Previous to the murder of Hordeonius Flaccus[388] nothing had 55 leaked out to arouse suspicions of a conspiracy, but when he had been assassinated, negotiations passed between Civilis and Classicus,[389] who commanded the Treviran cavalry.  Classicus was far above the rest both in birth and in wealth.  He came of royal line and his stock was famous both in peace and war.  It was his boast that his family had given Rome more enemies than allies.  These two were now joined by Julius Tutor and Julius Sabinus, the one a Treviran, the other a Lingonian.  Tutor had been appointed by Vitellius to watch the bank of the Rhine.[390] Sabinus’ natural vanity was further inflamed by spurious pretensions of high birth, for he alleged that his great-grandmother’s beauty had caught the fancy of Julius Caesar during the campaign in Gaul, and that they had committed adultery.  These four tested the temper of the rest in private interviews, and having bound to the conspiracy those who were considered fit, they held a conference at Cologne in a private house, the general feeling in the city being hostile to such plans as theirs.  A few of the Ubii and Tungri, indeed, attended, but the Treviri and Lingonians were the backbone of the conspiracy.  Nor would they tolerate deliberation or delay.  They vied with each other in protesting that Rome was distracted by internal quarrels; legions had been cut to pieces, Italy devastated, the city was on the point of being taken, while all her armies were occupied with wars of their own in different quarters.  They need only garrison the Alps and then, when liberty had taken firm root, they could discuss together what limit each tribe should set to its exercise of power.

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