1Fortune smiled on his undertakings, since by means of the sea and his ships he held the greater part of Italy, right up to the beginning of the Maritime Alps; to attack these and to assault the province of Narbonensis he had appointed Suedius Clemens, Antonius Novellus and Aemilius Pacensis as commanders. 1But Pacensis was put in chains through the soldiers' licence, and Antonius Novellus had no authority: Suedius Clemens ruled by courting popularity, as corrupt where the restraint of discipline was concerned as he was eager for battles. 1It did not seem to be Italy they were approaching, nor the places and homes of their native land: as if on foreign shores and among enemy cities they burned, laid waste and plundered, all the more savagely because nowhere had any precautions been taken against danger.
1The fields were full, the houses open; 1the owners, running to meet them with their wives and children, were trapped by the security of peace and the evil of war. 1The Maritime Alps at that time were held by the procurator Marius Maturus. 1He roused the people (nor is there any lack of young men) and set about keeping the Othonians from the borders of the province; but at the first onset the mountaineers were cut down and scattered, as men who had been hastily gathered, who knew no camp and no leader, and for whom there was neither glory in victory nor disgrace in flight.