 Book 5, Part 1 of the Histories by Publius Cornelius Tacitus. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Leni. The Histories by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, translated by Alfred John Church in William Jackson Broadrip. Book 5, AD 70, Part 1. Early in this year, Titus Caesar, who had been selected by his father to complete the subjugation of Judea, and who had gained distinction as a soldier while both were still subjects, began to rise in power and reputation, as armies and provinces emulated each other in their attachment to him. The young man himself, anxious to be thought superior to his station, was ever displaying his gracefulness and his energy in war. By his courtesy and affability he called forth a willing obedience, and he often mixed with the common soldiers while working or marching, without impairing his dignity as general. He found in Judea three legions, the 5th, the 10th and the 15th, all old troops of Vespasians. To these he added the 12th, from Syria, and some men belonging to the 18th and 3rd whom he had withdrawn from Alexandria. This force was accompanied by twenty courts, of allied troops, and eight squadrons of cavalry, by the two kings Agrippa and Sahimas, by the auxiliary forces of King Antiochus, by a strong contingent of Arabs, who hated the Jews with the usual hatred of neighbors, then lastly, by many persons brought from the capital and from Italy by private hopes of securing the yet unengaged affections of the prince. With this force Titus entered the enemy's territory, preserving strict order on his march, reconaturing every spot, and always ready to give battle. At last he encamped near Jerusalem. As I am about to relate the last days of a famous city, it seems appropriate to throw some light on its origin. Some say that the Jews were fugitives from the island of Crete, who settled on the nearest coast of Africa, about the time when Saturn was driven from his throne by the power of Jupiter. Evidence of this is sought in the name. There is a famous mountain in Crete called Aida. The neighboring tribe, the Aidae, came to be called Judeae, by a barbarous lengthening of the national name. Others assert that in the reign of Isis, the overflowing population of Egypt, led by Jerusalemus and Judas, discharged itself into the neighboring countries. Many again say that they were a race of Ethiopian origin, who, in the time of King Saphias, were driven by fear and hatred of their neighbors to seek a new dwelling place. Others describe them as an Assyrian horde, who, not having sufficient territory, took possession of part of Egypt, and founded cities of their own in what is called the Hebrew country, lying on the borders of Syria. Others again assign a very distinguished origin to the Jews, alleging that they were the Solymae, a nation celebrated in the poems of Homer, who called the city which they founded higher of Solymae, after their own name. Most writers, however, agree in stating that, once a disease which horribly disfigured the body, broke out over Egypt, that King Bocharis, seeking a remedy, consulted the Oracle of Hemen, and was bitten to cleanse his realm, to convey into some foreign land this race detested by the gods. The people, who had been collected after diligent search, finding themselves left in a desert, sat for the most part in a stupor of grief, till one of the exiles, Moises by name, warned them not to look for any relief from God or men, forsaken as they were of both, but to trust to themselves, taking for their heaven sent leader that man who should first help them to be quit of their present misery. They agreed, and in utter ignorance, began to advance at random. Nothing, however, distressed them so much as the scarcity of water, and they had sunk ready to perish in all directions over the plain, when a herd of wild asses was seen to retire from their pasture to a rock shaded by trees. Moises followed them, and guided by the appearance of a grassy spot, discovered an abundant spring of water. This furnished relief. After a continuous journey for six days, on the seventh, they possessed themselves of a country, from which they expelled the inhabitants, and in which they founded a city and a temple. Moises, wishing to secure for the future his authority over the nation, gave them a novel form of worship, opposed to all that is practiced by other men. Things sacred with us, with them have no sanctity, while they allow what with us is forbidden. In their holy place they have consecrated an image of the animal, by whose guidance they found deliverance from their long and thirsty wanderings. They slay the ram, seemingly in derision of Haman, as they sacrifice the ox, because the Egyptians worship it as apis. They abstain from swine's flesh, in consideration of what they suffered when they were inflicted by the leprosy to which this animal is liable. By their frequent fests they still bear witness to the long hunger of former days, and the Jewish bread, made without leaven, is retained as a memorial of their hurried seizure of corn. We are told that the rest of the seventh day was adopted, because this day brought with it a termination of their toils. After a while the charm of indolence beguilded them into giving up the seventh year also to inaction. But others say that it is an observance in honor of Saturn, either from the primitive elements of their faith having been transmitted from the ideae, who are said to have shared the flight of that God, and to have founded the race, or from the circumstance that of the seven stars which rule the destinies of men, Saturn moves in the highest orbit, and with the mightiest power, and that many of the heavenly bodies complete their revolutions and courses in multiples of seven. This worship, however introduced, is upheld by its antiquity. All their other customs, which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness. The most degraded out of other races, scorning their national beliefs, brought to them their contributions and presents. This augmented the wealth of the Jews, as also did the fact that among themselves they are inflexibly honest and ever ready to shoo compassion, though they regard the rest of mankind with all the hatred of enemies, they sit apart at meals, they sleep apart, and though as a nation they are singularly prone to lust, they abstain from intercourse with foreign women. Among themselves nothing is unlawful. Circumcision was adopted by them as a mark of difference from other men. Those who come over to their religion adopt the practice, and have this lesson first instilled into them, to despise all gods, to disown their country, and sat at knot, parents, children, and brethren. So they provide for the increase of their numbers. It is a crime among them to kill any newly born infant. They hold that the souls of all who perish in battle or by the hands of the executioner are immortal. This a passion for propagating their race and a contempt for death. They are one to bury rather than to burn their dead, following in this the Egyptian custom. They bestow the same care on the dead, and they hold the same belief about the lower world. Quite different is their faith about things divine. The Egyptians worship many animals and images of monstrous form. The Jews have purely mental conceptions of deity, as one in essence. They call those profane who make representations of God in human shape out of perishable materials. They believe that being, to be supreme and eternal, neither capable of representation nor of decay. They therefore do not allow any images to stand in their cities, much less in their temples. This flattery is not paid to their kings, nor dishonored to our emperors. From the fact, however, that their priests used to chant to the music of flutes and symbols, and to wear garlands of ivy, and that a golden vine was found in the temple, some have thought that they worshipped Father Liber, the conqueror of the east, though their institutions do not by any means harmonize with the theory. Father Liber established a festive and cheerful worship while the Jewish religion is tasteless and mean. Eastward, the country is bounded by Arabia. To the south lies Egypt. On the west are Phoenicia and the Mediterranean. Northward, it commands an extensive prospect over Syria. The inhabitants are healthy and able to bear fatigue. Rain is uncommon, but the soil is fertile. Its products resemble our own. They have, besides, the balsam tree and the palm. The palm groves are tall and graceful. The balsam is a shrub. Each branch, as it fills with sap, may be pierced with a fragment of stone or pottery. If steel is employed, the veins shrink up. The sap is used by physicians. Libanus is the principal mountain, and has, strange to say, amidst these burning heats a summit shaded with trees and never deserted by its nose. The same range supplies and sends forth the stream of the Jordan. This river does not discharge itself into the sea, but flows and tires through two lakes and is lost in the third. This is a lake of vast circumference. It resembles the sea, but is more nauseous in taste. It breeds pestilence among those who live nearby its noisome odour. It cannot be moved by the wind, and it affords no home either to fish or waterbirds. These strange waters support what is thrown upon them, as on a solid surface, and all persons, whether they can swim or know, are equally buoyed up by the waves. At a certain season of the year, the lake throws up bitumen, and the method of collecting it has been taught by that experience which teaches all other arts. It is naturally a fluid of dark colour. When vinegar is sprinkled upon it, it coagulates and floats upon the surface. Those whose business it is take it with the hand, and draw it on to the deck of the boat. It then continues of itself to flow in, and lay the vessel till the stream is cut off. Nor can this be done by any instrument of brass or iron. It shrinks from blood or any cloth stained by the menstrual of women. Such is the account of old authors, but those who know the country say that the bitumen moves in heaving masses on the water, that it is drawn by hand to the shore, and that there, and dried up by the evaporation of the earth and the power of the sun, it is cut into pieces with axes and wedges, just as timber or stone would be. Not far from this lake lies a plain, once fertile, they say, and the side of great cities, but afterwards struck by lightning and consumed. Of this event, they declare, traces still remain, for the soil, which is scorched in appearance, has lost its productive power. Everything that grows spontaneously, as well as what is planted by hand, either when the leaf or flower have been developed, or after maturing in the usual form, becomes black and rotten, and crumbles into a kind of dust. I am ready to allow, on the one hand, that cities once famous may have been consumed by fire from heaven, while on the other I imagine that the earth is infected by the exhalations of the lake, that the surrounding air is tainted, and that thus the growth of harvest and the fruits of autumn decay under the equally noxious influences of soil and climate. The river Bellis also flows into the Jewish sea. Out of its mouth is a kind of sand, which is collected, mixed with nitre, and fused into glass. The shore is of limited extent, but furnishes an inexhaustible supply to the exporter. A great part of Judea consists of scattered villages. They have also towns. Jerusalem is the capital. There stood a temple of immense wealth. This came the city with its fortifications, then the royal palace, then within the innermost defenses, the temple itself. Only the Jew might approach the gates. All but priests were forbidden to pass the threshold. While the east was under the sway of the Assyrians, the Medes and the Persians, Jews were the most contemptible of the subject tribes. When the Macedonians became supreme, King Antiochus strove to destroy the national superstition, and to introduce Greek civilization, but was prevented by his war with the Parthians, from at all improving the vilest of nations. For at this time the revolt of Arsaques had taken place. The Macedonian power was now weak, while the Parthian had not yet reached its full strength. And, as the Romans were still far off, the Jews chose kings for themselves. And, regaining their throne by force of arms, these princes, while they ventured on the wholesale banishment of their subjects, on the destruction of cities, on the murder of brothers, wives and parents, and the other usual atrocities of despots, fostered the national superstition by appropriating the dignity of the priesthood as the support of their political power. Neus Pompeius was the first of our countrymen to subdue the Jews. Of veiling himself of the right of conquest, he entered the temple. Thus it became commonly known that the place stood empty with no similitude of gods within, and that the shrine had nothing to reveal. The walls of Jerusalem were destroyed. The temple was left standing. After these provinces had fallen in the course of our civil wars, into the hands of Marcus Antonius, Pacherus, king of the Parthians, seized Judea. He was slain by Publius Ventidius, and the Parthians were driven back over the Euphrates. Caesosius reduced the Jews to subjection. The royal power, which had been bestowed by Antony on Herod, was augmented by the victorious Augustus. On Herod's death, one Simon, without waiting for the approbation of the emperor, usurped the title of king. He was punished by Quintilius Varus, then governor of Syria, and the nation, with its liberties curtail, was divided into three provinces under the sons of Herod. Under Tiberius all was quiet. But when the Jews were ordered by Caligula to set up his statue in the temple, they preferred the alternative of war. The death of the emperor put an end to the disturbance. The kings were either dead or reduced to insignificance, when Claudius entrusted the province of Judea to the Roman knights, or to his own fridmen, one of whom, Antonius Felix, indulging in every kind of barbarity and lust, exercised the power of a king in the spirit of a slave. He had married Drisilla, the granddaughter of Antony and Cleopatra, and so was the grandson-in-law, as Claudius was the grandson of Antony. Yet the endurance of the Jews lasted till Gesius Flores was procurator, and his time the war broke out. Cestius Gallus, legate of Syria, who attempted to crush it, had to fight several battles, generally with ill success. Cestius dying, either in the course of nature or from a vexation, Vespasian was sent by Nero, and by help of his good fortune, his high reputation, and his excellent subordinates succeeded within the space of two summers in occupying with his victorious army the whole of the level country and all the cities except Jerusalem. The following year had been wholly taken up with civil strife and had passed, as far as the Jews were concerned, in inaction. Peace having been established in Italy, foreign affairs were once more remembered, our indignation was heightened by the circumstance that the Jews alone had not submitted. At the same time it was held to be more expedient, in reference to the possible results and contingencies of the new reign that Titus should remain with the army. Accordingly he pitched his camp, as I have related, before the walls of Jerusalem, and displayed his legions in order of battle. The Jews formed their line close under their walls, when, if successful, they might venture to advance, and where, if repulsed, they had a refuge at hand. The cavalry with some light infantry was sent to attack them, and fought without any decisive result. Shortly afterwards the enemy retreated. During the following days they fought a series of engagements in front of the gates, till they were driven within the walls by continual defeats. The Romans then began to prepare for an assault. It seemed beneath them to await the result of famine. The army demanded the more perilous alternative, some prompted by courage, many by sheer ferocity and greed of gain. Titus himself had Rome with all its wealth and pleasures before his eyes. Jerusalem must fall at once, or it would delay his enjoyment of them. But the commanding situation of the city had been strengthened by enormous works which would have been a thorough defense even for level ground. Two hills of great height were fenced in by walls which had been skillfully oblique or bent inwards, in such a manner that the flank of an assailant was exposed to missiles. The rock terminated in a precipice. The towers were raised to a height of 60 feet, where the hill lent its aid to the fortifications, where the ground fell, to a height of 120. They had a marvelous appearance, and to a distant spectator seemed to be of uniform elevation. Within were other walls surrounding the palace, and rising to a conspicuous height the tower Antonia, so-called by Herod, in honor of Marcus Antonius. The temple resembled the citadel and had its own walls, which were more laboriously constructed than the others. Even the colonnades with which it was surrounded formed an admirable outwork. It contained an inexhaustible spring. There were subterranean excavations in the hill, and tanks and cisterns for holding rainwater. The founders of the state had foreseen that frequent wars would result from the singularity of its customs, and so had made every provision against the most protracted siege. After the capture of their city by Pompey, experience and apprehension taught them much. Availing themselves of the distorted policy of the Claudian era to purchase the right of fortification, they raised in time of peace such walls as were suited for war. Their numbers were increased by a vast rebel collected from the overthrow of the other cities. All the most obstinate rebels had escaped into the place, and perpetual seditions were the consequence. There were three generals, and as many armies. Simon held the outer and larger circuit of walls. John, also called Barjorus, occupied the middle city. Eleazar had fortified the temple. John and Simon were strong in numbers and equipment. Eleazar in position. There were continual skirmishes, surprises, and incendiary fires, and a vast quantity of corn was burned. But for long John sent some emissaries, who, under pretence of sacrificing, slaughtered Eleazar and his partisans, and gained possession of the temple. The city was thus divided between two factions, till, as the Romans approached, war with the foreigner brought about a reconciliation. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information, or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Lenny The Histories by Publius Cornelius Tacitus Translated by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Broderib Book 5, January to November, AD 70, Part 2 Prodigies had occurred, which this nation, prone to superstition, but hating all religious rites, did not deem it lawful to expiate by offering and sacrifice. There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds. The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the gods were departing. At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. Some few put a fearful meaning on these events, but in most there was a firm persuasion that in the ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of how, at this very time, the east was to grow powerful, and rulers coming from Judea were to acquire universal empire. These mysterious prophecies had pointed to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people with the usual blindness of ambition had interpreted these mighty destinies of themselves and could not be brought even by disasters to believe the truth. I have heard that the total number of the besieged of every age in both sexes amounted to six hundred thousand. All who were able bore arms, and a number more than proportionate to the population had the courage to do so. Men and women showed equal resolution, and life seemed more terrible than death if they were to be forced to leave their country. Such was the city and nation, and Titus Caesar, seeing that the position forbade an assault or any of the more rapid operations of war, determined to proceed by earthworks and covered approaches. The legions had their respective duties assigned to them, and there was a cessation from fighting to all the inventions used in ancient warfare or devised by modern ingenuity for the reduction of cities were constructed. Meanwhile, Sevilleus, having recruited his army from Germany after his defeat among the Trevary, took up his position at the old camp, where his situation would protect him, and where the courage of his barbarian troops would be raised by the recollection of successes gained on the spot. He was followed to this place by Cerealis, whose forces had now been doubled by the arrival of the 2nd, 6th, and 14th legions. The auxiliary infantry and cavalry, summoned long before, had hastened to join him after his victory. Neither of the generals loved delay, but a wide extent of plain, naturally saturated with water, kept them apart. Sevilleus had also thrown a dam obliquely across the Rhine, so that the stream, diverted by the obstacle, might overflow the adjacent country. Such was the character of the district, full of hidden perils from the varying depths of the fords, and unfavorable to our troops. The Roman soldier is heavily armed and afraid to swim, while the German, who is accustomed to rivers, is favored by the lightness of his equipment and the height of his stature. The Batavai, provoking a conflict, the struggle was at once begun by all the boldest spirits among our troops, but a panic arose, when they saw arms and horses swallowed up in the vast depths of the marshes. The Germans slept lightly through the well-known shallows, and frequently, quitting the front, hung on the rear and flanks of our army. It was neither the close nor the distant fighting of a land battle. It was more like a naval contest. Struggling among the waters, or exerting every limb where they found any firm footing, the wounded and the unheard, those who could swim and those who could not, were involved in one common destruction. The loss, however, was less than might have been expected from the confusion, for the Germans, not venturing to leave the morris, returned to the camp. The result of this battle roused both generals, though from different motives, to hasten on the final struggle. Sevillez was anxious to follow up his success. Sevillez to wipe out his disgrace. The Germans were flushed with success. The Romans were thoroughly roused by shame. The barbarians spent the night in singing and shouting. Our men enraged in threats of vengeance. Next morning, Sevillez formed his front with the cavalry and auxiliary infantry. In the second line were posted the legions, the general reserving a picked force for unforeseen contingencies. Sevillez confronted him with his troops ranged, not in line, but in columns. On the right were the Batavai and the Gujarini. The left, which was nearer the river, was occupied by the Transrenan tribes. The exhortations of the generals were not addressed as formal herrings to the assembled armies, but to the divisions separately, as they rode along the line. Cerealis spoke of the old glory of the Roman name, a former and of recent victories. He told them that in destroying forever their treacherous, cowardly and bitten foe, they had to execute a punishment rather than to fight a battle. They had lately contended with a superior force, and yet the Germans, the strength of the hostile army, had been routed. A few were left, who carried terror in their hearts and scars upon their backs. He addressed to the several legions appropriate appeals. The fourteenth were styled the conquerors of Britain, the powerful influence of the six had made Galba emperor. The men of the second were in that battle first to consecrate their new standards and new eagle. Then, riding up to the army of Germany, he stretched forth his hand and implored them to recover their riverbank and their camp by the slaughter of the foe. A joyful shout arose from the whole army, some of whom, after long peace, lusted for battle, while others, wary of war, desired peace. All were looking for rewards and for future repose. Nor did civilians marshal his army in silence. He called the field of battle to bear witness to their valour. He told the Germans and Batavians that they were standing on the monuments of their glory, that they were treading underfoot the ashes and bones of legions. Wherever, he said, the Roman turns his eye, captivity, disaster, and everything that is terrible confront him. Do not be alarmed by the adverse result of the battle among the Treveri. There, their own success proved hurtful to the Germans, for, throwing away their arms, they hampered their hands with plunder. Since then, everything has been favourable to us and against the foe. All precautions which the skill of a general should take have been taken. Here are these flooded plains which we know so well. Here are the marshes so fatal to the enemy. The Rhine and the Gods of Germany are in your sight. Under their auspices give battle, remembering your wives, your parents, and your fatherland. This day will either be the most glorious among the deeds of the past or will be infamous in the eyes of posterity. These words were hailed according to their custom with the clash of arms and with wild antics. And then the battle was commenced by a discharge of stones, leaden balls, and other missiles. Our soldiers not entering the morris, while the Germans sought to provoke and so draw them on. When their store of missiles was spent and the battle grew hotter, a fiercer onslaught was made by the enemy. Their tall stature and very long spears enabled them, without closing, to wound our men who were wavering and unsteady. At the same time a column of the brooktory swam across from the dam which I have described as carried out into the river. Here there was some confusion. The line of the allied infantry was being driven back when the legions took up the contest. The fury of the enemy was checked and the battle again became equal. At the same time a Batavian deserter came up to Cerealis, offering an opportunity of attacking the enemy's rear if some cavalry were sent along the edge of the morris. The ground there was firm and the Gugernay to whom the post had been allotted were careless. Two squadrons were sent with the deserter and outflanked the unsuspecting enemy. At the shout that announced the success the legions charged in front. The Germans were routed and fled towards the Rhine. The war would have been finished that day if the fleet had hastened to come up. As it was, the cavalry did not pursue for a storm of rain suddenly fell and night was at hand. The next day the fourteenth legion was sent into the upper province to join Gala's Anias. The tenth, which had arrived from Spain, supplied its place in the army of Cerealis. Sevilleis was joined by some auxiliaries from the Chossai. Nevertheless he did not venture to fight for the defense of the Batavian capital, but carrying off property that could be removed and setting fire to the remainder he retreated into the island, aware that there were not vessels enough for constructing a bridge and that the Roman army could not cross the river in any other way. The river had been, so to speak, diverted. The narrowness of the channel between the island and Germany created an appearance of an uninterrupted surface of dry ground. Tutor, Clasicus, and one hundred and thirteen senators of the Traverae also crossed the Rhine. Among them was Alpinius Montanus, of whose mission into gold by Antonius I have already seen. The river had been, so to speak, diverted. He was accompanied by his brother, Decimus Alpinius. His other adherents were now endeavouring to collect auxiliaries among these danger-loving tribes by appeals to their pity and their greed. The war was so far from being at an end that Sevilleis, in one day, attacked on four points the positions of the Auxiliary Infantry and Cavalry and of the Legions, assailing the 10th Legion at Aranachem, the 2nd at Batevoduram, and the camp of the Auxiliary Infantry and Cavalry at Grine and Vada, and so dividing his forces, that he himself, his sister, son Varex, Clasicus and Tutor led each his own division. They were not confident of accomplishing all these objects, but they hoped that, if they made many ventures, fortune would favor them on some point. Besides, Sevilleis was not cautious and might easily be intercepted as the multiplicity of tidings heard him from place to place. The force, which had to attack the 10th Legion, thinking it a hard matter to storm a legendary encampment, surprised some troops who had gone out and were busy felling timber, killed the prefect of the camp, five centurions of the 1st rank and a few soldiers. The rest found shelter behind the fortifications. At Batevoduram, the German troops tried to break down the bridge, partly built, night terminated the bridge. There was great danger at Grins and Vada. Sevilleis attacked Vada, Clasicus, Grins, and they could not be checked, for our bravest men had fallen, among them Briganticus, who commanded the squadron of cavalry, and of whose loyalty to the Roman cause and enmity to his uncle Sevilleis I have already spoken. But when Cerealis came up with a picked body of cavalry, the Sevilleis, who was recognized while seeking to stop his flying troops, became the mark of many missiles, left his horse, and swam across the river. Vareks escaped in the same way. Some light vessels were brought up and carried off tutor and Clasicus. Even on this occasion the Roman fleet was not present at the engagement, though orders had been given to that effect. Fear kept them away, and their crews were dispersed about other military actions. The attack allowed too little time for executing his commands. He was hasting his plans, though eminently successful in their results. Fortune helped him, even where skill had failed, and so both the general and his army became less careful about discipline. A few days after this he escaped the peril of actual capture, but not without great disgrace. He had gone to Novesium and Bona to inspect the camps which were under the control of the Ligians, and was making his way back with the fleet, his escort being in disorder and his sentries negligent. This was observed by the Germans, and they planned a surprise. They chose a dark and cloudy night, and moving rapidly down the stream entered the entrenchments without opposition. The carnage was at first helped on by a cunning device. They cut the ropes of the tents and slaughtered the soldiers as they under force put the fleet into confusion, threw their grappling irons on the vessels, and dragged them away by the sterns. They sought at first to elude notice by silence, but when the slaughter was begun, by way of increasing the panic they raised on all sides a deafening shout. The Romans, awakened by sounds, looked for their arms and rushed through the passages of the camp, some few with their proper accoutrements, but most with their hands. The general, who was half asleep and all but naked, was saved by the enemy's mistake. They carried off the Praetorian vessel which was distinguished by a flag believing that the general was on board. Sarielas indeed had passed the night elsewhere, in the company as many believed of an Ubyan woman, Claudia Sacrata. The sentinels sought to excuse their own scandalous neglect by the disgraceful conduct of the general, alleging that they had been ordered silent, that they might not disturb his rest, and that from omitting the watchwords and the usual challenges they had themselves fallen asleep. The enemy rode back in broad daylight with the captured vessels. The Praetorian trireme they towed up the River Lupia as a present to Veleda. Sarielas was seized by a desire to make a naval demonstration. He mended all the triremes that he had, and such vessels as were propelled by a single bank of oars. To these he added a vast number of boats. He put in each three or four hundred men the usual complement of a Liburnian galley. With these were the captured vessels in which, picturesquely enough, plates of various colors were used for sails. The place selected was an expanse of water, not unlike the sea, where the mouth of the Mosa serves to discharge the Rhine into the ocean. The motive for equipping this fleet was, to say nothing of the natural vanity of this fleet, a desire to intercept by this alarming demonstration the supplies that were approaching from goal. Sarielas, more in astonishment than alarm, threw up his fleet in line, and though inferior in numbers, it had the advantage in the experience of the crews, the skill of the pilots, and the size of the vessels. The Romans had a stream with them. The enemy's vessels were propelled by the wind. Thus passing each other, they separated after a brief discharge of the White Missiles. Sevilleas attempted nothing more, and retired to the other side of the Rhine. Sarielas mercilessly ravaged the island of the Batavai, but, with a policy familiar to commanders, left untouched the estates and houses of Sevilleas. Meanwhile, however, the autumn was far advanced, and the river swollen by the continual rains of the season overflowed the island marshy and low-lying as it is till it resembled a lake. There were no ships, no provisions at hand, and the camp, which was situated on a low ground, was in process of being carried away by the force of the stream. That the legions might then have been crushed, and that the Germans wished to crush them, but were turned from their purpose by his own craft, was claimed as a merit by Sevilleas. Nor is it unlike the truth, since a capitulation followed in a few days. Sarielas, sending secret emissaries, had held out the prospect of peace to the Batavai, and of pardon to Sevilleas, while he advised Velida and her relatives to change by a well-timed service to the Roman people the fortune of war, which so many disasters had shown to be adverse. He reminded them that the Traverai had been beaten, that the Ubiai had submitted, that the Batavai had had their country taken from them, and that from the friendship of Sevilleas nothing else had been gained but wounds defeat in mourning. An exile and a fugitive he could only be a burden to those who entertained him, and they had already trespassed enough in crossing the Rhine so often. If they attempted anything more, on their side would be the wrong and the guilt, with the Romans the vengeance of heaven. Thus promises were mingled with threats, when the fidelity of the Transrenan tribes had been thus shaken, among the Batavai also there arose debates. We can no longer, they said, postpone our ruin. The servitude of the whole world cannot be averted by a single nation. What has been accomplished by destroying legions with fire and sword, but that more legions and stronger have been brought up. If it was for Vespasian that we fought this war, then Vespasian rules the world. If we meant to challenge to battle the Roman people, then what a mere fraction of the human race are the Batavai. Look at the Ritians and Norricans, and the burdens borne by the other allies. No tribute, but valour and manhood are demanded of us. That is the last thing to liberty, and if we must choose between masters, then we may more honourably bear with the emperors of Rome than with the women of the Germans. Such were the murmurs of the lower class. The nobles spoke in fiercer language. We have been driven into war, they said, by the fury of civilians. He sought to counterbalance his private wrongs by the destruction of his nation. Then were the gods angry with the Batavai when the legions were besieged, when the war, so necessary to that one man, so fatal to us, was begun. We are at the last extremity unless we think of repenting, and avour our repentance by punishing the guilty. These dispositions did not escape the notice of civilians. He determined to anticipate them, moved not only by wariness of his sufferings, but also by that clinging to life which often breaks the noblest spirits. He asked for a conference. All the relations between us were those of hatred and hostility first made so by him, and afterwards embittered by me. My respect for Vespasian is of long standing. While he was still a subject, we were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. We were called friends. This was known to primus Antonius whose letters urged me to take up arms. For he feared less the legions of Germany and the youth of Gohl should cross the Alps. What Antonio's advice by his letters Hordeonia suggested by word of mouth. I fought the same battle in Germany as did messianes in Syria, Aponias inμOSxe, know what happened to Sevilleis. The Batavians seem to have received favourable treatment.