those of Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus, Florus, and Cassius Dio... Velleius, writing within two decades of the battle and himself a former officer who had served in Germany under Tiberius, offers the earliest extant narrative.
Just as figures once dismissed – such as Diodorus, Josephus, Velleius Paterculus, and Florus – have been reconsidered as independent and reflective historians, so too has Appian.
Velleius Paterculus tells Rome’s past with remarkable speed ... (From Velleius Paterculus. Making History, edited by Eleanor Cowan; chapter “Velleius Paterculus as Senator ... Velleius’ sense of time is closely bound to place.