[598] “He was forced to burn his ships and retreat overland, leaving his baggage, ammunition, and a great part of the arms of his troops in the enemy’s hands.” (Thirlwall’s History, ch. lxiv).
[599] See Merivale’s ‘History of the Romans under the Empire,’ ch. liii. vol. vi. page 142, note.
[600] Quintus Catulus Capitolinus.
[601] Nero set a price upon the head of Vindex, whose designs were speedily revealed to him, and though the forces of the Gaulish province were disposed to follow their chief, the more powerful legions of Lower Germany, under Virginius Rufus, were in full march against them. The armies met at Vesontio, and there Virginius and Vindex at a private interview agreed to conspire together, but their troops could come to no such understanding; the Virginians attacked the soldiers of Vindex, and almost cut them to pieces. Vindex thereupon, with the haste and levity of his race, threw himself upon his sword, and the rebellion seemed for a moment to be crushed. Merivale’s ‘History of the Romans under the Empire,’ vol. vi. ch. lv.
[602] Nero died on the 9th of June, A.D. 68.
[603] The gold ring was presented by the Roman emperors in much the same way as the insignia of an order of chivalry is given by modern sovereigns. Under the republic it had been the distinguishing mark of the equestrian order, and its possession still continued to raise its recipients to the rank of ‘eques,’ cf. Plin. H.N. 33, 2, and Paulus i. 5, de jure anul.
[604] Clough well remarks that here we may observe the beginning of a state-post, which still exists on the continent of Europe, by which all government couriers, &c., were forwarded free of expense. The modern terms of “diplomacy,” “diplomatist,” &c., is derived from the “diplomata,” or folded and sealed dispatches carried by such persons.
[605] Narbonne.
[606] Tacitus sums up the characters of these two men after his manner. “Titus Vinius and Cornelius Laco, the one the worst, the other the laziest of men, &c.” Tac. Hist. i. 6.
[607] No doubt Galba’s personal appearance offered a striking contrast to that of “the implacable, beautiful tyrant” Nero. See infra, ch. 15, and Tac. Hist. i. 7