another. The Seventh and Eleventh, in fact, looked on Dalmatia as their permanent home and had no interests or ideas beyond making themselves as comfortable as possible there and defending their possessions.
The Eagle-bearer of the Seventh addressed the meeting: `Lads, you' don't really intend to follow the General to Italy, do you? It looks like a very foolish adventure to me, quite apart from the matter of regimental honour. We've sworn allegiance to Tiberius Claudius Caesar, haven't we? He's proved himself' a decent man, hasn't he? He may have a down on old Scribonianus, but who knows on which side the right lies? Old Scribonianus can have his downs, we've all noticed. Why not leave the two of them to settle their own differences? I'm ready, to fight Germans, Moors, Parthians, Jews, Britons, Arabians, Chinese send me where you like - that's my job as an enlisted man. But I'm not going to do any fighting in Italy against the Guards Division. The Emperor's very popular with them, I'm told, and besides it's ridiculous in my opinion to think of us and them fighting each other. The General ought never to have asked us. Personally, I haven't spent that gift of his, and I don't intend to do so. My vote is that we call the whole business off.'
Everyone agreed. But the young soldiers and the hard cases old soldiers with bad characters had grown so excited now with the hope of easy money and plenty of loot that the question before the meeting was how to call, the rebellion off without, putting themselves into a false position. Someone had a sensible idea. A mutiny among these very regiments thirty years before had been quelled suddenly by an ominous sign from Heaven - an eclipse, followed by torrential rain: why not now provide another ominous sign to discourage the rebellion? So they decided on a suitable one.
Five days later the order came from Scribonianus for the regiments to march down to the port fully armed, rationed, and equipped, prepared to embark at once for Italy. The Eagle-bearers of the Seventh and Eleventh simultaneously reported to their commanders that they had been unable that morning to dress the Eagles in the customary, way with laurel garlands. The garlands had fallen off as soon as they tied them on, and immediately withered away! Then the standard-bearers-also came running in pretended consternation to report another miracle: the standards had refused to be pulled out from the earth into which they had been stuck! The officers were only too pleased to hear of these dreadful omens and reported them to Scribonianus. Scribonianus flew into a rage and came rushing into the camp of the Eleventh. `You say that the standards refuse to be moved, you, liars? .It's because you're a pack of cowards and haven't' the courage of dogs. Look! Who says that this standard can't be moved?' He went up to the nearest standard and heaved at it. He heaved and tugged and strained until the veins stood. out on his forehead like cords : but he couldn't so much as budge the thing. As a matter of fact, it had been secretly planted in concrete on the night of the meeting, and so had all the other standards, with earth heaped above. The concrete had set like rock.
Scribonianus saw that all was lost.. He shook his fist at Heaven and running down to the port jumped aboard his private yacht and told his crew to cast off and stand out to sea at once. He was making for Italy, intending, I suppose, to warn Vinicianus of his failure. But instead the crew put him ashore at the island of Lissa, near Corfu, suspecting that his plans had gone astray and not wishing to have anything more to do with him. One freedman alone remained with him and was present when he committed suicide. Vinicianus also killed himself when the news reached him a day or two later; so did most of his fellow-rebels. The revolt was over.
I shall not pretend that I did not spend an anxious ten days -
In between addressing the Senate and hearing the happy news of Scribonianus's failure. I grew very excitable, and if it had not been for Xenophon's exertions I should probably have had a serious return of my old nervous trouble. But he dosed me with this and that and kept me well massaged and encouraged me, in his dry way, to have no fears for the future; and so steered me through without serious damage to my health. A verse of Homer's stuck in my head and I kept repeating it to everyone I met:
I even gave it to Rufrius one day as a watchword. Messalina teased me about it, but I had an answer ready: 'It stuck in Homer's mind too. He used it again and again. Once in the Iliad and two or three times in the Odyssey.' Messalina's devotion was a great comfort, and so were the loyal shouts of the citizens and the soldiers whenever I appeared in public, and the confidence that the Senate seemed to feel in me.
I rewarded the Seventh and Eleventh by asking the Senate to rename them `The Loyal Claudian Regiments', and on Messalina's insistence (Vitellius agreed with her that it was no occasion for an amnesty) I put to death the principal rebels who survived. I did not, however, execute them summarily, as I had executed Silanus, but gave them each in turn a formal trial. The procedure that I adopted was to read the charge sitting on a chair of state with the Consuls standing one on either side of me. I would then retire to my ordinary seat and the Consuls would call for their own chairs of state and conduct the trial as judges. I happened to be suffering from a severe cold, which reduced my voice, never very strong, to a whisper; but I had Narcissus, Polybius, and the Guards colonels at my side, and if I wished to cross-examine a prisoner or witness I would hand one of them a list of questions to ask on my behalf, or whisper them to him. Narcissus made the best mouthpiece, so I employed him more often than the rest: this caused a misunderstanding. He was later represented by my enemies as having conducted the prosecution on his own initiative - a mere freedman prosecuting noble Romans, what a scandal 1 Narcissus certainly had a very assured, independent manner and I must admit that I joined in the general laugh against him, when Scribonianus's faithful freedman, whom he was cross-examining, proved his master in repartee.
NARCISSUS: You were a, freedman of Furius Camillus Scribonianus's? You were present at his death?
FREEDMAN: I was.
NARCISSUS: You were in his confidence about this intended rebellion? You knew who his confederates were?
FREEDMAN: You wish to suggest that I was unworthy of his confidence? That if he had confederates, as you call them, in this alleged rebellion I should betray them?
NARCISSUS: I suggest nothing. I am asking you a plain question of fact.
FREEDMAN: Then I give you a plain answer. I do not remember.
NARCISSUS: Not remember?
FREEDMAN: His last words to me were: 'Whatever I have said to you in this matter, forget. Let my secrets die with me.'
NARCISSUS: Ah, then I may assume that you were in his confidence.
FREEDMAN: Assume whatever you like. It does not interest me. My master's dying injunctions were to forget. I have obeyed him implicitly.
NARCISSUS (striding forward angrily Into the middle of the floor, so that he actually obscured my view of the witness): A very honest freedman, by Hercules. And tell me, fellow, what would you have done if Scribonianus had made himself Emperor?
FREEDMAN (with sudden warmth): I should have stood behind him, fellow, and kept my mouth shut.
Fifteen rebel noblemen or ex noblemen were put to death, but only one of these was a senator, one Juncus, a magistrate of the first rank, and I made him resign his office before I condemned him. The other senators had committed suicide before arrest. Contrary to the usual custom, I did not confiscate the estates of the executed rebels, but let their heirs inherit as if they had decently killed themselves. In three or four cases, indeed, where their estates were found to be greatly encumbered by debt - the reason probably for their participation in the rebellion I actually made the heirs a present of money.. It has been said that Narcissus took bribes to cover up evidence of guilt against certain rebels: this is certainly an invention. I conducted the preliminary inquiries myself self with Polybius's help and took down depositions. Narcissus did not have the opportunity of suppressing any evidence. Messalina, however, had access to the papers and may have destroyed some of them; I cannot, say whether she did or not. But neither Narcissus nor Polybius handled them except in my presence. It has also been said that freedmen and citizens were put to the torture in an attempt to extract evidence from them: This is also untrue. A few slaves were racked, but not to force them to give evidence against their masters, only to make them give evidence against certain freedmen whom I suspected of perjury. The origin of the report that I tortured freedmen and citizens must probably be found in the case of certain of Vinicianus's slaves to whom he gave their freedom, when he saw that the rebellion had failed, to prevent them giving evidence against him under torture; he pre-dated their freedom, in the deed of manumission, by twelve months. This was an illegal procedure, or at any rate the men were still liable to be examined under torture, by a law passed under Tiberius to prevent this sort of evasion. One so-called citizen was put to torture when it was discovered that he had no claims to be regarded as such. Juncus indeed protested at his trial that he had been grossly maltreated in prison. He appeared swathed in
