[Sidenote:--28--] But a new war broke upon the heads of the Romans, and no longer a foreign but a civil strife. It was the soldiers who were responsible for the outbreak. They were somewhat irritated by their setbacks, but their behavior was owing still more to the fact that they would no longer endure any hard work if they could help it, but were thoroughly out of training in every respect and wanted to have no emperor that ruled with a firm hand but demanded that they get everything without stint, and chose to perform no task that was fitting for them. They were further angered by the cutting off of their pay and the deprivation of prizes and exemptions (these last among the privileges of the military), which they had gained from Tarautas, even though they personally were not destined to be affected by these measures. Their resolution was definitely strengthened by the delay which they had undergone in practically one and the same spot while wintering in Syria on account of the war. It should be stated that Macrinus seemed to have shown good generalship and to have acted sensibly in debarring the men in arms from no privilege, but preserving to them intact all the rights allowed by his predecessor, whereas he gave notice to such as intended to enlist anew that they would be enrolled only upon the old schedule published by Severus. He hoped that these recruits, entering the army a few at a time, would hold aloof from rebellion, at first through peaceful inclinations and fear and later through the influence of time and custom, and that by having no corrupting effect upon the rest they would quiet them.