heard of the rising there, no longer postponed the choice of his
successor. He knew that some of his friends desired the election of
Otho, and some that of Dolabella; but as he himself approved of neither
candidate, he suddenly without any warning sent for Piso, the son of
Crassus and Scribonia, who perished under Nero, a young man remarkable
for his virtues, and especially for the modesty and austerity of his
life. Galba now at once took this youth to the camp of the prætorian
guard to declare him Cæsar and heir to the empire, though as he left
the palace he was at once met by evil omens, and when he began to
address the soldiers and to read aloud a prepared speech it thundered
and lightened so often, and such rain and darkness overshadowed the camp
and the city, that it was impossible to doubt that Heaven did not
approve of the adoption of Piso, and that no good would come of it. The
soldiers were sulky and scowling, as not even on this occasion was any
largesse given to them. Piso himself was admired by all who saw him, for
as far as they could judge from his voice and manner he was not
bewildered by his good fortune, although he was not insensible of it,
while Otho's countenance bore manifest tokens of the bitterness of his
disappointment, as he thought that Galba's refusal to appoint him after
having chosen him and all but raised him to the throne was a clear proof
of the emperor's dislike and hatred for him. Otho was not without fears
for the future, and went away full of hatred for Piso, blaming Galba,
and angry with Vinius. The prophets and Chaldæans whom he kept about his
person would not permit him to give up his hopes, and especially one
Ptolemæus,[619] who laid great stress upon a prophecy which he had often
repeated to him, that Nero would not kill him, but would perish before
him, and that he should rule over the Romans; for having proved the one
part of his prophecy to be true, this man bade him not despair of the
other part also coming to pass, while he was much encouraged by those
who came to offer their sympathy, and treated him as an ill-used man:
for many of the partizans of Nymphidius and Tigellinus, who had once
been in positions of honour, and now had been dismissed and were in
poverty, attached themselves to him and urged him to revolt.
XXIV. Among these were Veturius and Barbius, one of whom was an
adjutant, and the other an orderly of the corps of guides[620] as the
Romans call the scouts and messengers of their armies. Together with
them a freedman of Otho's, named Onomastus, went about from man to man,
and by bribes and promises induced them to stand by Otho, which they
were willing enough to do, as they were thoroughly disloyal to Galba and
only wanted an excuse to desert him. Indeed, a loyal army could not have
been corrupted in four days, which was all the interval that elapsed
between the adoption of Piso by Galba, and the murder of them both: for
they perished on the sixth[621] day after, which the Romans call the
sixteenth before the Calends of February. Early in the morning of that
day Galba was offering sacrifice in the palace, accompanied by many of
his friends. The aruspex, Umbricius, as soon as he took the entrails of
the victim into his hands and looked at them, said distinctly that they
portended great disturbances, and danger to the emperor from a plot at
headquarters. Thus was Otho all but delivered up to justice by the hand
of God: for he stood close behind Galba and heard what Umbricius said as
he pointed to the entrails. He was much alarmed, and turned all manner
of colours through fear, when his freedman Onomastus came up to him and
said that the architect was waiting for him at his house. This was the
preconcerted signal of the time when Otho was to meet the soldiers. He,
therefore, explaining that he had just bought an old house, and wished
to point out its defects to those who had sold it, went away through
what is called the house of Tiberius into the Forum, where stands a
gilded column[622] at which all the public roads in Italy terminate.
XXV. Here they say that he was met and saluted as emperor by the first
of the conspirators, who were not more than three and twenty in number.
Though the luxury and effeminacy in which he lived had not affected his
courage, for he was a most daring man, yet now his heart failed him. The
others, however, would not let him draw back, but drew their swords and,
standing round his litter,[623] ordered it to proceed, while Otho
frequently urged the bearers to go faster, and often muttered to
himself, "I am a lost man;" for several persons had heard what had
passed, and looked on more in wonder than alarm, because of the small
number of the conspirators. While he was being thus carried through the
Forum, about as many more men joined him, and then others came up by
twos and threes. At length they all faced around, and saluted him as
Cæsar, brandishing their naked swords. The tribune Martialis, who was on
guard at the camp of the prætorians, is said not to have been in the
plot, but to have been terrified and bewildered at Otho's sudden
appearance, and let him pass in. When he was once within the camp, no
one opposed him; for those who did not know what was being done found
themselves enclosed in small parties of two or three together by the
conspirators, and being thus cut off from one another, followed the
party of Otho at first through fear, and soon, when the matter was
explained to them, of their own free will.
News of the rising was brought to Galba at the palace while the aruspex
still held the victim in his hands, so that even those who generally
refused to believe in the omens drawn from sacrifices were astonished at
the evident interposition of Heaven. As a crowd of all kinds of persons
now ran up from the Forum, Vinius and Laco and a few of the emperor's
freedmen stood round him with drawn swords while Piso went forward and
addressed the soldiers who were on guard at the palace, and Marius
Celsus, a brave man, was sent to assure himself of the fidelity of a
corps of Illyrians who were quartered in the Portico of Agrippa.
XXVI. Galba wished to go forth, but Vinius dissuaded him, while Celsus
and Laco urged him to do so, and abused Vinius roundly. At this time a
persistent rumour arose that Otho had been murdered in the camp of the
prætorians; and presently one Julius Atticus, one of the chiefs of the
emperor's guards, came up with his sword drawn, shouting that he had
slain the enemy of Cæsar. Pushing his way through the bystanders, he
showed Galba his sword, which was covered with blood. Galba looked at
him, and said, "Who ordered you to kill him?" As, however, the man spoke
of his loyalty, and the oath of fealty which he had sworn, and as the
crowd shouted that he had done well, and clapped their hands, Galba got
into his litter with the intention of sacrificing to Jupiter and
showing himself to his subjects. Just as he entered the Forum, like a
change of wind there came a rumour that Otho was at the head of the
soldiers. And now, while in that vast crowd some called to Galba to turn
back, and some to go on, some bade him be of good courage and others
warned him to beware, and the litter was frequently shaken and swayed to
and fro as if it were on a stormy sea, there suddenly appeared a body of
horsemen, and then some foot-soldiers, who came through the basilica of
Paulus, and loudly shouted to the people to take "that citizen" away.
The populace took to their heels, but did not run away in fear, but
posted themselves on the tops of the porticoes and on the highest parts
of the Forum as though they were spectators at a public show. The civil
war was begun by Attilius Vergilio,[624] who tore down the image of
Galba which he carried on his staff, and dashed it upon the ground. Many
now hurled their javelins at the litter; and, missing their aim at Galba
with these, they drew their swords and rushed upon him. No one remained
with him or defended him except one man, the only one of all that vast
multitude whom the sun beheld that day acting worthily of the Roman
Empire. This was a centurion named Sempronius Densus, who had never
received any especial favour from Galba, but who, prompted merely by his
own honour and fidelity, stood firm in front of his litter. Raising the
vine stick, which is carried by centurions to correct their men, he
shouted aloud and ordered the men who rushed towards him to spare the
emperor. After this, as they tried to push past him, he drew his sword
and defended the emperor for a long time, until he was brought to the
ground by a blow under the knee.
XXVII. Galba's litter was overset near the place called the Lake of
Curtius. As he fell to the ground, wearing a corslet,[625] many ran upon
him and stabbed him. He, offering his throat to them, said "Strike, if
this be best for Rome." He received many cuts in the legs and arms, but
the mortal blow in the throat was given, according to the most common
account, by one Camurius, a soldier of the fifteenth legion. Some
writers say that his murderer's name was Terentius, some, Lecanius, and
some Fabius Fabulus, who is said to have cut off his head and carried it
away wrapped in his toga, for being bald, it was difficult to hold with
the hands. Afterwards, as those who were with him would not allow him to
carry it so, but wished him to display his feat of arms, he stuck it on
a spear, and ran along like a Bacchanal, brandishing aloft the aged head
of one who had been a virtuous emperor, a pontiff, and a consul, often
turning himself about and shaking the spear, down which the blood still
ran. When the head of Galba was brought to Otho, he said, "This is
nothing, my comrades; show me the head of Piso." Before long it was
brought to him: for the youth had been wounded and fled, but had been
pursued by one Marcus who slew him near the temple of Vesta. Vinius also
was killed, though he admitted that he had been a party to the
conspiracy against Galba; for he cried out that "Otho did not mean him
to be killed." However, both his head and that of Laco were cut off and
taken to Otho, from whom the bearers demanded a present. As Archilochus
says,
"Though there be of us a thousand, each of whom his man hath slain,
Yet we find but corpses seven, when we come to search the plain."
So many who took no part in these murders nevertheless dipped their
hands and their swords in the blood and showed them to Otho, and sent
petitions to him asking for a reward. A hundred and twenty persons were
afterwards discovered to have done this by the written petitions which
they sent to the emperor, all of whom afterwards Vitellius caused to be
searched for and put to death. Besides these men, Marius Celsus came to
the camp. Many at once accused him of having incited the soldiers to
help Galba, and the mob clamoured for his execution. Otho, however, did
not wish to kill him; but as he did not dare to directly oppose the
soldiers, he said that he would not put him to death in such a hurry,
for there were several questions which he wished to put to him. On this
pretence he ordered him to be imprisoned, and entrusted him to his own
most faithful followers.
XXVIII. The Senate was at once called together. Just as though they had
become different men, or worshipped different gods, the senators took
the oath of fealty to Otho, which Otho himself had just broken: and they
addressed him as Cæsar and Augustus while the headless corpses, dressed
in their consular robes, were still lying in the Forum. As the murderers
had no further use for the heads, they sold that of Vinius to his
daughter for two thousand five hundred drachmas. Piso's head was given
to his wife Verania,[626] at her earnest entreaty; and that of Galba was
given to the slaves of Patrobius[627] and Vitellius, who subjected it to
every kind of indignity, and at last threw it into the place which is
called the Sessorium, where they execute those who are put to death by
the emperor's orders. Galba's body was removed by Helvidius Priscus,
with the permission of Otho: and during the night it was buried by one
Argius,[628] the emperor's freedman.
XXIX. This was the fate of Galba, who was second to few of the Romans in
birth or wealth, being almost the first man of his time in both. He
lived through the reigns of five emperors and obtained a great
reputation, by which more than by any power at his disposal he drove out
Nero: for of the many pretenders of that time some were declared by all
to be unfit to reign, and some of their own accord withdrew their
pretensions; but Galba was offered the throne and accepted it, so that
his mere name caused the rising of Vindex, which had been regarded as a
mere revolt, to be called a civil war, because an emperor took part in
it. As therefore he considered that he had not so much sought for the
management of the empire as he had had it pressed upon him, he thought
to govern the spoiled children of Nymphidius and Tigellinus after the
fashion of Scipio, Fabricius, and Camillus of old.
Though his faculties were somewhat impaired by age he proved himself in
all military matters a thoroughly capable commander of the old school;
but he put himself entirely into the hands of Vinius and Laco, who, just
like the greedy crew that had surrounded Nero, sold everything in the
state to the highest bidder; so that no one looked back with regret to
his reign, though many were grieved at his death.
LIFE OF OTHO.
I. The young emperor[629] proceeded at daybreak to the Capitol, and offered
sacrifice there. Next, he ordered Marius Celsus to be brought to him,
and having embraced him, spoke kindly to him, and invited him to forget
the charge which had been made against him rather than to remember his
acquittal. Celsus answered with dignity, yet not without appreciation of
Otho's kindness, that the crime laid to his charge, being that of
fidelity to Galba, to whom he owed nothing, ought of itself to bear
witness to his character. By these words both Otho and Celsus were
thought to have done themselves equal honour, and were applauded by the
soldiers. After this, Otho made a mild and gracious speech to the
Senate. He assigned part of the time appointed for his own consulship to
Virginius Rufus, and left in force all the other appointments to
consulships which had been made by Nero or Galba. He gratified several
persons of advanced age, or eminent in other ways, by appointing them to
offices in the priesthood, and restored to those senators who had been
banished by Nero, and had returned under Galba, all of their property
which had not been sold. In consequence of this, many of the leading men
in Rome, who had at first shuddered at Otho's accession, regarding him
as some avenging demon who had suddenly been placed upon the throne,
began to look much more hopefully upon a reign by which they themselves
profited.
II. At the same time nothing delighted the common people and reconciled
them to Otho so much as his treatment of Tigellinus. This wretch had
hitherto escaped notice, for all thoughtful men considered him
sufficiently punished already by his fear of the punishment which the
people demanded as a debt due to the public, and by the incurable bodily
diseases from which he suffered, while they regarded the foul
debaucheries which he still even when dying continued to lust after, as
a greater misery to him than death itself. Yet many thought it shame
that he should still see the light of day, of which he had deprived so
many noble spirits. Otho sent a messenger to the country house near
Sinuessa, where Tigellinus dwelt, and where several ships were always
riding at anchor in case he should wish to flee farther from Rome.
Tigellinus at first offered the messenger a vast bribe to allow him to
escape; and as the man refused to do so, he gave him the money
nevertheless, begged of him to wait until he had shaved, and then,
taking up a razor, cut his throat.
III. The emperor, though he gratified the people by this well-deserved
execution, yet bore no malice against any one else of his personal
enemies. To please the people he at first allowed them to address him at
public spectacles as "Nero"; and he allowed several statues of Nero to
be replaced in public. Claudius Rufus states that the diplomas,[630] or
imperial despatches, which were sent to Spain by the hands of public
couriers, were inscribed with the name of Nero as well as with that of
Otho. However, as he perceived that this practice gave offence to the
first and most powerful citizens, he put a stop to it. The soldiers of
the prætorian guard were extremely dissatisfied with the moderate manner
in which Otho began his reign, and they warned him to be on his guard,
and cut off all disaffected persons, either out of a genuine anxiety for
his safety, or merely as a pretext for causing disturbances and civil
wars. One day Otho sent Crispinus[631] to Ostia to bring back the
seventeenth manipulus[632] from thence. As Crispinus, while it was still
dark, began to make preparations for the journey, and loaded waggons
with the men's arms, some of the most daring soldiers openly declared
that he had come with disloyal intentions, that the Senate meditated a
coup d'état, and that the arms were meant to be used against Otho, not
for him. As many took up this idea and became much excited, some seized
on the waggons, others killed Crispinus and their own two centurions who
tried to oppose them, and all, in confusion, calling upon one another to
come to the rescue of Cæsar, marched to Rome. Hearing that Otho was
entertaining eighty of the senators at dinner, they rushed to the
palace, exclaiming that now was the time to put to death all the enemies
of Cæsar at one stroke. The city was panic-stricken, expecting at once
to be pillaged by the troops; the palace was filled with confusion and
alarm, and Otho himself terribly perplexed as to what to do; for while
he feared for the safety of his guests, some of whom had brought their
wives to the banquet, they mistrusted him, and he saw them watching his
every movement in silent terror. He therefore ordered the prefects of
the guard to go and pacify the soldiers, while at the same time he
dismissed his guests by another door. They were scarcely gone when the
soldiers burst tumultuously into the dining-hall, asking what had become
of the enemies of Cæsar. Otho now mounted on a couch and addressed them;
and by entreaties, and even by tears, at last prevailed upon them to
retire. On the following day, having presented every soldier with twelve
hundred and fifty drachmas, he entered the camp, where he praised[633]
their zeal on his behalf, and begged them to join him in punishing a few
whose intrigues had made both his clemency and their own steady loyalty
to be questioned. As all approved, and bade him do so, he, after
selecting for punishment two men whose fate no one could regret, left
the camp.
IV. Some of the soldiers believed that Otho's character was really
changed, and admired him for his conduct; while others bethought that he
was only courting popularity perforce, because of the war which was
impending. It was indeed reported that Vitellius had already assumed the
imperial title and authority; and couriers were constantly arriving with
the news of some fresh accession to his forces, though other messengers
came who stated that the troops in Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia had,
with their officers, declared for Otho. Soon also friendly letters
reached him from Mucianus and Vespasianus, the former of whom was at the
head of a great army in Syria, and the latter in Judæa. Encouraged by
these, Otho wrote to Vitellius, bidding him act like a loyal soldier,
and promising that he would bestow on him a great sum of money and a
city in which he might dwell in the utmost peace and happiness.
Vitellius replied at first with dissimulation, but soon they became
irritated, and overwhelmed one another with abuse, which each well
deserved, though it was ridiculous for either of them to reproach the
other with vices which were common to them both.[634] Indeed it was hard
to say which of them was the more profligate or the more effeminate,
which had the least experience of war, or which had been plunged the
more deeply in debt by his former poverty.
At this time many prodigies[635] and omens were reported, many of which
were vague and could not be traced to any trustworthy source, though all
men saw the reins fall from the hands of the figure of Victory in the
capitol, who is represented driving a chariot, as though she were no
longer able to hold them; and the statue of Caius[636] Cæsar, which
stands upon the island in the Tiber, without any wind or earthquake, was
turned round, so as to face east instead of west. This is said to have
taken place about the time when Vespasianus openly pretended to the
throne. Many also regarded the flooding of the Tiber as an evil omen;
for though it was the season of the year at which rivers usually are
full of water, yet it never rose so high or did so much damage before;
for it laid a great part of the city under water, especially in the
corn-market, and caused great scarcity of provisions for several days.
V. About this time news was brought to Rome that Cæcina and Valens,
acting as the lieutenants of Vitellius, had seized the passes of the
Alps. The prætorians also conceived suspicions of the loyalty of
Dolabella,[637] a man of patrician family. Whether Otho feared him or
some one else is uncertain: however, he assured him of his friendship,
and sent him to reside at the city of Aquinum. Otho now selected the
officers who were to company him on his campaign. Amongst these was
Lucius, the brother of Vitellius, whom he neither promoted nor removed
from the rank in the army which he held. He also took especial care of
the mother and wife of Vitellius, that they might not have any fear for
their own safety. He entrusted the government of Rome to Flavius
Sabinus, either because he wished to show his respect for Nero (for
Sabinus had been appointed to this post by Nero, and had been deprived
of it by Galba), or because by the promotion of Sabinus he declared his
good will and confidence in Vespasianus. He himself remained at
Brixellum, a city of Italy situated upon the river Padus, and sent on
his forces under the command of Marius Celsus, Suetonius Paullinus, and
of Gallus and Spurinna, who were all generals of renown, but who, on
account of the want of discipline of their troops, were unable to
conduct the campaign, according to the plans which they had arranged.
Indeed the soldiers of the guard refused to obey any authority except
that of the emperor himself, for he alone, they declared, had the right
to command them. Nor were the enemy's troops altogether obedient and
well-behaved, but the same causes rendered them also swaggering and
untrustworthy. Yet they possessed experience of actual war, and were
accustomed to fatigue; whereas Otho's troops were weak from their life
of unwarlike leisure, for they spent most of their time in the theatres
and at public shows, or else in their quarters, and affected such a
degree of insolence that they refused to perform the necessary labours
of a campaign, alleging that to do so was beneath their dignity, not
that it was beyond their strength. Spurinna, when he endeavoured to
force them to do their duty, came within a very little of losing his
life. The soldiers insulted him grossly, and set no bounds to their
language, calling him a traitor to Cæsar and the ruin of his cause. Some
of them actually got drunk and went to Spurinna's tent at night to
demand money for a journey; for they said they must go and impeach him
before Cæsar.
VI. However, the cause of Otho, and Spurinna with it, received some
advantage from the abusive language which these same soldiers met with
at Placentia. Here the Vitellians who were besieging the city ridiculed
Otho's men whom they saw on the battlements, calling them stay-at-home
soldiers, sword-dancers, and spectators of games, declaring that they
had never seen or tasted of real war, but were full of pride at having
cut off the head of an unarmed old man, meaning Galba, though they dared
not come out and fight like men. The soldiers were so furiously
exasperated by these reproaches that they eagerly besought Spurinna to
employ them in whatever service he pleased, assuring him that they would
not shrink from any toils or dangers. When the enemy furiously assaulted
the walls, and brought up many battering engines,[638] Spurinna's men
won the victory, drove back their opponents with great slaughter, and
saved from ruin one of the most famous and prosperous cities of Italy.
The generals of Otho were found both by cities and by individuals to be
much less offensive to deal with than those of Vitellius. Among the
latter was Cæcina, a man who neither spoke nor dressed like a citizen of
Rome, but was harsh and overbearing, of great stature, wearing the
Gaulish trousers and sleeves, and using signs[639] even when addressing
Roman magistrates. He was accompanied by his wife[640] who rode with him
in a showy dress, escorted by a picked body of cavalry.