12. After crossing the Visurgis, Germanicus learned from infor- mation supplied by a deserter that a site for the battle had already been chosen by Arminius, that other tribes had come together at the sacred wood of Hercules and that they would attempt a night attack on the Roman camp. The informant was deemed trustworthy, and fires were also becoming visible, while scouts who got close to the enemy reported hearing the neighing of horses and the commotion of a huge, poorly disciplined army. And so, with the final outcome close at hand, Germanicus believed he should test the morale of his men, and turned his thoughts to how disinterested results could be obtained. The tribunes and centurions, he felt, more often gave reports that were optimistic rather than based on fact; the freedmen had servile characters; and his friends were given to sycophancy. Ifa meeting were called, there, too, he reasoned, what a few put forward at first the rest would noisily support. He needed to get an insight into the men’s minds when they were on their own and unobserved — at the soldiers’ mealtime, the time when they divulged their hopes and fears. 13. At nightfall Germanicus furtively left his headquarters taking a secret path unknown to the sentries; he was accompanied by one man, and wore an animal skin on his shoulders. He came to the streets of the camp, stood close by the tents and enjoyed hearing about himself. One man praised their leader’s noble character, another his good looks, and most of them his tolerance and affability, his even temper in his serious moments and times of amusement, and they acknowledged that they had to show their gratitude in the field of battle. At the same time, they said, the traitors who had broken the peace had to be sacrificial victims to their vengeance and their glory. In the meantime, one of the enemy who knew Latin rode up to the rampart and, in Arminius’ name, loudly promised rewards to any who deserted —wives, lands, and a daily pay of a hundred sesterces* for as long as the war lasted. This insult intensified the fury of56 BOOK TWO AD 16 the legions. Just let daylight come, they said, and let them be given the chance to fight! The Roman soldiers would sake the Germans’ lands, and drag off the wives. They accepted the omen, they added, and they saw their enemies’ wives and money as their spoils of war. At about the third watch, there was an assault on the camp, without a weapon being thrown: the Germans realized that there were cohorts stationed at close intervals along the fortifications, and vigi- lance had not been relaxed. 14. That same night brought Germanicus a pleasant dream in which he saw himself offer sacrifice and then, when his toga was spat- tered with the victim’s blood, take another more attractive one from the hands of his grandmother Augusta. Encouraged by the omen, and the auspices also being favourable, he called a meeting of the troops and discussed the precautions that his own judgement had suggested to him, and other items appropriate for the coming battle. It was not just open country that favoured the Roman soldier in battle, he said; so did woods and forest glades, if shrewdly used. For the oversized shields of the barbarians and their huge spears were not as effective amidst tree-trunks and undergrowth as the Roman javelins, swords, and body-hugging armour. They should strike repeatedly, said Germanicus, and aim at the face with the points of their weapons. The Germans had no breastplate and no helmet—not even shields reinforced with iron or animal tendons (in place of which they carried wickerwork structures or flimsy, painted boards). The first line was equipped with some kind of spears, he added, but the rest had only short weapons hardened by fire. While their physique presented a grim spectacle and was strong enough for a brief attack, they had no resistance to wounds. They were men who would leave the field and flee with no thought for the disgrace of it, and no concern for their leaders—panic-stricken in defeat and obliv- ious to any law, human or divine, in their moments of success. If the Romans were sick of marching and seafaring and wanted an end to it, he said, this was the battle by which that could be acquired. The Elbe was now closer than the Rhine, and there would be no fighting* beyond it as long as they made him the victor in that very region where he was treading in the footsteps of his father and his uncle.* 15. The leader’s speech was received with fervour by the men, and the signal was given for battle. On their side, Arminius and the other German chieftains did not forget to call on their various peoples toAD 16 CHAPTERS 13-17 57 witness that these Romans were the swiftest to flee in Varus’ army, men who had turned to mutiny to avoid going to war. Now, they said, with the gods against them and with no hope of success, these were again facing a wrathful foe, some exposing backs covered with wounds, and others limbs that had been shattered by waves and storms. For they had resorted to their ships and the remote water- ways to avoid any opposition as they came, and any pursuit when they were driven back—but winds and oars would prove ineffectual safeguards when the two sides came to grips! They should simply remember the greed, the ruthlessness, and the arrogance of the Romans! Were they now left any option other than retaining their liberty, or dying before becoming slaves? 16. This inflamed the men, who clamoured for battle, and their officers led them down into the plain called Idistaviso. This lies between the Visurgis and the hills, being irregularly contoured because of receding river-banks and projecting spurs of the moun- tains. To the rear of the Germans rose a forest with towering branches and clear ground between the tree-trunks. The plain and fringes of the forest were occupied by the barbarian battle-line, apart from the Cherusci, who alone were ensconced on the mountain heights so they could charge down on the Romans during the fighting. Our army advanced in the following order. The Gallic and German auxiliaries were in front, with the foot-archers behind them; next came four legions, and Germanicus at the head of two praetor- ian* cohorts and some elite cavalry; then there were the other legions (in the same number), the light-armed troops with the mounted archers, and the other allied cohorts. The soldiers were alert and ready to form up the battle-line in the order of the march. 17. The hordes of the Cherusci made an impulsive rush forward. When Germanicus spotted them he ordered his strongest horsemen to charge their flank, and instructed Stertinius to work his way around with the other cavalry squadrons and attack the rear. Germanicus himself would present himself at the appropriate moment. Meanwhile a fine omen caught the commander’s eye, eight eagles that were spotted heading for and entering the woods. They should go ahead and follow the Roman birds, the special deities of the legions, Germanicus cried; and in a simultaneous movement the infantry line made its charge, and the cavalry that had been sent forward attacked the rear and the flanks. And then, strange to say, two columns of the58 BOOK TWO AD 16 enemy went in headlong flight in opposite directions, those who had been deployed in the woods heading for the open country, and those positioned on the flat ground into the wood. Between the two, the Cherusci were being dislodged from the hills, and amongst them, a striking figure, was Arminius, trying to keep the battle alive by fighting, shouting and taking his wounds. He had swooped down on the archers, intending to break through at this point, only to find his way blocked by the Raetian, Vindelician, and Gallic cohorts. Even so, with great physical effort and by the momentum of his horse, he did make his way through, after smearing his face with his own blood to avoid recognition. Some have claimed that he was actually recog- nized and let through by the Chauci who were serving amongst the Roman auxiliaries. Similar courage—or similar treachery —enabled Inguiomerus to escape. The rest were slaughtered indiscriminately. Some tried to swim across the Visurgis, but were overpowered by a volley of weapons or the force of the current, and eventually by the rushing mass of fugitives and the collapsing banks. Some, in a shameful attempt to escape, struggled up to the treetops and hid in the branches, but these were scornfully shot down when the archers were brought up, or crushed when the trees were felled. 18. It was a great victory* and not dear in blood for us. The enemy were massacred from the day’s fifth hour until nightfall, covering a ten-mile stretch with corpses and weapons, and amongst the spoils were discovered chains that they had brought for the Romans, believing the result a foregone conclusion. The men hailed Tiberius as Imperator* on the site of the battle, and raised a mound on which they set weapons (as one does with trophies), with an inscription bearing the names of the conquered tribes at its foot.35 57 wn oe hundred sesterces: that is, the equivalent of 25 denarii. Given that the annual pay for a legionary rate was 225 denarii, a promise of a daily rate of 25 would not have been taken very seriously. The mutineers in AD 14 demanded one denarius a day (1.17). no fighting: with the friendship or neutrality of Maroboduus to the south and the Sucbi beyond the Elbe there would be no serious opposition. his father and his uncle: Drusus had reached the Elbe in 9 Bc and Tiberius in AD 5. praetorian: two praetorian cohorts had similarly been sent with Drusus to Illyricum (1.24). victory: the speed with which the Germans regrouped demonstrates that this claim is highly exaggerated. Imperator: Tiberius’ coins do not in fact record an extra salutation until AD 20 (Imperator VIII) and the honour may have been declined on this occasion.