The Roman army owes its success to being well organized, disciplined and efficient in the modern sense of the term. The power of Rome always depended on the army; its fame of invincibility for some centuries allowed Rome to live on its prestige.
Augustus and Tiberius sought in every way to have good relations with the legionaries and their generals, to avoid the return of civil wars that had finally ended with the Pax Augusta, starting an era of prosperity and peace.
Since military expenses were increasingly high, they decided to reduce the number of legions from 60 to 28, and established a military Treasure to cover the expenses of the soldiers' leave prizes. After decades of military service, the legionaries could not be awarded just with some arable land and also obtained a money compensation.
To face this and other expenses, Augustus and Tiberius decreed the end of exemption from the taxes that Italy had enjoyed since. A reform that attracted the fierce hatred of the Italian aristocracy and the Senate, included latin historians such as Suetonius and Tacitus, both senators.
In doing so, Augustus and Tiberius followed the suggestions of Agrippa and Mecenate of which Cassio Dione reports (28.6): «The next step is to get more money by imposing a tax on all the assets that produce a profit for their owners, and establishing a system of taxes equal for all the peoples that we govern».
Speaking of taxes, Tiberius rightly said that «the shepherd has to hear the sheep and not to skin them». That money must be wisely spent, and he was one of the few emperors to leave the State finance in surplus.
When Tiberius became emperor he confirmed the reforms and the testamentary donations of Augustus, reducing the duration of military service from twenty to sixteen years. He confirmed the payment to veterans of a money compensation, in addition to the assignment of lots of land to be cultivated.
Despite this, he immediately had to face several rebellions in the ranks of the army, caused by the very hard life conditions of the legionaries. Tacitus thought that the mutiny of the legions in Pannonia was caused by the advent of the new Princeps. Suetonius even believed that Tiberius feared that he could be dethroned by his nephew Germanicus, who was very popular among his soldiers.
But Tiberius too was loved by the soldiers, with whom he had always lived in close contact. He thoroughly knew their problems and had always tried to solve them firmly and with common sense. He knew how to maintain discipline rightly.
Tacitus writes that Tiberius sent his son Drusus to Pannonia and on his arrival «the soldiers bared their bodies, showing the scars of the wounds and the signs of the beatings ... they denounce the misery of the wage, the hardness of the works: building the valley, digging ditches, piling up the forage, the building material and the burning wood, and all the other necessary or invented tasks, so that they would not indulge in leisure in the camp».
And he adds: «The cries of the veterans who, counting their thirty and more years of service, invoked relief for their tired limbs: not death in the never ending fatigue, but the end of such a harsh military service, and some rest that did not mean hunger».
Druso tried to buy time and the legionaries asked him abruptly why he had come there if he didn't have the power to make decisions.
The situation was very critical, but an unexpected event suddenly changed everything: a Moon eclipse, which was seen by the soldiers as a nefarious omen. Tacitus writes: «Minds are prone to superstition if they are influenced. The soldiers are afraid that this is a sign of the aversion of the gods to their misdeeds».
Druso considered the eclipse as an unexpected stroke of luck of which he immediately took advantage, proclaiming that that was a divine sign, and he was believed.
+++ LEGIONARI IMPAURITI
Tacitus writes that the rebels had no escape: «All the main responsible for the revolt were hunted. The stragglers outside the camp were killed by the centurions or by soldiers of the praetorian cohorts; others were handed over by their own comrades, as a demonstration of their loyalty».
Tiberius had been the best general of his time and wisely did not want to rage further. He decided to confirm the military commands even where there had been rebellions, because the continuity of the command line and the direct knowledge of local situations were essential to maintain the order in the most turbulent provinces. It was not advisable to start from scratch.
He tried to consolidate the boundaries of the Empire, took care of the maintenance of roads and aqueducts. He created solid administration with more efficient officials, chosen from the Homines Novi (the new men) of more modest social classes. He tried to maintain the public order that was indispensable for tranquility and prosperity. In this and other things it was the true founder of the Roman empire.
To discover the importance of history and its connection to astronomy, and the symbolic meaning of eclipses and other illuminations created by the Sun and the Moon, read the books on Roman Cultural Archaeoastronomy by Marina De Franceschini and Giuseppe Veneziano, published by Rirella Editrice.