publius cornelius tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest roman historians
in the year 105 a.d the histories was undertaken in the work tacitus covers the period from the
civil wars of the year of the four emperors and ends with the despotism of the flavians
only the first four books and 26 chapters of the fifth book survived
covering the year 69 in the first part of 70. the work is believed to have continued up to
the death of domitian on september 18 96 a.d tacitus's historiography offers penetrating
and often pessimistic insights into the psychology of power politics blending
straightforward descriptions of events moral lessons and tightly focused dramatic accounts
book one preface i propose to begin my narrative with the second consulship of servius galba
in which titus phineus was his colleague many historians have dealt with the 820 years of the
earlier period beginning with the foundation of rome and the story of the roman republic
has been told with no less ability than truth after the battle of actium when the interests
of peace were served by the centralization of all authority in the hands of one man
there followed a dearth of literary ability and at the same time truth suffered more and more partly
from ignorance of politics which were no longer a citizen's concern partly from the growing taste
for flattery or from hatred of the ruling house so between malice on one side and servility on the
other the interests of posterity were neglected but historians find that a tone of flattery soon
incurs the stigma of servility and earns for them the contempt of their readers whereas
people readily open their ears to the criticisms of envy since malice makes a show of independence
of galba otho and vitellius i have known nothing either to my advantage or my hurt
i cannot deny that i originally owed my position to vespasian or that i was advanced by titus and
still further promoted by demetean but professing as i do unbiased honesty i must speak of no man
either with hatred or affection i have reserved for my old age if life is spared to me the reigns
of the sainted nervous and of the emperor trajan which afford a richer and with all a safer theme
for it is the rare fortune of these days that a man may think what he likes and say what he thinks
the story i now commence is rich in vicissitudes grim with warfare torn by civil strife a tale of
horror even during times of peace it tells of four emperors slain by the sword three several
civil wars an even larger number of foreign wars and some that were both at once successes
in the east disaster in the west disturbance in a lyricum disaffection in the provinces of gaul
the conquest of britain and its immediate loss the rising of the summation and subic tribes
it tells how dacha had the privilege of exchanging blows with rome and how a pretender claiming to be
nero almost eluded the parthians into declaring war now to italy was smitten with new disasters
or disasters it had not witnessed for a long period of years towns along the rich coast
of campania were submerged or buried the city was devastated by fires ancient temples were destroyed
and the capital itself was fired by roman hands sacred rights were grossly profaned and there
were scandals in high places the sea swarmed with exiles and the island cliffs were red with blood
worse horrors reigned in the city to be rich or well-born was a crime men were prosecuted
for holding or for refusing office merit of any kind meant certain ruin nor were the informers
more hated for their crimes than for their prizes some carried off a priesthood or the
consulship as their spoil others won offices and influence in the imperial household the
hatred and fear they inspired worked universal havoc slaves were bribed against their masters
freedmen against their patrons and if a man had no enemies he was ruined by his friends
however the period was not so utterly barren as to yield no examples of heroism there were mothers
who followed their sons and wives their husbands into exile one saw hear a kinsman's courage and
their son-in-law's devotion slaves obstinately faithful even on the rack distinguished men
bravely facing the utmost straights and matching in their end the famous deaths of older times
besides these manifold disasters to mankind there were portents in the sky and on the earth
thunderbolts and other premonitions of good and of evil some doubtful some obvious indeed never
has it been proved by such terrible disasters to rome or by such clear evidence that providence
is concerned not with our peace of mind but rather with vengeance for our sin the state of the empire
before i commence my task it seems best to go back and consider the state of affairs
in the city the temper of the armies the condition of the provinces and to determine
the elements of strength and weakness in the different quarters of the roman world
by this means we may see not only the actual course of events which is largely governed by
chance but also why and how they occurred the death of nero after the first outburst
of joy with which it was greeted soon aroused conflicting feelings not only among the senators
the people and the soldiers in the city but also among the generals and their troops abroad
it had divulged a secretive state an emperor could be made elsewhere than at rome still the senate
was satisfied they had immediately taken advantage of their liberty and were naturally emboldened
against a prince who was new to the throne and moreover absent the highest class of the
night seconded the senate satisfaction respectable citizens who were attached as clients or freedmen
to the great families and had seen their patrons condemned or exiled now revived their hopes
the lowest classes who had grown familiar with the pleasures of the theater and the circus
the most degraded of the slaves and nero's favorites who had squandered their property
and lived on his discreditable bounty all showed signs of depression and an eager greed for news
the troops in the city had long been annualed to the allegiance of the caesars and it was
more by the pressure of intrigue than of their own inclination that they came to desert nero
they soon realized that the donation promised in galba's name was not to be paid
to them and that peace would not like war offer opportunity for great services and rich rewards
since they also saw that the new emperor's favor had been forestalled by the army which
proclaimed him they were ripe for revolution and were further instigated by their rascally
prefect nymphidius sabinus who was plotting to be emperor himself his design was as a
matter of fact detected and quashed but though the ringleader was removed many of the troops
still felt conscious of their treason and could be heard commenting on galba's senility and avarice
his austerity equality once admired and set high in soldier's estimation only annoyed troops whose
contempt for the old methods of discipline had been fostered by 14 years of service under nero
they had come to love the emperor's vices as much as they once reverenced their virtues in
older days moreover galba had let fall a remark which ordered well for rome though it spelt
danger to himself i do not buy my soldiers he said i select them and indeed as things
then stood his words sounded incongruous galba's position galba was old and ill
of his two lieutenants titus vinius was the vilest of men and cornelius lecco the laziest hated as
he was for vinius's crimes and despised felico's inefficiency between him galba soon came to ruin
his march from spain was slow and stained with bloodshed he executed singonius farrow the consul
elect and petronius turpolianus an ex-consul the former is an accomplice of nimphidius the latter
is one of nero's generals they were both denied any opportunity of a hearing or defense and might
as well have been innocent on his arrival at rome the butchery of thousands of unarmed soldiers
gave an ill omen to his entry and alarmed even the men who did the slaughter the city was filled with
strange troops a legion had been brought from spain and the regiment of marines enrolled by
nero still remained moreover there were several detachments from germany britain and allyricum
which had been selected by nero dispatched to the caspian pass for the projected war against
the albanians and subsequently recalled to aid in crushing the revolt of the batavi
these were all fine fuel for a revolution and although their favor centered on nobody
in particular there they were at the disposal of anyone who had enterprise it happened by chance
that the news of the death of claudius macker and of fontayas capita arrived in rome simultaneously
who was undoubtedly raising a disturbance in africa was put to death by the imperial agent
trebonius garutyanus acting under galba's orders kapito had made a similar attempt in germany and
was killed by two officers cornelius aquinas and fabius valons without waiting for instructions
while capito had a foul reputation for extortion and loose living some people yet believed that he
had withheld his hand from treason his offices they supposed had urged him to declare war
and when they could not persuade him had gone on to charge him falsely with their own offence
while galba from weakness of character or perhaps because he was afraid to inquire too far approved
what had happened for good or for ill since it was past alteration at any rate both executions were
unpopular now that galba was disliked everything he did whether right or wrong made him more
unpopular his freedmen were all powerful money could do anything the slaves were thirsting for
an upheaval and with so elderly and emperor were naturally expecting to see one soon the evils of
the new court were those of the old and while equally oppressive were not so easily excused
even galba's age seemed comic and despicable to a populace that was used to the young nero and
compared the emperors as such people will in point of looks and personal attraction
the distribution of forces
such then at rome was the variety of feeling natural in so vast a population
to turn to the provinces abroad spain was under the command of cluvius rufus a man of great
eloquence and more skilled in the arts of peace than of war the gallic provinces had not forgotten
moreover they were bound to galba by his recent grant of roman citizenship and his rebate of their
tribute for the future the tribes however which lay nearest to the army stationed in germany had
not received these honours some even had lost part of their territory and were equally aggrieved at
the magnitude of their own injuries and of their neighbors benefits the troops in germany were
proud of their recent victory indignant at their treatment and perplexed by a nervous consciousness
that they had supported the wrong side a very dangerous state for so strong a force to be in
they had been slow to desert nero and virginia did not immediately declare for galba whether
he really did not want the throne is doubtful without question his soldiers made him the offer
the death of fontis capito aroused the indignation even of those who had no right to complain
however they still lacked a leader galba had sent for virginia under a pretense of friendship and
when he was not allowed to return and was even charged with treachery the soldiers
considered his case their own the army of upper germany felt no respect for their commander
jordinius flaccus weak and by age and an affection of the feat he was without resolution or authority
and could not have controlled the mildest troops these fiery spirits were only the further inflamed
when they felt such a weak hand on the reins the legions of lower germany had been for some
time without a commander until all espetellius appeared he was the son of the lucius vitellius
who had been censor and thrice consul and galba thought this sufficient to impress the troops
the army in britain showed no bad feeling all through the disturbance of the civil
wars no troops kept cleaner hands this may have been because they were so far away and severed
by the sea or perhaps frequent engagements had taught them to keep their rancor for the enemy
quiet ruled in a lyricum also although the legions which had been summoned by nero while lingering in
italy had made overtures to virginias but the armies lay far apart always a sound assistance
to the maintenance of military discipline since the men could neither share vices nor join forces
the east was still untroubled lycinius muchianis held syria with four legions he was a man who was
always famous whether in good fortune or in bad as a youth he was ambitious and cultivated the
friendship of the great later he found himself in straightened circumstances in a very ambiguous
position and suspecting claudius displeasure he withdrew into the wilds of asia where he came as
near to being an exile is afterwards to being an emperor he was a strange mixture of good and bad
of luxury and industry courtesy and arrogance in leisure he was self-indulgent but full of vigor on
service his outward behavior was praiseworthy though ill was spoken of his private life
however with those who were under him or near him and with his colleagues he gained great influence
by various devices and seems to have been the sort of man who would more readily make an emperor than
b1 the jewish war was being conducted by flavius vespasianus appointed by nero with three legions
he had no ill will against galba and nothing to hope from his fall
indeed he had sent his son titus to carry his compliments and offer allegiance
an incident we must reserve for its proper place it was only after vespasian's rise that
roman society came to believe in the mysterious movings of providence and supposed that portents
and oracles had predestined the throne for him and his family of egypt and its garrison ever
since the days of the sainted augustus the knights of rome have been uncrowned kings
the province being difficult to reach rich in crops torn and tossed by fanaticism and sedition
ignorant of law unused to bureaucratic government it seemed wiser to keep it in the control of
the household the governor at that date was tiberius alexander himself a native of egypt
africa and its legions now that claudius makka had been executed were ready to put
up with any ruler after their experience of a petty master the two mauritanias rishia norikom
thrace and the other provinces governed by procurators had their sympathies determined
by the neighborhood of troops and always caught their likes or dislikes from the strongest army
the young garrison provinces and chief amongst these italy were destined to be the prize of war
and lay at the mercy of any master such was the state of the roman world when servius galba consul
for the second time and titus vinius his colleague inaugurated the year which was to be their last
and almost the last for the commonwealth of rome up next galba and vinius maintain a
fragile hold on the roman empire stay tuned for the next chapters in the histories by tacitus
you