5 He served his military
apprenticeship in Britain
to the satisfaction of Suetonius Paullinus, a painstaking and judicious
officer, who, to test his merits, selected him to share his tent. Without the
recklessness with which young men often make the profession of arms a mere
pastime, and without indolence, he never availed himself of his tribune’s rank
or his inexperience to procure enjoyment or to escape from duty. He sought to make
himself acquainted with the province and known to the army; he would learn from
the skilful, and keep pace with the bravest, would attempt nothing for display,
would avoid nothing from fear, and would be at once careful and vigilant. Never
indeed had Britain
been more excited, or in a more critical condition. Veteran soldiers had been
massacred, colonies burnt, armies cut off. The struggle was then for safety; it
was soon to be for victory. And though all this was conducted under the
leadership and direction of another, though the final issue and the glory of
having won back the province belonged to the general, yet skill, experience,
and ambition were acquired by the young officer. His soul too was penetrated
with the desire of warlike renown, a sentiment unwelcome to an age which put a
sinister construction on eminent merit, and made glory as perilous as infamy.
|