Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/1103

DRUSUS. widened the bed of the narrow outlet which at that time connected the Lacus Flevus with the ocean. These were his fossae. With regard to iiis agcfer or moles, it is supposed that he partly dammed up the south-western arm of the Rhine (the Vahalis or Waal), in order to allow more water to How into the north-eastern arm, upon which his canal was situated. But tliis hypothesis as to the situation of the dyke is very doubtful. Some modern authors hold that the Yssel ran into the Rhine, and did not run into the Zuydersee, and that the chief work of Drusus consisted in connecting the Yssel with a river that i-an from Zutphen into the Zuydersee. He did not tarry long at Rome. On the com- mencement of spring he returned to Geiinany, subdued the Usipetes, built a bridge over the Lippe, invaded the country of the Sicambri, and passed on through the territory of the Cherusci as far as the Visurgis (Weser). This he was able to effect from meeting with no opposition from the Sicambri, who were engaged with all their forces in fighting against the Chatti. He would have gone on to cross the Weser had he not been deterred (such were the ostensible reasons) by scarcity of provisions, the approach of winter, and the evil omen of a swarm of bees which settled upon the lances in front of the tent of the praefectus castro- rum. (Jul. Obsequens, i. 132.) Ptolemy (ii. 11) mentions the Tp6iraia Apovaov, which, to judge from the longitude and latitude he assigns to them (viz. long. 33°. 45'. lat. 52°. 45'.), were probably erected on the spot where the army reached the Weser. No doubt Drusus found it prudent to retreat. In retiring, he was often in danger from the stratagems of the enemy, and (ince was nearly shut up in a dangerous pass near Arbalo, and narrowly escaped perishing with his whole army. But the careless bravery of the Germans saved him. His enemies had already by anticipation divided the spoil. The Cherusci chose the horses, the Suevi the gold and silver, and the Sicambri the prisoners. Thinking that the Romans were as good as taken, after immolating twenty Roman centurions as a preparatory sacrifice, they rushed on without order, and were repulsed. It was now they, and their horses, and sheep, and neck-chains (iorqties), that were sold by Drusus. Henceforward they confined themselves to distant attacks. (Dion Cass. liv. 20 ; Florus, iv. 12 ; Plin. If.N. xi. 18.) Drusus had breathing time to build two castles, one at the confluence of the Luppia and the Aliso, and the other near the country of the Chatti on the Rhine. The latter is probably the modern Cassel over against Mayence. The former is thought by some who identify the Aliso with the Aim, to be the modern Elsen Neuhaus in the district of Paderborn; by others, who iden- tify the Aliso with the Lise, to be Lisborn near LippsUidt in the district of Miinster. Drusus now returned to Rome with the reputation of having conquered several tribes beyond the Rhine (Liv. Epit. cxxxviii.), and received as his reward a vote of the senate granting him an ova- tion with the insignia of a triumph, and decreeing that at the end of his praetorship he should have proconsular authority. But Augustus would not allow him to bear the title of imperator, which had been conferred upon him by the army in the field. In the next year, b. c. 10, Drusus was again at his post. The Chatti left the territory which had DRUSUS. 1085 been a/wigned to them by the Romans. After having long refused to become allies of the Sicaui- bri, they now consented to join that powerful peo- ple ; but their united forces were not a match for Drusus. Some of the Chatti he subdued ; others he could do no more than harass and annoy. He attacked the Nervii, who were headed by Senectiua and Anectius(Liv. Epit. cxxxix) ; and it was pro- bably in this campaign that he built a castle upon the Taunus. (Tac. Arm. i. 56.) He then returned to Rome with Augustus and Tiberius, who had been in Lugdunensian Gaul, watching the result of the war in (iermany, and upon his arrival he was elected to the consulship, which was to commence on the Kalends of January, b. c. 9. Drusus could not rest in peace at Rome, To worry and subju- gate the Germans appeared to be the main object of his life. Without waiting for the actual com- mencement of his consulship (Pedo Albin. 1. 139) he returned to the scene of battle, undeterred by evil forebodings, of which there was no lack. There had been horrible storms and inundations in the winter months, and the lightning had struck three temples at Rome. (lb. 1. 401; Dion Cass. Iv.) He attacked the Chatti, won a hard-fought battle, penetrated to the country of the Suevi, gave the Mai-comanni (who were a portion of the Suevi) a signal defeat, and with the arms taken as spoil erected a mound as a trophy. It was now perhaps that he gave the Suevi Vannius as their king. (Tac. A?in. xii. 29.) He then turned his forces against the Cherusci, crossed the Weser (?), and carried all before him to the Elbe. (Messalla Corvin. de Aug. Prog. 39 ; Ped. Albin. 1. 17, 1 13; Aur. Vict. Epit. i. ; Orosius, iv. 21.) The course that Drusus took on his way to the Elbe cannot be determined. Florus (iv. 12) speaks of his mak- ing roads through { pate/ecit) the Hercynian forest, and Wilhelm {Feldzuge, <Sic. p. 50) thinks that he advanced through Thuringia. Dnisus endeavoured in vain to cross the Elbe. (Dion Cass. iv. init. ; Eutrop. iv. 12.) A miraculous event occurred : a woman of dimensions greater than human ap- peared to him, and said to him, in the Latin tongue, "Whither goest thou, insatiable Drusus? The Fates forbid thee to advance. Away ! The end of thy deeds and thy life is nigh." Dion Cassius cannot help believing the fact of the appa- rition, seeing that the prophetic warning was so soon fulfilled! Thus deterred by the guardian Genius of the land, Drusus hastened back to the Rhine, after erecting trophies on the banks of the Elbe. Suetonius {Claud. 1) varies from Dion Cas- sius in the particulars of this legend, and some of the moderns endeavour to explain it by referring the denunciation to a German prophetess or Wala. On his retreat, wolves howled round the camp, two strange youths appeared on horseback among the intrenchments, the screams of women were heard, and the stars raced about in the sky. (Ped. Albin. 1. 405.) Such were the superstitious fears which oppressed the minds of the Romans, who would rather flatter themselves that they were submitting to supernatural forces than avoiding the human might of dangerous enemies. Between the Elbe and the Sala (probably the Thuringian Saal), death overtook Drusus. According to the Epitomi- ser of Livy (cxl.) (whose last books contained a full account of these transactions), the horse of Drusus fell upon his leg, and Drusus died of the fracture on the thirtieth dav after the accident. Of the