Histories 1.85

Hist. 1.85.1Othō, quamquam turbidīs rēbus et dīversīs mīlitum animīs, cum optimus quisque remedium praesentis licentiae posceret, vulgus et plūrēs sēditiōnibus et ambitiōsō imperiō laetī per turbās et raptūs facilius ad cīvīle bellum impellerentur, simul reputāns nōn posse prīncipātum scelere quaesītum subitā modestiā et prīscā gravitāte retinērī, sed discrīmine urbis et perīculō senātūs ānxius, postrēmō ita disseruit: "neque ut adfectūs vestrōs in amōrem meī accenderem, commīlitōnēs, neque ut animum ad virtūtem cohortārer (utraque enim ēgregiē supersunt), sed vēnī postulātūrus ā vōbīs temperāmentum vestrae fortitūdinis et ergā mē modum cāritātis.Otho, although the situation was troubled and the soldiers' feelings divided, since all the best men demanded a remedy for the present licence, while the mob and the majority, delighting in mutinies and an emperor who courted favour, were more easily driven to civil war by riots and plunder, and although he reckoned at the same time that a principate won by crime could not be kept by sudden restraint and old-fashioned sternness, yet anxious at the danger to the city and the peril of the senate, finally spoke as follows: 'It is not to kindle your affections into love for me, comrades, nor to urge your spirit to courage (for of both you have more than enough), but I have come to ask of you restraint in your bravery and a limit to your devotion towards me.

Hist. 1.85.1Tumultūs proximī initium nōn cupiditāte vel odiō, quae multōs exercitūs in discordiam ēgēre, ac nē dētrectātiōne quidem aut formīdine perīculōrum: nimia pietās vestra ācrius quam cōnsīderātē excitāvit;The recent uproar began not from greed or hatred, which have driven many armies into discord, nor even from shirking or fear of danger: it was your excessive loyalty that stirred it, more keenly than wisely; Hist. 1.85.1nam saepe honestās rērum causās, nī iūdicium adhibeās, perniciōsī exitūs cōnsequuntur.for often, unless one uses judgement, ruinous outcomes follow honourable motives. Hist. 1.85.1Īmus ad bellum.We are going to war. Hist. 1.85.1Num omnīs nūntiōs palam audīrī, omnia cōnsilia cūnctīs praesentibus trāctārī ratiō rērum aut occāsiōnum vēlōcitās patitur?Does the nature of affairs or the swiftness of opportunity allow every report to be heard openly, every plan to be discussed with everyone present? Hist. 1.85.1Tam nescīre quaedam mīlitēs quam scīre oportet: ita sē ducum auctōritās, sīc rigor disciplīnae habet, ut multa etiam centuriōnēs tribūnōsque tantum iubērī expediat.It is as needful for soldiers not to know some things as to know them: such is the authority of generals, such the rigour of discipline, that it is best that even centurions and tribunes are often merely given orders.

Hist. 1.85.1Sī cūr iubeantur quaerere singulīs liceat, pereunte obsequiō etiam imperium intercīdit.If each man may ask why he is given orders, then, as obedience dies, command too perishes. Hist. 1.85.1An et illīc nocte intempestā rapientur arma?Will weapons be snatched there too in the dead of night? Hist. 1.85.1Ūnus alterve perditus ac tēmulentus (neque enim plūrīs cōnsternātiōne proximā īnsānīsse crēdiderim) centuriōnis ac tribūnī sanguine manūs imbuet, imperātōris suī tentōrium inrumpet?"Will one or two ruined and drunken men (for I could not believe that more went mad in the recent panic) stain their hands with the blood of a centurion and a tribune, and burst into their emperor's tent?'