Vocula

Family: Roman · Role: commander · First appears: Histories IV.33-35

Vocula, a Roman commander, faced Civilis when German forces surprised his camp, leaving him no time to address or form the army for battle. Basque reinforcements helped reverse the defeat, and at Vetera Vocula renewed the fighting, allowing the besieged Romans to burst out through the gates; after Civilis’s fall caused rumors of his death, the Romans were encouraged, while the cohorts fought through to Gelduba. His army then split in a double mutiny, “one party calling Vocula back, the others refusing to return to camp.” Soon the soldiers of the First, Fourth, and Twenty-second rejoined him, and Vocula made them swear allegiance again to Vespasian.

Later, Civilis, Classicus, Julius Tutor, and Julius Sabinus feigned loyalty while preparing their betrayal. At Cologne, Vocula provided Claudius Labeo with a small force of horse and foot to recruit Batavi allies for Rome; at Novaesium, Roman soldiers instead swore allegiance to a foreign power and pledged to kill or imprison their generals. Classicus and Julius Tutor separated from the legions and formed their own camp, prompting Vocula to protest that Rome was not yet so shattered by civil war as to be despised by the Treviri and Lingones. In the end, Classicus sent Aemilius Longinus, a deserter from the First legion, who quickly murdered Vocula.