202 отно and Vitellius proclaimed emperors.
may be reckoned inter bonos et malos principes, and might per-
haps have been a good prince altogether, had he not been
prevented by the foibles of old age. Otho had calculated upon
being adopted by the emperor; but the old soldier had too
great a love of his country to think of such a thing. The dis-
appointment led Otho to the deepest dissimulation, by which
he succeeded in inducing the praetorians to recognise him as
emperor, as soon as he called upon them to do so. The city
was then quite open ; they marched into it, and towards the
Forum. Galba, who appeared with Piso, in the hope of making
an imposing impression on the rebels, was cut down, before the
German troops, who were stationed at Albano, had time to
come to his assistance; and Otho was proclaimed emperor.
Galba had ruled eight or nine months.
Unworthy as the senate then was, it yet abhorred Otho.
The Germans on the frontier of the Rhine, in the mean time,
proclaimed emperor, their commander, A. Vitellius, a man who
was far more vulgar and vicious than Otho. It is superfluous
to speak here of his brutal manners and his beastly voracity.
It is inconceivable how Galba could have given him the com-
mand over the troops in Germany. He was now fifty-seven
years old, and enjoyed a certain popularity which had been
transferred to him from his father, L. Vitellius, who had been
thrice consul and once censor in the reign of Claudius.3 Vi-
tellius, the father, must have been a good-natured man, but he
had degraded himself by the basest flattery towards Clau-
dius ; he was, however, no one’s enemy and hence was liked by
the people. His son, on the other hand, had spent all his life
in the basest vulgarities, and brutal sensuality. It may be that
A. Caecina and Fabius Valens proclaimed him only with the
view Ofstrippinghim of his dignity soon after, and of then see-
ing which of them might succeed him. Vitellius was lavish
towards the soldiers, and ingratiated himself with the German
legions by granting them everything they asked for, while the
aged Galba gave them only that which was absolutely neces-
sary. This army now quickly set out for Italy; and the speed
with which they marched is a proof no less of the immense mobi-
lity of the Roman legions than of the excellence of the Roman
roads. Otho formed an army. Vitellius was opposed on the
frontiers by the legions of Moesia and Pannonia, which thought
3 Tacitus, Hist, i. 9; Sueton. Vitell. 2.
SUICIDE OF OTHO.
203
it arrogant on the part of the German troops to force an emperor
upon them. Accordingly they supported Otho, who could also
calculate on the legions of the East, where no insurrections had
yet taken place. Italy was the most defenceless part of the empire,
for it contained few troops besides the praetorians ; and Otho,
with these cohorts, quickly marched to the north of Italyto meet
the Germans. A. Caecina and Fabius Valens, however, descended
from the Alps before Otho with his hastily collected forces
arrived on the banks of the Po. In the first engagement, Otho was
successful; and if he had endeavoured to protract the war,
things might have turned out differently ; for his treasury was
much better stocked than that of his enemy, and he might
have considerably reinforced himself. But he unfortunately
resolved to fight a decisive battle at Bedriacum, in the neigh-
bourhood of Cremona, and lost it completely. The question
however was not yet quite settled; and, if Otho had with-
drawn to the fortified places in the neighbourhood, he might
still have had time to assemble a fresh army. But he would
not continue the war. Instead of doing so, he put an end to
his life, and advised his friends to become reconciled to the
conqueror. This occurred on the ninety-fifth day after his
elevation to the imperial throne, and in the thirty-seventh year
of his age. The last act of Otho is praised by Suetonius4, and
other historians after him, as noble and virtuous; but I look
upon it in a different light, and can see in it nothing but the
action of a man who has sunk to the lowest stage of effeminacy,
and is unable to struggle against difficulties, or to bear the un-
certainty between fear and hope. Such characters aie met with
in the lower as well as the higher spheres of life ; for there are
many persons who would rather lose a great deal of money,
than undertake the trouble of litigation. I look upon Otho’s
putting an end to his existence with the same contempt with
which Juvenal regards it; and it is quite certain that Tacitus
too, in reality, did not estimate Otho any higher than I do;
for we must remember that a great historian, in describing a
tragic event in a man’s life, rises to a state of mental emotion
which is very different from his moral judgment.
On his arrival in Rome, Vitellius took possession of the
imperial palace, and assumed the appearance of intending to
avenge the murder of Galba, against whom, however, he
himself had in reality revolted; and accordingly he ordered
4 Otho, 10, foil