All this was no sooner spoken than applauded. About the remnant of 56
Vitellius' army they were in some doubt. Many held that they ought to
be killed as being treacherous and insubordinate and stained with the
blood of their generals. However, the idea of sparing them carried the
day. To destroy all hope of pardon would only steel their obstinacy:
it was much better to seduce them into alliance: only the generals
need be killed; a guilty conscience and the hope of pardon would soon
bring the rest flocking over to their flag. Such was the tenor of
their first meeting. Agitators were sent all over Gaul to stir up war.
The conspirators themselves feigned loyalty to Vocula, hoping to catch
him off his guard.[391] There were, indeed, traitors who reported all
this to Vocula, but he was not strong enough to crush the conspiracy,
his legions being short-handed and unreliable. Between suspected
troops on one side and secret enemies on the other, it seemed his best
course under the circumstances to dissemble, as they were doing, and
thus use their own weapons against them. So he marched down the river
to Cologne. There he found Claudius Labeo, who after being taken
prisoner, as described above,[392] and relegated to the Frisii, had
bribed his guards and escaped to Cologne. He promised that if Vocula
would provide him with troops, he would go to the Batavi and win back
the better part of their community to the Roman alliance.
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