The Roman Army, 31 BC–AD 337: A Sourcebook

70 The Roman Army
to restrain themselves from blurting out: ‘Is it really you that we see,
general? Have we got you back safely?’ ‘I served with you in Armenia,
general’.‘ And I was in Raetia’. ‘I received military decorations from
you in Vindelicia’. ‘And I in Pannonia’. ‘And I in Germany’. It is difficult
to express this adequately in words and indeed it may seem incredible.
Velleius was a friend of the imperial family and his successful equestrian career
culminated in the acquisition of senatorial rank and eventual election to a
praetorship. His description here of the return of Tiberius to take command of
the German legions in AD 4 is doubtless exaggerated, but nevertheless Tiberius
had a reputation for looking after his men well and for sharing the rigours of
military life, and the enthusiasm of the troops was probably genuine. Later,
Tiberius tried to exploit his comradeship with the army by reminding the
mutinous Pannonian legions that ‘he himself had an outstanding concern for
the courageous legions in whose company he had endured numerous campaigns’
(Tacitus, Ann. 1. 25).
122 Dio, 69. 9
So that the soldiers should be inspired by watching him (Hadrian)
everywhere, he adhered to a rigorous lifestyle, walked or rode on every
occasion, and never during this period mounted a chariot or a fourwheeled
cart. He did not cover his head in hot or cold weather, but went
about bare-headed in the snows of Germany and in the heat of Egypt.
For Hadrian’s personal conduct when visiting the army see also Historia Augusta,
Life of Hadrian, 10. 2. Vespasian (Tacitus, Hist. 2. 5), Trajan (Dio, 68. 8; no.
131), and the Severans (texts nos 123–4) had a similar reputation. By the second
century an emperor on campaign was expected to behave as a ‘fellow-soldier’.
123 Herodian (2nd–3rd C.AD), 2. 11
He (Septimius Severus) shared the hardships of the soldiers, using a
cheap tent and taking the same food and drink as he knew was available
to everyone. He never exhibited any trappings of imperial luxury.
Therefore he won even greater approval from his fellow-soldiers. They
respected the fact that he not only joined personally in all their toils
but also was the first to start any job, and therefore carried out all their
duties enthusiastically.
Cf. Herodian 3. 6; Dio, 74. 15.
124 Dio, 77. 13
In essential and urgent campaigns, however, he (Caracalla) was
temperate and unaffected, and performed menial tasks enthusiastically