1. I shall begin my work with the year in which Servius Galba and Titus Vinius were consuls, the former for the second time.1 For many historians have related events of the preceding 820 years dating from the foundation of Rome. So long as republican history was their theme, they wrote with equal eloquence and independence. Yet after the battle of Actium had been fought and the interests of peace demanded that power should be concentrated in one man’s hands, this great line of historians came to an end.2 Truth, too, suffered in various ways, thanks first to an ignorance of politics, which now lay outside public control; later came a passion for flattery, or else a hatred of autocrats. Thus, among those who were hostile or subservient, neither extreme cared about posterity. However, although the reader can easily discount a historian’s flattery, there is a ready audience for detraction and spite. Adulation bears the ugly taint of subservience, but malice gives the false impression of being independent. As for myself, Galba, Otho and Vitellius were known to me neither as benefactors nor as enemies. My official career owed its beginning to Vespasian, its progress to Titus and its further advancement to Domitian.3 I have no wish to deny this; but writers who claim to be honest and reliable must not speak about anybody with either partiality or hatred. If I live, I propose to deal with the reign of the deified Nerva and the imperial career of Trajan. This is a more fruitful and less thorny field, and I have reserved it for my old age.4 Modern times are indeed happy as few others have been, for we can think as we please, and speak as we think.
2. The story which I am approaching is rich with disasters, grimly marked with battles, rent by treason and savage even in peacetime. Four emperors perished violently.5 There were three civil wars,6 still more foreign campaigns, and often conflicts which combined elements of both.7 Success in the East was balanced by failure in the West. The Balkans were in turmoil, the Gallic provinces were wavering, and Britain was conquered but immediately abandoned.8 The Sarmatian and Suebian peoples rose upon us, the Dacian distinguished himself in desperate battles won and lost, and thanks to the activities of a charlatan masquerading as Nero, even Parthia was on the brink of declaring war. Now too, Italy itself fell victim to new disasters or ones which had not occurred for many centuries. Towns were swallowed up or buried along the richest part of the Campanian coast.9 Rome was devastated by fires, her most venerable temples were destroyed and the very Capitol was set alight by Roman hands.10 Things holy were desecrated, there was adultery in high places. The sea swarmed with exiles and cliffs were stained with blood. Still fiercer savagery gripped Rome.11 Rank, wealth and office, whether surrendered or retained, provided grounds for accusation, and the reward for virtue was inevitable death. The profits of the prosecutors were no less hated than their crimes. Some obtained priesthoods and consulships as the prize of victory, others acquired official posts and backstairs influence, creating a universal pandemonium of hatred and terror. Slaves were bribed to turn against their masters, freedmen against their patrons, while those who lacked an enemy were ruined by their friends.
3. Nonetheless, the period was not so barren of merit that it failed to teach some good lessons as well. Mothers accompanied their children in flight, wives followed their husbands into exile. There were resolute kinsmen, steadfast sons-in-law and slaves obstinately faithful even in the face of torture. Distinguished men driven to suicide faced the last agony with unflinching courage, and there were death scenes equal to those praised in the history of early Rome. In addition to multiple tragedies on the human plane, portents occurred in the sky and on earth, premonitory thunderbolts and tokens of things to come, auspicious or ominous, doubtful or obvious. Indeed, it has never been verified by more terrible disasters for the Roman people or by fuller portents that the gods care not for our peace of mind, but only for vengeance. 4. However, before embarking on my theme, it seems desirable to go back a little and consider the state of affairs in Rome, the mood of the army, the attitude of the provinces and the elements of strength and weakness throughout the Roman world. In this way it may be possible to appreciate not only the actual course of events, whose outcome is often dictated by chance, but also their underlying logic and causes.
Although the death of Nero12 had been welcomed initially by a surge of rejoicing, it had stirred conflicting emotions not only among the senate, the people and the urban garrison in Rome, but also in all the legions and their commanders overseas. A well-hidden secret of the principate had been revealed: it was possible, it seemed, for an emperor to be chosen outside Rome. Still, the senators were overjoyed, and promptly permitted themselves considerable freedom of speech in their negotiations with an emperor who was new to his task and absent from the capital. The leading members of the equestrian order were hardly less delighted than the senators. Hopes were raised among respectable Roman citizens who were connected to the great households, and among the dependants and freedmen of condemned men and exiles. The low-life types who had grown accustomed to the circus and theatres, the most villainous of the slave population and the squanderers who had been the recipients of Nero’s degrading charity were gloomy and hungry for the latest rumours. 5. The city garrison, long steeped in a tradition of sworn allegiance to the Caesars, had been induced to desert Nero more by cunning and suggestion than from any inclination of its own. It now discovered that payment of the bounty promised in the name of Galba was not forthcoming, and that there was not to be the same scope for great services and rewards in peace as in war. These troops also realized that it was too late for them to ingratiate themselves with an emperor created by the legions. Already disaffected, they were stirred up further by the unscrupulous intrigues of their prefect, Nymphidius Sabinus, who was plotting to make himself emperor.13 It is true that Nymphidius was caught in the act, but although the head of the plot had been removed, many of the troops retained a guilty conscience.
There were rumours, too, about Galba’s old age and miserliness. His strictness, once well spoken of and much talked about among the soldiers, now irritated men who rejected the discipline of the past and who, in the course of fourteen years under Nero, had come to like the vices of emperors no less than they had once feared their virtues. In addition to this, there was the famous remark by Galba – ‘I select my troops, I don’t buy them.’14 Impeccable as a public statement, the epigram proved double-edged for Galba himself, for everything else fell short of this standard. 6. Old and feeble, Galba was dominated by Titus Vinius15 and Cornelius Laco.16 The former was the most vicious of men, the latter the most idle. Between them, they burdened the emperor with resentment caused by Vinius’ crimes and ruined him with contempt for Laco’s sluggishness.
Galba’s march had been slow and blood-stained, thanks to the executions of Cingonius Varro, a consul-designate, and the ex-consul Petronius Turpilianus.17 The grounds were that the former was an associate of Nymphidius and the latter a commander appointed by Nero. Allowed no proper trial or defence, these two had perished by what seemed a miscarriage of justice. The entry into Rome was marked by the massacre of thousands of unarmed troops, ill-omened and alarming even the perpetrators themselves. After the arrival of the Spanish legion18 and the retention in Rome of the formation which Nero raised from the fleet, the capital was crowded with an unfamiliar army. In addition, there were numerous drafts from Germany, Britain and Illyricum. Nero had selected these men and sent them on ahead to the Caspian Gates for the campaign which he was mounting against the Albani, but had later recalled them to deal with the revolt of Vindex.19 Here was fuel in plenty for a revolution, lacking indeed a clear-cut preference for any one leader, but nevertheless readily available to any daring opportunist.
7. It happened that news of the executions of Clodius Macer and Fonteius Capito arrived simultaneously. Macer, obviously bent on causing trouble in Africa, had been put to death by the imperial agent Trebonius Garutianus on the orders of Galba.20 Capito, who harboured similar designs in Germany, had been assassinated by the legionary commanders Cornelius Aquinus and Fabius Valens, who did not wait for instructions.21 There were people who believed that despite Capito’s unsavoury reputation for greed and lust, he nevertheless had no thought of rebelling. However, after his legionary commanders had urged him to declare war but failed to persuade him, they themselves had allegedly plotted to trap and accuse him, whereupon Galba’s lack of firmness, or perhaps his anxiety not to probe too deeply, however suspicious the circumstances, had approved what could not be altered.
Whatever the truth of the matter, both executions were ill received, and once the emperor was hated, good deeds and bad brought him equal discredit. Everything had its price. The imperial freedmen wielded excessive influence and Galba’s own slaves were eager to grab any unexpected windfall, for they knew time was short when dealing with an elderly emperor. The new court exhibited the same evils as the old – equally serious, but not equally tolerable. Even Galba’s age provoked sneers and discontent among a populace accustomed to the young Nero, and comparing the two emperors, as the crowd will, for their looks and physical attractiveness.22
8. So much for public opinion at Rome, naturally complex in view of the large numbers of people involved. Of the provinces, Spain was governed by Cluvius Rufus, a man of eloquence and civility, but untried in wars.23 The Gallic provinces were linked to the regime by their memory of Vindex, and, in addition, by the recent grant of Roman citizenship and the corresponding prospect of tax relief. However, the Gallic communities closest to the armies stationed in Germany had not been so well treated. Some had actually suffered loss of territory and were just as upset when considering the concessions accorded to others as from reckoning their own sufferings.
The armies of Germany presented a particular danger in view of their strength. Anxious and resentful, they plumed themselves on their recent success, yet feared the consequences of having backed the wrong side. They had been slow to abandon Nero, nor had Verginius declared for Galba immediately. Whether he really was unwilling to become emperor himself is doubtful, but it was common knowledge that the troops had offered him the position. Fonteius Capito’s assassination still rankled, even with those who were in no position to complain. What was lacking was a leader, for Verginius had been removed, under the pretence of imperial friendship. The troops, observing that he had not been sent back to Germany and indeed faced prosecution, felt that they were incriminated themselves. 9. The army of Upper Germany despised its commander-in-chief, Hordeonius Flaccus.24 Debilitated by old age and gout, Flaccus lacked personality and prestige. Even when the troops were quiet, he could not maintain discipline; and by the same token, if the men were raging, his feeble attempts to control them only inflamed them further. The legions of Lower Germany were left without a governor for some time. Finally Galba’s nominee appeared – Aulus Vitellius, son of the Vitellius who had held the censorship and three consulships. This, it seemed, was sufficient qualification.
In the army of Britain there were no angry outbursts. Indeed, throughout all the disturbances of the civil wars, no other legions acted with greater propriety. The reason may lie in the fact that they were far away and cut off by the North Sea; or perhaps they had learnt from continual campaigning to reserve their hatred for the enemy. There was peace, too, in Illyricum, though the legions mobilized by Nero had sent deputations to court Verginius while they waited in Italy. But the troops were widely dispersed (always a very sound method of ensuring military loyalty) and they could not mingle their failings nor join forces.
10. The East remained as yet undisturbed. Syria, with four legions, was governed by Licinius Mucianus.25 He was a man equally notorious in good times and bad. In his youth, he had courted friendship with great men with an eye to his own advancement. Then he ran through a fortune and his standing became precarious, for even Claudius was thought to be hostile to him. Removed to an isolated corner of Asia, he came as near to being an exile as later to being emperor. He was a curious mix of self-indulgence and energy, courtesy and arrogance, good and evil. Excessively self-indulgent in his spare time, yet he showed remarkable qualities when actively employed on a task. In public you would praise him, but his private life was criticized. Yet by a supple gift for intrigue he exercised great influence on his subordinates, associates and colleagues, and he was the sort of man who found it more congenial to make an emperor than to be one.
The conduct of the Jewish war, with the command of three legions, lay in the hands of Nero’s nominee, Flavius Vespasian.26 He had neither the will nor the intent to oppose Galba. Indeed, he had actually sent his son Titus to do homage and pay his respects to the emperor, as I shall record in the appropriate context.27 Perhaps mysterious prophecies were already circulating, and portents and oracles promising Vespasian and his sons the principate; but it was only after the rise of the Flavians that we believed in such stories.
11. Egypt, and the forces designed to keep it in order, has been governed ever since the deified Augustus’ day by Romans of equestrian rank in place of the Pharaohs. It seemed sensible that a province of this sort – difficult to reach, fertile in corn, yet divided and unsettled by strange cults and irresponsible excesses, ignorant of law and lacking knowledge of civil government – should be kept under the control of the imperial house. It was ruled at that time by Tiberius Alexander, himself an Egyptian.28
As for Africa and its legion, following the execution of Clodius Macer, they were content with any kind of emperor after experiencing a lesser master. The two Mauretanias, together with Raetia, Noricum, Thrace and the other provinces governed by procurators, took their cue from nearby armies, and were driven to support or hostility through contact with more powerful influences. The ungarrisoned provinces – and above all Italy itself, the helpless victim of every overlord – were doomed to be the spoils of war.
This, then, was the state of the Roman Empire when Servius Galba entered upon his second consulship as the colleague of Titus Vinius, at the start of a year which was deadly to them and nearly destroyed Rome.29
12. A few days after 1 January, a letter came from Pompeius Propinquus,30 the procurator of Belgica, announcing that the legions of Upper Germany had broken their oath of loyalty and were calling for a new emperor, although they were entrusting the final choice to the senate and people of Rome in order to mitigate the offence. This event accelerated a measure which Galba had for some time been debating in his own mind and with his friends – the adoption of an heir.31 In recent months, the matter had undoubtedly been the main topic of discussion throughout the country, for in the first place, there was opportunity and craving for such talk, and in the second, Galba was old and failing. Few people showed sound judgement or any real desire for the public good. Indeed, many day-dreamers talked glibly of the chances of this candidate or that in order to curry favour with a friend or a patron, or else to vent their spite on Titus Vinius, whose unpopularity grew every day along with his power.
Galba’s indulgence only sharpened the desires of his courtiers, who were greedy for more after their first taste of success. For under such a weak and credulous emperor, wrongdoing involved less fear of the consequences and greater rewards. 13. The power of the emperor was shared between Titus Vinius, the consul, and Cornelius Laco, the praetorian prefect. No less influential was Icelus, Galba’s freedman, who had been given the status of knight and as such was commonly called ‘Marcianus’.32 These three were at loggerheads, and each pursued an individual policy in minor matters, but on the question of electing a successor they were divided into two factions. Vinius supported Marcus Otho, while Laco and Icelus agreed in rejecting him, though they had no single alternative candidate in mind. Galba himself was well aware of the friendship existing between Otho and Titus Vinius, while rumours spread by inveterate gossip-mongers speculated that, as Vinius had an unwedded daughter and Otho was single, the pair would soon be father-in-law and son-in-law.
I believe that Galba had begun to be anxious, too, about the welfare of his country, fruitlessly wrested from Nero if it were left in Otho’s control. After all, the latter had spent a thoughtless childhood and riotous youth, winning Nero’s favour because he mimicked his vices. This was why Nero, until such times as he could get rid of his wife, Octavia, had planted Poppaea Sabina, the imperial whore, on Otho, who knew all about his sexual antics. Later he suspected him of an involvement with this same Poppaea, and packed him off to the province of Lusitania in the guise of its governor.33 Otho administered his province affably, and was the first to side with the revolt. So long as the campaign lasted he showed energy, and was the most eminent among those supporting Galba. He had hoped to be adopted from the start, and now each passing day saw his ambition intensified. Most of the soldiers supported him, and Nero’s courtiers naturally fell for one who resembled him.
14. After being informed of the revolt in Germany, Galba was anxious about the extent of the outbreak, although so far there was no certain information about Vitellius. The emperor had no confidence in the city garrison either. He therefore resorted to what he believed to be the one and only cure for the disease – an imperial election. He summoned Marius Celsus,34 the consul-designate, and Ducenius Geminus, the city prefect, as well as Vinius and Laco, and after a few prefatory remarks about his own old age, sent for Piso Licinianus.35 It is not clear whether this was his own choice, or whether, as some have believed, Laco was pressurizing him, after making friends with Piso at the house of Rubellius Plautus.36 However, in supporting him Laco astutely pretended that he was a stranger, and Piso’s good reputation made the policy plausible enough. As the son of Marcus Crassus and Scribonia, Piso came of distinguished parentage on both sides. His severe expression and general appearance belonged to an earlier age, and upright observers spoke of his strict morality, although he was seen as bad-tempered by those who viewed him less favourably. Yet it was precisely that aspect of his character which aroused suspicion in the pessimists that pleased his adoptive father.
15. So it seems that Galba took Piso’s hand and spoke to him roughly as follows: ‘If I were a private citizen adopting you before the pontiffs by a curial statute in the traditional way,37 it would have been gratifying to me to have a descendant of Gnaeus Pompey and Marcus Crassus entering my family, and for you it would be an honour to enhance your own noble ancestry with the distinctions of the Sulpician and Lutatian families.38 As things are, the unanimous will of heaven and earth has called me to supreme power, and it is rather your character and patriotism which have impelled me to offer you the principate. For this power, our forefathers fought on the battlefield, and I myself won it in war, but I now give it to you in time of peace, following the precedent set by Emperor Augustus. He it was who promoted to a position immediately below his own his sister’s son Marcellus, then his son-in-law Agrippa, later his own grandsons, and finally Tiberius Nero, his stepson. However, Augustus sought a successor within his family: I have done so throughout the state. This is not because I lack relatives or army colleagues, but I myself did not accept power from selfish motives, and the proof of my reasoning should be plain from the fact that, for your sake, I have passed over the claims not only of my relatives but of yours. You have a brother as nobly born as you, and older, who is worthy of this elevation, but you are the better man.39
‘You are old enough now to have escaped the waywardness of youth, and you have nothing to apologize for in your past. Until today, you had to tolerate only misfortune. Yet success probes a man’s character more keenly. Men put up with bad times, but prosperity spoils us. Loyalty, independence and friendship are the finest flowers of human character. These qualities you will of course continue to display as sturdily as ever, but others will seek to weaken them by sycophancy. Flattery, honeyed words and the poison most fatal to sincerity – individual self-interest – will beset you. Even if you and I are conversing with perfect frankness today, others will prefer to engage with our high status rather than with us as people. Persuading a ruler to adopt the right course is a fatiguing business, but flattery of any emperor is accomplished without the need for real affection.
16. ‘If it were possible for our gigantic empire to stand erect and keep its balance without a ruler, I should be the right sort of person to inaugurate a republican constitution. However, we have long ago reached a point where drastic measures are necessary. Hence, my declining years can make Rome no greater gift than a good successor, nor your youth any greater gift than a good emperor. Under Tiberius, Gaius and Claudius, our empire was the heirloom of a single family. A substitute for freedom will be that our emperors are starting to be selected. Now that the dynasty of the Julii and Claudii has come to an end, the process of adoption will find the best man for the job. To be born and bred of emperors is a matter of chance and is valued accordingly, but adoption involves unfettered judgement, and if one wants to choose well, public opinion points the way. Picture Nero, puffed up with pride on being the heir of a long line of Caesars. It was not Vindex with his undefended province, nor I with my one legion, who dislodged this incubus from the shoulders of Rome. It was his own monstrous excesses, his own life of pleasure that did so, although there was no precedent at that time for the condemnation of an emperor. We ourselves, elevated by armed force and by those who judged us worthy, are bound to attract envious glances, whatever our merits. However, you must not lose confidence if two legions have not yet settled down after the shock which the Roman world has suffered.40 My accession too was far from tranquil. Besides, once men hear of your adoption, I will stop being seen as an old man – the only criticism people level at me now. Nero will always be missed by the morally bankrupt types. You and I must make sure that he is not missed by good men as well.
‘This is not the moment for further words of advice, and indeed every precaution has been taken if I have done right in choosing you. The soundest and simplest criterion of good and bad policy is to reflect what actions you would yourself approve or disapprove of if another were emperor. Rome is not like countries ruled by kings, where one house dominates and the rest are slaves. You will be ruling men who can tolerate neither total slavery nor total liberty.’
Such was the tenor of Galba’s remarks. They sounded as if he were still creating an emperor, but the rest addressed Piso as if the process were complete.
17. They say that Piso betrayed no emotion or exultation to his immediate audience or afterwards to the general public who riveted their gaze upon him. He addressed his father and emperor in suitably respectful language, and referred to himself modestly. His unaltered looks and manner seemed to imply that he had the ability rather than the desire to be emperor.
It was then debated whether the adoption should be announced from the rostra, in the senate or the praetorian barracks. It seemed best to proceed to the barracks. This, it was felt, would be a tribute to the army: although its favour ought not to be sought by bounties and cajolery, it should not be despised if won by honourable means.41 Meanwhile, an expectant public impatient to hear the great secret surrounded the palace, and attempts to suppress rumours which had leaked out merely intensified them.
18. The tenth of January was an unpleasantly rainy day, abnormally disturbed by thunder, lightning and a threatening sky. From time immemorial this had been interpreted as an omen calling for the cancellation of political assemblies, but it did not deter Galba from making his way to the barracks. He despised such things as being chance events; or perhaps the future is predestined and inevitable whatever the warning signs. His proclamation, addressed to a crowded assembly of troops, was brief, as befitted a supreme commander. He said that in adopting Piso he was following the precedent of divine Augustus and the military practice whereby one man used to pick another.42 Furthermore, so that an exaggerated version of the revolt would not gain credibility through concealment, he went out of his way to insist that the aberrations of the Fourth and Twenty-Second Legions, prompted by a few ringleaders, had not gone beyond mere words and talk, and they would soon return to their duty. Nor did he round off the speech by pandering to the troops or bribing them. Even so, the tribunes, centurions and front-ranks responded with a gratifying cheer. The rest remained gloomy and silent, as if they felt that active service had lost them the bounty customarily exacted even in peacetime. There is general agreement that they could have been won over by a tiny act of generosity from the stingy old emperor.43 His old-fashioned rigidity and excessive strictness spelt ruin, for we cannot rise to these standards nowadays.
19. After that, Galba addressed the senate just as simply and briefly as he had spoken to the soldiers. Piso made a courteous and formal speech, which went down well. Many senators felt genuine goodwill, his opponents spoke even more effusively and the uncommitted majority was quick to grovel. They were too busy calculating their private prospects to worry about the public interest. In the following four days, the time which intervened between his adoption and murder, Piso made no public utterance or move.
As reports of the German revolt increased day by day in a country prepared to hear and believe all the latest news provided it is bad, the senate had decided that legates should be sent to the army of Germany. The question of Piso’s joining the embassy was discussed in secret. This would look more impressive: the others would carry the authority of the senate, Piso the prestige of a Caesar. They decided to include Laco, the praetorian prefect; but he promptly vetoed this plan. Besides, the selection of the other commissioners, which had been entrusted by the senate to Galba, was marked by scandalous indecision. Men were nominated, and then excused or substituted, as each man’s fears or hopes induced him to pull strings to stay behind or be included in the mission.
20. The next matter of concern was finance. A comprehensive survey showed that the fairest thing would be to demand repayment from those who were responsible for the crisis: Nero had squandered 2,200 million sesterces44 in largesse. Galba ordered the recipients to be sent individual demand notices, on the understanding that each was to retain one tenth of what he had received. However, the people concerned had barely this amount left, for they had spent other men’s money as lavishly as their own. The really greedy and unprincipled beneficiaries no longer disposed of any landed property or capital investments: only the minor trappings of depravity remained. The collection of the money was to be supervised by an equestrian committee of thirty, an unprecedented commission and burdensome because of the numbers involved and the personal interests in play. Auctioneers and dealers in confiscated property were everywhere, and Rome was distracted by lawsuits. Yet there was also intense delight at the thought that the recipients of Nero’s bounty would henceforth be as poor as those he had robbed.
In the course of these days some tribunes were discharged: Antonius Taurus and Antonius Naso of the praetorian guard, Aemilius Pacensis of the urban cohorts, and Julius Fronto of the watch.45 This did not prove salutary for the rest, but only triggered fear that, if individuals were being cunningly removed by a policy of terror, they were all under suspicion.
21. Meanwhile, Otho had nothing to hope for from settled conditions, and his whole policy required chaos. Many combined factors spurred him on: his extravagance which would have burdened even an emperor, his lack of resources barely tolerable for a private individual, his anger towards Galba and jealousy of Piso. To stimulate his ambition, he invented dangers, too. He told himself that Nero had found him too much of a burden, and he could not expect a second Lusitania and the compliment of another exile. Suspicion and hatred must always be the reaction of rulers towards the man talked of as the next in succession. It was this, he reflected, that had harmed him before an elderly emperor, and it would do so even more with a truculent youth soured by prolonged exile. His own assassination, Otho reflected, was always possible. So he must act with daring, while Galba’s authority was disintegrating and Piso’s had not yet established itself. There was scope for great enterprises when power changed hands, and hesitation was misplaced where inaction could do more harm than recklessness. Death came alike to everyone as a condition of existence: the only demarcation was in being forgotten or celebrated by posterity. If the same end awaited the guilty and the innocent, a man of spirit should at least embrace the death which he deserved.46
22. Otho’s character was not as flabby as his physical condition. His confidential freedmen and slaves, who were given a freer hand than one expects in a private household, dangled enticements before his greedy gaze: a court and life of pleasure like Nero’s, liaisons, marriages and all the gratifications of tyranny. These could be his if he had the courage. If he did nothing, they taunted, these prizes would go to someone else. The astrologers also spurred him on, declaring that their observation of the stars heralded great changes and a year of glory for Otho. Such men betray the powerful and deceive the ambitious: in our country they will always be banned, but retained.47 The backstairs deliberations of Poppaea had involved many astrologers, the worst possible tool for an imperial spouse. One of these, Ptolemaeus, had gone with Otho to Spain. He had promised that Otho would survive Nero, and after that happened his reputation was secured. Now, proceeding by guesswork and the gossip of those who reckoned up Galba’s age and Otho’s youth, Ptolemaeus had managed to persuade the latter that he would be called to become emperor. However, Otho accepted the predictions as if they were based on knowledge and the voice of destiny, man’s character being such that he will always prefer to believe in mysteries. Ptolemaeus pressed his advantage and proceeded to urge Otho to take the fatally easy step from evil ambition to evil deeds.
23. Yet whether the plot was the result of a sudden impulse is unclear. Otho had been angling for the support of the troops for some time, in the hope of succeeding to the principate or in preparation for a coup. On the move from Spain, during the march or at halting places, he habitually addressed the oldest soldiers by name, and called them ‘comrades’ – an allusion to their service together under Nero. He greeted some as old friends, asked after the occasional absentee and helped them with money or favours, often dropping complaints and double-edged remarks about Galba and using all the other tricks which tend to stir up simple people. The tiring marches, short rations and strict discipline were not well received by men who were used to travelling to the lake district of Campania and the cities of Achaia on board ship, but who now found themselves plodding wearily over the Pyrenees and Alps and along interminable roads under the weight of their arms and equipment.
24. The already smouldering discontent of the troops was fanned to a blaze by one of Tigellinus’ associates, Maevius Pudens.48 Getting hold of the men who were most easily led, or who were short of money and therefore ready for any desperate plunge, he worked upon them little by little and finally went so far as to hand out a tip of 100 sesterces to each and every member of the cohort on duty whenever Galba dined with Otho, ostensibly for their meal. This semi-official bounty was enhanced by more confidential rewards to individuals. His methods of corruption were enterprising. A member of the emperor’s personal bodyguard called Cocceius Proculus happened to be in dispute with a neighbour over part of the latter’s land. Otho bought up the whole of this neighbour’s farm with his own money and presented it to Proculus as a free gift. He was only able to do this by the inefficiency of the praetorian prefect, who was blind to all scandals, whether notorious or clandestine.
25. Anyway, Otho now entrusted the imminent plot to his freedman Onomastus. The latter introduced two members of the bodyguard, a corporal called Barbius Proculus and a warrant-officer, one Veturius. In the course of a wide-ranging interview Otho recognized them to be competent and unscrupulous, and heaped bribes and promises on them. Money was given to them for trying out the mood of further potential supporters. Thus, two common soldiers undertook to hand over the empire of the Roman people – and hand it over they did. Only a few associates were let into the secret. They goaded the indecision of the others by various techniques, dropping hints to senior non-commissioned officers that they were under a cloud because Nymphidius had promoted them, and inducing in the remainder, that is the common soldiers, a mood of anger and despair at the repeatedly postponed bounty. If a few regretted Nero and missed the slack discipline of the past, all without exception were panic-stricken at the prospect of being posted to less favoured units.
26. The rot spread to the legionaries and auxiliaries, already stirred up after news had circulated that the loyalty of the army of Germany was crumbling. The troublemakers were ready for mutiny, and even the better sort were prepared to connive at it, so that on 14 January they were on the point of carrying Otho off to their barracks as he was returning home from a dinner. However, they were scared off by the uncertainties of nighttime, the scattered location of the troops throughout Rome and the fact that it was difficult to coordinate drunken men. It was not their country which concerned them, for they were preparing in sober earnest to desecrate it with the blood of their emperor, but they feared that in the darkness any chance person who met the Pannonian or German units might be mistaken for Otho, who was not personally known to most people. There was substantial evidence of this incipient outbreak, but those in the know hushed it up. The few hints which reached Galba’s ears were played down by the prefect Laco, who was clueless about what his men thought, hostile to any plan, however excellent, which he had not himself proposed, and stubbornly disregarded expert opinion.
27. On 15 January, Galba was offering sacrifice in front of the Temple of Apollo.49 The soothsayer Umbricius, declaring the entrails of the victim to be ill-omened, predicted an imminent plot and an enemy close to home. As Otho was standing next to Galba, he overheard this and gleefully interpreted it in the contrary sense as a happy omen, favourable to his own designs. Shortly afterwards, his freedman Onomastus brought him a message: the architect and builders were waiting for him. This was the prearranged code indicating that the troops were already assembling and the plot ripe. As people asked Otho why he was leaving, he pretended that he was buying some dilapidated property which he first needed to survey. Supported by his freedman, he made his way through the palace of Tiberius into the Velabrum, and from there to the Golden Milestone near the Temple of Saturn. Here twenty-three members of the bodyguard hailed him as emperor. Otho was alarmed that they were so few in number, but they quickly placed him in a chair, drew their swords and hurried him off. Roughly the same number of soldiers joined them on the way – some knew about the plot, many were curious, a proportion were shouting and flourishing their swords, others again were keeping quiet, intending to suit their reaction to the event.
28. The tribune on duty at the barracks was Julius Martialis.50 Most people thought he was involved in the plot, either because of the magnitude of the unexpected crime, or because he feared that the rot ran deep among the men and that he might be killed if he resisted. The other tribunes and centurions also preferred the advantage of the moment to the uncertain risks of honour. This was their state of mind: a few individuals brazenly committed a shocking crime, more people wanted it to happen, but everyone passively allowed it to take place.
29. Meanwhile, Galba, utterly unaware and preoccupied with his sacrifice, continued to importune the gods of an empire no longer his. Suddenly, word came that some senator – it was not known who – was being hurried off to the praetorian barracks, and next, that Otho was the man. News came from every part of Rome at once, brought by whoever had met the procession. Some panicky informants gave an exaggerated account. A few used understatement, unable even at that point to forget their habitual flattery.51 Therefore they put their heads together and decided to test the mood of the cohort on duty in the palace, although without resorting to Galba himself. The prestige of the emperor was to be kept intact for when more drastic remedies were required. So after the soldiers had been summoned, it was Piso who addressed them from the steps of the palace along the following lines:
‘This is the fifth day, fellow-soldiers, since I was created a Caesar by adoption, not knowing what was to come, nor whether this name was to be desired or dreaded. What this implies for my family and for the state rests with you. Not that I fear a grimmer fate on my own account. I have experienced adversity already, and at this very moment I am learning that success itself is no less dangerous. However, on account of my father, the senate and the empire itself, I grieve if today it is necessary for us either to die or – something which is just as miserable for good men – to kill. We found comfort in the most recent crisis from the lack of bloodshed in Rome and from the undisputed transfer of power. In this case, the fact of my adoption appeared sufficient precaution against fighting, even after Galba’s death.
30. ‘I shall make no claims for myself in point of ancestry or strict morality. For there is no need to catalogue my virtues in comparison with Otho. His sole boast is a vicious life, which involved the ruin of the empire even when he was playing the part of the emperor’s friend. Could he have earned the principate by his mincing airs? Or by his effeminate dress? Extravagance deceives some people, who wrongly take it for generosity. Otho will be skilled in squandering, but not in giving. At this moment seduction, revelry and couplings with women are engaging his imagination. These he deems the prizes of the principate – prizes whose lusts and pleasures are to be his, while the shame and degradation falls to everyone. No one has ever made good use of power evilly gained.
‘The unanimous voice of mankind called Galba to be Caesar, and Galba awarded the title to me, with your approval. If “constitution”, “senate” and “people” are merely empty phrases, it is up to you, fellow-soldiers, to see that the dregs of the army do not create an emperor. One has sometimes heard stories of legionaries rising in mutiny against their commanders, but your reliability and reputation have remained intact to this day. Even Nero himself deserted you; you did not desert him.52 We are faced with fewer than thirty renegades and deserters – men in whom no one would tolerate choosing even a centurion or a tribune. Will they have the empire in their gift? Do you concede this precedent, and make yourselves accessories to the act by keeping quiet? These liberties will spread to the provinces and will spell death for us and warfare for you. Murdering your emperor brings no greater reward than keeping your hands clean, and from us you will get an equally generous bonus for loyalty as you would from others for treason.’53
31. The men of the bodyguard had slipped away, but the rest of the cohort took no exception to Piso’s speech. As tends to happen during turbulent events, it was aimlessly and with no fixed plan that they seized their standards, more than, as was afterwards believed, to hide their complicity. Marius Celsus, too, was sent off to negotiate with the select units from Illyricum quartered in the Vipsanian Colonnade,54 and instructions were given to two senior centurions, Amullius Serenus and Domitius Sabinus, to summon from Freedom Hall55 the troops of the German army. Little confidence was placed in the naval legion, which was hostile after the butchery of their comrades by Galba right on his first entry into Rome. In addition, the tribunes Cetrius Severus, Subrius Dexter and Pompeius Longinus proceeded to the praetorian barracks to see if the still incipient outbreak could be made to yield to saner counsels before it was too late. Of the tribunes, Subrius and Cetrius were assailed by threats from the troops, while Longinus was actually man-handled, arrested and disarmed. This was because his loyalty to his emperor depended not on military rank but friendship with Galba, and so he was particularly suspect to the rebels. The naval legion promptly went over to the praetorians, and the drafts from the army of Illyricum drove Celsus away at the point of their javelins. The detachments from Germany remained undecided for some time, being still physically unfit, as well as calmly disposed. They had formed the advance party sent on to Alexandria by Nero, and after they had fallen ill on the long return voyage, Galba was nursing them back into condition with lavish care.
32. The whole populace now was mobbing the palace together with some slaves. With discordant shouts they demanded Otho’s head and the execution of the conspirators, as if the crowd were clamouring for some sort of entertainment in the circus or theatre. They showed no judgement or sincerity, for on the very same day they were to make diametrically opposed demands with equal alacrity, albeit in the traditional manner of those who acclaimed any emperor at all with extravagant applause and empty enthusiasm.
Meanwhile, Galba was hesitating between two proposals. Titus Vinius urged staying in the palace, using the household slaves for protection, barricading the doors, and avoiding contact while tempers ran high. Galba, he said, should give the offenders a chance to repent, and loyal subjects a breathing space for concerted action. After all, crimes profit from speed, good counsels from delay. Finally, the emperor would have the same opportunity to venture out at will later, if this seemed sensible, but if he were to do so and regret it, any return would lie at the mercy of others.
33. The other advisers favoured speedy action, before the conspiracy, so far a feeble business confined to a few plotters, could grow. Otho, too, was likely to be in a panic, they pointed out. He had left furtively and been carried off to a group of strangers, but thanks to the idle delays of the time-wasters, he was at this very moment learning the part of an emperor. They must not wait for him to establish his hold on the barracks, invade the Forum and enter the Capitol under Galba’s nose, while the distinguished emperor and his heroic courtiers bolted the palace (to the extent of a door and doorframe), intending, of course, to endure a state of siege! And the slaves would be splendid help, once the unity of the great crowd and its initial outburst of indignation petered out! Such a plan was as dangerous as it was degrading. Even if they were fated to die, they should meet the danger face-to-face. This would win Otho the greater infamy, and themselves honour.
When Vinius opposed this plan, Laco set about him with threats, goaded on by Icelus, who obstinately persisted in a private vendetta to the ruin of his country. 34. Galba hesitated no longer, and went along with those who advised the better-looking plan. However, Piso was told to go on ahead to the barracks, as he was a young man of great name recently promoted, and he was hostile to Titus Vinius. Perhaps Piso really hated him, or the malicious types willed him to do so; but the story that Piso loathed Vinius is easier to believe.
Piso had scarcely left the palace when word came that Otho had been killed in the camp. At first the rumour was vague and uncertain. Then, as so often is the case with daring lies, certain individuals asserted that they had been present and had witnessed the deed. The story was lapped up by a jubilant and uncritical public. Many people thought that the rumour had been invented and exaggerated by Othonian agents who had already blended with the crowd and spread the bogus good news in order to lure Galba out.
35. This prompted a burst of applause and exaggerated enthusiasm, not only from the populace and the ignorant lower classes, but also from many of the knights and senators. Abandoning their fear, they threw caution to the winds. After forcing the doors of the palace, they poured inside, presented themselves to Galba and complained that they had been forestalled in their revenge. The greatest cowards among them – those who, as events proved, were to lose their nerve in the moment of danger – spoke extravagantly, making fierce protestations. Ignorance and assertion went hand in hand. Finally, the absence of reliable information and the united chorus of delusion overcame Galba. He buckled on his breastplate, and being too old and too infirm to resist the crowd’s onslaught, was lifted up in a chair. While still in the palace area, he was met by one of his bodyguard, Julius Atticus, who flourished a blood-stained sword and cried out that he had killed Otho. Galba replied: ‘Fellow-soldier, who ordered this?’56 This remark shows his striking determination to check indiscipline. Indeed, he did not fear threats and was immune to flatterers.
36. By this time the minds of all the soldiers in the praetorian camp were made up. So great was their enthusiasm that they were not content with surrounding Otho with a throng of bodies. They put him, amid massed flags and standards, on a dais which had recently supported a gold statue of Galba. The tribunes and centurions were allowed no access to Otho, and the common soldiers warned him to be on his guard against the officers. The whole place re-echoed with shouting, tumult and mutual encouragement. It is not unusual for the civilian populace and the lower classes to voice their idle flattery in confused cries, but this was quite different. Whenever the troops caught sight of a fresh adherent coming over to them, they shook him by the hand, put their arms around his neck, placed him near Otho and administered the oath of allegiance, now praising the emperor to his troops, now praising the troops to their emperor. Nor did Otho fail to salute the crowd, stretching out his hands, throwing them kisses and in every way playing the slave to achieve domination. When the whole naval legion had taken the oath, he began to trust his strength. Believing that the men whom he had provoked one by one should be fired up by a general appeal, he addressed the praetorians as follows from the rampart of the camp:
37. ‘I find it hard to say in what capacity I stand before you, fellow-soldiers. I can scarcely call myself a subject after you have nominated me as emperor. Nor can I describe myself as emperor while another rules. Your own designation will be just as ambiguous so long as there is doubt whether the man you are harbouring in your barracks is the ruler of Rome or a traitor. Do you hear them? They are calling in the same breath for my punishment and your execution. This makes it quite obvious that we fall or stand together.
‘Knowing Galba’s clemency, no doubt he has already promised to carry out the sentence. After all, he slaughtered thousands of completely innocent troops although no one was clamouring for this.57 I shudder whenever I think of his grisly entry into Rome – the only victory Galba ever won – when he ordered that men who had surrendered, thrown themselves on his mercy and been accepted as his loyal followers, should suffer decimation before the eyes of the city. After this auspicious entry, what prestige did he bring to the office of emperor except his executions of Obultronius Sabinus and Cornelius Marcellus in Spain, Cilo Betuus in Gaul, Fonteius Capito in Germany, Clodius Macer in Africa, Cingonius on the march, Turpilianus at Rome, Nymphidius in the barracks? What province, what camp is there anywhere, which is not stained and polluted with blood, or, to use Galba’s language, “reformed and straightened up”? For what others call “crimes”, he calls “remedies”. By a misuse of terms, he describes “cruelty” as “severity”, “greed” as “economy” and the “executions and insults” you have suffered are a “discipline”.58
‘Barely seven months have passed since the death of Nero, and already Icelus has stolen more money than was ever squandered by creatures like Polyclitus, Vatinius and Aegialus.59 The exactions of Titus Vinius would have displayed less greed and lawlessness if he had been emperor himself. As it is, he has both kept us in subjection as if we belonged to him, and held us cheap as though we were the property of another. His mansion alone is enough for that bounty which is never given to you, yet serves as a source of reproaches on a daily basis.
38. ‘What is more, to make sure that there is no hope from his successor, Galba has restored from exile the one man who in his opinion most closely resembled himself for surliness and avarice. You have observed, fellow-soldiers, the remarkable storm by which even the gods signified their disgust at this ill-omened adoption. The same mood animates the senate. The same mood animates the Roman people. All they are waiting for is your courageous intervention, for you alone can make good policies effective, and without you the best endeavours are paralysed.
‘I am not calling upon you to fight a war or risk your lives. The armed forces without exception are on our side. As for the one solitary toga-clad cohort manning the palace, its function is not so much to protect Galba as to guard him. When this unit catches sight of you, when it receives my signal, the only struggle that will take place will be a competition to see who can earn my deepest gratitude. There is no room for hesitation in an enterprise that can only win praise if it is concluded successfully.’
Otho then ordered the arsenal to be opened. Weapons were hastily grabbed. Tradition and discipline went by the board. The troops disregarded the distinctions of equipment between praetorians and legionaries, and seized helmets and shields meant for auxiliaries. All was confusion. No encouragement came from tribunes or centurions. Each man followed his own lead and prompting, and the chief stimulus for the worst elements was the sorrow of the good. 39. By this time Piso was seriously alarmed by the mounting tumult and cries of mutiny, audible even in Rome itself. He joined Galba, who had in the interval left the palace and was approaching the Forum. Celsus, too, returned with gloomy news. Some suggested returning to the Palatine. Others wanted to make for the Capitol. A number of them were for securing the rostra. The majority, however, just disagreed with the views of their companions, and as so often happens when things go wrong, the best option seemed to be what it was now too late to do. It is said that Laco, without telling Galba, toyed with the idea of killing Titus Vinius. Perhaps he thought his execution would mollify the troops, or believed that he was collaborating with Otho, or ultimately just hated him. The time and the place gave him pause, because once killing starts, restraining it is difficult. Besides, alarming news and the flight of his associates upset Laco’s plan. Indeed, all those keen supporters who had ostentatiously paraded their loyalty and courage at the start now lost heart.
40. By this time, Galba was being carried this way and that by the erratic pressure of the surging multitude. Everywhere the public buildings and temples were crowded with spectators, which made for a dismal view. Yet not a cry came from the citizens or rabble. Their expressions were astonished, their ears sensitive to every sound. There was neither uproar nor quiet calm, but only the hush associated with great fear or great anger.
Otho, however, was informed that the mob was being armed. He ordered his men to move in at full speed and seize the danger points. Thus the Roman troops set off, as if they were set on deposing a Vologaeses or Pacorus from the ancestral throne of the Arsacidae60 – and not setting out to murder their emperor, a defenceless old man. Scattering the people, trampling the senate under foot, with weapons at the ready and horses spurred to a gallop, they burst into the Forum. Neither the sight of the Capitol, nor the sanctity of the temples that looked down upon them, nor the thought of past and future emperors deterred such men from committing a crime which the next ruler-but-one inevitably avenges.
41. On seeing the column of armed men close at hand, the standard-bearer of the cohort which formed Galba’s escort – Atilius Vercilio, according to the tradition – tore off the effigy of Galba and dashed it to the ground.61 That signal indicated that all the troops enthusiastically supported Otho. It also triggered a mass exodus of the people from the Forum. Swords were drawn to deal with the stragglers. Near the Pool of Curtius,62 Galba was flung sprawling from his chair by the panic of his bearers. People give different versions of his last words, depending on whether they hated or admired him. Some say that he grovelled, and asked what he had done to deserve his fate, begging a few days’ grace to pay the bounty. Most accounts say that he voluntarily bared his throat to the assassins, telling them to come and strike him, if this seemed best for the country. It hardly mattered to the murderers what he said.
The identity of the killer is in doubt. Some name a veteran called Terentius, others call him Laecanius. The more usual version holds that a soldier of the Fifteenth Legion named Camurius thrust his sword deep into Galba’s throat. The rest of them disgustingly hacked at his legs and arms (for his breast was protected by armour). In their wildness and savagery, they even inflicted further wounds on the already headless torso.
42. Then they attacked Titus Vinius. Here, too, accounts differ. Was he rendered speechless by a paroxysm of fear? Or did he call out that Otho had given no instructions that he should be killed? Whether this remark was in fact invented due to fear or a confession that he was in the plot, his life and reputation incline me to think that he had prior knowledge of a crime he certainly caused. In front of the Temple of the deified Julius Caesar he was struck down by an initial blow on the back of the knee, then a legionary, Julius Carus, pierced him right through from one side to the other with a sword.
43. Our own era can look upon one heroic man from that day, Sempronius Densus.63 He was a centurion of the praetorian cohorts and had been appointed by Galba to watch over Piso. With dagger drawn, he faced up to armed men and denounced their crime. Now by gestures, now by words, he turned the assassins’ attention upon himself. This gave Piso a chance to escape, wounded though he was. He got away to the Temple of Vesta, where he was taken in through the pity of a state slave and hidden in his humble lodging. Thus, for a while, Piso managed to postpone the fatal moment, not thanks to the sanctity of the building or its daily ritual, but by lying low. At that moment came two men sent by Otho, who was burning to have Piso killed. One of these was Sulpicius Florus of the auxiliary cohorts serving in Britain, who had only recently been given Roman citizenship by Galba. The other was the imperial bodyguard Statius Murcus. These two dragged out Piso and murdered him at the door of the temple.
44. Otho is said to have welcomed no other murder with greater joy and to have gazed on no other severed head with such greedy eyes. Perhaps this was because then for the first time his mind was relieved of all worry and he felt free to exult. Or perhaps the thought of his treason towards Galba and his friendship with Titus Vinius had cast a shadow over Otho’s spirit, for all its ruthlessness, whereas the murder of an enemy and rival like Piso may have seemed a right and proper reason for rejoicing.
The heads were impaled on poles and carried about amongst the cohort standards and a legionary eagle. The mutineers vied with each other in displaying their bloody hands, whether they had actually done the killing or had merely been there, and whether their boasting of what they called a fine and memorable deed was true or false. More than 120 individuals presented petitions demanding a reward for some noteworthy service on this day. These documents were later discovered by Vitellius, who instructed that all the petitioners were to be rounded up and put to death. This was not a tribute to Galba, but the traditional method by which emperors secure self-defence for the present and warn of retribution in the future.
45. You would have thought that the senate and the people were different men. They all stampeded towards the barracks, each trying to beat his neighbour in the race and catch up with those who led the field. They cursed Galba, complimented the soldiers on their choice, and covered Otho’s hand with kisses.64 These demonstrations were multiplied in proportion to their insincerity. Otho welcomed even single individuals who came up to him, and restrained the greed and menaces of his men by word and look. Marius Celsus, the consul-designate, had been a loyal friend to Galba to the bitter end. For this the soldiers now demanded his head, for they resented his energy and high principle as if they were character flaws. It was all too clear that they were seeking an excuse for bloodshed and plundering and the annihilation of every decent man, but Otho so far had no authority to prevent outrage – though he could already command it. So he pretended to be angry, and by ordering Celsus to be put in irons and declaring that he would soon face a heavier punishment, rescued him from immediate death.
46. After that, the troops got their way in everything. They chose their own praetorian prefects, including Plotius Firmus. Once one of the common soldiers, then given command of the watch, he joined Otho’s faction while Galba’s position was still secure. His colleague was Licinius Proculus, whose close association with Otho suggested that he had encouraged his designs. As city prefect, the troops chose Flavius Sabinus, following the lead of Nero, under whom Sabinus had held the same post. In making this choice many of them had their eye on his brother, Vespasian.65
There was a demand that the payments traditionally made to centurions to secure exemption from duty should be abolished. For the common soldiers paid this as a kind of annual tax. As much as a quarter of a company’s strength could be scattered about on leave or loitering in the actual barracks, so long as they paid the centurion his fee. There was nobody who had any scruples about the extent of these burdensome exactions nor the methods employed to meet them. Highway robbery, theft or taking on jobs as slaves were means by which the soldiers paid for their time off. Besides this, any soldier who was wealthy was harassed by hard work and savage treatment until he agreed to purchase exemption. Finally, when he had been bled dry by his expenses and had also lost his vigour through laziness, he would return to his unit, a pauper instead of a rich man and sluggish instead of energetic. This process was repeated interminably; and the same destitution and indiscipline ruined man after man, driving them herd-like towards mutiny, dissension and, in the last resort, civil war. However, Otho had no wish to alienate his centurions by bribing their men. So he promised that he would pay for the annual leave from his imperial exchequer. This was certainly a beneficial reform, which in due course hardened into a permanent rule of the military service under the good emperors who succeeded.
The prefect Laco was given the impression that he was being exiled to an island. In fact, he was struck down by a veteran whom Otho had already sent ahead to murder him. Marcianus Icelus was a freedman, and, as such, he was publicly executed.66
47. So the day was spent in crimes, but the crowning horror was the mood of jubilation. The senate was summoned by the urban praetor, the other magistrates competed in flattery and the senators tore off to the meeting. A decree was passed giving Otho tribunician power, the title ‘Augustus’ and all the imperial prerogatives. Everybody made a desperate effort to obliterate the taunts and insults which had been freely bandied about; no one was actually made to feel that they rankled in Otho’s mind, and whether in fact he had renounced revenge or merely postponed it was uncertain, as his principate was too short.
The Forum was still blood-stained and littered with bodies when Otho was carried through it to the Capitol, and from there to the palace. He allowed the bodies to be handed over for burial and to be cremated. Piso was laid to rest by his wife Verania and his brother Scribonianus, Titus Vinius by his daughter Crispina. They had to search for the heads and pay a ransom for them, as the assassins had kept them to sell.
48. Upon his death, Piso was nearing his thirty-first birthday. His reputation had been better than his luck. Two of his brothers had been executed: Magnus by Claudius and Crassus by Nero. He himself was an exile for a long time, and for four days a Caesar. His hurried adoption gave him only one advantage over the elder brother to whom he was preferred: he was the first to be murdered.
As for Titus Vinius, during his fifty-seven67 years he played many parts, both good and evil. His father came from a family which had produced praetors, and his maternal grandfather68 was a victim of the proscriptions. His initial military service won him notoriety. The wife of his commanding officer Calvisius Sabinus had an unfortunate passion for inspecting the camp-site. One night, she entered it disguised as a soldier, and with no less effrontery tried her hand at guard duties and other military activities. Finally, she dared to commit adultery, in the headquarters building of all places. The man involved was proved to be Titus Vinius. So he was put in chains by order of Gaius Caesar,69 but when times changed soon afterwards, he was released, rising smoothly in the public service as praetor, and then as a legionary commander who proved his worth. His reputation was later sullied by a degrading scandal on the grounds that he had stolen a gold cup at a banquet given by Claudius. On the following day, Claudius gave orders that Vinius alone of all his guests was to be served on earthenware. Still, as proconsul he governed Narbonese Gaul austerely and honestly. After that his friendship with Galba drew him into the abyss. Unscrupulous, cunning and quick-witted, he could (depending on his mood) be either vicious or hard-working, with equal effectiveness. Titus Vinius’ will was set aside because of his enormous wealth, but Piso’s poverty guaranteed that his last wishes were respected.
49. Galba’s corpse lay disregarded for many hours, and under cover of night suffered much insulting treatment. Finally his steward Argius, one of his former slaves, buried it in a humble grave in the grounds of Galba’s private villa. The head fell into the hands of camp-followers and servants, who impaled it on a pole and mutilated it. It was only found on the following day in front of the tomb of Patrobius (Nero’s freedman who had been sentenced by Galba). It was then laid with the ashes of the body, which had already been cremated.
Such was the fate of Servius Galba. Over seventy-three years he had lived through the principates of five emperors enjoying success, but he was luckier under others’ regimes than under his own. In his family there was ancient nobility and great wealth, but his own personality was something of a compromise: he was lacking in vices rather than endowed with good qualities. As for his reputation, he was not indifferent about it, but did not exploit it. He did not covet other people’s money and was thrifty with his own, but he was a positive miser with public funds. He was blamelessly tolerant towards friends and freedmen when they happened to be honest; but if they were not, his lack of perception was quite inexcusable. However, distinguished birth and the perils of the era disguised his apathy, which was described as wisdom. In the prime of life he attained military distinction in Germany; as proconsul, he administered Africa with moderation, and his control of Nearer Spain in his latter years showed a similar sense of fair play. Indeed, so long as he was a subject, he seemed too great a man to be one, and everyone judged him capable of being an emperor – but then he took power.
50. Rome was in a state of fear. Men were alarmed at the atrocity of the crime, still fresh, and they also feared Otho’s character, which they knew from the past. An additional source of panic was the fresh news about Vitellius. This had been hushed up before Galba’s assassination, so that the mutiny was thought to be confined to the army of Upper Germany. Here then were the two most despicable men in the whole world by reason of their unclean, idle and pleasure-loving lives, apparently appointed by fate for the task of destroying the empire. Not only the senate and the knights, who had some stake and interest in the country, but the masses, too, expressed sorrow openly. Conversation no longer centred on recent precedents for the brutality of peace. Minds went back to the civil wars, and they spoke of the many times Rome had been captured by its own armies, of the devastation of Italy, of the sack of provinces, of Pharsalus, Philippi, Perusia and Mutina, famous names associated with national disasters.70 The whole world, they reflected, had been practically turned upside down when the duel for power involved good men, but the empire had survived the victories of Julius Caesar and Augustus. The republic would have done the same under Pompey and Brutus. Yet were they now to visit the temples and pray for Otho? Or for Vitellius? To pray for either man would be impious, to offer vows for the victory of either equally blasphemous. In any war between the two, the only certainty was that the winner would turn out the worse. Some observers predicted the possibility of intervention by Vespasian and the forces of the East. Although Vespasian was better than either Otho or Vitellius, yet they dreaded fresh hostilities and fresh disasters. In any case, there were ambiguous stories about Vespasian – and he was the only emperor up to that point who changed for the better.71
51. I shall now explain the origin and causes of the uprising in favour of Vitellius. After the destruction of Julius Vindex and his entire force, the Roman army had acquired a taste for loot and glory. This was only natural, for without exertion or danger it had won a war that had been extremely profitable. The men now preferred campaigns and set battles, and the rewards of war rather than their normal pay. They had long endured hard and unrewarding service in an uncongenial area and climate, under strict discipline. Yet discipline, however inflexible in peacetime, is relaxed in civil conflicts, where agents are ready to encourage disloyalty on either side, and treachery goes unpunished.
Recruits, equipment and horses were in ample supply, whether for use or show. Besides, before the war with Vindex, the men had only known their own company or troop, as the two armies were kept apart by the provincial boundaries.72 Now, however, having joined forces to deal with Vindex, the legions had been able to assess their own strength and that of the Gallic provinces. Hence they began to look around for fighting and new quarrels. No longer, as in the past, did they call the provincials ‘allies’, but ‘the enemy’ or ‘beaten men’. The Gallic communities bordering the Rhine played their part too. These threw in their lot with the Roman garrisons, and now venomously incited them against ‘the Galbians’, for they gave their fellow-countrymen this tag out of contempt for Vindex. Thus the troops were hostile to the Sequani, Aedui and other communities (depending on how wealthy they were). Their imaginations greedily lapped up the sacking of cities, the plundering of fields and the looting of homes. On top of their natural greed and arrogance, which are typical vices of the stronger side, the Roman troops were also irritated by the insolence of Gauls who insulted the army by boasting that Galba had excused them a quarter of the tribute and made grants of territory to their states.73
Provocation was added by a rumour cunningly circulated and rashly credited. The legions, it was alleged, were being decimated and the most enterprising centurions discharged. From everywhere there came bad news and the reports from Rome were ominous. The city of Lyons was disaffected, and its persistent loyalty to Nero cultivated a rich crop of rumours there.74 However, it was the military camps themselves that contained the most plentiful material for imagination and credulity, thanks to the soldiers’ hatred, fear and conviction, once they realized their strength, that the risk was slight.
52. Shortly before 1 December in the previous year,75 Aulus Vitellius had entered Lower Germany as its governor and carefully inspected the winter-quarters of the legions. A number of centurions were given back their rank, discharged men were reinstated and sentences reduced. Most of these interventions reflected a desire to curry favour, but some showed judgement, including an honest reform of the mean and greedy ways in which Fonteius Capito had promoted or demoted men. Whatever he did was interpreted not according to the standard of an ex-consular governor but as a hint of something greater. Although Vitellius demeaned himself in the eyes of strict disciplinarians, nevertheless his supporters described as ‘affability’ and ‘good nature’ the excessive and imprudent generosity with which he squandered both his own resources and those of other people. Besides, his men were so eager to get what they wanted that they took his very faults for virtues. Both armies contained many orderly, quiet soldiers, but there were also many disgruntled and active ones. However, for boundless ambition and a notable lack of scruple, two men stood out above the rest – the legionary commanders Alienus Caecina and Fabius Valens.
Valens for his part was hostile to Galba. He felt that after he had uncovered Verginius’ hesitation and thwarted Capito’s plans, the emperor had been ungrateful. So he proceeded to work upon Vitellius, pointing out how keen the troops were. Vitellius, he said, was well spoken of everywhere, and Hordeonius Flaccus could do little to hold things up. Britain would rally to them, and the German auxiliaries would follow. There was disaffection in the provinces. The elderly emperor held power on sufferance, and this power would soon pass to another. Vitellius should spread his sail and meet the good fortune that was coming towards him. It was understandable, he added, that Verginius should have had his hesitations. He came from an equestrian family, and his father was a nobody. Such a man might well think himself unequal to the task, if he had accepted the principate, whereas there was safety in refusal. Yet Vitellius had a father who had been consul on three occasions, as well as censor and the colleague of a Caesar.76 This had long since imposed upon the son the dignity proper to an emperor and taken away from him the safety afforded by remaining a private citizen.
Vitellius’ lazy temperament was shaken by the strong impact of these arguments. The result was an idle longing rather than real hope.
53. In Upper Germany, however, it was Caecina who had coaxed support from the troops. He was young, good-looking and had a huge stature and ambitious spirit, as well as being a clever speaker and having an upright bearing.77 Galba put him in charge of a legion despite his youth after he had eagerly joined his cause when he was serving as quaestor in Baetica. However, Galba later learnt that he had misappropriated public funds, and ordered him to be prosecuted for embezzlement. Taking this badly, Caecina decided to cause general chaos and to camouflage his personal grievances with the ruin of his country. In the army, too, the seeds of disturbance were in plentiful supply. The whole force had been involved in the campaign against Vindex; it had not gone over to Galba until after Nero’s death; and finally, when it did take the oath, its accession had been anticipated by the units in Lower Germany. So, too, the Treviri, Lingones and other Gallic communities, whom Galba had hit hard by means of severe edicts or loss of territory, mingled rather closely with the legions in their winter-quarters. As a result there was seditious talk, deterioration of the soldiers through contact with civilians, and the possibility that the support offered to Verginius would profit some other imperial challenger.
54. The civic authorities of the Lingones had sent the legions the traditional token of mutual hospitality – symbolic ‘hands’.78 The envoys who brought them carefully assumed the squalid guise of mourning and went around the headquarters building and the barrack blocks complaining about their own sufferings and the privileges granted to their neighbours. When the story found a ready hearing among the troops, the Lingones went on to lament the dangers and humiliation of the army itself and fired up the soldiers’ feelings. They were close to mutiny when Hordeonius Flaccus ordered the envoys to go, telling them to leave the camp at night in order that their departure should attract less attention.79 This only led to a shocking rumour. It was widely held that the men had been murdered, and that, unless the troops took steps to defend themselves, their most vocal representatives, who had denounced the present state of affairs, would be put to death when it was dark and the rest knew nothing. The legions bound themselves by a secret understanding to act together. This was extended to cover the auxiliary units. At first they were distrusted, as their infantry cohorts and cavalry regiments had been posted around as though an attack on the legions was being planned. However, in due course the auxiliaries embraced the plan more keenly than their companions. Troublemakers find it easier to agree on war than on the means to achieve harmony in peacetime.
55. Yet the legions of Lower Germany were made to take the usual New Year oath of loyalty to Galba on 1 January, though they showed considerable reluctance. Here and there individuals in the front ranks spoke up, but the rest were silent. Everybody was waiting for a bold move from his neighbour, for it is only human nature to follow promptly, however much we dislike taking the lead. Still, the legions themselves had varying feelings. The men of the First and Fifth were so rowdy that some of them stoned the portraits of Galba. The Fifteenth and Sixteenth Legions, on the other hand, confined themselves to muttering threats and looked around for others to start the outbreak.
However, in the army of Upper Germany, the Fourth and Twenty-Second Legions, who were billeted in the same winter camp, tore the portraits of Galba to pieces.80 This actually happened on 1 January. At first the Fourth took the initiative, while the Twenty-Second was relatively backward, but they soon cooperated. Not wanting it to appear that they were abandoning all respect for authority, they introduced the now outworn formula of ‘the Senate and People of Rome’ into their oath of allegiance. None of the senior officers made any effort on Galba’s behalf, and some of them, as often happens in such chaos, played a conspicuous part in causing the trouble. However, no one mounted the platform and addressed the troops collectively – after all, there was as yet no emperor with whom they could ingratiate themselves. 56. Looking on at this disgraceful scene stood the consular governor, Hordeonius Flaccus. He made no attempt to restrain the mutineers, rally the waverers or encourage the loyal soldiers. Too frightened to lift a finger, he avoided offence by doing nothing. Four centurions of the Twenty-Second Legion – Nonius Receptus, Donatius Valens, Romilius Marcellus and Calpurnius Repentinus – tried to protect the portraits of Galba, but the troops charged at them and hustled them off to a place of confinement. Nobody showed any loyalty or remembered his previous oath after that, but as tends to happen in mutinies, they all followed the lead of the majority.
On the night of 1 January, a standard-bearer from the Fourth Legion entered the city of Colonia Agrippinensium and announced to Vitellius, who was dining at the time,81 that the Fourth and Twenty-Second Legions had thrown down the portraits of Galba and sworn allegiance to the senate and people of Rome. It was felt that this was an empty oath; they should strike while the iron was hot and offer the troops an emperor. Vitellius sent messengers to his legions and their commanders to announce that the army of Upper Germany had risen against Galba, and put it to them that they must either fight the rebels or else, if they preferred agreement and peace, they must nominate an emperor. He added that it was safer to take up an emperor promptly than to engage in a long search.
57. The camp of the First Legion was the closest to hand,82 and Fabius Valens was the keenest of the legionary commanders. On the following day, entering the city of Colonia Agrippinensium with the cavalry component of his legion and of its auxiliaries, he saluted Vitellius as emperor. The other legions of the province of Lower Germany followed his example with remarkable eagerness, while the army of Upper Germany dropped its lip-service to ‘the Senate and People of Rome’ and on 3 January went over to Vitellius. Whatever authority they had recognized during the preceding two days had obviously not been that of a republican government. The people of Colonia Agrippinensium, as well as the Treviri and Lingones, were just as enthusiastic as the armies. They offered to contribute reinforcements, horses, equipment and money in accordance with their strength, wealth and natural abilities. Offers came not only from the leaders in the cities and army camps, who had the means to give ready money and much to hope for from victory. Even whole companies and ordinary soldiers handed over their savings or, in lieu of cash, their sword-belts, medals and silver parade equipment, stimulated by the encouragement of others or their own initiative and greed.
58. So Vitellius, gratefully acknowledging the prompt response of his men, distributed amongst knights the court functions normally carried out by freedmen, paid the centurions from the imperial exchequer for their men’s leave, confirmed on more than one occasion the savage demands of his soldiers for successive executions, and only now and again foiled them by pretending to impose a term of imprisonment. Pompeius Propinquus, the procurator of Belgica, was immediately put to death, but Vitellius craftily extricated Julius Burdo, the commander of the German fleet. The army was violently incensed with Burdo because they thought he had engineered a false accusation against Capito and backed it up by conspiracy. They had fond memories of Capito, and in their present savage mood executions could be carried out in public but acts of mercy only by stealth. So the accused was kept in confinement and only let out after victory when the resentment of the troops had subsided. Meanwhile, the centurion Crispinus was tossed to the men as an expiatory offering. He had actually sullied himself with Capito’s blood, so he was a more obvious target for those clamouring for revenge and a cheaper sacrifice for the agent of retribution.
59. Julius Civilis was the next to be removed from danger.83 He was extremely powerful among the Batavians, and it seemed desirable to avoid alienating a fierce nation by executing him. Besides, there were eight cohorts of Batavians stationed in the territory of the Lingones. These were an auxiliary force normally attached to the Fourteenth Legion, but in this troubled period they had separated from their legion, and their friendship or hostility would have a significant impact on the balance of power, depending on their inclination. I have already referred to the centurions Nonius, Donatius, Romilius and Calpurnius.84 Vitellius now ordered their execution after condemning them of loyalty – a most serious charge in the eyes of rebels. Vitellius’ party found two new adherents in Valerius Asiaticus, governor of the province of Belgica and later taken up by Vitellius as his son-in-law, and in Junius Blaesus, governor of Lugdunese Gaul, who brought over the Italian Legion and the Taurian cavalry regiment, both stationed at Lyons. The garrison of Raetia was also prompt in its adhesion.
Not even in Britain was there any sign of hesitation. 60. Its governor was Trebellius Maximus, whose greed and miserliness had earned him the contempt and hatred of his army.85 His unpopularity was enhanced by the attitude of the commander of the Twentieth Legion, Roscius Coelius. The two men had long been at odds, but the quarrel had erupted with more intensity thanks to the convenient accident of civil war. Trebellius accused Coelius of sedition and undermining the chain of command, while Coelius charged Trebellius with depriving the legions of money and resources. Meanwhile, this degrading feud between two senior officers ruined the discipline of the army. The dispute became so bad that the auxiliaries also noisily denounced Trebellius and drove him away, while the cohorts and cavalry regiments flocked to Coelius’ side. Trebellius, left high and dry, had to take refuge with Vitellius. Despite the removal of the consular governor, the province stayed quiet. It was administered by the legionary commanders, theoretically on an equal footing, though Coelius’ lack of scruple made him more powerful.
61. Thanks to the adhesion of the army from Britain, Vitellius had vast resources and manpower at his command and now decided on two commanders and a twofold advance. After winning over the Gallic provinces or crushing them if they refused, Fabius Valens was to invade Italy by way of the Cottian Alps. Caecina was told to take a shorter route over the Pennine pass and then descend into Italy. Valens received some units selected from the army of Lower Germany, together with the eagle of the Fifth Legion and a force of auxiliary cohorts and cavalry. This amounted to about 40,000 armed men in all. As for Caecina, he was given 30,000 troops from Upper Germany, with the Twenty-First Legion forming the main strength. Each commander was also allotted German auxiliary units, and Vitellius used the same source to supplement his own force. He was to follow with the full weight of the attack.86
62. There was a remarkable contrast between the army and its emperor. The troops applied pressure and demanded action while the Gallic provinces were still unnerved and the Spanish ones undecided. Winter was no impediment, nor would a cowardly respect for peace slow them down! It was vital, they said, to invade Italy and seize the capital. In civil war, speed was the only safe policy, and deeds were wanted, not deliberation.87 Yet Vitellius dozed away his time and took for granted the privileges of an emperor, giving himself up to idle pleasures and sumptuous banquets. Even at midday he was drunk and stuffed with food,88 but such was the passion and energy of his men that they actually carried out the general’s duties themselves, just as though he were there to inspire the energetic or frighten the lazy ones. Ready and at the alert, they clamoured for the signal to start. Vitellius was given the title ‘Germanicus’ on the spot, although he would not allow himself to be addressed as ‘Caesar’ even after his final victory.89
Fabius Valens and the army he was leading to war were given a happy omen on the very day they set off, when an eagle floated effortlessly before the advancing column, as if guiding it on its way. For many miles the soldiers shouted joyfully, so calm and untroubled was the bird. This was interpreted as an omen clearly presaging a great and successful enterprise.90
63. Indeed, they approached the territory of the Treviri confidently, for they counted them as allies. Yet at Divodurum, the capital of the Mediomatrici, although the troops were received with every civility, a sudden panic gripped them, and they hastily seized their weapons to slaughter the innocent civilians. They did this not from an appetite for plunder or a desire for spoils, but because they were gripped by frenzy and motives which defy analysis, which meant that the appropriate remedy was more difficult to find. Eventually placated by their commander’s appeals, they held back from completely wiping out the town. Still, almost 4,000 people lost their lives and such terror descended on the Gallic provincials that when the marching column approached, whole cities would go out to meet it, attended by their magistrates and pleading for mercy. Women and children prostrated themselves along the roads, and every possible appeasement of an enemy’s anger was made to secure peace, even though there was no formal war taking place.
64. News of Galba’s murder and Otho’s accession reached Fabius Valens when he was at the capital of the Leuci. His troops were neither pleased nor frightened. They were only contemplating war. The Gauls now cast aside their hesitation. They hated Otho and Vitellius to the same extent, but the latter inspired fear as well. The next community was the Lingones, who were faithful to the Vitellian cause. The army received a cordial welcome and responded by behaving well, but the happy mood was cut short by the insubordination of the Batavian cohorts which, as I have already described, Fabius Valens had added to his army after they had split from the Fourteenth Legion. First there were quarrels, then a brawl between the Batavians and the legionaries, which almost exploded into a battle as the enthusiastic soldiers flocked to one side or the other until Valens punished a few of the offenders and reminded the Batavians of what they had forgotten – that they were under his command.
An excuse for war against the Aedui was sought in vain. Although they were ordered to supply money and weapons, they also offered food supplies without payment. What the Aedui had done from fear, the people of Lyons did with pleasure. Nonetheless, the Italian Legion and the Taurian cavalry regiment were withdrawn from the city, though it was decided to leave the Eighteenth Cohort at Lyons, its normal winter-quarters. Manlius Valens, the commander of the Italian Legion, got no credit from Vitellius despite his services to the cause. This was because Fabius had made allegations against him behind his back. Manlius knew nothing of this, and was lulled into a false sense of security by being praised in public.
65. The recent fighting had caused the long-standing friction between Lyons and Vienne to blaze up. Each had dealt the other many blows, and incidents had occurred with more frequency and venom than appropriate merely to fighting a battle on behalf of Nero and Galba. Moreover, in a fit of pique, Galba had confiscated the revenues of Lyons to the imperial treasury, but he had heaped honours on Vienne. Hence sprang rivalry, envy and a hatred that locked together cities parted by a single river.91 So the inhabitants of Lyons began to work upon individual soldiers and urge them to sack the rival city. They reminded them that Vienne had laid siege to Lyons, assisted the rebel Vindex, and in the recent past recruited legionaries to protect Galba. After they had suggested these pretexts for hatred, they revealed the immense possibilities of loot. By this time, private approaches had been reinforced by an official appeal: the avenging soldiers should rise up and destroy the stronghold of Gallic rebellion. Vienne, it was claimed, was utterly foreign and hostile to Rome, but Lyons was a Roman city closely connected with the army92 and allied to them through thick and thin: the Vitellians must not leave it at the mercy of angry enemies if luck turned against them.
66. By these arguments, and more of the same kind, they had stirred the feelings of the troops to such an extent that even the senior officers and generals of Vitellius’ party thought that it would be impossible to cool them down. Meanwhile, the people of Vienne were well aware of the peril they faced. Headed by white flags and tokens of surrender, they met the approaching troops and managed to soften the soldiers’ hearts by grasping their weapons, knees and feet in a gesture of entreaty. Valens added the incentive of a bounty of 300 sesterces for each man.93 Then – and only then – were they influenced by the fact that Vienne was a historic and imposing city, and Fabius’ appeal that there should be no loss of life or damage to property was given an unprejudiced hearing. Nonetheless, as a community Vienne was penalized by confiscation of its weapons, and the inhabitants gave the troops all sorts of unofficial gifts. Even so, the rumour persisted that Valens had himself been heavily bribed. For a long time he had been miserably poor, so he found it hard to conceal his sudden transformation from shabbiness to affluence. His greedy desires had been inflamed by protracted need. These were now given full scope, and the penniless youth became an extravagant old man.
The army was next led on a slow march through the lands of the Allobroges and Vocontii, with Valens actually auctioneering the length of the day’s march and the moves from one camp to another, and striking discreditable deals with property owners and local officials. Menaces were employed, too. For instance, at Lucus, a town in the territory of the Vocontii, he threatened to set fire to the place until he got a financial sweetener. When money was not available, he could be persuaded by sexual favours and adultery. In such fashion they made their way as far as the Alps.
67. Caecina indulged more freely in looting and bloodshed. It was the Helvetii who managed to provoke his unruly temper. This Gallic tribe, once famous for its fighting qualities, has in more recent times lived on its reputation. These people knew nothing of Galba’s murder and refused to recognize Vitellius as emperor. Hostilities were triggered by the greed and impatience of the Twenty-First Legion in stealing a sum of money sent as pay for the garrison of a fort which the Helvetii themselves maintained with native soldiers paid at their own expense. The Helvetii took this badly and intercepted some dispatches which were being delivered in the name of the German army to the legions in Pannonia, putting the centurion and his small escort under arrest.94 Caecina was spoiling for a fight and eager to punish the first offender he could find before a change of heart took place. Suddenly moving camp, he devastated the countryside and plundered a spa which, over the long years of peace, had developed into a fair-sized town that bustled with visitors who came to take the waters in agreeable surroundings. Instructions were sent to the auxiliaries in Raetia to attack the Helvetii from the rear as they turned to face the legion.
68. Plucky before the crisis, the Helvetii proved cowards in the hour of danger. When the alarm was first sounded, although they had selected Claudius Severus as their general,95 they showed a total lack of military skill, discipline and coordination. An encounter with veteran troops would be fatal, while their walls, now crumbling and decayed, were not up to withstanding a siege. They were caught: on one side was Caecina at the head of his powerful army, on the other the cavalry and infantry auxiliaries from Raetia, supported by the local Raetian levies, soldiers accustomed to fighting and well trained. Everywhere the scene was one of devastation and slaughter. Drifting helplessly between the two enemy forces, the Helvetii threw away their arms and, many of them wounded or stragglers, fled to Mount Vocetius. Thereupon a cohort of Thracians was promptly sent in and dislodged the fugitives, while the troops from Germany and Raetia pursued them throughout the forest and slaughtered them in their hiding places. Many thousands were killed and many sold into slavery.
After the mopping-up operations were complete, the soldiers marched to attack the capital, Aventicum.96 Envoys were sent out to offer the surrender of the town, and this was accepted. Caecina executed one of their chieftains, Julius Alpinus, whom he regarded as responsible for the rebellion. The rest he left to Vitellius’ mercy or vindictiveness. 69. It is hard to say which the Helvetian envoys found the more implacable: Vitellius or the army. The troops demanded the destruction of the town, and thrust their weapons and fists in the envoys’ faces. Even Vitellius permitted himself to bluster and threaten until one of the envoys, Claudius Cossus, a well-known speaker, but good at concealing his skilful rhetoric behind an apt display of nervousness and therefore more persuasive, managed to calm the soldiers’ feelings. A crowd is typically mercurial. Once excessively vindictive, the men were now just as prone to take pity. So, by shedding copious tears and persistently demanding better treatment, the envoys secured pardon and survival for Aventicum.
70. Caecina spent a few days in Helvetian territory waiting until he was informed of Vitellius’ decision on this matter, and using the time in preparing to cross the Alps. It was now that he received from Italy the cheering news that a unit stationed in the Po valley had declared for Vitellius. This was the Silian cavalry regiment,97 which had served in the province of Africa during Vitellius’ period as governor. Later mobilized by Nero so that it could be sent ahead to Egypt, it had been recalled owing to the rebellion of Vindex, and at the moment was waiting in Italy. Its officers, who knew nothing about Otho, but were attached to Vitellius, repeatedly emphasized the strength of the approaching legions and the good reputation of the German army. At their instigation, the regiment went over to Vitellius and by way of a gift to their new emperor presented him with the strongest towns in the Transpadane Region – Mediolanum, Novaria, Eporedia and Vercellae.98 Caecina was informed of this by the unit itself, but since such an extensive portion of Italy could not be defended by a single cavalry regiment, he sent ahead cohorts of Gauls, Lusitanians and Britons as well as some German mounted units and the Petrian cavalry regiment.99 He himself hesitated for a time. Should he make a detour over the Raetian mountains into Noricum to confront its governor, Petronius Urbicus, who, after mustering his auxiliary forces and cutting the bridges over the rivers, was considered to be an adherent of Otho? Yet he feared that he might lose the infantry and cavalry already sent on ahead. He also reflected that there was more glory in consolidating his Italian gains.100 In any case, wherever the clash took place, Noricum was sure to be among the other prizes of victory. So he decided on the Great St Bernard route, and led his main body and the heavy legionary force across the Alps although they were still in the grip of winter.
71. Meanwhile, to everybody’s surprise, Otho did not sink into a lethargic state of hedonism. Pleasures were postponed, indulgence disguised and his entire conduct was adjusted to the high standards expected of a ruler. Yet this only intensified people’s fears that the sham virtues were an inevitable prelude to further vices.
Marius Celsus, the consul-designate, had been saved from the venom of the troops by a pretended imprisonment. Otho now gave orders for him to be summoned to the Capitol, seeking a reputation for clemency in his treatment of a famous man who was a political opponent.101 Celsus sturdily admitted the charge of keeping faith with Galba, and indeed claimed credit for setting a good example. It was not as if Otho were simply forgiving him, but, calling on the gods to witness their mutual reconciliation, he immediately treated Celsus as an intimate friend and later chose him as one of his generals. Celsus remained solidly but haplessly loyal to Otho as well – this seemed to be his predestined role. Welcomed happily by leading Romans and much discussed by the general public, Celsus’ pardon was not unpopular even with the troops, who admired the very quality that irritated them.
72. Then came a similar gratification, though for different reasons, when Otho was persuaded to put Ofonius Tigellinus to death. Tigellinus, who was humbly born, disgraceful as a boy and dissolute in maturity, was appointed as commander of the watch and the praetorian guard. He also won other prizes normally associated with virtuous character, although he found it quicker to win them by vices. In due course, he took to more robust forms of transgression, first cruelty and then greed. While luring Nero to every form of wrongdoing, he daringly embarked on some crimes without the emperor’s knowledge, and finally deserted and betrayed him. That was why people demanded his punishment more insistently than anyone else’s – those who hated Nero and those who missed him came together, despite their polarized feelings. During Galba’s principate, Tigellinus was sheltered by the influential Titus Vinius, whose excuse was that the man had saved his daughter’s life. No doubt he had done so, although this was not prompted by mercy (given his numerous killings). He was seeking an escape route for the future, for every criminal, distrusting the present and fearing a change of fortune, stockpiles private gratitude as a protection against loathing from the public. Such men are not concerned with keeping their hands clean, but merely hope for a similar immunity in exchange. This only made the public more bitter. To their old hatred for Tigellinus was added the recent unpopularity of Titus Vinius. People ran from the whole city to the palace and the squares, and overflowing into the circus and theatres, where the mob can demonstrate with the greater impunity, raised a seditious clamour. In the end, Tigellinus received the order to commit suicide at Sinuessa Spa where he was indulging in sexual romps with his prostitutes, exchanges of kisses and other degrading delays, but finally he slit his throat with a razor and crowned his notorious life with a belated and disreputable death.
73. Around this same time, there arose an emphatic public demand for the execution of Calvia Crispinilla, but she was saved from this fate by various contrivances (Otho’s collusion evoked hostile comment). This woman had been Nero’s tutor in vice before going over to the province of Africa to instigate Clodius Macer to revolt. Her plan was quite obvious – a corn blockade of Rome and her people.102 Later she became a popular figure throughout the country as a whole, securing her position by marriage to a former consul, and the successive regimes of Galba, Otho and Vitellius brought her no harm. Eventually she enjoyed great influence as a wealthy woman who had no heirs – for, whether times are good or bad, such qualities retain their power.
74. Meanwhile, Otho wrote a stream of letters to Vitellius. His correspondence was disfigured by alluring and unmanly bribes – money, influence and whichever quiet spot he cared to choose for a life of indulgence. Similar baits were held out by Vitellius, with some degree of restraint at first, so long as the rivals still maintained a foolish and degrading hypocrisy. Then, like men quarrelling, they accused each other of debauchery and wickedness. Here at least both were in the right.
Otho recalled the envoys sent by Galba and dispatched a fresh deputation, chosen ostensibly from the senate, to approach both armies in Germany, the Italian Legion and the forces at Lyons. With an alacrity which belied any notion of compulsion, these envoys threw in their lot with Vitellius, but the praetorian escort provided by Otho as a guard of honour was hurriedly sent back to Rome before it could come into contact with the legionaries. Fabius backed up this move by sending a letter addressed in the name of the German army to the praetorian and urban cohorts, boasting of the strength of the Vitellian side and offering to come to an understanding. He actually went as far as to criticize them for making Otho emperor long after power had been handed to Vitellius.103 75. In this way the city garrison was being worked on by both promises and threats: too few to fight, they were not likely to lose anything by making peace. Despite this, the praetorians remained inflexibly loyal.104
However, secret agents were sent by Otho to Germany, and by Vitellius to the capital. Both parties failed to achieve anything, Vitellius’ agents going undetected and unpunished because they were lost amid the vast population of Rome, all strangers to one another. On the other hand, the Othonians were fresh faces in a community where each man knew his comrades personally, and their identity was thus betrayed. Vitellius composed a letter to Otho’s brother Titianus in which he threatened to put the latter and his son to death in the event of any harm befalling his own mother and children. In fact, both families survived. Under Otho the reason for this is unclear (perhaps he was afraid), but the victorious Vitellius was certainly credited with clemency.
76. The first event to boost Otho’s confidence was the news from Illyricum that the legions of Dalmatia, Pannonia and Moesia had sworn allegiance to him as emperor. Identical reports came from Spain, and a proclamation was issued praising Cluvius Rufus. Yet in no time at all it was discovered that Spain had gone over to Vitellius. Even Aquitania soon shifted its ground, despite the oath of loyalty to Otho imposed by Julius Cordus. Nowhere could one rely on loyalty or affection: through fear or compulsion the provinces were changing sides this way and that. The same sort of panic impelled Narbonese Gaul to rally to Vitellius: it took the easy step of joining neighbours stronger than itself. The distant provinces and such forces as lay overseas remained true to Otho, not from enthusiasm for his cause but because of the considerable prestige exercised by the mere name of Rome and the imposing façade of senatorial support. In any case, Otho had already established his position psychologically, for he had been heard of before Vitellius was. The army of Judaea had the oath of allegiance to Otho administered to it by Vespasian, the legions of Syria by Mucianus. At the same time, the authorities in Egypt and all the eastern provinces expressed nominal support. Africa showed the same allegiance. Here the initiative came from Carthage, which did not wait for a lead from the governor, Vipstanus Apronianus. One of Nero’s freedmen, Crescens – for even these creatures play their part in affairs of state when times are bad – had offered the public a feast in celebration of the recent accession, and the reckless people rushed to express their support in various ways. The remaining African communities followed the example of Carthage.
77. This split in the armies and provinces meant that Vitellius had to fight for the position of emperor. Otho, however, went on with his imperial duties as if there were not a cloud in the sky. He sometimes displayed a proper sense of statesmanship, more often an unseemly haste based on immediate needs. With his brother Titianus he became consul until 1 March, making some attempt to soothe the army of Germany by allotting the succeeding months to Verginius, with Pompeius Vopiscus as his colleague, allegedly because he was an old friend, although many took this as a compliment to Vienne. The remaining consulships were allocated according to the selections of Nero or Galba. Thus Caelius Sabinus and Flavius Sabinus were to hold office until 1 July, and Arrius Antoninus and Marius Celsus until 1 September. Even Vitellius refrained from vetoing these arrangements after his victory. Otho also made appointments to the colleges of pontiffs and augurs as a crowning distinction for old men who had already had a distinguished career, or afforded young men of rank recently back from exile the solace and satisfaction of occupying priesthoods held by their fathers and grandfathers. Membership of the senate was restored to Cadius Rufus, Pedius Blaesus and Scaevinus Propinquus,105 who had been condemned for extortion under Claudius and Nero. In pardoning them, the senators decided to find a new name for what had actually been ‘greed’, calling it instead ‘treason’. This charge was then so hated for its misuse that it made even beneficial laws dead in the water.
78. The same lavishness marked Otho’s approaches to civic communities and provinces. At Hispalis and Emerita additional families of settlers were enrolled, the Lingones received a block grant of Roman citizenship, and the province of Baetica was awarded some Moorish communities. New constitutions devised for both Cappadocia and Africa looked good but would not survive. All these proposals can be excused by the needs of the moment and imminent worries, but Otho still remembered his love-life and restored Poppaea’s statues by senatorial decree. It was believed that he even contemplated some ceremony in memory of Nero, in order to entice the mob. Indeed, some people did exhibit portraits of Nero, and on certain occasions the populace and the troops actually saluted the emperor as ‘Nero Otho’ as if this represented an additional ennoblement. Otho himself left the matter in the air, for he was afraid to forbid the title or else ashamed to acknowledge it.
79. While attention was diverted to the civil war, foreign affairs were being disregarded. As a result, the Rhoxolani, a Sarmatian tribe, had become more daring, and after slaughtering two auxiliary cohorts in the previous winter, they had embarked on a hugely optimistic invasion of Moesia with a force numbering some 9,000 wild and exulting horsemen, keener on booty than battle. So, while they were roaming about and off their guard, the Third Legion and its auxiliaries suddenly attacked. On the Roman side everything was ready for a battle. Not so the Sarmatians. Scattered about through desire for plunder or laden with heavy spoils, while their swift horses were being slowed down because the tracks were slippery, the men were being slaughtered like chained prisoners. It is indeed amazing to report how all the courage of the Sarmatians depends on such an extraneous factor. They show unique cowardice when fighting on foot, but when advancing on horseback, scarcely any battleline could withstand them. However, this particular day was wet, and a thaw had set in. Neither their lances nor their enormous two-handed swords were of any use, because the horses lost their footing and the dismounted men were hampered by their heavy body-armour. Their chiefs and nobles wear this protective covering, which consists of iron-plating and extremely tough leather. Although it is impenetrable to blows, it is cumbersome for anyone trying to get up after being sent sprawling by an enemy charge. At the same time, the Sarmatians were being swallowed up in the deep, soft snow. The Roman soldiers moved easily in their breastplates and attacked by hurling their javelins or using their lances and, as occasion required, their lightweight swords. At close quarters they hacked at the unprotected Sarmatians (for it is not their custom to defend themselves with shields). Finally, a few men who had survived the battle took refuge in swampy country, where they succumbed to the severity of the weather or their wounds.
When this news reached Rome, Marcus Aponius, the governor of Moesia, was granted a triumphal statue,106 and the legionary commanders Aurelius Fulvus, Tettius Julianus and Numisius Lupus received consular decorations.107 Otho was delighted, and plumed himself on the victory as if he had been the successful general and had extended the empire by means of commanders and armies that were his.
80. Meanwhile a mutiny broke out which almost destroyed the capital, although it arose in a place where no danger was feared and out of a trivial incident.108 Otho had ordered the Seventeenth Cohort to move to Rome from the city of Ostia and a praetorian tribune named Varius Crispinus was entrusted with the task of issuing arms to it. This man, aiming to carry out his orders with greater freedom from distraction while the praetorian barracks were quiet, had the armoury opened and the cohort’s transport loaded up at nightfall.109 The hour aroused suspicion, the motive was misconstrued, and the bid for peace and quiet developed into an uproar. Just seeing the weapons made some drunken praetorians want to seize them. The troops began to grumble and accused the tribunes and centurions of a treacherous plot to arm the senators’ household slaves and murder Otho. Some were ignorant of the real circumstances and slow-witted from drink, every scoundrel saw the chance of loot, while the majority of the men were, as usual, ready for any kind of excitement. Besides, the darkness had dissipated the better men’s tolerance for orders. The mutinous soldiers cut down the tribune as he tried to restrain them, together with the strictest disciplinarians among the centurions. The men seized weapons, drew their swords, mounted their horses and rode off to Rome and the palace.
81. Otho was entertaining a packed dinner party of society men and women.110 The guests were alarmed. Was this a meaningless outbreak on the part of the troops or a trick from the emperor? Would it be more dangerous to stay and be caught, or escape and scatter? At one moment, they put on a brave face, at the next, their fears betrayed them as they watched Otho’s expression. As is the way with suspicious minds, although Otho felt fear, he also inspired it. However, he was just as scared for the senators as for himself and had promptly sent off the praetorian prefects to soothe their angry men. He also told all his guests to hurry away from the banqueting room. This was the signal for a general stampede. Magistrates threw away their badges of office, eluding the masses of retainers and slaves who were waiting upon them, while old gentlemen and their wives vanished down the darkened streets of the capital in every direction. One or two made for their mansions, but most of them fled to the homes of their friends and sought obscure hiding places with their humblest dependants.
82. Not even the doors of the palace could stop the troops surging irresistibly into the banqueting-hall and demanding that Otho should show himself to them. A tribune, Julius Martialis, and a legionary prefect, Vitellius Saturninus, were wounded in their attempt to stem the rush. The whole place was a hubbub of weapons and threats, hurled now against the centurions and tribunes, now against the whole senate. In their blind and panic-stricken frenzy, finding no single target for their anger, they clamoured for a free hand against everybody. Finally Otho threw imperial dignity to the winds, clambered up on a couch, and with some difficulty restrained the mutineers by means of prayers and tears. So they returned to barracks, but grudgingly and with guilty consciences. On the next day Rome resembled a captured city.111 The great houses were shuttered, the streets almost empty, the populace gloomy. The downcast glances of the troops displayed sullenness rather than regret. Company by company, they were addressed by Licinius Proculus and Plotius Firmus, with the differing degrees of severity according to the characters of the two prefects. They concluded their remarks by announcing that each soldier was to be paid 5,000 sesterces.112 Only then did Otho venture into the barracks. He was immediately surrounded by the tribunes and centurions, who stripped off their uniform and asked for a safe discharge. The troops felt this reproach against themselves and resumed obedient conduct in an orderly way. They themselves actually demanded the execution of the ringleaders in the mutiny.
83. Otho faced a dilemma, as the situation was turbulent and the soldiers had divided opinions – the best sort were demanding a remedy for the present wave of indiscipline, while the average man, that is, the majority of them, delighted by mutinies and power based on solicitation, could be driven to civil war with greater ease by means of rioting and looting. Nevertheless, Otho also reflected that a principate won by criminal means could not be retained by sudden doses of discipline and old-fashioned strictness, but he was still worried at the insecurity to which Rome was exposed and the threat to the senate. In the end he made a speech to the troops along these lines:113
‘My fellow-soldiers, I have not come to fire your hearts with affection for me or to spur your spirit to heroism. For, in commendable fashion, you already have more than enough of both these qualities. Instead, I have come to ask you to keep your valour under control and to restrain your friendly feelings for me. Yesterday’s riot was not triggered by the cupidity or hatred that have prompted disorder in many armies, nor was it started by a cowardly refusal to face danger. Your excessive devotion provided a stimulus that was keen but misguided. For deadly results often follow honourable intentions, unless one applies sound judgement.
‘You and I are going to war. Surely you don’t think that the need for carefully weighing up the situation and arriving at a quick decision when the hour strikes allows scope for every intelligence report to be read in public and every plan to be studied before the whole army? Sometimes it is just as crucial for the ordinary soldiers to remain in the dark as to know things. The nature of a general’s authority and the strict observance of discipline requires that even centurions and tribunes should often obey orders without question. If every single man is to have the right to ask why orders are being given, then the habit of obedience is sapped, and with it the whole principle of command. Are we still going to have men seizing weapons in the dead of night when we are on campaign? Shall a couple of drunken louts – for I feel sure that only a few lost their heads in last night’s affair – stain their hands with the blood of a centurion and a tribune and force their way into their general’s tent?
84. ‘Of course you acted to protect me. However, commotion, darkness and general confusion can open the way for my assassination. If Vitellius and his minions could choose what mood and what state of mind to call down upon us, surely they would pray for mutiny and dissension, for the private to disobey his centurion and the centurion his tribune, for us to rush blindly to our destruction in a confused mass of infantry and cavalry? Successful fighting, fellow-soldiers, depends on obedience, not on questioning the generals’ orders, and the bravest army in the hour of danger is the one that is best behaved before that hour strikes. Arms and courage should be your business: leave to me the job of planning policy and guiding your bravery.
‘Just a few individuals only were to blame, but only two will be punished. As for the rest of you, wipe out the memory of that most terrible night! I only hope that no army anywhere hears the dreadful words you uttered against the senate. By Hercules, this is the supreme council of state, with members recruited from men of distinction in every province, and clamouring for its destruction is conduct which even the Germans whom Vitellius is mustering against us at this very moment would surely not permit themselves.114 Can any sons of Italy, any true Roman warriors, cry out for the bloodthirsty butchery of an order by whose radiance and glory we eclipse the obscure and shabby following of Vitellius? Yes, he has got hold of a few native tribes and has raised some poor shadow of a proper army, but on our side is the senate. So the state takes its stand here: over there, against us, are the enemies of that state. Do you really imagine that this most beautiful city depends on mansions, buildings and piles of masonry? These are dumb, lifeless things, and one and all can fall or be rebuilt. The survival of our empire, peace between the nations and your life as well as mine find a firm support in the continued preservation of the senate. The senatorial order was solemnly instituted by the patriarch and founder of our city. From the regal period up to the principate it has survived in unbroken continuity. We received it from our fathers. Let us as surely transmit it to our sons. You are the source of new blood for the senate, and the senate in its turn supplies our emperors.’115
85. This speech, nicely calculated to reprimand the troops and calm their feelings, and also Otho’s restrained show of severity – no more than two men were to be punished – were well received. For the moment he had calmed troops who could not be dealt with firmly. However, peace and quiet had not returned to Rome, which clattered with arms and bore the look of war. Although the soldiers were not causing any concerted disorder, they had dispersed themselves around all the great houses disguised as civilians, and kept a jealous eye upon all whose station, wealth or some other uncommon distinction exposed them to gossip. Many people believed that Vitellian soldiers too had entered Rome to explore the degree of support for their cause.116 As a result, the whole atmosphere was heavy with suspicion and even the privacy of the home was hardly secure. However, in public places anxiety reached a climax, as people constantly altered their attitudes and facial expressions to the latest rumour so as not to seem too upset by bad tidings and insufficiently gratified by good. Yet above all, it was when the senate was called to the house that there was strenuous moderation in all matters: silence might seem rebellious, while free speech was regarded with suspicion. Otho had recently been an ordinary senator and had used the same language as his peers, so he knew all about flattery. Therefore, the senators varied their opinions and twisted their words this way and that to suit the moment. They denounced Vitellius as an enemy and a traitor to his country, but the most wary politicians confined themselves to perfunctory abuse. Some hurled real insults, but only did so during moments of uproar when people were shouting over one another, or else blurted them out in an incoherent torrent of words which nobody could quite catch.
86. There were alarming prodigies too, reported by a number of independent sources.117 At the entrance to the Capitol, it was said, the reins of the chariot in which Victory rides had slipped from her grasp; an apparition of superhuman size had suddenly emerged from the Chapel of Juno; on a sunny, windless day the statue of the divine Julius on the Tiber island had turned round so as to face east instead of west;118 an ox had spoken in Etruria; there had been monstrous animal births and many other signs and wonders of the kind that in primitive centuries were noted even in peacetime, but are now only heard about in times of fear. Yet the most serious panic was caused by a disaster combining immediate destruction with the threat of trouble in the future. This was the sudden flooding of the Tiber, which demolished the Pile Bridge119 thanks to the tremendous rise in its waters, and after being dammed by the ruins, overwhelmed not only the flat and low-lying parts of the capital, but also areas thought to be immune from disasters of this kind. A number of people were swept away in the streets, and even more were cut off without warning in their shops and beds. Famine gripped the poor, since they were unable to work and there was a shortage of food. The standing flood water weakened the foundations of large tenement blocks, which collapsed as the river retreated. No sooner had the public recovered from this shock than it was faced by another. As Otho was preparing his expeditionary force, it was found that the Campus Martius and the Flaminian Way120 were blocked. This was the route to the front, and although the obstruction sprang from chance or natural causes, it was interpreted as a sign from heaven and an omen of imminent disaster.
87. Otho held a service of purification121 throughout the city and weighed up his plans for war. As the Pennine and Cottian Alps and all the other landward approaches to the Gallic provinces were being blocked by Vitellius’ armies, he decided to invade Narbonese Gaul with the help of his powerful navy.122 This was loyal to his cause because he had enrolled as a legion the survivors of the Milvian Bridge massacre; they had been kept in prison by the cruel Galba, while the rest of the navy men were promised prestigious military promotion in due course. Otho reinforced his fleet with urban cohorts and a large group of praetorians. These were the strong backbone of his army, who were to give the generals the benefit of their advice and protection. The expedition was commanded by the senior centurions Antonius Novellus and Suedius Clemens, as well as by Aemilius Pacensis, to whom Otho had restored the tribune’s rank of which Galba had deprived him. The freedman Moschus – kept on in order to spy upon the loyalty of his superiors – maintained control of the fleet.
Suetonius Paulinus,123 Marius Celsus and Annius Gallus were chosen to lead the main force of infantry and cavalry, but Otho put most faith in Licinius Proculus, the praetorian prefect. This man had been energetic while serving in Rome, but had no experience of real wars. However, by criticizing respectively Paulinus’ influence, Celsus’ energy and Gallus’ seasoned judgement, this wicked and cunning man easily outdid his restrained and honest colleagues.
88. Over this same period Cornelius Dolabella was banished to the city of Aquinum,124 although without being subjected to close or humiliating custody. No charge had been brought against him, but critics pointed to his ancient lineage and close connections with Galba.125
Otho now gave orders that many of the magistrates and most of the former consuls should accompany him, ostensibly as his suite, not as active participants or to assist in the war. Even Lucius Vitellius was included in their number, for he was treated no differently from the rest and not as the brother of an emperor – or of a traitor.
All this caused a wave of anxiety in the capital, where none of the upper classes was exempt from fear or danger. The leading senators were incapacitated by age or enervated by a long peace, the aristocracy was lazy and had forgotten about warfare, the equestrians were ignorant of active service. The more these people strove to hide and conceal their fear, the more obvious it became. On the other hand there were fools who tried to cut a dash by purchasing showy armour, fine horses and even, in some cases, luxurious paraphernalia for feasts and items to titillate the appetites, as if these were weapons of war. Sensible men were worried about peace and the state of the country, the irresponsible and the improvident were puffed up with idle hopes, and many bankrupts, at their wits’ end in peace, drew new vigour from confusion, and found their greatest safeguard in insecurity.
89. The common people and a population too vast to sense collective political responsibilities gradually began to feel the hardships of war. Owing to the channelling of all available money into the war effort, the cost of food rose. This problem had not worn down the people to the same extent during the revolt of Vindex, for at that time Rome had remained safe and the fighting had been restricted to the provinces, during what was virtually a foreign war between the legionaries and the Gauls. Indeed, ever since the divine Augustus had settled the constitution of the principate, the Roman people had fought their campaigns far away, with the result that the wars worried or adorned the emperor alone. Under Tiberius and Gaius, the only disasters that affected the state were associated with peace. The plot of Scribonianus126 against Claudius was no sooner reported than crushed, and Nero was driven from power by messages and rumours rather than by force of arms. Yet now legions and fleets were taken into the front-line, along with the praetorian and urban troops (something which had rarely happened before). Behind them were arrayed the East and the West with all their respective forces. This had the makings of a lengthy war, had it been fought under different leaders.
There were some people who tried to delay Otho as he was setting out by pointing out that the ceremony of Laying up the Shields had not yet been completed,127 but he scorned all hindrances, which had, after all, been deadly to Nero. The fact that Caecina had already crossed the Alps also spurred him on. 90. On 14 March, after formally handing over affairs of the state to the senate, Otho granted to those recalled from exile whatever was left over from Nero’s auctions of confiscated property which had not yet been paid into the treasury. This concession was perfectly fair, and it looked generous, though in fact it yielded little, as for some time the money had been processed at top speed.
Otho then summoned a public meeting, in which he stressed the prestige of Rome and the united support of senate and people as factors which favoured his cause. He talked about the Vitellian party in moderate terms, blaming the legions for ignorance rather than outrageous conduct and making no mention of Vitellius himself. Perhaps this reflects his own self-control, or possibly his speech-writer held back from insulting Vitellius out of fear for his own skin. For just as Otho relied upon Suetonius Paulinus and Marius Celsus for advice in military matters, so he was believed to consult Galerius Trachalus128 about affairs at Rome. Indeed, there were some who thought they could recognize Trachalus’ manner of speaking, which was ample, sonorous and perfectly judged to satisfy public tastes, as well as being well known from his frequent appearances in the courtroom.
The cheers and cries of the crowd were excessive and insincere, according to the usual pattern of flattery. As if people were seeing off Julius Caesar or Emperor Augustus, they vied with one another in their enthusiastic good wishes. They did this neither from fear nor real affection, but as a result of their passionate devotion to servility. They were just like household slaves, for each man was prompted by selfishness and the dignity of the state now meant nothing. On leaving Rome, Otho handed over the policing of the capital and the daily responsibilities of an emperor to his brother Salvius Titianus.