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followed across the sea by civil war, had met with a disastrous end, and the Emperors had
been oftener heard of than seen in Syria and Judaea. There had been no mutiny among the
legions, nothing indeed but some demonstrations against the Parthians, attended with various
success. In the last civil war, though other provinces had been disturbed, peace had been
here unshaken. Then had followed a loyal adherence to Galba. But when it became notorious
that Otho and Vitellius, opposed in impious strife, were ready to make a spoil of the Empire,
the thought that others would engross the rewards of power, while they would have nothing
left for themselves but a compulsory submission, made the soldiers murmur and take a survey
of their own strength. There were close at hand seven legions; there were Syria and Judaea,
with a vast number of auxiliaries. Then, without any interval of separation, there was Egypt
and its two legions, and on the other side Cappadocia, Pontus, and all the garrisons along the
frontier of Armenia. There was Asia Minor; there were the other provinces, not without a
military population, and well furnished with money. There were all the islands of the
Mediterranean. And there was the sea itself, which during the interval of preparation for war
would be both a convenience and a protection.
The ardour of the troops was not unknown to their generals; but it was judged advisable to
wait for the issue of the struggle which others were carrying on. The conquerors and the
conquered, it was said, never unite with a genuine good faith. It matters not whether fortune
make Otho or Vitellius to be the victor. Even great generals grow insolent in prosperity; these
men are quarrelsome, indolent, and profligate, and their own faults will make war fatal to the
one, and success to the other. They therefore postponed the war until a more fitting
opportunity, and though Vespasian and Mucianus had but lately resolved on concerted action,
the others had done so long before. The worthiest among them were moved by patriotism;
many were wrought upon by the attractions of plunder; some by their private embarrassments.
And so, good and bad, from different motives, but with equal zeal, were all eager for war.
About this time Achaia and Asia Minor were terrified by a false report that Nero was at hand.
Various rumours were current about his death; and so there were many who pretended and
believed that he was still alive. The adventures and enterprises of the other pretenders I shall
relate in the regular course of my work. The pretender in this case was a slave from Pontus,
or, according to some accounts, a freedman from Italy, a skilful harp-player and singer,
accomplishments, which, added to a resemblance in the face, gave a very deceptive
plausibility to his pretensions. After attaching to himself some deserters, needy vagrants whom
he bribed with great offers, he put to sea. Driven by stress of weather to the island of Cythnus,
he induced certain soldiers, who were on their way from the East, to join him, and ordered
others, who refused, to be executed. He also robbed the traders and armed all the most able
bodied of the slaves. The centurion Sisenna, who was the bearer of the clasped right hands,
the usual emblems of friendship, from the armies of Syria to the Praetorians, was assailed by
him with various artifices, till he left the island secretly, and, fearing actual violence, made his
escape with all haste. Thence the alarm spread far and wide, and many roused themselves at
the well-known name, eager for change, and detesting the present state of things. The report
was daily gaining credit when an accident put an end to it.
Galba had entrusted the government of Galatia and Pamphylia to Calpurnius Asprenas. Two
triremes from the fleet of Misenum were given him to pursue the adventurer: with these he
reached the island of Cythnus. Persons were found to summon the captains in the name of
Nero. The pretender himself, assuming a studied appearance of sorrow, and appealing to their
fidelity as old soldiers of his own, besought them to land him in Egypt or Syria. The captains,
perhaps wavering, perhaps intending to deceive, declared that they must address their
soldiers, and that they would return when the minds of all had been prepared. Everything,
however, was faithfully reported to Asprenas, and at his bidding the ship was boarded and
taken, and the man, whoever he was, killed. The body, in which the eyes, the hair, and the
savage countenance, were remarkable features, was conveyed to Asia, and thence to Rome.
In a state that was distracted by strife, and that from frequent changes in its rulers trembled on
the verge between liberty and licence, even little matters were attended with great excitement.
Vibius Crispus, whose wealth, power, and ability, made him rank among men of distinction,
rather than among men of worth, demanded that Annius Faustus, of the Equestrian order, who
in the days of Nero had practised the trade of the informer, should be brought to trial before
the Senate. The Senators indeed had recently, during the reign of Galba, passed a resolution,
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