The One-Eyed Man against Rome: An Exercise in Euhemerism

Author(s): Thomas W. Africa

Source: Historia: Zeitschrift fr Alte Geschichte, Vol. 19, No. 5 (Dec., 1970), pp. 528-538
Published by: Franz Steiner Verlag
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THE ONE-EYED MAN AGAINST ROME:

AN EXERCISE IN EUHEMERISM
In German folklore, a sinister figure, wearing a slouched hat and possessing
supernatural powers, lurks in the dark recesses of the forest. The Wild Huntsman, scholars agree, is a relic of the once-mighty god, Odin-Wotan. Dr. Carl
Jung claims that some of his patients have dreamed of "Wotan" figures,' and
one can accept the dreams as facts without endorsing Jung's fanciful theories
of atavism and folk-memory.2 The Wild Huntsman and his divine prototype
may owe some of their attributes to another legend, a confused account of
shamanistic one-eyed war chiefs which arose during Rome's wars with the
barbarians of western Europe. A link between the high god of the Germanic
peoples and these almost legendary enemies of Rome is not as preposterous
as it might seem. The mythopoetic nature of tradition is a recurring problem
for historians, for legends naturally accrue around prominent men, particularly
when they are picturesque. In addition, many great men work avidly to create
these legends in their own lifetime.
In the history of antiquity, one-eyed men were not uncommon, for it was
a time of hand-to-hand combat and facial injuries were frequent. There was
also inadequate medical care for such illnesses as ophthalmia. Sertorius'
quaestor, M. Marius, who was sent to aid Mithridates but came to grief at the
hands of Lucullus, was one-eyed.3 Another one-eyed warrior was Claudius
Sanctus,4 and Arminius' brother Flavus had only one eye.6 Claudius Pollio's
disfigurement prompted Nero's lampoon, The One-Eyed Man.6 According to
legend, the Spartan Moses, Lycurgus, lost an eye in a riot,7 but Lycurgus was
"more god than man"8 and was worshiped as a deity at Sparta.9 His single
1 Carl G. Jung, Psychology and Religion, (New Haven: Yale University Press, I 938), p. 33.
2

For a bizarre example of pseudoscience, see Carl G. Jung, "Wotan," Saturday Review

of Literature,

Oct. I6, I937,

pp. 3-4,

i8,

20.

Plutarch, Lucullus 8. 5, 12. 5, Sertorius 24. 3-4. Appian, Mithr. 68, 76, 77. Livy, fragment of Book 9I, (Loeb edition, vol. XIV, p. I94).
'Tacitus, Hist. 4. 62.
6 Tacitus, Ann. 2. 9.
6 Suetonius, Domitian i, insists that he was Domitian's lover. Pliny, Epp. 7. 3I, has
high praise for Pollio, who was also a biographer (HRR, II clxiv.).
7 Plutarch, Lycurgus I I. 1-2, Moralia 227 AB. Pausanias 3. i 8. 2. Dioscurides (Jacoby,
594 F i) says that his sight was restored by Athena Optilitis.
8 Plutarch, Lycurgus 5. 3. Diodorus Siculus 7. I2. I.
9 Herodotus I. 5-6. Pausanias 3. i6. 5.
3

The one-eyed man against Rome

529

eye suggests a solar kinship with Apollo, the presumed inspiration of the
Eunomia. Similarly, the Roman hero, Horatius Cocles, whose name means
"'one-eyed,"10is a figure of doubtful historicity. To Polybius, Horatius was a
brave warrior who died in the Tiber in what was apparently an act of devotio.1'
However, Livy, Dionysius, and Plutarch expanded the tale and had him swim
the river in full armor and survive to enjoy renown at Rome.12Plutarch adds
that Horatius may not have been one-eyed, for some sources say that his nose
was flat and his eyebrows ran together to give him a Cyclopean appearance."'
Long after his legendary exploit, Horatius was connected with a crude statue of
a one-eyed, lame figure,"'and the hero's lameness suggests that he may have
originally been Vulcan. Though Horatius' single eye has been connected with
Odin, Walbank sensibly warns: "It is indeed possible that Horatius Cocles has
inherited some divine or heroic features, but parallels with Norse or Indian
mythology must remain arbitrary because of the gap in time and space.""6
Perhaps, the whole tale of Horatius at the bridge is aetiological and grew out
of the sacrifice of a warrior to the Tiber." Whatever the origin of the story,
Horatius (like Lycurgus) cannot be considered among the one-eyed men of
history.
The roster of one-eyed men is not limited to legendary figures or minor
personalities. Discussing remarkable coincidences, Plutarch observes that the
famous commanders, Philip of Macedon, Antigonus I, Hannibal, and Sertorius,
were all one-eyed.'7In modern times, the list would include Kutuzov and Nelson.
The details of how Philip lost his right eye in war are confused,'8 but Demosthenes testifies to the reality of the loss."' Because of his disfigurement, Antigonus received the epithet MonopAthalmos.Apparently, Antigonus was sensitive
about his appearance, for Apelles purposely painted his portrait to hide the
missing eye.20 The facial injuries of Philip and Antigonus gave the kings a
distinctive appearance and made them colorful and memorable personalities,
10

Varro, de lingua Latina 7.

1 Polybius 6. 55.
12

Livy

2. IO.

71.

1-3.

Dionysius 5.

23. 2-25.

4. Plutarch, Poplicola i6. 4-7.

3 Plutarch, Poplicola I6. 5.

id Aulus Gellius 4. 5. i. Pliny, N. H. 34. 29.

15 F. W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on
Polybius, (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
vol. I, p. 741.
I957),
"I "The legend is of primeval antiquity," R. Ml.Ogilvie, A
Commentary on Livy I-V,
(Oxford: Clarendon Press, i965), p. 258.
17 Plutarch, Sertorius I. 4.
18 Strabo 7. 22. Pseudo-Plutarch, Moralia
307D, cites Callisthenes (Jacoby, 124 F 57).
Diodorus Siculus I6. 34, 5 has the most plausible version - an arrow at the siege of
Methone - cf. Pliny, N.H. 7. I24. Plutarch, Alexander 3. i, sees the hand of God.
I9 Demosthenes, de Corona 67. Plutarch, Alex. 70. 3, connects Philip with another oneeyed Macedonian, Antigenes, who was wounded at the siege of Perinthus.
20 Pliny, N. H. 3590.

TH. W. AFRICA

530

but otherwise the disability has no historical significance. While the psychological effect of Napoleon's short stature or Goebbels's clubfoot could be considered significant, Charlemagne'shigh voice is simply an interesting personal
detail.20aHowever, the physical appearance of the one-eyed Hannibal and
Sertorius played an important role in the frontier wars of the barbarians
against Rome.
Not only was he Rome's most formidable enemy, Hannibal was also its
most picturesque foe. Centuries later, Juvenal echoed the awe which the great
Punic general had inspired:
o qualis facies et quali digna tabella,
cum Gaetula ducem portaret belua luscum!21
In a rhetorical passage studded with superlatives, Livy catalogued Hannibal's
great abilities,22and Polybius praised his skill in handling barbarians - Numidians, Celts, Iberians, and Ligurians - as well as Greek mercenaries, Italian
allies, and Punic professionals.-' A charismatic leader, Hannibal forged a mixed
horde of barbarians into a first-rate fighting force; to the surprise of the
Romans, the "lesser breeds" stood their ground at Cannae. Understandably
the Romans feared Hannibal, and fear produced hatred and calumny. Like
Milton's Lucifer, the Hannibal of Roman tradition was a gifted but inherently
satanic individual, and Livy indignantly denounced his "perfidia plus quam
Punica."24According to Livy, the perfidious Carthaginianreneged on a promise
to free Roman prisonersafter the battle of Lake Trasimene.25However, Polybius
says that Hannibal had not authorized Maharbalto offer the prisoners freedom
if they surrendered.26While conceding Hannibal's "cruelty and avarice,"27
Polybius does not press the charge of perfidy against the great Carthaginian,
for the Greek historian was too aware of Roman acts of treachery, not only
against Spanish tribes and Macedonian kings, but even in the "pure" days
of the Second Punic War. Scipio's infiltration of and attack on Syphax's camp
and his assault on the Carthaginians who came to help fight the fire28show
Roman pragmatism at its most flagrant. For guile, no Carthaginian could
surpass Villius Tappulus who adroitly compromised Hannibal in the eyes of
Antiochus I1.29 Of course, the hypocrisy of Roman indignation over real and
fancied incidents of "Punic faith" does not negate the fact that Hannibal was
20a-Einhard, vita Caroli 22; cf. Diogenes Laertius II 5 (Plato's weak voice), V I (Aristotle's lisp).
21 Juvenal IO. 157-158.
22 Livy 2 I . 4. 3-9.
23 Polybius I I. 19. 3-5.
24 Livy 21. 4. IO.
25 Livy 22. 6. 11-12.
Appian, Hann. IO. Zonaras 8. 25.
26 Polybius 3. 84. I4-85.
3.
27 Polybius 9. 22-26.
For the latter trait, Massinissa is Polybius' somewhat biased
source
28
29

(g. 25.

3-4).
i. 8, 2. I 9.

Polybius

I4.

Livy

14. 4.

35.

Livy 30. 4-6.

The one-eyed man against Rome

53I

a manipulator of men, a master of persuasion and diplomacy, and a military

man engaged in a bitter, personal war against Rome - he used his allies and
disdained them when they no longer served his purposes.30No doubt, the
barbarians who served in his armies recalled Hannibal as a great war chief
who was at times arbitrary and devious - attributes, incidentally, which the
gods share.
Despite his charismatic hold over the common troops, the Celtic chiefs did
not completely trust the Punic leader and some plotted against him. To protect
himself against assassination attempts, Hannibal often disguised himself with
costumes and wigs, so skillfully that he wandered about the camps undetected
and could mingle with his own aides in the guise of an old man and not be
recognized.8 A man who can change his shape at will is a shaman, and so
Hannibal must have appeared to his barbaric followers. In the marshes of the
Arno, Hannibal contracted ophthalmia and lost the sight of his right eye32the disability also helped to set him apart from other men. Though migrant
tribes had often crossed the Alps, the passage of the great mountains with an
army was no mean feat, and Polybius complains that foolish writers introduced
gods and heroes to aid Hannibal in his difficulties in the Alps.33While the dei
ex machina may have been only the literary devices of pro-Punic historians,
it is reasonable that Hannibal would have assured his troops that Heaven had
intervened in the mountains. There may be some truth in Livy's tale (from
Coelius Antipater?) of Hannibal cracking rocks with heat and sour wine;>
if so, the Carthaginian would have appeared as a wizard to the barbarians. In
any case, Hannibal's crossing of the Alps with strange troops and monstrous
beasts must have left an impression on the Alpine tribes and the Celts of northern Italy. Long after the great captain had returned to the mysterious land
from whence he had come, the barbarians of Spain and Italy who had served
him recounted the exploits of the guileful, one-eyed war chief, who could
change shape, had supernatural contacts, and had once led them against the
hated Romans.
Once a historical personage becomes a legend, he can play a new role in
history, for heroes have a habit of returning. Especially in times of oppression
or revolutionary fervor, the heroes of the past are eagerly awaited to lead
30 Appian, Hann. 6o.
31

Polybius 3. 78. 2-4. Livy 22. 1. 3. Zonaras 8. 24.

I2.
Livy 22. 2. ii. Nepos 23. 4. 3. According to Coelius Antipater
(HHR, I frag. 34), Juno threatened to take the sight of the other eye if he plundered
her temple at Lacinium - Cicero, de Div. I (24) 48.
3 Polybius 3. 47. 8, 48. 7-9. Walbank, Commentary, I, p. 382, suggests that IHeracles
may have been the divine guide.
34 Livy 21. 37. 2-3. Appian, Hann. 4. cf. Vitruvius 8. 3. I9. Polybius either knew nothing
of the story or did not consider it worth debunking. However, Evan T. Sage defends the
tale, "A Chemical Interpretation of Livy 21. 37. 2," Classical Weekly XVI (1922) 73-76.
32 Polybius 3. 79.

34 Historia XIX/5

532

TH. W.

AFRICA

their followers again. The Messiahis always "He who is coming," and so is the
Mahdi. In the Kyffhauser cave, the emperor FrederickMasleeps, and antirepublican Brazilian peasants expected the return of Dom Sebastiao, who actually
died in 1578:
Visita nos vem fazer
Nosso rei Dom Sebastiao,
Coitado daquelle pobre
Que estiver na lei do cao !86
Restless under the Roman yoke, the tribesmen of Spain longed for the return
of Hannibal, who was now both war lord and shaman in their folklore. The
one-eyed man would lead them to victory against Rome. In the post-Sullan
era, the Hannibal of legend did return to Spain, but he came in the form of a
Roman at war with Rome.
One of the most colorful figures in Roman history was Quintus Sertorius,
the Mariangeneral who was proscribed by Sulla but led a successful resistance
in Spain during the post-Sullan era. A brilliant tactician and a master of
guerrilla warfare, he severely tested the mettle of Metellus Pius and young
Pompey. Sertorius' forces included a large number of Roman exiles, but most
of his troops were Iberian natives who were devoted to him. Earlier as governor
in Spain, Sertorius had effected reforms to benefit the natives,86and when he
later became a rebel leader, they were fanatically devoted to him.37His bodyguards were Spaniards, not Romans,88and thousands of barbariansconsecrated
themselves to die defending Sertorius.89Aware of this devotion, Metellus put a
price on Sertorius' head but offered the reward to a Roman,40knowing that the
barbarians would not betray their leader. It was, of course, a Roman who
finally assassinated Sertorius. The champion of a lost cause, the civilized leader
of barbarian bands, Sertorius had all the qualities of a romantic hero. The
Populares idolized him, Sallust admired a fellow-Sabine,41and Plutarch followed
their lead with a biography which borders on hagiography.42Mommsen sucMa See Norman Cohn, The Pursuit of the Millennium (New York, Harper Torchbook,
Ed. 2), for an interesting account of Frederick II as a messianic figure pp. 99-I23;
for the sleeping emperor, see pp. 143-147.
X Euclides da Cunha, Rebellion in the Backlands (Os Sert6es), (Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1944), p. I64.
36 Plutarch, Sertorius 6. 4.
87 Plutarch, Sertorius 14. I.
38 Appian, Bell. Civ. I II2, emphasizes the jealousy of the Romans over Sertorius'
"favoring" of the barbarians.
40 Plutarch, Sertorius 22. I.
39 Plutarch, Sertorius I4. 4-5.
"1 Ronald Syme, Sallust, (Berkeley: University of California Press, I964), p. 58.
42 Being Plutarch, he inconsistently cast Sertorius in the role of a desperate bandit in
the biography of Pompey: All the poisons of civil war were distilled in Sertorius! (Pompey
196I

17. I).

The one-eyed man against Rome

533

cumbed to the charisma of Sertorius," and the CambridgeAncient History

contains a veritable rhapsody on the fallen hero." Thanks to Plutarch, the
pro-Sertorian tradition has generally captured the field of history.
In antiquity, there was a strong anti-Sertorian tradition, and Sallust complains of "invidiam scriptorum."'VWhile Plutarch insists that Sertorius was
always moderate and proper,48Appian says that he succumbed to luxury and
debauchery in his last days.47Livy emphasized Sertorius' cruelty to his own
men,'8 and the Livian epitomizer, Florus, implicated Sertorius in Marius'
bloodbath."9Another writer dependent on Livy, Orosius, considers Sertorius a
trouble-making renegade, an inciter of civil strife.50The hostile tradition goes
back to the Optimates, who unanimously deplored the treacherous murder of
Sertorius but were delighted to be rid of him. In times of civil war and rebellion, charges of cruelty are commonly made and are usually true. Appian says
that Sertorius was savage toward deserters,5' and Plutarch admits that his
hero became cruel when the Spanish revolt was foundering.62To excuse the
massacre of the hostage boys at Osca, Plutarch claims that Roman traitors had
stirred up dissension among some Spaniards and thus provoked the hardpressed Sertorius to acts of reprisal." Counterbalancingthe cruelty of his later
career, Sertorius had earlier acquired a reputation for clemency, and Appian
notes that he punished a cohort which was guilty of rape and brutality.5"According to Plutarch (Sallust ?), Sertorius had opposed Marius'purge and joined
Cinna in slaughtering Marius' agents,55but not until they had depleted the
opposition. Neither ogre nor saint, Sertorius was a man of his time. In Spain,
he set up a Roman government-in-exile,5' and though allied with Mithridates,
he would not agree to the king's desire to add the province of Asia to the
Pontic empire.57To surrender Roman territory even on paper would have been
fatal to Sertorius' pose as the persecuted defender of the pre-Sullan Republic.
Nor is there any reason to doubt that Mithridates' request was distasteful to
Sertorius as a Roman patriot.
Whatever Sertorius was in Roman eyes, to the barbarians of Spain he was
Hannibal returned. The Celtiberians actually called him Hannibal.58 In the
Marsic war, Sertorius had lost an eye,59 and Sallust says that he rejoiced in
43 Theodor Mommsen, History of Rome, (New York: Scribners, 1887), vol. IV, p. 50.
4" R. Gardner, The Cambridge Ancient History, vol. IX, pp. 325-326.
"ESallust, Hist. I 88 (Maurenbrecher) = Aulus Gellius 2. 27. 2.
46 Plutarch, Sertorius 26. 4.
47 Appian, Bell. Civ. I 113.
48

Livy, Per. 92.

'9 Florus 2. 8. 13-14.
60 Orosius 5. i9. cf. Vellcius Paterculus 2. 25. 3.
61 Appian, Bell. Civ. I 112.
52 Plutarch, Sertorius IO. 3-4.
" Plutarch, Sertorius 25. 5.
54 Appian, Bell. Civ. I io9.
65 Plutarch,
Marius 54. 6, Sertorius 5. 4-5.
66
68
34.

Plutarch, Sertorius 22. 3-5.

Appian, Bell. Civ. I 112.

57 Plutarch, Sertorius 22. 4-5.

6 Plutarch, Sertorius 4. 2.

TH. W. AFRICA

534

the disfigurement, regarding it as a badge of honor.60In the Spanish revolt,

the single eye became an asset. Like Hannibal, Sertorius was crafty and knew
the value of disguises. During the Cimbrian war, he mingled with the enemy
dressed as a barbarian and speaking their language.6'In 97 B.C., he employed a
similar stratagem in Nearer Spain,62and it is probable (though not recorded)
that he used disguises when he was a guerrilla leader during the Spanish revolt.
Besides his ability to change shape, the one-eyed chief had another link with
the world of shamanism, a journey to the land of the dead. When his career
was at its nadir, Sertorius had succumbed to despair and wanted to sail to the
Isles of the Blest," but his pirate friends refused to make the voyage. To
Sertorius as later to Horace, the wonderful islands in the Atlantic were a
Utopian escape, a sanctuary free from the horrorsof civil war." However, to the
barbarians, the islands beyond the setting sun were the land of the dead,,
and though he had not reached them, Sertorius could speak knowingly of the
Western Paradise. Since he deceived the Iberians in the matter of the doe,
Sertorius would not be above lying about his voyage to the isles of the dead.
Whether or not he made such a claim, Sertorius did pose as a divinely inspired
leader in direct communication with the gods. With embarrassment and disapproval, Plutarch details the religious fraud that his hero perpetrated on the
trusting Iberians. Sertorius claimed that a pet white doe brought him messages
from the goddess Diana.66 The simple barbarians were duly impressed, and
Sertorius was understandably shaken when the divine messenger was briefly
lost.67 Luckily, the doe was found, and Sertorius continued his pose as a man
in touch with the supernatural. In Sertorius, the religious aspect of the oneeyed war chief, the shaman leader of barbarian bands, was intensified.68The
cruelties of Sertorius' later days added to the arbitrariness of the one-eyed
man of legend. If anything, this capriciousness made the one-eyed man more
godlike. When Sertorius was murdered, the barbarians were deeply shaken.69
However, the one-eyed man would return to lead other tribes against Rome.
GOSallust,

Gellius 2. 27. 2.
Hist. I 88 (Maurenbrecher) -Aulus
62 Plutarch, Sertorius 3. 5.
*I Plutarch, Sertorius 3. 2.
63 Plutarch, Sertorius 8. 2-9.
I. Florus 2. 10. 2. Sallust, Hist. I I00 (Maurenbrecher).
" Horace, Epodes i6.
6 Plutarch, Sertorius 8. 3. Other Celtic paradises in the Atlantic were the Isle of Apples
(Avalon), the Land of Youth (Tirnan Oc), and the Field of Happiness (Mag Mell) - all
were timeless lands of the dead. Returning from a brief voyage to Mag Mell, Bran mac
Febail found that many years had past and no one remembered his name. He had also
been warned not to set foot on ordinary ground; a rash companion who did so immediately
turned to ashes. So, Bran and his company sailed back to the Isles of the Blest.
66 Plutarch, Sertorius i I. I-1 2. To Plutarch's deeply religious mind, this cynical mockery
of religion justified the later fate of an otherwise heroic individual.
67 Plutarch, Sertorius 20. 1-3.
68 Appian, Bell. Civ. I i io, insists that Sertorius himself believed in the doe as a link
69 Appian, Bell. Civ. I I 14.
with Heaven.

The one-eyed man against Rome

535

During his lifetime, the fame of Sertorius had spread to other lands, and
Mithridates first heard of his activities from sailors.70 After his death, the
legend of the one-eyed man was recounted in Gaul, where veterans of Sertorius'
bands were active among the Aquitanians.71 There, Caesar's legate Crassus
battled them in 56 B.c.72 Spread by word of mouth, the legend of the oneeyed man, now amplified by Sertorius' acts, spread through the Celtic tribes
and to their neighbors, the Batavians. Restless under Roman rule, the tribesmen responded to songs of the one-eyed chief who with Heaven's assistance
had challenged the might of Rome. Morethan a hundred years after the Roman
catastrophe in the Teutoburger Wald, the barbarians of Germany were still
singing of the mighty deeds of Arminius.73Yet, Arminius was only a minor
chieftain, who was later murdered by his own relatives. In legend, he had
become a heroic figure. Compounded of Hannibal and Sertorius, the saga of
the one-eyed man was of longer duration and had the additional advantage of
combining nationalistic hatred of Rome with a religious element, shamanism
and divine messengers. In antiquity, particularly among primitive peoples,
religion played the role which ideology does in the modem world, providing an
irrational and compelling reason to kill and be killed.
In 69 A.D., the one-eyed man returned to lead a major revolt of the tribes
along the lower Rhine. Though a Batavian of royal descent,74 Julius Civilis
was a Roman citizen; after many years of service with the legions, he had
reached the position of tribune in charge of a cohort.75Tacitus describes him
as crafty and resourceful, and Civilis' role as leader of the Rhine revolt leaves
no doubt that his loyalties lay with his Batavian tribe and not with the Roman
empire. Apparently, Civilis was implicated in the Gallic revolt of Vindex, for he
was sent in chains to Nero, but Galba released him and he returned to the
frontier.76The Batavian chief was soon in danger from the followers of Vitellius, but they decided to spare him because of his great prestige with the
tribesmen.77A persuasive orator, Civilis realized that the strife between Vitellius and Vespasian provided a golden opportunity to free his people from Roman
control. Rousing the tribes, he proclaimed a war of liberation and bound them
to his cause "with barbarous rites."78In the ensuing war, Civilis proved himself a master of ruse and treachery as well as a first-rate tactician. Tacitus pays
him a grudging compliment and notes the source of his charismatic appeal:

"Civilis ultra quam barbaris solitum ingenio sollers et Sertorium se aut An70

Plutarch, Sertorius 23. I-2.

71 Caesar, Bell. Civ. 3. 2.
Dio Cassius 39. 46. 3. Orosius 6. 8.
73 Tacitus, Ann. 2. 88.
7' Tacitus, Hist. 4. I2.
75 Civilis' German counterpart, Arminius, had also served with the Roman army and
was even a member of the equestrian order - Velleius Paterculus 2. II8. 2. Tacitus, Ann.
I. IO.
76 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 13.
77 Tacitus, Hist. I. 59; 4. 13.
78 Tacitus, Hist. 4. I5.
72

536

TH.W. AFRICA

nibalem ferens simili oris dehonestamento."79As a Roman officer, Civilis was

literate and had read of the great enemies of Rome whose disfigurement he
shared. As a barbarian, he had heard the tale of the one-eyed man, and his
illiterate followers saw him in this role. The single eye was a favorable sign,
and Celts and Germans joined the rebels.
Another sign from Heaven came with the "unnatural" low level of the Rhine
which hampered the Roman defenses and made it easy for the Germansto ford
the river barrier.80At the news that the temple of Capitoline Jupiter had burned
when the Flavian troops stormed Rome, the Gallic rebels took heart and the
Druids were ecstatic that the gods had shown so plainly the doom of Rome.81
Though he did not employ disguises like Hannibal or Sertorius, Civilis did
change his appearance, dying his hair red and vowing not to cut it until
victory. When Cologne and Vetera had fallen, he shaved his long beard and
resumed his original appearance.82The one-eyed man always has a visible link
with Heaven (Hannibal's divine guides, Sertorius' doe), and Civilis had the
support of the German prophetess, Veleda, who stayed remote in her tower
and was only approached through her relatives.10The oracle had prophesied
victory for Civilis.MWhen the war began to favor Rome, the Roman commander Petilius Cerialisundermined Civilis' religious role by trying to persuade
Veleda to desert the rebel cause.A6If Veleda was good at her trade, the crafty
Roman probably convinced her. The final defeat of Civilis is not recorded, for
Tacitus' Histories break off in the middle of a conference between Cerialis and
the one-eyed man. Probably by the end of 70 A.D., the Batavians had submitted
to Roman rule again.86What happened to Civilis is not known - perhaps he
died in battle or flight, or maybe he escaped to the wilderness and disappeared
into the world of legend. After the reinforcement of the tale of Hannibal the
shaman by Sertorius and Civilis, it would be strange if the legend of the oneeyed man ceased to be told about the campfires of the barbarians.
It is well known that real historical figures, such as Attila and Ermanaric,
reappear warped by legend in later Germanic sagas. Possibly, tales of Arminius
contributed some details to the Sigurd of Volsung fame.87Gods, too, are usually
compounded of earlier deities and even mortals, for the world of myth is highly
eclectic. The high god of the Northern peoples, Odin, evolved from the Germanic
79 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 13. "Dehonestamento" is a Sallustian word, see Sallust, Hist. I 83
(Maurenbrecher) and Ronald Syme, Tacitus (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1958), vol. I, p. I99
81 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 54.
80 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 26.
n. 2.
83 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 65.
82 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 6I.
84 Tacitus, Hist. 4. 6i.
85 Tacitus, Hist. 5. 24.
86 In 83 A.D., Batavian troops were serving under Agricola in Britain. Tacitus, Agricola
36, cf. Germania 29.
87 E. 0. G. Turville-Petrie, Myth and Religion of the North, (London: Weidenfeld and
204-205.
Nicolson, I964), pp. I99-200,

The one-eyed man against Rome

537

war god, Wotan.88 Though honored as the All-Father, Odin had some less
pleasant characteristics, for he was treacherous and arbitrary and sometimes
betrayed those who trusted in him. A fierce war god, he delighted in battle and
led a band of berserkers.A shaman figure with connections with the land of the
dead, Odin changed shape and wandered the earth in various disguises. His
most distinctive feature was his single eye, for he had given the other to gain
the gift of guile. According to Saxo Grammaticus, Odin visited a Danish king
"as an old man of great height, lacking one eye, and clad in a hairy mantle."89
The description also fits Polybius' portrait of Hannibal, disguised as an old
man with wig and long cloak, wandering unknown about the camps. The long
beard, which Odin always wore, suggests the long beard of Civilis which was
dyed red, the color of gore and the favorite hue of Wotan. The disguises and
the visits to the land of the dead recall Sertorius, and the craftiness of Odin
was shared by all three of the one-eyed mortals who led barbaric war bands.
According to Norse theology, Odin's eye was given to Mimir:
I know it all, Odin,
where you hid your eye
deep in the wide-famed
well of Mimir;
every morning
does Mimir drink
mead from Volfodr's pledge.Y0
This passage from the Voluspa suggests a solar significance for the one-eyed
god, and the single eye of Odin may derive from some Indo-European skydeity. However, the theologians of the Eddic age reflect a late stage of Northern paganism, and Wotan was originally a German war god, inferior it would
seem to Tiwaz. Wotan seems to be the Germanic deity whom Roman writers
label as Mercury,"'for the German divinity was also a god of cargoes and
psychopompusto the underworld. Long before Hannibal, Sertorius, and Civilis,
the god Wotan was worshiped by the tribes of Germany, but gods acquire
attributes and myths over the years, and it is possible that the figure of OdinWotan absorbed the legend of the one-eyed man. Of course, this hypothesis is
only a suggestion, incapable of proof, but it may have heuristic value.
88 Two recent and authoritative discussions of Odin-Wotan are by Turville-Petrie,
op. cit., pp. 35-74, and H. R. Ellis-Davidson, Gods and Myths of Northern Europe,
(London: Penguin, I964), pp. 48-72, 140-I57.
89 Saxo Grammaticus, Gesta Danorum 7. 248.
90 Voluspa 28.
91 Tacitus, Germania 9; cf. Geoffrey of Monmouth, Hist. Regn. Brit. 6. io. Hengist,
Horsa, and most Germanic chiefs claimed to be descendants of Wotan, Bede, Eccl. Hist. i.

I5.

538

TH.

W. AFRICA, The one-eyed man against Rome

Discussing the absorption of a historical legend by a divine figureis a tenuous

business. As a monolithic theory, Euhemerism has obvious shortcomings, not
least of which is the tendency in many traditions to make men out of gods.
Whether in ancient China or early Athens, kings whose bodies end in serpent
tails should make historians wary, for such figures are demythologized deities.
Yet, the transformation of great personages into gods is an undeniable historical
fact. Jesus and Gautama are glaring examples, and the physician Imhotep
became an Egyptian god of medicine.92The incorporation of the one-eyed man
theme into the Wotan cult is not complete Euhemerism, for the Wotan cult
was flourishing long before Hannibal. A comparable development took place
in ancient Mexico where details of the career of the Toltec chief, Topiltzin,
became hopelessly enmeshed with the myth of the god Quetzalcoatl whose name
he had adopted.93 While the borrowing of the one-eyed man legend by the
Wotan cult is only a hypothesis, the legend of the one-eyed war chief, cunning
and cruel, invested with a shamanistic aura, was a discernible factor in the
wars of the western barbarians against Rome. Originating in Hannibal,it was
reinforced by Sertorius as viewed by the Celtiberians and was exploited by
Civilis who was "most cunning for a barbarian." The sagacity of barbarians
should not be underrated. In I8o6, General William Henry Harrison taunted
Tecumseh's brother, the Shawnee Prophet, to give the Indians proof of his
supernatural powers. However, the Prophet, who incidentally was one-eyed,
knew that an eclipse of the sun would take place on June I6, for observation
stations had been set up in the projected path of the total eclipse and the
Prophet was aware of the government's activity. Accordingly, he prophesied
that he would darken the sun, and on the appointed day, the Prophet dramatically blotted out the sun and then restored its light to the terror-struckIndians,
who were naturally awed by the miracle.4 It was a trick worthy of Sertorius
and performed with the coolness of Civilis.
State University of New York, Binghamton

THOMAS W. AFRICA.

92 Henry E. Sigerist, Primitive and Archaic Medicine, (New York: Oxford University
Press, 1951), pp. 289-290. The standard study of Imhotep is Jamisson B. Hurry's Imhotep
the Vizier, (Oxford: Clarendon Press, I928).
93 George C. Vaillant, Aztecs of Mexico, (London: Penguin, I962, rev. ed.), pp. 87-88,

I82-I83.
94 Glenn Tucker,

Tecumseh,

Vision of Glory, (New York: Bobbs-Merrill,

1956), pp. 98-

ioo. The Prophet's brother, Tecumseh, was even more versed in the ways of the whites;
the great chief enjoyed listening to readings of Hamlet, and he was fond of stories of
Alexander the Great, whom he admired and imitated (pp. 78-79).