A vague rumour thus
arose, or was intentionally suggested by the general, that Mucianus had
arrived, and that the two armies had exchanged salutations. The men then
charged as confidently as if they had been strengthened by fresh
reinforcements, while the enemy's array was now less compact; for, as there
was no one to command, it was now contracted, now extended, as the courage
or fear of individual soldiers might prompt. Antonius, seeing that they gave
way, charged them with a heavy column; the loose ranks were at once broken,
and, entangled as they were among their waggons and artillery, could not be
re-formed.
VITELLIANISTS AGAIN
DEFEATED |
The conquerors, in the eagerness of pursuit, dispersed
themselves over the entire line of road. The slaughter that followed was
made particularly memorable through the murder of a father by his son. I
will record the incident with the names, on the authority of Vipstanus
Messalla. Julius Mansuetus, a Spaniard, enlisting in the legion Rapax, had
left at home a son of tender age. The lad grew up to manhood, and was
enrolled by Galba in the 7th legion. Now chancing to meet his father, he
brought him to the ground with a wound, and, as he rifled his dying foe,
recognized him, and was himself recognized. Clasping the expiring man in his
arms, in piteous accents he implored the spirit of his father to be
propitious to him, and not to turn from him with loathing as from a
parricide. "This guilt," he said, "is shared by all; how small a part of a
civil war is a single soldier!" With these words he raised the body, opened
a grave, and discharged the last duties for his father. This was noticed by
those who were on the spot, then by many others; astonishment and
indignation ran through the whole army, and they cursed this most horrible
war. Yet as eagerly as ever they stripped the bodies of slaughtered
kinsfolk, connexions, and brothers. They talk of an impious act having been
done, and they do it themselves.
