Caecina halted for a few days in Helvetian territory
until he 70 could get news of Vitellius’
decision. Meantime, while carrying on his preparations
for crossing the Alps, he received from Italy the joyful
news that ‘Silius’ Horse’,[146] stationed
at Padua, had come over to Vitellius. The members
of this troop had served under Vitellius when pro-consul
in Africa. They had subsequently been detached
under orders from Nero to precede him to Egypt, and
had then been recalled, owing to the outbreak of the
war with Vindex. They were now in Italy.
Their officers, who knew nothing of Otho and were
attached to Vitellius, extolled the strength of the
approaching column and the fame of the German army.
So the troop went over to Vitellius, bringing their
new emperor a gift of the four strongest towns of
the Transpadane district, Milan, Novara, Eporedia,[147]
and Vercelli. Of this they informed Caecina themselves.
But one troop of horse could not garrison the whole
of the widest part of Italy. Caecina accordingly
hurried forward the Gallic, Lusitanian, and British
auxiliaries, and some German detachments, together
with ’Petra’s Horse’,[148] while
he himself hesitated whether he should not cross the
Raetian Alps[149] into Noricum and attack the governor,
Petronius Urbicus, who, having raised a force of irregulars
and broken down the bridges, was supposed to be a
faithful adherent of Otho. However, he was afraid
of losing the auxiliaries whom he had sent on ahead,
and at the same time he considered that there was
more glory in holding Italy, and that, wherever the
theatre of the war might be, Noricum was sure to be
among the spoils of victory. So he chose the
Pennine route[150] and led his legionaries and the
heavy marching column across the Alps, although they
were still deep in snow.[151]
FOOTNOTES:
[138] In Western Switzerland.
Caesar had finally subdued them
in
58 B.C.
[139] This had happened before
Caecina’s arrival. Vindonissa,
their
head-quarters (chap. 61, note 123), was on the borders
of
the Helvetii.
[140] Aquae Helvetiorum
or Vicus Aquensis, about 16 miles
NW.
of Zurich.
[141] Volunteers, not conscripts.
[142] Mount Vocetius.
[143] Avenches.
[144] Avenches.
[145] Vespasian made it a
Latin colony.
[146] Probably raised by C.
Silius, who was Governor of Upper
Germany
under Tiberius. Troops of auxiliary horse were
usually
named
either after the governor of the province who first
organized
the troop or after the country where it had first
been
stationed, or where it had won fame.
[147] Ivrea.
[148] Petra occurs as the
name of two Roman knights in Ann.
xi.
4. One of these or a relative was probably the
original
leader
of the troop.
Copyrights
Tacitus: The Histories, Volumes I and II from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
