The little town of Rodumna[108] lay half-hidden in olive-woods and
vineyards, on the right bank of the Liger, in Gallia Lugdunensis.
It had formerly been strongly fortified, but since the fall of the
Republic it had lost its strategical and military importance. The
foreign wars of the Empire were carried on far, far away on the
northern and eastern frontiers, while internal convulsions had been
constantly more and more centralized in Rome, since the rule of the
Caesars had been fairly established, and a civil war in its original
sense had almost ceased to be a possibility. Men lived faster in these
days, and political changes were rougher and more summary. Thus,
Rodumna had gradually dwindled in importance as a citadel; the walls
had begun to fall into ruin, and were being overgrown with ferns and
maiden hair. In Rome, and even in Lugdunum, men had something else to
do than to pay any attention to this out-of-the-way little town, whose
inhabitants, for their part, troubled themselves little enough about
the affairs of the great world, and repaid contempt with indifference.
Here reigned that idyllic peace “far from the madding crowd,” which
Horatius Flaccus had sung in his famous odes. The inhabitants, for the
most part small land-owners or farmers, won from the surrounding lands
all that they needed for actual existence, and even something more;
produce which was sent either down the river in vessels to Decetia[109]
and Noviodunum,[110] or in carts, over the ridge of mountains to the
east, to the chief town of the province. The poorer inhabitants fished
in the river, labored in humble toil, and kept a few taverns in which
the thick and muddy wine of the country was sold.
In the course of the last ten years several houses and villas had
been built outside the town walls, often separated by wide tracts and
surrounded by gardens, fields and groves, each a little world of itself.
It was one of these isolated country-houses, the home of his old and
paternal friend Rufinus, that Cneius Afranius had designated as the
place of meeting for the conspirators. They were to concentrate on this
point by the ides of February,[111] and meanwhile each was at work
independently in different parts of the province. They were to assemble
as quietly as possible, to report the success and prospects of their
efforts, and to form their plans for future action.
The eventful thirteenth of February had dawned. The evening before,
Cneius Afranius and the Batavian, accompanied by his freedman
Herodianus and Magus the Goth, had already met, and early in the
morning, before sunrise, the others had arrived, most of them in
extraordinary disguise. Ulpius Trajanus appeared dressed as a merchant
from Palestine, Nerva, who was with him, played the part of his
accountant--his former tutor. The snowy beard, which he had allowed to
grow during the last few months, entirely concealed his identity. Even
the one-armed centurion had been so cautious as to assume a disguise,
though his name was not on the list of the proscribed. He was
travelling as a Lusitanian dealer in amulets. Cinna, on the other hand,
like Afranius and Aurelius, though with less reason, had regarded these
precautions as unnecessary. He wore an ordinary travelling-cloak, gave
himself out to be a Roman knight of Lilybaeum,[112] who had come on
business connected with an inheritance to Lugdunum, Vesontio[113] and
Argentoratum,[114] and he trusted to his good fortune, which certainly
had, so far, preserved him from any meeting with a too keen observer.
Caius Aurelius had thought it wise to separate from Herodianus. The
freedman’s conspicuous appearance and unmistakable physiognomy made him
a dangerous travelling-companion, and it was not till they were close
to Rodumna, that the great worshipper of the Opimian wine-jar[115] had
rejoined him--to his unspeakable delight--for, away from his beloved
patron, to him the finest Caecubum tasted no better than the verjuice
of Veii.
Up to their present meeting, not one of the conspirators had been in a
position of any real danger. Cinna attributed this to a certain amount
of negligence and, perhaps, timidity in the administration. Of course
he could not know, that the conspiracy had a noble and influential
supporter in the Palatium itself, in the person of Clodianus, who,
with all the zeal he seemed to devote to Caesar’s interests--and
especially to the work of persecution--nevertheless contrived, by
the subtlest expedients of intrigue, to cripple every active effort,
particularly if it originated with Parthenius, and who managed to
combine an appearance of the greatest energy with absolute inaction.
His master-stroke consisted in collecting a considerable mass of
evidence, which convinced Domitian, and even the chamberlain, that
the conspirators were to converge upon Rhaetia,[116] and take that
district as the basis of their operations. Thus, while Caesar’s agents
were searching and watching that province with eager haste and, misled
by false reports, advanced farther and farther to the north, the
conspirators in Gallia Lugdunensis were congratulating themselves on
their unhoped-for liberty. One old and devoted client of the adjutant's
was indeed cautiously endeavoring to track them--not to circumvent
them as a foe, but because Clodianus wanted to open negotiations with
them, and to further their plots against Domitian. This ambiguous
conduct on his part was unexpectedly successful, mainly because for
some days Parthenius had also betrayed a strange revulsion, and had
ceased to urge on the persecutions with his original virulence. What
could have caused this change in the man--whether it was his more
intimate connection with the intriguing Massilian, Lycoris, or some
secret understanding with the Empress--Clodianus could only guess. But,
diligently as Parthenius strove to conceal the fact, he soon became
aware of it, and with all his wonted elasticity he stretched out his
feelers, so to speak, in order with all caution to investigate this new
phenomenon.
The friends at Rodumna had no suspicion of all this. Even the fact,
that some unknown friend had warned them of the danger, could not put
them on the track of such a wild and incredible idea. When, on board
the Batavia, Nerva had referred to these warning letters, Cinna had
attributed them to a mercenary betrayal on the part of some subordinate
about the court, who thus perhaps gave vent to his own spite and
disaffection, and counted on a reward at some favorable opportunity.
Now, on the thirteenth of February, the villa near Rodumna was the
scene of an agitated discussion. The owner of the house had taken the
precaution of sending off all his slaves the day before, down the river
to an outlying part of his property. Only two trustworthy men had
been kept back, and these, as the sun rose over the hills, prepared a
country breakfast for the assembled party, and then went with Magus
into the garden, where they mounted watch over the high-road and
carefully-barred gate. At the back of the house, where a small door-way
opened to the south-east, Herodianus posted himself, in accordance with
his particular wish. The songs of Pindar,[117] and a jar of the best
wine that Rufinus could produce--this was all he should need to keep
his spirits up, even if the sitting should last until sundown.
The centurion first made his report. His efforts had been chiefly
directed to sounding the feeling of the common soldiers, and he had
traversed the country in every direction. Everywhere he had been met
with cautious reserve, or even with frank distrust. He had several
times been taken for one of those imperial spies,[118] whose business
it was to betray an incautious speaker into some rash utterance
of opinion. These agents, who had hitherto been employed only in
Rome, had, since Caesar’s suspicions had grown to such a head, made
their appearance among the troops stationed in the provinces, and
had fomented much ill-feeling. It happened that Lugdunum had just
lately been the scene of the cruel execution of an officer, who was
universally beloved but who, under the influence of wine, had spoken
some inconsiderate words and who had been denounced by one of these
treacherous informers. The centurion had taken good care not to weaken
this prejudice against himself, indeed he had occasionally risked his
own safety in playing the part thus forced upon him. In other places,
where he had not been suspected, but had been able to talk frankly and
freely with the men, he found that two facts especially, as reported
from the metropolis, had made a deep impression; one was the unhappy
end of the miserable Julia, and the other Caesar’s action against
Cornelius Cinna. Cinna, he said, had already a strong and enthusiastic
following among the common soldiers. It had never been forgotten in the
army, that he had so often spoken in the Senate on their behalf and,
more particularly, had taken their part against the unjust partiality
shown to the praetorian guard, but he believed it would be harder to
win over the military tribunes and the rest of the superior officers.
Among them Domitian’s ascendancy was on the whole undisputed.
These were the most important results of the old centurion's
experience; the assembly expressed their thanks and their admiration
for his indefatigable energy, and the worthy man, whom Cinna and even
Nerva had greatly undervalued--perhaps because they mistook his modesty
for incapacity--rose at once to a high place in their estimation.
Indeed, it presently proved that the enquiries of Trajan, Nerva and
Cornelius Cinna had yielded relatively smaller results than those of
this unpretending soldier.
Ulpius Trajanus, who spoke next, frankly admitted that, in spite of
all his efforts, he had only occasionally spoken to a few officers and
centurions, and had convinced himself that, so far as he was concerned,
he could not hope for any success excepting by declaring himself,
particularly to the divisions of the troops he had formerly commanded.
At these words Caius Aurelius seemed quite delighted--he evidently
thought that the speaker had hit the turning-point of the whole
discussion.
“You know,” Ulpius Trajanus went on, “that one of the three legions
stationed here was under my command, in the campaign on the Rhine
against the Germans.[119] My men were blindly devoted to me, and if I
were to stand before them to-day and say: Soldiers, behold your general
an exile, persecuted, hunted down, because he defends the cause of
truth, justice and freedom.--I am convinced, especially after what
our worthy centurion has told us, that they would rise as one man to
resist the tyrant. The only question is, whether the adherence of one
legion is enough as a beginning of the revolt; whether on the contrary
so small a spark might not be at once trodden out. Ah! my friends, had
I only guessed, when I led my army out of Hispania across the endless
wastes of southern Gaul to the shores of the Rhine--had I only dreamed
then, that the real enemy of our country dwelt in the Palatium! had I
known that the eternal city was more gravely menaced by the canker at
her heart, than by the wild hordes of the Teutobergian and Hercynian
forests! But I was no more than a soldier, thinking of nothing but
the task in hand, and never troubling my head about anything beyond
the field of battle. At that time I could easily have overthrown the
reign of terror, have set the Senate free to act, and so have obtained
a legal verdict against the archtraitor, who now treads our sacred
rights under foot with impunity. Why did I not then understand your
misery and evil plight! I almost feel as if that were my own fault,
which is, in fact, only the ordering of fate. Just lately, when I
have been endeavoring to prepare the soil for our plans, the curse of
delay has stared me in the face with heart-breaking clearness. Of all
the thousands I then had at my disposal, so few remain with me, that
I doubt, as I said, whether it is safe to reckon on such a handful. I
await your counsel.”
Nerva, who had been Trajan’s constant companion during the last few
weeks, had nothing to add to this speech, and Cinna’s report was but a
meagre one.
“So long as we stick at the preparatory stage,” he said,
discontentedly, “I am nobody. I have seen and observed many things.
With all the precautions I could take, I have found out old connections
and, as I will tell you presently, I have found a few persons of
distinction, that are won over to our cause, and who may be of the
greatest service to us. But with all this I fail to see how you propose
to go on. Either one thing or the other.... All now depends on a
hazard; it is a game in which everything hangs on a throw of the die.”
“The die is cast,” said Caius Aurelius.
Every face was turned in astonishment to gaze at the excited young man,
who went on as follows in great agitation:
"Yes, my dear friends and colleagues, if I am not greatly deceived, our
cause is as good as won. How should I, an unknown nobody, have achieved
so great a success? I can quite understand your being dumb with
astonishment.--But the success is not mine, but yours--yours, generous
Cinna; yours, noble Nerva, and, above all, yours, Ulpius Trajanus.
Listen and perpend: After we parted on the coast of Narbonensis, I was
crushed by the consciousness of being the least capable of all of doing
anything to promote your prospects. All the circumstances were new to
me; I had no connection with any great man; I had no glorious past in
my own life. So for some weeks, accompanied by one of my galley-slaves,
I wandered aimlessly about the province doing no good whatever. Then
accident inspired me with a brilliant idea. I was at no great distance
from the Rhodanus; I was tired with a long ride, and we had dismounted
in the middle of a wood, tied the horses by their bridles to the
trunk of a holm-oak, and had lain down ourselves a little way off,
where a clear spot offered us a comfortable couch. Presently we heard
voices--the Propraetor of Lugdunum,[120] as I subsequently discovered,
who had a house in the neighborhood, and his eldest son. The two men,
who had no servants with them, had been hunting, and were now resting
awhile. We kept quiet, for silence and patience are the first virtues
of a refugee. Thus I involuntarily overheard a conversation, which in
a few minutes was of the greatest importance to our purpose and plans.
I learnt, in short, that the Propraetor highly disapproves of the
latest edicts from the Palatium, and is anything rather than blind to
the crimes of the man, whose representative he is. I discovered that
he esteems many of the proscribed, and you especially, my respected
colleagues, as brave and upright men, and that he regards Trajan's
hostility, especially to the present government, as a highly important
feature--as a sign, that Caesar is treading a most dangerous road.
The son, who is a military tribune, agreed with the father in every
particular, especially with regard to Ulpius Trajanus.[121] He spoke of
his distinguished services in the campaigns against the Northmen; he
particularly remarked that at that time--at the head of your legions,
when you had the power entirely in your own hands--you never laid
any ambitious plans, and he wondered how it could have come to pass,
that so moderate a man, after achieving such splendid deeds, should
be now placed in the position of a Catiline. All this was said in
broken phrases and a low conversational tone, and then they went on
to speak of the games and races in the circus of Lugdunum. However,
it was enough for me. The whole tone and style of their speech had
convinced me, that I was listening to people of position and influence;
I therefore determined to keep my men in sight, and when they rose
and set out I followed them, leaving the horses in the copse. Before
long I observed a villa, and meeting some slaves returning from labor
in the fields, I learnt, in answer to my questions, that the noble
personage who walked on so unpretentiously was the Imperial Propraetor,
and had been stopping for a few days in his country-house, as he was
particularly devoted to sport. Indeed, as I approached the house, I saw
a number of soldiers and a guard of honor,[122] which left no doubt as
to the rank of the owner. Then I felt as if the gods themselves had
inspired me.--My resolution was taken at once. I wrote a few lines on
my wax-tablet, gave it to my rower, and desired him, in case I should
not return from the Propraetor’s villa, to carry them to Herodianus,
that he might give you all due warning. Still, I had every hope that
the immortals would crown my rashness with success. My slave left me;
I went forward, and had myself announced to the Propraetor with the
notice that I had a most important communication to make to him. Ten
minutes later I was standing face to face with the governor of the
province.--My lord, said I, as calmly and steadily as if I had arrived
to announce some imperial fiat--I come in the name of Cinna, of Nerva,
and of Trajan, to inform you, that they have determined to accuse
Domitian before the Senate,[123] charging him with high-treason, and
to depose him, and to this end to lead the legions of this province
against Rome...."
“What madness!” cried Cinna, horrified.
“Yes, noble Cinna,” said Aurelius, frankly; “now, when I calmly think
it over, I am astonished at my own audacity. And yet--what was I
risking after all? My life! And my freedman would have had ample time
to warn you.--This occurred the day before yesterday.”
Cinna changed color from red to white, and from white to red again.
“Go on, go on!” urged the others; and Aurelius proceeded:
“The Propraetor was thunderstruck. For a moment I fancied he feared
for his own safety; that he thought that his legions had already
been secretly instigated to rebellion, and that at a given signal
the revolt would break out. He seemed to breathe more freely, when I
told him that the friends of freedom had addressed themselves to him,
hoping to precipitate some prompt decision; counting on his knowledge
of affairs, his rectitude, and his time-tested patriotism to guide
them to an issue from the situation. I painted in glowing colors the
fermenting discontent, the smothered disaffection and hatred of the
populace, the tyranny of the capricious and detested despot, his crimes
and foul deeds that cry to Heaven, and the inevitable pressure from
within towards some complete change. Then I reminded him once more
of your names, you who are here to defend the cause of our country:
Nerva, Cinna, Trajan.--What else I may have said I forget, but the gods
willed, that I should touch some chord which roused a threatening echo
in the old warrior’s breast. It may be, that some personal motives
weighed with him--be that as it may, the Propraetor is on our side, and
as soon as you please you can go to take counsel and lay schemes with
him.”
“If the whole thing is not a trap on his part?” said Afranius.
“No, no,” cried Trajan. “I remember now. Clodianus told me last summer,
that after the death of his first wife the Propraetor had wished to
marry Julia.... Did he not know how Julia had died?”
“He knew it only by vague report. I told him the facts as they were
commonly current in Rome; and he did, certainly, seem very much
shocked....”
The sudden appearance of Herodianus at the door interrupted Caius
Aurelius in his speech. Behind the freedman they could see the ragged
figure of a beggar.
“A messenger from Rome,” said Herodianus mysteriously. “He has brought
important news, if he speaks the truth.”
The beggar came forward, and asked if Cornelius Cinna were present,
and when Cinna acknowledged his identity, the man handed him a
much-crumpled letter. Cinna broke the tie and seal with eager haste,
and the eyes of the party were fixed in anxious expectation on his
face, which first turned deadly pale, and then flushed with rising
color.
“A new ally!” he said, as his hand fell on to the table. “And a
powerful one too! This note is from the adjutant, Clodianus.... Like
the wolf in the fable.--You had but just spoken of him, Trajan.”
“What? Clodianus! impossible!” cried Trajan.
“Not so impossible,” said Caius Aurelius. “Only a short time before
our flight I met him at the house of Norbanus. The things he said--the
questions he asked--I remember it all now.”
“By Hercules! but let us hear,” said Afranius.
When Herodianus and the messenger had withdrawn, Cornelius Cinna read
the letter aloud. It contained, in the first place, the information
that it was Clodianus, who had given the mysterious warning of the
projected arrests, and to confirm this, the words were quoted of the
note that Cinna had received--a proof which all the hearers were
satisfied to regard as conclusive. Clodianus then sketched, with great
judgment, a project for their joint action. He told them how for
some time, he had been working on the minds of the praetorian guard,
and assured them that the only difficulty here would arise from the
character of Norbanus, who clung to Caesar with considerable obstinacy,
who was wholly and solely a soldier, and never troubled himself at all
about questions of State. Still, he was not altogether without hope of
gaining over this important officer to the side of freedom for Rome;
if it came to the worst, ways and means might be found to keep him out
of the way, without hurting his feelings. Then he added some valuable
hints with regard to military operations, and the opening of rapid and
reliable means of communication between Clodianus and the conspirators.
Finally he wrote as follows:
“If, as I imagine, Caius Aurelius, the Batavian, is with you, tell
him that his betrothed came to my house a few days after the ides of
November. She is well. She came to entreat my intercession in favor
of her brother Quintus who, as you may chance to have heard, was
arrested soon after your escape, and cast into the Tullianum on a
charge of having joined the Nazarenes. I promised to do my best, in the
certainty, however, that so long as Domitian wields the sceptre there
is no hope of justice even, and much less of mercy.”
This sentence took a surprising effect on Caius Aurelius.
“My friends,” he exclaimed, "you see, the gods themselves have opened
a way for us! Why do we hesitate? What better guarantees can we expect
for the success of our plans? Even if the Propraetor has begun to
waver, this letter from Clodianus will open his eyes--he must see that
it is vain to struggle against Fate. I would propose that you should
at once enter into negotiations with the Propraetor, and start as soon
as possible for Lugdunum. There, we will proclaim to the legions that
Caesar is deposed, and that the noble old republic of Cincinnatus and
Regulus is reëstablished!"[124]
“To Lugdunum without delay!” they exclaimed unanimously.
FOOTNOTES:
[108] THE LITTLE TOWN OF RODUMNA. _Municipes_, that is, sharers,
was the name originally bestowed upon the inhabitants of
those cities most closely connected with Rome, for instance
Tusculum, Formiae, Lanuvium. Later the term extended to all
the cities in Italy, so that every Roman country-town was
called _municipium_. Still later the name included all the
cities in the empire. We use the word _municipium_ here
incorrectly, in the sense of the German “country-town” for the
elevation of all the cities of the empire to _municipia_ did
not occur until several decades _after_ Domitian’s reign. What
is here said of the importance of Rodumna is not supported by
the writings of the ancient authors.
[109] DECETIA, now Décise.
[110] NOVIODUNUM, now Nevers.
[111] THE IDES OF FEBRUARY. The middle of the month was called
_idus_ (from the Etruscan _iduare_--to divide; see
_div--idere_). In March, May, June and October it fell on the
15th, during the rest of the months on the 13th day.
[112] LILYBAEUM. A city on the western point of Sicily, now Marsala.
[113] VESONTIO. Now Besançon.
[114] ARGENTORATUM. Now Strassburg in Alsace.
[115] OPIMIAN WINE-JARS. Jars containing the vintage of former
years, jars with wine that was pressed under the rule of the
Consul Lucius Opimius (633 years after the building of Rome.)
See Cic. _Brut._ 83, 287; _Vell._ II, 7.
[116] RHAETIA, embraced portions of what is now Tyrol, Upper
Bavaria and Switzerland.
[117] PINDAR, (Πίνδαρος.) A Greek lyric poet, born at
Thebes, 522 B. C. The only poems of Pindar which have come
down to us complete are his _Epinicia_, festal songs to
celebrate the triumph of the victor at the Greek national
games.
[118] IMPERIAL SPIES. For such persons, see Epict. _Diss._ IV,
13, 5: “Thoughtless people in Rome allow themselves to be
arrested by the soldiers, in consequence of their over-hasty
confidence. A soldier in civilian’s dress sits down beside
you, and begins to abuse the emperor. You believe, that the
circumstance that he commenced the reviling, affords you a
guarantee of his trustworthiness, you therefore express your
thoughts, and are instantly fettered and thrown into prison.”
[119] THE CAMPAIGN ON THE RHINE AGAINST THE GERMANS. For Trajan's
campaign on the Rhine, see Plin. _Paneg._ 14. Some expressions
in the description given there have been literally transcribed.
[120] THE PROPRAETOR OF LUGDUNUM. Augustus divided all the
provinces of the empire into two classes: the imperial
and senatorial. The management of the former he undertook
himself, confiding the latter to the senate. “In one respect,
he had selected for himself those most difficult to govern,
either because the inhabitants were not yet at peace, or
warlike neighbors threatened an assault: the senate, on the
contrary, obtained the peaceful ones. Thus the matter looked
as if he had granted the senate the best and most lucrative,
undertaking all care and peril himself; but in reality, he
made the senate defenceless, retaining the army for his
own exclusive use. Only one senatorial province (Africa)
obtained one, and afterwards two legions. The governors of the
senatorial provinces were divided into two classes. Africa
and Asia, according to the decision of the senate, obtained
ex-consuls. The other senatorial provinces were entrusted to
praetors, who also bore the title of proconsul. The governors
of the imperial provinces, on the contrary, though they might
also have been consuls, were called propraetors, to indicate
that they commanded the army (_praeire_). These propraetors
(_legati Caesaris pro praet. cons. pot._) were distinguished
from the senatorial proconsuls in this respect--that they
held office longer than a year, in consequence of which the
provincials obtained great pecuniary relief.” Lugdunensian
Gaul belonged to the imperial provinces, and therefore
possessed a propraetor and a larger garrison.
[121] WITH REGARD TO ULPIUS TRAJANUS. See Plin. _Paneg._ 14, where
the supposition is expressed that Domitian at that time
cherished “a certain fear” of his victorious general Trajan.
[122] GUARD OF HONOR. An imperial propraetor had a right to six
lictors.
[123] THEY HAVE DETERMINED TO ACCUSE DOMITIAN BEFORE THE SENATE.
The senate possessed the right, which however was scarcely
more than theoretical, of elevating and deposing emperors.
[124] REPUBLIC OF CINCINNATUS AND REGULUS IS REËSTABLISHED. The
opposition, under the emperors of the first centuries,
possessed a really republican character, which frequently
asserted itself in contemporary literature.