He had settled the
war, he felt; the rest would be plain sailing. Or, perhaps, in such a
nature as his success only brought to light his greed and arrogance
and all his other dormant vices. While harrying Italy like a conquered
country, he courted the goodwill of his troops and used every word and
every action to pave his way to power. He allowed his men to appoint
centurions themselves in place of those who had fallen, and thus gave
them a taste for insubordination; for their choice fell on the most
turbulent spirits. The generals no longer commanded the men, but were
dragged at the heels of their caprices. This revolutionary system,
utterly fatal to good discipline, was exploited by Antonius for his
own profit.[129] Of Mucianus' approach he had no fears, and thus made
a mistake even more fatal than despising Vespasian.[130]
His advance, however, continued. As winter was at hand[131] and 50
the Po had inundated the meadows, his column marched unencumbered by
heavy baggage. The main body of the victorious legions was left
behind at Verona, together with such of the soldiers as were
incapacitated by wounds or old age, and many besides who were still in
good condition. Having already broken the back of the campaign,
Antonius felt strong enough with his auxiliary horse and foot and some
picked detachments from the legions. The Eleventh[132] had voluntarily
joined the advance. They had held back at first, but, seeing Antonius'
success, were distressed to think they had had no share in it.
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