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Plutarch · Life of Otho §10.1-10.3

Otho's Retreat and the River Defeat at the Eridanus

Passage 10 of 18 · Greek

Summary

Otho retreats to Brixillum and takes away his elite guards, severely damaging his army's morale and strength. Meanwhile, in a river battle near the Eridanus, Caecina's fire-ship tactic succeeds as the wind blows the flames toward Otho's defending forces, leading to their defeat.

§10.1αὐτὸς δὲ πάλιν εἰς Βρίξιλλον ἀνεχώρησε, καὶ τοῦτο προσεξαμαρτών, οὐχ ὅτι μόνον τὴν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ παρόντος αἰδῶ καὶ φιλοτιμίαν ἀφεῖλε τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐρρωμενεστάτους καὶ προθυμοτάτους διʼ αὐτὸν ἱππεῖς καὶ πεζοὺς ἀπαγαγὼν φυλακὴν τοῦ σώματος ὡσπερεὶ στόμωμα τῆς δυνάμεως ἀπέκοψε.
Otho himself retreated again to Brixillum, committing in this a further error; for he not only took away from the combatants the respect and emulation inspired by his presence before their eyes, but also, by leading away for his personal bodyguard the strongest and most enthusiastic of the cavalry and infantry, he cut off, as it were, the very edge of his force.
§10.2συνέβη δὲ ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ περὶ τὸν Ἠριδανὸν ἀγῶνα γενέσθαι, τοῦ μὲν Κεκίνα ζευγνύντος τὴν διάβασιν, τῶν δὲ Ὄθωνος εἰργόντων καὶ προσμαχομένων.
And it happened in those days that a battle also took place around the Eridanus, with Caecina constructing the crossing, and Otho’s men preventing and fighting against him.
ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινον, ἐνθεμένων εἰς τὰ πλοῖα δᾷδα θείου καὶ πίττης ἀνάπλεων, διὰ τοῦ πόρου πνεῦμα προσπεσὸν ἄφνω τὴν παρεσκευασμένην ὕλην ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐξερρίπιζε.
But when they made no progress, they placed in their boats torches full of sulphur and pitch, and a sudden wind blowing through the channel flung the prepared material against the enemy.
§10.3καπνοῦ δὲ πρῶτον, εἶτα λαμπρᾶς φλογὸς ἐκπεσούσης, ταραττόμενοι καὶ ἀποπηδῶντες εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν τάς τε ναῦς ἀνέτρεπον καὶ τὰ σώματα τοῖς πολεμίοις μετὰ γέλωτος παρεῖχον.
And when first smoke and then a bright flame burst forth, they being thrown into confusion and leaping down into the river capsized their boats and exposed their bodies to the enemy to be laughed at.
οἱ δὲ Γερμανοὶ τοῖς Ὄθωνος μονομάχοις περὶ νησῖδα τοῦ ποταμοῦ προσμίξαντες ἐκράτησαν καὶ διέφθειραν αὐτῶν οὐκ ὀλίγους.
And the Germans, having engaged Otho’s gladiators near an islet of the river, prevailed and destroyed not a few of them.

Notes

  1. 10.1τοῦτο προσεξαμαρτών — The pronoun τοῦτο is a neuter singular accusative referring to the preceding retreat, serving as an internal accusative (cognate accusative) with the intransitive verb προσεξαμαρτάνω ('to commit a further error').
  2. 10.2ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινον — A subordinate clause introduced by the conjunction ὡς. The unexpressed subject is, from the context, Caecina's forces who were trying to construct the bridge, indicating that they made no progress due to the opposition from Otho's men.
  3. 10.2ἐνθεμένων — A genitive absolute construction with the logical subject (Caecina's men) omitted because it is identical to the subject of the preceding verb ἐπέραινον, describing their action of placing combustible materials onto the boats.
  4. 10.2ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους — 'Against the enemy.' The 'enemy' here refers to Otho's men (who were defending the river) from the perspective of Caecina's men who had prepared the combustible materials.

Cite this passage

Plutarch, Life of Otho §10.1-10.3. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0007.tlg066.humanitext-grc2:10.1-10.3

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