambages Vespasianum ac Titum praedixerat, sed vulgus more humanae cupidinis sibi tantam fatorum magnitudinem interpretati ne adversis quidem ad vera mutabantur. Multitudinem obsessorum omnis aetatis, virile ac muliebre secus, sexcenta milia fuisse accepimus: arma cunctis, qui ferre possent, et plures quam pro numero audebant.

Which a few were turning into fear; but among more a persuasion prevailed that in the ancient writings of the priests it was contained that at that very time the Orient would grow strong and that those going forth from Judea would gain possession of affairs. These oracular circumlocutions had foretold Vespasian and Titus, but the crowd, in the manner of human cupidity, interpreted for themselves so great a magnitude of the fates, nor were they changed to the truth even by adversities. We have learned that the multitude of the besieged, of every age, the male and the female sex, was six hundred thousand: arms for all who could bear them, and more ventured than their numbers warranted.

Obstinatio viris feminisque par; ac si transferre sedis cogerentur, maior vitae metus quam mortis. Hanc adversus urbem gentemque Caesar Titus, quando impetus et subita belli locus abnueret, aggeribus vineisque certare statuit: dividuntur legionibus munia et quies proeliorum fuit, donec cuncta expugnandis urbibus reperta apud veteres aut novis ingeniis struerentur.

Obstinacy was equal in men and women; and if they were compelled to transfer their abode, there was a greater fear of life than of death. Against this city and nation Caesar Titus, since the place refused an impetus and the suddenness of war, decided to contend with earthworks and vineae (siege-sheds): the duties were divided among the legions, and there was a lull of battles, until everything for storming cities, whether found among the ancients or constructed with new engines, was set in array.

[14] At Civilis post malam in Treviris pugnam reparato per Germaniam exercitu apud Vetera castra consedit, tutus loco, et ut memoria prosperarum illic rerum augescerent barbarorum animi. Secutus est eodem Cerialis, duplicatis copiis adventu secundae et tertiae decimae et quartae decimae legionum; cohortesque et alae iam pridem accitae post victoriam properaverant. Neuter ducum cunctator, sed arcebat latitudo camporum suopte ingenio umentium; addiderat Civilis obliquam in Rhenum molem, cuius obiectu revolutus amnis adiacentibus superfunderetur.

[14] But Civilis, after the ill fight among the Treviri, with his army repaired throughout Germany, took up position at the camp of Vetera, safe by the site, and in order that by the memory of the prosperous affairs there the spirits of the barbarians might be augmented. Cerialis followed to the same place, his forces doubled by the arrival of the 2nd, 13th, and 14th legions; and the cohorts and the wings of cavalry, long since summoned, had hastened after the victory. Neither commander was a delayer, but the breadth of the plains, moist by their very nature, held them back; and Civilis had added a slanting mole into the Rhine, by the obstacle of which the river, turned back, would pour over the adjacent lands.

Ea loci forma, incertis vadis subdola et nobis adversa: quippe miles Romanus armis gravis et nandi pavidus, Germanos fluminibus suetos levitas armorum et proceritas corporum attollit.

Such was the form of the place, treacherous with uncertain shallows and adverse to us: for the Roman soldier, heavy with arms and timid of swimming, while the Germans, accustomed to rivers, are lifted up by the lightness of their arms and the tallness of their bodies.

[15] Igitur lacessentibus Batavis ferocissimo cuique nostrorum coeptum certamen, deinde orta trepidatio, cum praealtis paludibus arma equi haurirentur. Germani notis vadis persultabant, omissa plerumque fronte latera ac terga circumvenientes. Neque ut in pedestri acie comminus certabatur, sed tamquam navali pugna vagi inter undas aut, si quid stabile occurrebat, totis illic corporibus nitentes, vulnerati cum integris, periti nandi cum ignaris in mutuam perniciem implicabantur.

[15] Therefore, with the Batavians provoking, our fiercest men began the contest; then trepidation arose, since in the very deep marshes weapons and horses were swallowed. The Germans, knowing the fords, leaped across, for the most part abandoning the front and circumventing flanks and rear. Nor was it fought at close quarters as in a pedestrian battle-line, but, as in a naval fight, they roved among the waves, or, if anything stable presented itself, braced themselves there with their whole bodies; the wounded with the sound, the skilled in swimming with the unskilled, were entangled into mutual perdition.

Minor tamen quam pro tumultu caedes, quia non ausi egredi paludem Germani in castra rediere. Eius proelii eventus utrumque ducem diversis animi motibus ad maturandum summae rei discrimen erexit. Civilis instare fortunae, Cerialis abolere ignominiam: Germani prosperis feroces, Romanos pudor excitaverat.

Yet the slaughter was smaller than befitted the tumult, because the Germans, not daring to go out of the marsh, returned to their camp. The event of that battle lifted up both leaders, by different motions of spirit, to hasten the crisis of the main affair. Civilis to press his fortune, Cerialis to abolish the ignominy: the Germans were fierce through their prosperities, the Romans shame had aroused.

Nox apud barbaros cantu aut clamore, nostris per iram et minas acta.

The night among the barbarians was spent in song or in clamor; among our men, in anger and menaces.

[16] Postera luce Cerialis equite et auxiliariis cohortibus frontem explet, in secunda acie legiones locatae, dux sibi delectos retinuerat ad improvisa. Civilis haud porrecto agmine, sed cuneis adstitit: Batavi Cugernique in dextro, laeva ac propiora flumini Transrhenani tenuere. Exhortatio ducum non more contionis apud universos, sed ut quosque suorum advehebantur.

[16] On the next light, Cerialis filled the front with cavalry and auxiliary cohorts; in the second battle line the legions were stationed; the leader kept by himself chosen men for unforeseen contingencies. Civilis took his stand not with an extended line, but in wedges: the Batavi and the Cugerni on the right; the left, and the positions nearer the river, the Trans-Rhenanians held. The leaders’ exhortation was not in the manner of an address before all, but as they rode up to each of their own.

Cerialis veterem Romani nominis gloriam, antiquas recentisque victorias; ut perfidum ignavum victum hostem in aeternum exciderent, ultione magis quam proelio opus esse. Pauciores nuper cum pluribus certasse, ac tamen fusos Germanos, quod roboris fuerit: superesse qui fugam animis, qui vulnera tergo ferant. Proprios inde stimulos legionibus admovebat, domitores Britanniae quartadecimanos appellans; principem Galbam sextae legionis auctoritate factum; illa primum acie secundanos nova signa novamque aquilam dicaturos.

Cerialis recalled the ancient glory of the Roman name, the old and the fresh victories; that, to extirpate forever a treacherous, craven, conquered enemy, there was need of vengeance more than of battle. That recently fewer had contended with more, and yet the Germans had been routed—such had been their strength: those remain who carry flight in their hearts, who bear wounds on their back. Then he applied proper goads to the legions, calling the men of the Fourteenth the tamers of Britain; that the emperor Galba had been made by the authority of the Sixth legion; that on this first battle-line the men of the Second would dedicate new standards and a new eagle.

Hinc praevectus ad Germanicum exercitum manus tendebat, ut suam ripam, sua castra sanguine hostium reciperarent. Alacrior omnium clamor, quis vel ex longa pace proelii cupido vel fessis bello pacis amor, praemiaque et quies in posterum sperabatur.

Thence, carried forward, he advanced to the Germanic army and stretched out his hands, that they might recover their own bank, their own camp, with the blood of the enemies. The outcry of all was more eager, in some a desire for battle from long peace, in others, weary with war, a love of peace; and rewards and repose for the future were hoped for.

[17] Nec Civilis silentem struxit aciem, locum pugnae testem virtutis ciens: stare Germanos Batavosque super vestigia gloriae, cineres ossaque legionum calcantis. Quocumque oculos Romanus intenderet, captivitatem clademque et dira omnia obversari. Ne terrerentur vario Trevirici proelii eventu: suam illic victoriam Germanis obstitisse, dum omissis telis praeda manus impediunt: sed cuncta mox prospera et hosti contraria evenisse.

[17] Nor did Civilis marshal a silent battle line, calling the place of the fight as a witness of valor: that the Germans and the Batavi should stand upon the footprints of glory, trampling the ashes and bones of the legions. Wherever the Roman might direct his eyes, captivity, calamity, and all dire things confronted him. Let them not be terrified by the variegated outcome of the Treveran battle: that his victory there had hindered the Germans, while, their weapons cast aside, booty hampered their hands; but soon after everything turned out prosperous and contrary to the enemy.

Quae provideri astu ducis oportuerit, providisse, campos madentis et ipsis gnaros, paludes hostibus noxias. Rhenum et Germaniae deos in aspectu: quorum numine capesserent pugnam, coniugum parentum patriae memores: illum diem aut gloriosissimum inter maiores aut ignominiosum apud posteros fore. Ubi sono armorum tripudiisque—ita illis mos—adprobata sunt dicta, saxis glandibusque et ceteris missilibus proelium incipitur, neque nostro milite paludem ingrediente et Germanis, ut elicerent, lacessentibus.

What ought to have been foreseen by the craft of a leader, he had foreseen: the fields soaked and known to themselves, the marshes harmful to the enemy. The Rhine and the gods of Germany were in view: by whose numen they should take up the combat, mindful of their wives, parents, fatherland: that that day would be either most glorious among their forefathers or ignominious with posterity. When by the sound of arms and by war-dances—such is their custom—the words were approved, with stones, sling-bullets, and the other missiles the battle is begun, and our soldier not entering the marsh, while the Germans, in order to draw them out, were provoking them.

[18] Absumptis quae iaciuntur et ardescente pugna procursum ab hoste infestius: immensis corporibus et praelongis hastis fluitantem labantemque militem eminus fodiebant; simul e mole, quam eductam in Rhenum rettulimus, Bructerorum cuneus transnatavit. Turbata ibi res et pellebatur sociarum cohortium acies, cum legiones pugnam excipiunt suppressaque hostium ferocia proelium aequatur. Inter quae perfuga Batavus adiit Cerialem, terga hostium promittens, si extremo paludis eques mitteretur: solidum illa et Cugernos, quibus custodia obvenisset, parum intentos.

[18] With the missiles that are thrown used up and the fight kindling, a charge was pushed more aggressively by the enemy: with immense bodies and extra-long spears they were stabbing from a distance the soldier, floating and wavering; at the same time, from the mole which we have reported as drawn out into the Rhine, a wedge of the Bructeri swam across. The situation there was thrown into turmoil, and the battle line of the allied cohorts was being driven back, when the legions take up the fight and, the enemies’ ferocity being suppressed, the battle is equalized. Meanwhile a Batavian deserter approached Cerialis, promising the backs of the enemy if cavalry were sent to the far end of the marsh: that ground was solid, and the Cugerni, to whom the guard duty had fallen, were not very attentive.

Duae alae cum perfuga missae incauto hosti circumfunduntur. Quod ubi clamore cognitum, legiones a fronte incubuere, pulsique Germani Rhenum fuga petebant. Debellatum eo die foret, si Romana classis sequi maturasset: ne eques quidem institit, repente fusis imbribus et propinqua nocte.

Two wings of cavalry, sent with the defector, surround the incautious enemy. When this was recognized by the clamor, the legions bore down from the front, and the Germans, driven back, were seeking the Rhine in flight. The war would have been finished that day, if the Roman fleet had hastened to follow: not even the cavalry pressed on, as sudden downpours broke and night was near.

[19] Postera die quartadecima legio in superiorem pro vinciam Gallo Annio missa: Cerialis exercitum decima ex Hispania legio supplevit: Civili Chaucorum auxilia venere. Non tamen ausus oppidum Batavorum armis tueri, raptis quae ferri poterant, ceteris iniecto igni, in insulam concessit, gnarus deesse navis efficiendo ponti, neque exercitum Romanum aliter transmissurum: quin et diruit molem a Druso Germanico factam Rhenumque prono alveo in Galliam ruentem, disiectis quae morabantur, effudit. Sic velut abacto amne tenuis alveus insulam inter Germanosque continentium terrarum speciem fecerat.

[19] On the next day the 14th legion was sent into the upper province to Annius Gallus; Cerialis’s army was replenished by the 10th legion from Spain; auxiliaries of the Chauci came to Civilis. Yet he did not dare to defend the Batavian town with arms; snatching up what could be carried, and casting fire upon the rest, he withdrew into the island, aware that ships were lacking for effecting a bridge, and that the Roman army would not cross otherwise; nay, he even demolished the mole made by Drusus Germanicus, and, the impediments which were delaying it having been scattered, he poured out the Rhine, rushing with its sloping bed into Gaul. Thus, as if the river had been removed, a shallow channel had given the appearance of continuous land between the island and the Germans.

Transiere Rhenum Tutor quoque et Classicus et centum tredecim Trevirorum senatores, in quis fuit Alpinius Montanus, quem a Primo Antonio missum in Gallias superius memoravimus. Comitabatur eum frater D. Alpinius; simul ceteri miseratione ac donis auxilia concibant inter gentis periculorum avidas.

They crossed the Rhine—Tutor too and Classicus—and 113 senators of the Treveri, among whom was Alpinius Montanus, whom we have earlier mentioned as having been sent into the Gauls by Primus Antonius. His brother D. Alpinius was accompanying him; at the same time the others, by compassion and by gifts, were procuring auxiliaries among peoples eager for dangers.

[20] Tantumque belli superfuit ut praesidia cohortium alarum legionum uno die Civilis quadripertito invaserit, decimam legionem Arenaci, secundam Batavoduri et Grinnes Vadamque, cohortium alarumque castra, ita divisis copiis ut ipse et Verax, sorore eius genitus, Classicusque ac Tutor suam quisque manum traherent, nec omnia patrandi fiducia, sed multa ausis aliqua in parte fortunam adfore: simul Cerialem neque satis cautum et pluribus nuntiis huc illuc cursantem posse medio intercipi. Quibus obvenerant castra decimanorum, obpugnationem legionis arduam rati egressum militem et caedendis materiis operatum turbavere, occiso praefecto castrorum et quinque primoribus centurionum paucisque militibus: ceteri se munimentis defendere. Interim Germanorum manus Batavoduri interrumpere inchoatum pontem nitebantur: ambiguum proelium nox diremit.

[20] And so much of war was left over that in a fourfold assault Civilis attacked in one day the garrisons of cohorts, wings, and legions—the Tenth Legion at Arenacum, the Second at Batavodurum, and at Grinnes and Vada the camps of the cohorts and wings—his forces thus divided that he himself and Verax, born of his sister, and Classicus and Tutor, each drew his own band, not with the confidence of accomplishing everything, but, having dared much, that in some quarter fortune would be present; at the same time that Cerialis, not cautious enough and running here and there with numerous messengers, could be intercepted in the middle. Those to whom the camp of the men of the Tenth had fallen to attack, thinking the storming of a legion arduous, threw into disorder the soldiers who had gone out and were at work cutting timber, after killing the camp prefect and five foremost centurions and a few soldiers; the rest defended themselves with the fortifications. Meanwhile bands of Germans at Batavodurum were striving to break off the bridge that had been begun: night broke off a doubtful battle.

[21] Plus discriminis apud Grinnes Vadamque. Vadam Civilis, Grinnes Classicus obpugnabant: nec sisti poterant interfecto fortissimo quoque, in quis Briganticus praefectus alae ceciderat, quem fidum Romanis et Civili avunculo infensum diximus. Sed ubi Cerialis cum delecta equitum manu subvenit, versa fortuna; praecipites Germani in amnem aguntur.

[21] More peril at Grinnes and Vada. Civilis was assailing Vada, Classicus Grinnes; nor could a stand be made, with even the bravest cut down—among whom Briganticus, prefect of an ala, had fallen, whom we have said was loyal to the Romans and hostile to his uncle Civilis. But when Cerialis came to the rescue with a chosen band of cavalry, fortune was reversed; the Germans are driven headlong into the river.

Civilis dum fugientis retentat, agnitus petitusque telis relicto equo transnatavit; idem Veraci effugium: Tutorem Classicumque adpulsae luntres vexere. Ne tum quidem Romana classis pugnae adfuit, et iussum erat, sed obstitit formido et remiges per alia militiae munia dispersi. Sane Cerialis parum temporis ad exequenda imperia dabat, subitus consiliis set eventu clarus: aderat fortuna, etiam ubi artes defuissent; hinc ipsi exercituique minor cura disciplinae.

Civilis, while he kept trying to restrain the fugitives, being recognized and targeted with missiles, left his horse and swam across; the same escape for Verax: Tutor and Classicus were borne by skiffs brought alongside. Not even then did the Roman fleet attend the battle—though it had been ordered—but fear obstructed, and the oarsmen were dispersed through other duties of military service. Truly Cerialis gave too little time for the execution of commands, sudden in counsels but illustrious in outcome: fortune was at hand, even where skills had failed; hence a lesser care for discipline in himself and in the army.

Et paucos post dies, quamquam periculum captivitatis evasisset, infamiam non vitavit.

And a few days later, although he had escaped the danger of captivity, he did not avoid infamy.

[22] Profectus Novaesium Bonnamque ad visenda castra, quae hiematuris legionibus erigebantur, navibus remeabat disiecto agmine, incuriosis vigiliis. Animadversum id Germanis et insidias composuere: electa nox atra nubibus, et prono amne rapti nullo prohibente vallum ineunt. Prima caedes astu adiuta: incisis tabernaculorum funibus suismet tentoriis coopertos trucidabant.

[22] Having set out to Novaesium and Bonn to inspect the camps which were being erected for the legions that were to winter, he was returning by ships, the column scattered and the watches careless. This was noticed by the Germans, and they composed an ambuscade: a night black with clouds was chosen, and, swept along by the river in its downward course, with no one hindering, they enter the palisade. The first slaughter was aided by craft: with the ropes of the tents cut, they butchered men covered by their own tent-canvases.

Aliud agmen turbare classem, inicere vincla, trahere puppis; utque ad fallendum silentio, ita coepta caede, quo plus terroris adderent, cuncta clamoribus miscebant. Romani vulneribus exciti quaerunt arma, ruunt per vias, pauci ornatu militari, plerique circum brachia torta veste et strictis mucronibus. Dux semisomnus ac prope intectus errore hostium servatur: namque praetoriam navem vexillo insignem, illic ducem rati, abripiunt.

Another column to throw the fleet into turmoil, to cast on chains, to drag the sterns; and as they had used silence for deceiving, so, once the slaughter was begun, in order to add more terror, they mixed everything with shouts. The Romans, awakened by wounds, seek their arms, rush through the streets, a few with military equipment, the majority with clothing twisted around their forearms and with drawn points. The leader, half-asleep and almost unclad, is saved by the enemy’s mistake: for they carry off the praetorian flagship, distinguished by a vexillum, thinking the leader there.

Cerialis alibi noctem egerat, ut plerique credidere, ob stuprum Claudiae Sacratae mulieris Vbiae. Vigiles flagitium suum ducis dedecore excusabant, tamquam iussi silere ne quietem eius turbarent; ita intermisso signo et vocibus se quoque in somnum lapsos. Multa luce revecti hostes captivis navibus, praetoriam triremem flumine Lupia donum Veledae traxere.

Cerialis had spent the night elsewhere, as most believed, on account of a debauch with Claudia Sacrata, a woman of the Ubii. The sentries were excusing their own scandal by the disgrace of the leader, as though they had been ordered to keep silent lest they disturb his rest; thus, with the signal and the calls discontinued, they too slipped into sleep. In the broad light the enemy returned with captured ships, and they dragged the praetorian trireme up the river Lupia as a gift to Veleda.

[23] Civilem cupido incessit navalem aciem ostentandi: complet quod biremium quaeque simplici ordine agebantur; adiecta ingens luntrium vis, tricenos quadragenosque ferunt, armamenta Liburnicis solita; et simul captae luntres sagulis versicoloribus haud indecore pro velis iuvabantur. Spatium velut aequoris electum quo Mosae fluminis os amnem Rhenum Oceano adfundit. Causa instruendae classis super insitam genti vanitatem ut eo terrore commeatus Gallia adventantes interciperentur.

[23] A desire seized Civilis of displaying a naval battle-line: he fills up such biremes and whichever were driven with a single order of oars; in addition an immense force of skiffs, each carrying thirty or forty men, with armament customary for Liburnians; and at the same time captured skiffs were aided, not unbecomingly, by little cloaks of various colors serving as sails. A stretch as if of open sea was chosen, where the mouth of the river Meuse pours the stream of the Rhine into the Ocean. The reason for equipping the fleet, beyond the vanity inborn in the nation, was that by that terror the supply-convoys arriving from Gaul might be intercepted.

Cerialis miraculo magis quam metu derexit classem, numero imparem, usu remigum, gubernatorum arte, navium magnitudine potiorem. His flumen secundum, illi vento agebantur: sic praevecti temptato levium telorum iactu dirimuntur. Civilis nihil ultra ausus trans Rhenum concessit: Cerialis insulam Batavorum hostiliter populatus agros villasque Civilis intactas nota arte ducum sinebat, cum interim flexu autumni et crebris per aequinoctium imbribus superfusus amnis palustrem humilemque insulam in faciem stagni opplevit.

Cerialis, with marvel rather than fear, directed the fleet—unequal in number, but superior in the experience of the oarsmen, in the art of the helmsmen, and in the magnitude of the ships. These were driven by a favorable current, those by the wind: thus, carried past, after a tentative cast of light missiles, they were separated. Civilis, daring nothing further, withdrew across the Rhine: Cerialis, having ravaged the Island of the Batavi in hostile fashion, by the well-known art of generals was allowing the fields and villas of Civilis to remain untouched, while meanwhile, at the turn of autumn and with frequent rains about the equinox, the river, overflowing, filled the marshy and low-lying island into the aspect of a lake.

Nec classis aut commeatus aderant, castraque in plano sita vi fluminis differebantur.

Nor were the fleet or the supplies present, and the camp, set on the plain, was being scattered by the force of the river.

[24] Potuisse tunc opprimi legiones et voluisse Germanos, sed dolo a se flexos imputavit Civilis; neque abhorret vero, quando paucis post diebus deditio insecuta est. Nam Cerialis per occultos nuntios Batavis pacem, Civili veniam ostentans, Veledam propinquosque monebat fortunam belli, tot cladibus adversam, opportuno erga populum Romanum merito mutare: caesos Treviros, receptos Vbios, ereptam Batavis patriam; neque aliud Civilis amicitia partum quam vulnera fugas luctus. Exulem eum et extorrem recipientibus oneri, et satis peccavisse quod totiens Rhenum transcenderint.

[24] Civilis imputed that the legions could then have been crushed and that the Germans wished it, but that by his guile they had been deflected; nor is it at variance with the truth, since a surrender followed a few days later. For Cerialis, through secret messengers, holding out peace to the Batavi and pardon to Civilis, was warning Veleda and her kinsfolk to change the fortune of the war, adverse through so many disasters, by a timely service toward the Roman people: the Treveri had been cut down, the Ubii recovered, the fatherland torn from the Batavi; nor had anything been produced by amity with Civilis except wounds, flights, and mourning. He, an exile and outcast, would be a burden to those receiving him, and they had sinned enough in that they had so often crossed the Rhine.

Si quid ultra moliantur, inde iniuriam et culpam, hinc ultionem et deos fore.

If they attempt anything further, from that side there will be injury and culpability, from this side vengeance and the gods will be.

[25] Miscebantur minis promissa; et concussa Transrhenanorum fide inter Batavos quoque sermones orti: non prorogandam ultra ruinam, nec posse ab una natione totius orbis servitium depelli. Quid profectum caede et incendiis legionum nisi ut plures validioresque accirentur? Si Vespasiano bellum navaverint, Vespasianum rerum potiri: sin populum Romanum armis vocent, quotam partem generis humani Batavos esse?

[25] Threats were commingled with promises; and with the good faith of the Transrhenani shaken, conversations arose even among the Batavians: that ruin was not to be prolonged further, nor could the servitude of the whole orb be driven off by one nation. What has been effected by the slaughter and burnings of legions except that more and stronger would be summoned? If they devote their war-service to Vespasian, Vespasian will gain possession of affairs: but if they summon the Roman people to arms, what fraction of the human race are the Batavians?

Respicerent Raetos Noricosque et ceterorum onera sociorum: sibi non tributa, sed virtutem et viros indici. Proximum id libertati; et si dominorum electio sit, honestius principes Romanorum quam Germanorum feminas tolerari. Haec vulgus, proceres atrociora: Civilis rabie semet in arma trusos; illum domesticis malis excidium gentis opposuisse.

Let them look back at the Raetians and Noricans and the burdens of the other allies: for themselves, not tribute, but valor and men should be called for. That is next to liberty; and if there is to be a choice of masters, it is more honorable that the princes of the Romans rather than the women of the Germans be tolerated. These things the common crowd; the nobles harsher: that they had been thrust into arms by the frenzy of Civilis; that he had set against his own domestic ills the extinction of the tribe.

Tunc infensos Batavis deos, cum obsiderentur legiones, interficerentur legati, bellum uni necessarium, ferale ipsis sumeretur. Ventum ad extrema, ni resipiscere incipiant et noxii capitis poena paenitentiam fateantur.

Then the gods were hostile to the Batavians, when the legions were being besieged, the legates were being slain, a war necessary to one was being taken up, fatal to themselves. It has come to the last extremity, unless they begin to come to their senses and the guilty confess repentance by capital penalty.

[26] Non fefellit Civilem ea inclinatio et praevenire statuit, super taedium malorum etiam spe vitae, quae plerumque magnos animos infringit. Petito conloquio scinditur Nabaliae fluminis pons, in cuius abrupta progressi duces, et Civilis ita coepit: 'si apud Vitellii legatum defenderer, neque facto meo venia neque dictis fides debebatur; cuncta inter nos inimica: hostilia ab illo coepta, a me aucta erant: erga Vespasianum vetus mihi observantia, et cum privatus esset, amici vocabamur. Hoc Primo Antonio notum, cuius epistulis ad bellum actus sum, ne Germanicae legiones et Gallica iuventus Alpis transcenderent. Quae Antonius epistulis, Hordeonius Flaccus praesens monebat: arma in Germania movi, quae Mucianus in Syria, Aponius in Moesia, Flavianus in Pannonia * * * '

[26] That inclination did not deceive Civilis, and he resolved to forestall it, over and above the tedium of evils also by the hope of life, which for the most part breaks great spirits. A conference having been requested, the bridge of the river Nabalia was cut, and upon its broken edges the leaders advanced, and Civilis began thus: 'If I were defending myself before Vitellius’s legate, neither pardon would be owed to my deed nor faith to my words; all things between us were inimical: hostilities had been begun by him, by me they had been augmented. Toward Vespasian I have an old observance, and when he was a private man, we were called friends. This is known to Primus Antonius, by whose epistles I was driven to war, lest the Germanic legions and the Gallic youth cross the Alps. What Antonius urged by letters, Hordeonius Flaccus, being present, admonished: I set arms in motion in Germania, the same that Mucianus in Syria, Aponius in Moesia, Flavianus in Pannonia * * * '