Continuing to summarize the condensed history:
Batavians unhappily helped Vitellius against Otho;
they defeated the Othonianists at the Po;
Otho killed himself;
Vitellius could not control his troops who ran wild in Italy;
Vespasian held Africa and Asia;
his general, landing in Italy, wrote to Civilis;
Batavians held Alpine passes against Vitellianists;
Civilis called a tribal assembly;
outraged by Vitellius' conscription, they agreed to revolt against him;
folkmoots of the Canninefates and Frisii rallied to the cause;
German auxiliaries and a Tungrian cohort defected from Vitellius to Civilis;
Civilis smashed two legions, drove them into Castra Vetera and won a battle near Bonna;
only when the defenders of Castra Vetera refused to support Vespasian did Civilis proclaim secession;
the Bructeri, Tencteri, Chamavi, other Germans and the Gauls led by Classicus joined Civilis;
Wael-Edh foretold Roman doom.
The summary suggests events building to a crescendo.
"...this segment of space-time was unstable; the less they from the future moved about in it, the better."
- Poul Anderson, Time Patrol (New York, 2006), p. 516.
Everard decides to interview Civilis and, if possible also Classicus, immediately after the surrender of Castra Vetera, which is still several months before a possible split in events. He and Janne cannot afford to spend years investigating but must instead visit a single point, even though they risk witnessing the slaughter of prisoners which they are forbidden to prevent.
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