boards, as they had no glass windows ; but this was the case
in Rome itself; and similar houses still exist at Rome. I can-
not indeed see why our ancestors of the fourteenth century
should have been much more civilised than they were in the
time of Augustus. Maroboduus, however, seems to have had
a kingdom which was really in a state of civilisation, with
feudal institutions which had arisen out of his conquest of
Bohemia; for that countryhad before been inhabited by Boians,
that is, Celts. Tiberius intended to attack him on two sides;
he himself assembled his troops in Noricum and Vindelicia,
and his legate, Sentius Saturninus, was to advance from the
Rhine through the Hercynian and Thiiringian forests. The
Romans made great preparations, in constructing their roads
through Germany.¹² In this campaign we meet with the first
traces of the unhappy divisions which characterise the whole
history of the Germans; the northern tribes would not assist
Maroboduus, because he had not assisted them; he had allowed
their power to be broken, so that in fact they hardly could
assist him; they also mistrusted him, because they believed
that it was his intention to make himself master over them, as
he had over the Marcomanni.

While Tiberius was engaged in vigorous preparations, the
Pannonians and Dalmatians revolted. This insurrection lasted
for three years, and was one of the most formidable that the
Romans had ever had to contend with. Maroboduus, who
must have known that Tiberius had been preparing to wage
war against him, remained inactive during the revolt of his
southern neighbours. The Dacians and Getae too remained
quiet, although they had formerly often crossed the Danube,
and made inroads into the Roman dominion; thus Providence
again assisted the Bomans. If a general war had broken out,
Rome might have been placed in a most perilous situation.
Augustus was seized with great alarm and trembled at the
danger, for no less than 200,000 enemies are said to have been
in arms. Two men of the name of Bato, one a Dalmatian and
the other a Pannonian, and a Pannonian of the name of Pinncs,

¹² We find, even at the present day, the wooden causeways or roads (limites)
like the bridge over the Elbe at Hamburgh, which the Bomans formed through
the marshes of Holland and Westphalia. They extend over tracts of many
miles, and served as roads for the Roman armies. The wood is now perfectly
black, but otherwise it is still as fresh as if it had been laid down a few years
ago. — N.

were the Commandersof the insurgents. Velleius Paterculus¹’,
who fought in this war, praises the intelligence and civil-
isation of these tribes, especially the Pannonians; and states
that nearly all of them had Eoman customs, and spoke the
Latin language.¹⁴ In this war the insurgents spread as far as
Macedonia. A Eoman army, which came from Asia, was
defeated; and it was only owing to the extraordinary bravery
of the soldiers, who made up for the mistakes of their com-
manders, that the Eomans ultimately conquered the enemy.
The revolted nations at last separated, and Pinnes was trea-
cherously delivered up into the hands of the Eomans by eon
of the Batos. Pannonia was the first that submitted again to the
Eomans, who seem to have concluded peace on terms very
favourable to the rebels, in order to conciliate them. After
the close of this war, Tibcrius was at liberty to resume the
war against Maraboduus, who well deserved a severe chas-
tisement for having so miserably isolated himself ; but another
occurrence again prevented Tiberius from proceeding against
him.

LECTUEE cx.

Maroboduus had done nothing during the insurrection of the
Pannonians and Dalmatians, although he must have known
that preparations had been making against him. The whole of
that part of Germany which lies between the Elbe, the Ehine,
and the Westerwald, recognised the supremacy of Eome as
early as the year 4 60 ; the Chauci and other tribes on the coasts
of East Friesland and Oldenburg were as much subjects of
Eome as the Bructeri and Cherusci in Westphalia. Quintilius
Varus, who was descended from an ancient and illustrious
patrician family, for his ancestors are mentioned in the earliest
period of the republic, was a man of great ability, but of in-
satiable avarice. When he had the command of the army in
¹³ ii. ɪɪ o.

^u I believe that the Pannocians and Romans were kindred nations, otherwise
the facts above stated are hardly credible, as the dominion of Rome had been so
wcentb established in Pannonia.—N. (See Vopιscus, Aurelian. 24.)

VOL. III.                     M

<<   <   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   >   >>