Plate 22: Civilis Separates German and Dutch Troops by Antonio Tempesta & Otto van Veen 1611

"Now that the power of Civilis was increased by alliance with the people of Cologne, he decided to try to win over the neighbouring peoples, or, if they refused, to attack them. He had already gained the Sunuci1 and had organized their young men into companies of infantry, when Claudius Labeo offered resistance with a force of the Baetasii, Tungri, and Nervii that he had hastily assembled, but he had confidence in his position because he had seized the bridge over the Meuse. The forces engaged in this narrow space without a decisive issue until the Germans swam across the river and attacked Labeo's rear; at the same time Civilis, acting under a bold impulse or in accord with a previous arrangement, rushed to the line of the Tungri and cried in a loud voice: "We did not begin the war with the purpose of making the Batavians and the Treviri lords over the other peoples: such arrogance is far from our minds. Accept alliance with us: I am joining you, whether you wish me to be your leader or prefer me to be a common soldier." The mass of the Tungri were moved by this appeal and were in the act of sheathing their swords when Companus and Juvenalis, two of their chief men, surrendered the whole people to him; Labeo escaped before he could be surrounded. Civilis received the submission of the Baetasii and the Nervii as well, and added them to his forces: his power was now great, for the peoples were either terrified or inclined voluntarily to his cause."

-Tacitus, The Histories: Book 4, Chapter 66

Plate 22: Civilis Separates German and Dutch Troops by Antonio Tempesta & Otto van Veen 1611, from The War of the Romans Against the Batavians (Romanorvm et Batavorvm societas). 6 7/16 × 8 1/8 in. (16.4 × 20.7 cm). Current location: MET Museum. Antonio Tempesta in collaboration with Otto van Veen published in 1612 in Antwerp a series of thirty-six etchings on the Batavians and the Romans in a book entitled Batavorum cum Romanis bellum.

Source:

https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/401451


Quote:

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Tacitus/Histories/4C*.html