holding office, Publius Canidius Crassus made a campaign against the
Iberians that inhabit this portion of the world, conquered in battle
their king Pharnabazus and brought them into alliance; with this king he
invaded Albanis, the adjoining country, and, after overcoming the
dwellers there and their king Zober, conciliated them likewise. Antony
was elated at this and furthermore based great hopes upon Monaeses, who
had promised him to lead his army and bring over to him most of Parthia
without conflict. Hence the Roman took up the war against the Parthians
in earnest and besides making various presents to Monaeses gave him three
Roman cities to govern until he should finish the war, and promised him
in addition the Parthian kingdom. While they were so occupied Phraates
became terrified, especially because the Parthians took the flight of
Monaeses very much amiss, and he opened negotiations with him, offering
him anything whatever, and so persuaded him to return. When Antony found
this out, he was naturally angry, but did not kill Monaeses although the
latter was still in his power; for he felt sure he could not win the
confidence of any other of the barbarians, in case he should do such a
thing, and he wanted to try a little trick against them. He accordingly
released Monaeses, apparently supposing the latter was going to bring the
Parthian affairs under his control, and sent envoys with him to Phraates.
Nominally he was arranging for peace on the condition of getting back the
standards and the prisoners captured in the disaster of Crassus,
intending to take the king off his guard while the latter was expecting
a pacific settlement; but in fact he was putting everything in readiness
for war. [-25-] And he went as far as the Euphrates, thinking it was
free of guards. When, however, he found that whole region carefully
guarded, he turned aside from it, but led a campaign against Artavasdes,
the king of the Medes, persuaded thereto by the king of Greater Armenia,
who had the same name and was an enemy of the aforementioned. Just as he
was he at once advanced toward Armenia, and learning there that the Mede
had gone a considerable distance from his own land in the discharge of
his duties as an ally of the Parthian king, he left behind the beasts of
burden and a portion of the army with Oppius Statianus, giving orders
for them to follow, and himself taking the cavalry and the strongest of
the infantry hurried on in the confidence of seizing all his opponent's
strongholds at one blow; he assailed Praaspa, the royal residence,
heaped up mounds and made constant attacks. When the Parthian and the
Medan kings ascertained this, they left him to continue his idle
toil,--for the walls were strong and many were defending them,--but
assailed Statianus off his guard and wearied on the march and slew the
whole detachment except Polemon, king of Pontus, who was then
accompanying the expedition. Him alone they took alive and released in
exchange for ransom. They were able to accomplish this because the
Armenian king was not present at the battle; but though he might have
helped the Romans, as some say, he neither did this nor joined Antony,
but retired to his own country. [-26-] Antony hastened at the first
message sent him by Statianus to go to his assistance, but was too
late. For except corpses he found no one. This outcome caused him fear,
but, inasmuch as he fell in with no barbarian, he suspected that they had
departed in some direction through terror, and this lent him new courage.
Hence when he met them a little later he routed them, for his slingers
were numerous, and as the latter could shoot farther than would the bows
they inflicted severe injury upon the men in armor. However, he did not
kill any remarkable number of them, because the barbarians could ride
fast. So he proceeded again against Praaspa and besieged it, though he
did no great damage to the enemy; for the men inside the walls repulsed
him vigorously, and those outside could not easily be entrapped into a
combat. Thus he lost many of his own men in searching for and bringing
provisions, and many by his own discipline. At first, as long as they
could get their food from somewhere in the neighborhood, they had no
difficulty about either undertaking: they could attend to the siege and
safely secure supplies both at once. When, however, all material at hand
had been used up, and the soldiers were obliged to go to some distance,
it happened to them that if few were sent anywhere, not only did they not
bring anything, but they perished as well; if a number were sent, they
left the wall destitute of besiegers and meantime lost many men and many
engines at the hands of the barbarians, who would make a sortie against
them. [-27-] For this reason Antony gave them all barley instead of wheat
and destroyed every tenth man in some instances: indeed, the entire force
which was supposed to be besieging endured the hardships of persons
besieged. The men within the walls watched carefully for opportunities
to make sallies; and those outside harassed fearfully the Romans that
remained in position as often as they became separated, accomplishing
this by making a sudden charge and wheeling about again in a narrow
space: this force outside did not trouble the food trains while the
latter were en route to the villages, but would fall upon them
unexpectedly when scattered in the homeward march. But since Antony even
under these conditions maintained his place before the city, Phraates,
fearing that in the long run he might do it some harm either by himself
or through securing some allied force, secretly sent some men to open
negotiations with him and persuaded him by pretending that it would be
very easy to secure peace. After this, when men were sent to him by
Antony, he held a conference with them seated upon a golden chair and
twanging his bowstring; he first inveighed against them at length, but
finally promised that he would grant peace, if they would straightway
remove their camp. On hearing this Antony was both alarmed at his
boastfulness and ready to believe that a truce could be secured if he
himself should shift his position: hence he withdrew without destroying
any of his implements of siege but behaved as if in friendly territory.
[-28-] When he had done this and was awaiting the truce, the Medes
burned the engines and scattered the mounds, while the Parthians made
no proposition to him respecting peace but suddenly attacked him and
inflicted very serious damage. He found out that he had been deceived
and did not venture to employ any further envoys, being sure that the
barbarians would not agree to any reasonable terms, and not wishing to
cast the soldiers into dejection by failing to arrange a truce. Therefore
he resolved, since he had once started, to hurry on into Armenia. His
troops took another road, since the one by which they had come they
believed to have been blocked entirely, and on the way their sufferings
were unusually great. They came into unknown regions where they wandered
at random, and furthermore the barbarians seized the passes in advance of
their approach, digging trenches outside of some and building palisades
in front of others, spoiled the water-courses everywhere, and drove
away the flocks. In case they ever got a chance to march through more
favorable territory, the enemy would turn them aside from such places by
false announcements that they had been occupied beforehand, and caused
them to take different roads along which ambuscades had been previously
posted, so that many perished through such mishaps and many of hunger.
[-29-] As a result there were some desertions, and they would all have
gone over, had not the barbarians shot down before the eyes of the others
any who dared to take this course. Consequently the men refrained from
this, and from Fortune's hands obtained the following relief. One day
when they fell into an ambush and were struck with fast-flying arrows,
they suddenly made by joining shields the _testudo_, and rested their
left knees on the ground. The barbarians had never seen anything of the
kind before and thought that they had fallen from their wounds and needed
only one finishing blow; so they threw aside their bows, leaped from
their horses, and drawing their daggers came close to put an end to them.
At this the Romans rose to their feet, spread out the phalanx at a word,
and each one attacked the man nearest and facing him; thus they cut down
great numbers since they were contending armed against an unprotected
foe, men prepared against men off their guard, heavy infantry against
archers, Romans against barbarians. All the survivors immediately retired
and no one followed them for the future.
[-30-] This _testudo_ and the way in which it is formed deserve a word of
explanation. The baggage animals, the light-armed troops, and the cavalry
are marshaled in the center of the army. Those infantrymen who use the
oblong, hollow, grooved shields are drawn up around the edges, making a
rectangular figure; and, facing outward with spear-points projecting,[52]
they enclose the rest. The other infantrymen, who have flat shields, form
a compact body in the center and raise their shields above themselves and
above all the rest, so that nothing but shields can be seen in every part
of the phalanx alike and all the men by the density of formation are
under shelter from missiles. It is so marvelously strong that men can
walk upon it, and when ever they get into a hollow, narrow passage, even
horses and vehicles can be driven over it. Such is the method of
this arrangement, and this shows why it has received the title of
_testudo_,[53]--with reference to its strength and to the excellent
shelter it affords. They use it in two ways: either they approach some
fort to assault it, often even enabling men to scale the very walls,
or where sometimes they are surrounded by archers they all bend
together,--even the horses being taught to kneel and recline,--and
thereby cause the foe to think that they are exhausted; then, when the
others draw near, they suddenly rise, to the latter's great alarm.
[-31-] The _testudo_, then, is the kind of device just described. As for
Antony, he suffered no further harm from the enemy, but underwent severe
hardships by reason of the cold. It was now winter, and the mountain
districts of Armenia, through which, as the only route open to him, he
was actually thankful to be able to proceed, are never free from snow
and ice. The wounds, of which the men had many, there created especial
discomfort. So many kept perishing and were continually rendered useless
for fighting that he would not allow reports of each individual case, but
forbade any one to bring him any such news; and although he was angry
with the Armenian king for deserting them, and anxious to take vengeance
on him, he nevertheless humiliated himself before the monarch and paid
court to him for the purpose of obtaining provisions and money from him.
Finally, as the soldiers could not hold out to march farther, in the
winter time, too, and were at any rate going to have their hardships for
nothing since he was minded to return to Armenia before a great while, he
flattered the prince tremendously and made him many attractive promises,
to get him to allow the men to winter where they were; he said that in
the spring he would make another campaign against the Parthians. Money
also came to him from Cleopatra, so that to each of the infantrymen was
given one hundred denarii[54] and to the rest a proportionate allowance.
But inasmuch as the amount sent was not enough for them he paid the
remainder from his own funds, and though the expense was his own he gave
Cleopatra the credit of the favor. For he both solicited contributions
from his friends and levied a great deal of money upon the allies.
[-32-] Following these transactions he departed for Egypt. Now the Romans
at home were not ignorant of anything that had taken place in spite of
the fact that his despatches did not contain the truth; for he concealed
all his unpleasant experiences and some of them he described as just the
opposite, making it appear that he was progressing famously: but, for all
that, rumor reported the truth and Caesar and his circle investigated it
carefully and discussed it. They did not, however, make public their
evidence, but instead sacrificed cattle and held festivals. Since Caesar
at that time was still getting the worst of it against Sextus, the truth
of the facts could not be rendered fitting or opportune. Besides his
above actions Antony assigned positions of government, giving Gaul to
Amyntas, though he had been only the secretary of Deiotarus, and also
adding to his domain Lycaonia with portions of Pamphylia, and bestowing
upon Archelaus Cappadocia after driving out Ariarathes. This Archelaus on
his father's side belonged to those Archelauses who had contended against
the Romans, but on his mother's side was the son of Glaphyra, an hetaera.
It is quite true that for these appointments Antony, who could be very
magnanimous in dealing with the possessions of other people, was somewhat
less ill spoken of among the soldiers.
But in the matter of Cleopatra he incurred outspoken dislike because
he had taken into his family children of hers,--the elder ones being
Alexander and Cleopatra, twins at a birth, and the younger one Ptolemy,
called also Philadelphus,--and because he had granted to them a great
deal of Arabia, both the district of Malchus and that of the Ituraeans
(for he executed Lysanias, whom he had himself made king over them,
on the charge that he had favored Paccrus) and also a great deal of
Phoenicia and Palestine together with parts of Crete, and Cyrene and
Cyprus.
[B.C. 35 (_a. u_. 719)]
[-33-] These are his acts at that time: the following year, when Pompeius
and Cornificius were consuls, he attempted to conduct a campaign against
the Armenian prince; and as he placed no little hope in the Mede, because
the latter was indignant at Phraates owing to not having received from
him much of the spoils or any other honor, and was anxious to punish the
Armenian king for bringing in the Romans, Antony sent Polemon to him and
requested friendship and alliance. And he was so well satisfied with the
business that he both made terms with the Mede and later gave Polemon
Lesser Armenia as a reward for his embassy. First he summoned the
Armenian to Egypt as a friend, intending to seize him there without
effort and make away with him; but when the prince suspected this and did
not obey, he plotted to deceive him in another fashion. He did not openly
evince anger toward him, in order not to alienate him, but to the end
that he might find his foe unprepared set sail from Egypt with the avowed
object of making one more campaign against the Parthians. On the way
Antony learned that Octavia was arriving from Rome, and went no farther,
but returned; this he did in spite of having at once ordered her to go
home and later accepting the gifts which she sent, some of them being
soldiers which she had begged from her brother for this very purpose.
[-34-] As for him, he became more than ever a slave to the passion and
wiles of Cleopatra. Caesar meantime, since Sextus had perished and affairs
in Libya required settlement, went to Sicily as if intending to take ship
thither, but after delaying there found that the winter made it too late
for crossing. Now the Salassi, Taurisci, Liburni, and Iapudes had not for
a long time been behaving fairly toward the Romans, but had failed to
contribute revenue and sometimes would invade and harm the neighboring
districts. At this time, in view of Octavius's absence, they were openly
in revolt. Consequently he turned back and began his preparations against
them. Some of the men who had been dismissed when they became disorderly,
and had received nothing, wished to serve again: therefore he assigned
them to one camp, in order that being alone they might find it impossible
to corrupt any one else and in case they should wish to show themselves
rebellions might be detected at once. As this did not teach them
moderation any the more, he sent out a few of the eldest of them to
become colonists in Gaul, thinking that thus he would inspire the rest
with hopes and win their devotion. Since even then they continued
audacious, some of them paid the penalty. The rest displayed rage at
this, whereupon he called them together as if for some other purpose, had
the rest of the army surround them, took away their arms, and removed
them from the service. In this way they learned both their own weakness
and Caesar's force of mind, and so they really experienced a change of
heart and after urgent supplications were allowed to enter the service
anew. For Caesar, being in need of soldiers and fearing that Antony would
appropriate them, said that he pardoned them, and he found them most
useful for all tasks.
[-35-] It was later that they proved their sincerity. At this time he
himself led the campaign against the Iapudes, assigning the rest of the
tribes to others to subdue. Those that were on his side of the mountains,
dwelling not far from the sea, he reduced with comparatively little
trouble, but he overcame those on the heights and beyond them with no
small hardship. They strengthened Metulum, the largest of their cities,
and repulsed many assaults of the Romans, burned to the ground many
engines and laid low Octavius himself as he was trying to step from a
wooden tower upon the circuit of the wall. Later, when he still did not
desist but kept sending for additional forces, they pretended to wish to
negotiate terms and received members of garrisons into their citadel.
Then by night they destroyed all of these and set fire to their houses,
some killing themselves and some their wives and children in addition, so
that nothing whatever remained for Caesar. For not only they but also
such as were captured alive destroyed themselves voluntarily shortly
afterward.
[-36-] When these had perished and the rest had been subdued without
performing any exploit of note, he made a campaign against the
Pannonians. He had no complaint to bring against them, not having been
wronged by them in any way, but he wanted both to give his soldiers
practice and to support them abroad: for he regarded every demonstration
against a weaker party as just, when it pleased the man whom weapons made
their superior. The Pannonians are settled near Dalmatia close along
the Ister from Noricum to European Moesia and lead the most miserable
existence of mankind. They are not well off in the matter of land or sky,
they cultivate no olives or vines except to the slightest extent, and
these wretched varieties, since the greater part of their days is passed
in the midst of most rigorous winter, but they drink as well as eat
barley and millet. They have been considered very brave, however, during
all periods of which we have cognizance. For they are very quick to anger
and ready to slay, inasmuch as they possess nothing which can give them
a happy life. This I know not by hearsay or reading only, but I have
learned it from actual experience as their governor. For after my term as
ruler in Africa and in Dalmatia,--the latter position my father also held
for a time,--I was appointed[55] to Upper Pannonia, so-called, and hence
my record is founded on exact knowledge of all conditions among them.
Their name is due to the fact that they cut up a kind of toga in a way
peculiar to themselves into strips which they call _panni_, and then
stitch these together into sleeved tunics for themselves.
They have been named so either for this or for some other reason; but
certain of the Greeks who were ignorant of the truth have spoken of them
as Paeones, which is an old word but does not belong there, but rather
applies to Rhodope, close to the present Macedonia, as far as the sea.
Wherefore I shall call the dwellers in the latter district Paeones, but
the others Pannonians, just as they themselves and as the Romans do.
[-37-] It was against this people, then, that Caesar at that time
conducted a campaign. At first he did not devastate or plunder at all,
although they abandoned their villages in the plain. He hoped to make
them his subjects of their free will. But when they harassed him as he
advanced to Siscia, he became angry, burned their land, and took all
the booty he could. When he drew near the city the natives for a moment
listened to their rulers and made terms with him and gave hostages, but
afterward shut their gates and accepted a state of siege. They possessed
strong walls and were in general encouraged by the presence of two
navigable rivers. The one named the Colops[56] flows past the very
circuit of the wall and empties into the Savus not far distant: it
has now encircled the entire city, for Tiberius gave it this shape by
constructing a great canal through which it rejoins its ancient course.
At that time between the Colops on the one hand, which flowed on past
the very walls, and the Savus on the other, which flowed at a little
distance, an empty space had been left which had been buttressed with
palisades and ditches. Caesar secured boats made by the allies in that
vicinity, and after towing them through the Ister into the Savus, and
through that stream into the Colops, he assailed the enemy with infantry
and ships together, and had some naval battles on the river. For the
barbarians prepared in turn some boats made of one piece of wood with
which they risked a conflict; and on the river they killed besides many
others Menas the freedman of Sextus, and on the land they vigorously
repulsed the invader until they ascertained that some of their allies had
been ambushed and destroyed. Then in dejection they yielded. When they
had thus been captured the remainder of Pannonian territory was induced
to capitulate.
[-38-] After this he left Fufius Geminus there with a small force and
himself returned to Rome. The triumph which had been voted to him
he deferred, but granted Octavia and Livia images, the right of
administering their own affairs without a supervisor, and freedom from
fear and inviolability equally with the tribunes.
[B.C. 34 (_a. u._ 720)]
In emulation of his father he had started out to lead an expedition into
Britain, and had already advanced into Gaul after the winter in which
Antony for the second time and Lucius Libo were consuls, when some of the
newly captured and Dalmatians with them rose in revolt. Geminus, although
expelled from Siscia, recovered the Pannonians by a few battles; and
Valerius Messala overthrew the Salassi and the rest who had joined them
in rebellion. Against the Dalmatians first Agrippa and then Caesar also
made campaigns. The most of them they subjugated after undergoing many
terrible experiences themselves, such as Caesar's being wounded, barley
being given to some of the soldiers instead of wheat, and others, who had
deserted the standards, being decimated: with the remaining tribes[57]
Statilius Taurus carried on war.