Introduction 3

Nihil aeque provinciam exercitumque accendit quam quod adsever-

abat Mucianus statuisse Vitellium ut Germanicas legiones in Syr-

iam ad militiam opulentam quietamque transferret, contra Syriacis

legionibus Germanica hiberna caelo ac laboribus dura mutarentur;

quippe et provinciales sueto militum contubernio gaudebant, pler-

ique necessitudinibus et propinquitatibus mixti, et militibus vetus-

tate stipendiorum nota et familiaria castra in modum penatium

diligebantur. (2.80.3)

[Nothing roused the provincials and the army so much as Mu-

cianus' assertion that Vitellius would transfer the German legions to

Syria to luxurious and leisurely military service and that, on the

other hand, winter quarters in Germany made unpleasant by cli-

mate and hard work were to be turned over to the Syrian legions;

the provincials took particular pleasure in the accustomed compan-

ionship of the soldiers, and many were connected to them as family

members and friends; and because of the length of their service, the

soldiers loved their well-known and familiar camps like homes.]

The wider context of this passage indicates that Mucianus had made a

direct address to the people of Antioch in the theater of that city, and

hence it seems likely that the provinciales were the citizens of Antioch. It

seemed reasonable to Tacitus to depict those inhabitants of Antioch as

viewing the soldiers based nearby not as an imperial force of oppression

but as individuals with whom they enjoyed close personal ties, as friends

and relations. Conversely the soldiers liked their nota et familiaria castra.

Of course, any camp might become nota et familiaria to soldiers sta-

tioned there for a long time, regardless of such circumstances as location

or relations with the local civilian population. However, in the context of

the previous clause, it is likely that Tacitus intended his reader to see a

connection between the soldiers' liking for their camp and their special

association with the provinciales there. Indeed, the term familiaris ap-

plied to the camp is ambiguous, having a literal connection with familia

and hence the provincial necessitudines alluded to in the previous clause,

as well as a looser meaning like the English word familiar. While Tacitus

uses the phrase nota et familiaria castra to refer to the soldiers' attitudes

toward the camp, his reference to the special links between soldiers and

civilians might also lead one to believe that the provincial population

viewed the army presence in similar terms.