“THE DOLABRA IS THE WEAPON WITH WHICH TO BEAT THE ENEMY”
Corbulo was suffect consul in 39 under Caligula, but the emperor’s assassination in 41 brought this career to a temporary halt. Only in 47 was he entrusted by Claudius to command armies of Germania Inferior. There, he dealt with rebellions by the Cherusci and Chauci tribes and built a canal between the Rhine and Meuse rivers. Corbulo became known for this engineering work, called after him the Fossa Corbulonis. Remains of this 34 km canal have been found on the course of the modern Vliet canal connecting Leiden and Voorburg in the Netherlands. The canal was three metres deep and fifteen metres wide, enough for two ships to pass one another.
According to Cassius Dio, one of the purposes of this canal was to maintain the discipline of Corbulo’s soldiers. Tacitus tells us 11.18) that Corbulo began his command by restoring discipline in the legions and instilling in them a greater fear of their commander than of the the digging and cutting tool every legionary carried.
