At the same time he
presented
his throat,
and said, ' Strike, if it be for the good of Rome.
and said, ' Strike, if it be for the good of Rome.
Plutarch - Lives - v7
net/2027/wu.
89099228256 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www.
hathitrust.
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? 306
PLUTARCH.
From this time the most moderate of Galba's pro-
ceedings were misrepresented: for instance, his lenity
to the Gauls, who had conspired with Vindex, did not
escape censure: for it was believed that they had not
gained a remission of tribute and the freedom of Rome
from the emperor's indulgence, but that they purchased
them of Vinius. Hence the people had a general aver-
sion to Galba's administration. As for the soldiers,
though they did not receive what had been promised
them, they let it pass, hoping that, if they had not that
gratuity, they should certainly have as much as Nero
had given them. But when they began to murmur,
and their complaints were brought to Galba, he said,
what well became a great prince, ' That it was his cus-
tom to choose, not to buy his soldiers. ' This saying,
however, being reported to the troops, filled them with
the most deadly and irreconcileable hatred to Galba:
for it seemed to them that he not only wanted to de-
prive them of the gratuity himself, but to set a prece-
dent for future emperors.
The disaffection to the government that prevailed in
Rome was as yet kept secret in some measure, partly
because some remaining reverence for the presence of
the emperor prevented the flame of sedition from break-
ing out, and partly for want of an open occasion to at-
tempt a change. But the troops which served under
Virginhis, and were now commanded by Flaccus in
Germany, thinking they deserved great things for the
battle which they fought with Vindex, and finding that
they obtained nothing, began to behave in a very re-
fractory manner, and could not be appeased by their
officers. Their general himself they utterly despised,
as well on account of his inactivity (for he had the gout
in a violent manner), as his want of experience in mili-
tary affairs. One day, at some public games, when the
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? GALBA.
307
tribunes and centurions, according to custom, made
vows for the happiness of the emperor, the common
soldiers murmured; and when the officers repeated
their good wishes, they answered, ' if he is worthy. '
The legions that were under the command of Tigel-
linus behaved with equal insolence; of which Galba's
agents wrote him an account. He was now appre-
hensive that it was not only his age, but his want of
children, that brought him into contempt; and therefore
he formed a design to adopt some young man of noble
birth, and declare him his successor. Marcus Otho
was of a family by no means obscure ; but, at the same
time, he was more remarkable from his infancy for
luxury and love of pleasure than most of the Roman
youth. And, as Homer often calls Paris the husband
of the beauteous Helen, because he had nothing else to
distinguish him, so Otho was noted in Rome as the
husband of Poppaea. This was the lady whom Nero
fell in love with while she was wife to Crispinus; but
retaining as yet some respect for his own wife, and
some reverence for his mother, he privately employed
Otho to solicit her: for Otho's debauchery had recom-
mended him to Nero as a friend and companion, and
he had an agreeable way of rallying him on what he
called his avarice and sordid manner of living.
We are told, that one day when Nero was perfuming
himself with a very rich essence, he sprinkled a little
of it on Otho. Otho invited the emperor the day fol-
lowing, when suddenly gold and silver pipes opened
on all sides of the apartment, and poured out essences
for them in as much plenty as if it had been water. He
applied to Poppa? a according to Nero's desire, and first
seduced her for him, with the flattering idea of having
an emperor for her lover: after which he persuaded
her to leave her husband. But when he took her
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? PLUTARGH.
home as his own wife, he was not so happy in having
her, as miserable in the thought of her being loved by
another. And Poppaea is said not to have been dis-
pleased with this jealousy; for it seems she refused
to admit Nero when Otho was absent; whether it was
that she studied to keep Nero's love from decaying, or
whether, (as some say,) she did not choose to receive
the emperor as a husband, but, in her playful way,
took more pleasure in having him approach her as a
gallant. Otho's life therefore was in great danger on
account of that, marriage; and it is. astonishing, that
the man who could sacrifice his wife and sister for the
sake of Poppaea should afterwards spare Otho.
But Otho had a friend in Seneca ; and it was he who
persuaded Nero to send him out governor of Lusitania,
on the borders of the ocean. Otho made himself agree-
able to the inhabitants by his lenity; for he knew that
this command was given him only as a more honorable
exile. On Galba's revolt, he was the first governor of
a province that came over to him, and he carried with
him all the gold and silver vessels he had, to be melted
down and coined for his use. He likewise presented
him with such of his servants as knew best how to wait
on an emperor. He behaved to him, indeed, in all re-
spects with great fidelity; and it appeared from the
specimen he gave, that there was no department in the
government for which he had not talents. He accom-
panied him in his whole journey, and was many days
in the same carriage with him; during all which time
he lost no opportunity to pay his court to Vinius,
either by assiduities or presents: and as he always
took care to leave him the first place, he was secure by
his means of having the second. Besides that there
was nothing invidious in this station, he recommended
himself by granting his favors and services without re-
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? GALEA.
309
ward, and by his general affability and politeness. He
took most pleasure in serving the officers of the army,
and obtained governments for many of them, partly by
applications to the emperor, and partly to Vinius and
his freedmen, Icelns and Asiaticus, for these had the
chief influence at court.
Whenever Galba visited him, he complimented the
company of guards that was on duty with a piece of
gold for each man; thus practising on and gaining the
soldiers, while he seemed only to be doing honor to
their master. When Galba was deliberating on the
choice of a successor, Vinius proposed Otho. Nor
was this a disinterested overture, for Otho had pro-
mised to marry Vinius' daughter, after Galba had
adopted him, and appointed him his successor. But
Galba always showed that he preferred the good of the
public to any private considerations; and in this case
he sought not for the man who might be most agree-
able to himself, but one who promised to be the great-
est blessing to the Romans. Indeed it can hardly be
supposed that he would have appointed Otho heir even
to his private patrimony, when he knew how expensive
and profuse he was, and that he was loaded with a debt
of five millions of drachmas. He therefore gave Vi-
nius a patient hearing, without returning him any an-
swer, and put off the affair to another time. However,
as he declared himself consul, and chose Vinius for
his colleague, it was supposed that he would appoint a
successor at the beginning of the next year, and the
soldiers wished that Otho might be the man.
But while Galba delayed the appointment, and con-
tinued deliberating, the army mutinied in Germany.
All the troops throughout the empire hated Galba, be-
cause they had not received the promised donations,
but those in Germany had a particular apology for
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? 310
PLUTARCH.
their aversion. They alleged 'that Virginias Rufus,
their general, had been removed with ignominy, and
that the Gauls, who had fought against them, were the
only people that were rewarded; whilst all who had
not joined Vindex were punished; and Galba, as if he
had obligations to none but him for the imperial dia-
dem, honored his memory with sacrifices and public
libations. '
Such speeches as this were common in the camp,
when the calends of January were at hand, and Flaccus
assembled the soldiers, that they might take tjje custo-
mary oath of fealty to the emperor. But, instead of
that, they overturned and broke to pieces the statues
of Galba; and, having taken an oath of allegiance to
the senate and people of Rome, they retired to their
tents. Their officers were now as apprehensive of
anarchy as rebellion, and the following speech is said
to have been made on the occasion: 'What are we
doing; my fellow-soldiers? We neither appoint ano-
ther emperor, nor keep our allegiance to the present,
as if we had renounced not only Galba, but every other
sovereign, and all manner of obedience. It is true,
Hordeonius Flaccus is no more than the shadow of
Galba. Let us quit him. But at the distance of one
day's march only, there is Vitellius, who commands
in the lower Germany, whose father was censor, and
thrice consul, and in a manner colleague to the empe-
ror Claudius. And though his poverty be a circum-
stance for which some people may despise him, it is a
strong proof of his probity and greatness of mind.
Let us go and declare him emperor, and show the
world that we know how to choose a person for that
high dignity better than the Spaniards and Lusita-
nians. ' ?
Some approved, and others rejected this motion*
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? GALBA.
One of the standard-bearers, however, marched off
privately, and carried the news to Vitellius that night.
He found him at table, for he was giving a great en-
tertainment to his officers. The news soon spread
through the army, and Fabius Valens, who commanded
one of the legions, went next day, at the head of a
considerable party of horse, and saluted Vitellius em-
peror. For some days before he seemed to dread the
weight of sovereign power, and totally to decline it;
but now being fortified with the indulgences of the
table, to which he had sat down at mid-day, he went
out, and accepted the title of Germanicus, which the
army conferred on him, though he refused that of Cae-
sar. Soon after, Flaccus' troops forgot the republican
oaths they had taken to the senate and the people, and
swore allegiance to Vitellius. Thus Vitellius was pro-
claimed emperor in Germany.
As soon as Galba was informed of the insurrection
there, he resolved, without farther delay, to proceed
to the adoption. He knew some of his friends were
for Dolabella, and a still greater number for Otho;
but without being guided by the judgment of either
party, or making the least mention of his design, he
sent suddenly for Piso, the son of Crassus and Scri-
bonia, who were put to death by Nero; a young man
formed by nature for every virtue, and distinguished
for his modesty and sobriety of manners. In pursu-
ance of his intentions, he went down with him to the
camp, to give him the title of Caesar, and declare him
his successor. But he was no sooner out of his palace
than very inauspicious presages appeared: and in the
camp, when he delivered a speech to the army, read-
ing some parts, and pronouncing others from memory,
the many claps of thunder and flashes of lightning, the
violent rain that fell, and the darkness that covered
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? PLUTARCH.
both the camp and the city, plainly announced that the
gods did not admit of the adoption, and that the issue
would be unfortunate. The countenances of the sol-
diers, too, were black and lowering, because there was
no donation even on that occasion.
As to Piso, all that were present could not but won-
der that, so fair as they could conjecture from his voice
and look, he was not disconcerted with so great an ho-
nor, though he did not receive it without sensibility.
On the contrary, in Otho's countenance there appeared
strong marks of resentment, and of the impatience with
which he bore the disappointment of his hopes: for his
failing of that honor which he had been thought worthy
to aspire to, and which he lately believed himself very
near attaining, seemed a proof of Galba's hatred and
ill intentions to him. He was not therefore without
apprehensions of what might befall him afterwards;
and dreading Galba, execrating Piso, and full of in-
dignation against Vinius, he retired with this confusion
of passions in his heart. But the Chaldaeans and other
diviners, whom he had always about him, would not
suffer him intirely to give up his hopes or abandon his
design. In particular, he relied on Ptolemy, because
he had formerly predicted that he should not fall by
the hand of Nero, but survive him, and live to ascend
the imperial throne: for, as the former part of the
prophecy proved true, he thought he had no reason to
despair of the latter. None however exasperated him
more against Galba than those who condoled with him
in private, and pretended that he had been treated
with great ingratitude. Besides, there was a number
of people that had florished under Tigellinus and Nym-
phidius, and now lived in poverty and disgrace, who,
to recommend themselves to Otho, expressed great in-
dignation at the slight he had suffered, and urged him
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? GALEA.
313
to revenge it. Amongst these were Veturius, who was
optio, or centurion's deputy, and Barbius, who was
tesserarius, or one of those that carry the word from
the tribunes to the centurions. Onomastus, one of
Otho's freedmen, joined them, and went from troop to
troop, corrupting some with money, and others with
promises. Indeed, they were corrupt enough already,
and wanted only an opportunity to put their designs in
execution. If they had not been extremely disaffected,
they could not have been prepared for a revolt in so
short a space of time as that of four days, which was
all that passed between the adoption and the assassina-
tion ; for Piso and Galba were both slain the sixth day
after, which was the fifteenth of January. Early in
the morning Galba sacrificed in the palace in presence
of his friends. Umbricius the diviner no sooner took
the entrails in his hands than he declared, not in enig-
matical expressions, but plainly, that there were signs
of great troubles, and of treason that threatened imme-
diate danger to the emperor. Thus Otho was almost
delivered up to Galba by the hand of the gods; for he
stood behind the emperor, listening with great atten-
tion to the observations made by Umbricius. These
put him in great confusion, and his fears were disco-
vered by his change of color, when his freedman Ono-
mastus came and told him that the architects were
come, and waited for him at his house. This was the
signal for Otho's meeting the soldiers. He pretended
therefore that he had bought an old house which these
architects were to examine; and, going down by what
is called Tiberius' palace, went to that part of the fo-
rum where stands the gilded pillar which terminates
all the great roads in Italy.
The soldiers who received him, and saluted him em-
peror, are said not to have been more than twenty-
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? 314
PLUTARCH.
three: so that, though he had nothing of that dastardly
spirit which the delicacy of his constitution, and the
effeminacy of his life, seemed to declare, but, on the
contrary, was firm and resolute in time of danger; yet,
on this occasion, he was intimidated, and wanted to
retire; but the soldiers would not suffer it. They sur-
rounded the chair with drawn swords, and insisted on
its proceeding to the camp. Meantime Otho desired
the bearers to make haste, often declaring that he was
a lost man. There were some who overheard him,
and they rather wondered at the hardiness of the at-
tempt with so small a party, than disturbed themselves
about the consequences. As he was carried through
the forum, about the same number as the first joined
him, and others afterwards by three or four at a
time. The whole party then saluted him Caesar, and
conducted him to the camp, fiorishing their swords
before him. Martialis, the tribune who kept guard
that day, knowing nothing (as they tell us) of the con-
spiracy, was surprised and terrified at so unexpected
a sight, and suffered them to enter. When Otho was
within the camp, he met with no resistance, for the
conspirators gathered about such as were strangers to
the design, and made it their business to explain it to
them; on which, they joined them by one or two at a
time, at first out of fear, and afterwards out of choice.
The news was immediately carried to Galba, while
the diviner yet attended, and had the entrails in his
hands: so that they who had been most incredulous in
matters of divination, and even held it in contempt
before, were astonished at the divine interposition in
the accomplishment of this presage. People of all
sorts now orowding from the forum to the palace, Vi-
nius and Laco, with some of the emperor's freedmen,
stood before him with drawn swords to defend him.
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? GALEA.
Piso went out to speak to the life-guards, and Marius
Celsus, a man of great courage and honor, was sent to
secure the Illyrian legion, which lay in Vipsanius'
portico.
Galba was inclined to go out to the people. Vinius
endeavored to dissuade him from it; but Celsus and
Laco encouraged him to go, and expressed themselves
with some sharpness against Vinius. Meantime a strong
report prevailed that Otho was slain in the camp; soon
after which, Julius Atticus, a soldier of some note
amongst the guards, came up, and crying he was the
man that had killed Caesar's enemy, made his way
through the crowd, and showed his bloody sword to
Galba. The emperor fixing his eye on him, said,
'Who gave you orders V He answered, 'My alle-
giance, and the oath I had taken;' and the people ex-
pressed their approbation in loud plaudits. Galba
then went out in a sedan-chair, with a design to sacri-
fice to Jupiter, and show himself to the people. But
he had no sooner reached the forum than the rumor
changed like the wind, and news met him that Otho
was master of the camp. On this occasion, as it was
natural amongst a multitude of people, some called out
to him to advance, and some to retire; some to take
courage, and some to be cautious. His chair was
tossed backward and forward, as in a tempest, and
ready to be overset, when there appeared first a party
of horse, and then another of foot, issuing from the
Basilica of Paulus, and crying out, 'Away with this
private man! ' Numbers were then running about, not
to separate by flight, but to possess themselves of the
porticos and eminences about the forum, as it were to
enjoy some public spectacle. Atilius Virgilio beat
down one of Galba's statues, which served as a signal
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? 316
PLUTARCH.
for hostilities, and they attacked the chair on all sides
with javelins. As those did not despatch him, they
advanced sword in hand. In this time of trial none
stood up in his defence hut one' man, who, indeed,
amongst so many millions, was the only one that did
honor to the Roman empire. This was Sempronius
Densus, a centurion, who, without any particular obli-
gations to Galha, and only from a regard to honor and
the law, stood forth to defend the chair. First of all
he lifted up the vine-branch with which the centurions
chastise such as deserve stripes, and then called out to
the soldiers who were pressing on, and commanded
them to spare the emperor. They fell on him notwith-
standing, and he drew his sword and fought a long
time, till he received a stroke in the ham, which brought
him to the ground.
The chair was overturned at what is called the Cur-
tian lake, and Galba tumbling out of it, they ran to de-
spatch him.
At the same time he presented his throat,
and said, ' Strike, if it be for the good of Rome. ' He
received many strokes on his arms and legs, for he
had a coat of mail on his body. According to most
accounts, it was Camurius, a soldier of the fifteenth
legion, that despatched him; though some say it was
Terentius, some Arcadius, and others Fabius Fabulus.
They add, that when Fabius had cut off his head, he
wrapped it up in the skirt of his garment, because it
was so bald that he could take no hold of it. His asso-
ciates, however, would not suffer him to conceal it, but
insisted that he should let the world see what an ex-
ploit he had performed; he therefore fixed it on the
point of his spear, and swinging about the head of a
venerable old man, and a mild prince, who was both
pontifex maximus and consul, he ran on, (like the
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? GALBA.
317
Bacchanals with the head of Pentheus,) brandishing
his spear, that was dyed with the blood that trickled
from it.
When the head was presented to Otho, he cried out,
'This is nothing, my fellow-soldiers; show me the
head of Piso. ' It was brought not long after; for that
young prince being wounded, and pursued by one
Murcus, was killed by him at the gates of the temple
of Vesta. Vinius also was put to the sword, though he
declared himself an accomplice in the conspiracy, and
protested that it was against Otho's orders that he suf-
fered. However, they cut off his head, and that of
Laco, and carrying them to Otho, demanded their re-
ward: for, as Archilochus says,
We bring seven warriors only to your tent,
Yet thousands of us kill'd them.
So in this case many who had no share in the action
bathed their hands and swords in the blood, and show-
ing them to Otho, petitioned for their reward. It ap-
peared afterwards from the petitions given in, that the
number of them was a hundred and twenty; and
Vitellius having searched them out, put them all to
death. Marius Celsus also coming to the camp, many
accused him of having exhorted the soldiers to stand
by Galba, and the bulk of the army insisted that he
should suffer. But Otho being desirous to save him,
and yet afraid of contradicting them, told them, 'he
did not choose to have him executed so soon, because
he had several important questions to put to him. '
He ordered him therefore to be kept in chains, and
delivered him to persons in whom he could best con-
fide.
The senate was immediately assembled; and as if
they were become different men, or had other gods to
swear by, they took the oath to Otho, which he had
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? PLUTARCH.
before taken to Galba, but had not kept; and they
gave him the titles of Caesar and Augustus, while the
bodies of those that had been beheaded lay in their
consular robes in the forum. As for the heads, the
soldiers, after they had no farther use for them, sold
that of Vinius to his daughter for two thousand five
hundred drachmas. Piso's was given to his wife Ve-
rania, at her request; and Galba's to the servants of
Patrobius and Vitellius, who, after they had treated it
with the utmost insolence and outrage, threw it into a
place called Sestertium, where the bodies of those are
cast that are put to death by the emperors. Galba's
corpse was carried away by Helvidius Priscus, with
Otho's permission, and buried in the night by his freed-
man Argius.
Such is the history of Galba; a man who, in the
points of family and fortune distinctly considered, was
exceeded by few of the Romans, and who, in the union
of both, was superior to all. He had lived, too, in great
honor, and with the best reputation, under five empe-
rors; and it was rather by his character than by force
of arms that he deposed Nero. As to the rest who
conspired against the tyrant, some of them were thought
unworthy of the imperial diadem by the people, and
others thought themselves unworthy. But Galba was
invited to accept it, and only followed the sense of
those who called him to that high dignity. Nay, when
he gave the sanction of his name to Vindex, that which
before was called rebellion, was considered only as a
civil war, because a man of princely talents was then
at the head of it. So that he did not so much want
the empire, as the empire wanted him: and with these
principles he attempted to govern a people corrupted
by Tigellinus and Nymphidius, as Scipio, Fabricius,
and Camillus, governed the Romans of their times.
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? OALBA.
319
Notwithstanding his great age, he showed himself a
chief worthy of ancient Rome through all the military
department. But, in the civil administration, he de-
livered himself up to Vinius, to Laco, and to his en-
franchised slaves, who sold every thing, in the same
manner as Nero had left all to his insatiable vermin.
The consequence of this was, that no man regretted
him as an emperor, though almost all were moved with
pity at his miserable fate.
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? OTHO.
The new emperor went early in the morning to the
capitol, and sacrificed; after which he ordered Marius
Celsus to be brought before him. He received that
officer with great marks of his regard, and desired him
rather to forget the cause of his confinement, than to
remember his release. Celsus neither showed any
meanness in his acknowlegements, nor any want of
gratitude. He said, ' The very charge brought against
him bore witness to his character; since he was ac-
cused only of having been faithful to Galba, from
whom he had never received any personal obligations. '
All who were present at the audience admired both the
emperor and Celsus, and the soldiers in particular tes-
tified their approbation.
Otho made a mild and gracious speech to the senate.
The remaining time of his consulship he divided with
Virginius Rufus, and he left those who had been ap-
pointed to that dignity by Nero and Galba to enjoy it
in their course. Such as were respectable for their
age and character he promoted to the priesthood; and
to those senators who had been banished by Nero, and
recalled by Galba, he restored all their goods and
estates that he found unsold. So that the first and best
of the citizens, who had before not considered him as
a man, but dreaded him as a fury or destroying demon,
that had suddenly seized the seat of government, now
entertained more pleasing hopes from so promising a
beginning.
But nothing gave the people in general so high a
pleasure, or contributed so much to gain him their af-
fections, as his punishing Tigelliuus. It is true he had
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? oTHo.
long suffered under the fear of punishment, which the
Romans demanded as a public debt, and under a com-
plication of incurable distempers. These, together with
his infamous connexions with the worst of women, into
which his passions drew him, though almost in the
arms of death, were considered by the thinking part of
mankind as the greatest of punishments, and worse
than many deaths. Yet it was a pain to the common
people, that he should see the light of the sun, after
so many excellent men had been deprived of it through
his means. He was then at his, country-house near
Sinuessa, and had vessels at anchor, ready to carry
him on occasion to some distant country. Otho sent
to him there; and he first attempted to bribe the mes-
senger with large sums to suffer him to escape. When
he found that did not take effect, he gave him the mo-
ney notwithstanding; and desiring only to be indulged
a few moments till he had shaved himself, he took the
razor and cut his own throat.
Besides this just satisfaction that Otho gave the peo-
ple, it was a most agreeable circumstance that he re-
membered none of his private quarrels. To gratify the
populace, he suffered them also at first to give him in
the theatres the name of Nero, and he made no oppo-
sition to those who erected publicly the statues of that
emperor. Nay, Claudius Rufus tells us, that in the
letters with which the couriers were sent to Spain, he
joined the name of Nero to that of Otho. But per-
ceiving that the nobility were offended, he made use of
it no more.
After his government was thus established, the pre-
torian cohorts gave him no small trouble, by exhorting
him to beware of many persons of rank, and to forbid
them the court; whether it was that their affection
made them really apprehensive for him, or whether it
PLUT. VoL. VII. X
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? PLUTARCH.
was only a color for raising commotions and wars.
One day the emperor himself had sent Crispinus orders
to bring the seventeenth cohort from Ostia; and in
order to do it without interruption, that officer began
to prepare for it as soon as it grew dark, and to pack
up the arms in waggons. On which some of the most
turbulent cried out, that Crispinus 'was come with no
good intention ; that the senate had some design against
the government; and that the arms he was going to
carry were to be made use of against Caesar, not for
him. This notion soon spread, and exasperated num-
bers; some laid hold on the waggons, while others
killed two centurions who endeavored to quell the
mutiny, and Crispinus himself. Then the whole party
armed, and exhorting each other to go to the emperor's
assistance, they marched straight to Rome. Being in-
formed there that eighty senators supped with him that
evening, they hastened to the palace, saying,' Then was
the time to crush all Caesar's enemies at once. ' The
city was greatly alarmed, expecting to be plundered
immediately. The palace, too, was in the utmost con-
fusion, and Otho himself in unspeakable distress: for
he was under fear and concern for the senators, while
they were afraid of him; and he saw they kept their
eyes fixed on him in silence and extreme consternation;
some having even brought their wives with them to
supper. He therefore ordered the principal officers of
the guards to go and speak to the soldiers, and endeavor
to appease them, and at the same time sent out his
guests at another door. They had scarce made their
escape when the soldiers rushed into the room, and
asked what was become of the enemies of Caesar. The
emperor then rising from his couch, used many argu-
ments to satisfy them, and by intreaties and tears at
last prevailed on them with much difficulty to desist.
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? oTHo.
323
Next day, having presented the soldiers with twelve
hundred and fifty drachmas a man, he entered the
camp. On this occasion he commended the troops as
in general well-affected to his government; but at the
same time he told them there were some designing men
amongst them, who by their cabals brought his mode-
ration and their fidelity both into question: these, he
said, deserved their resentment, and he hoped they
would assist him in punishing them. They applauded
his speech, and desired him to chastise whatever per-
sons he thought proper; but he pitched on two only
for capital punishment, whom no man could possibly
regret, and then returned to his palace.
Those who had conceived an affection for Otho and
placed a confidence in him, admired this change in his
conduct. But others thought it was no more than a
piece of policy which the times necessarily required,
and that he assumed a popular behavior on account of
the impending war; for now he had undoubted intelli-
gence that Vitellius had taken the title of emperor and
all the ensigns of supreme power, and couriers daily
arrived with news of continual additions to his party.
Other messengers also arrived with accounts that the
forces in Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Mysia, with their
generals, had declared for Otho. And a few days
after, he received obliging letters from Mucianus and
Vespasian, who both commanded numerous armies, the
one in Syria, and the other in Judea.
Elated with its intelligence, he wrote to Vitellius,
advising him not to aspire to things above his rank,
and promised, in case he desisted, to supply him libe-
rally with money, and gave him a city in which he
might spend his days in pleasure and repose. Vitel-
lius at first gave him an answer, in which ridicule was
tempered with civility; but afterwards, being both
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? 324 PLUTARCH.
thoroughly exasperated, they wrote to each other in a
style of the hitterest invective; not that their mutual
reproaches were groundless, but it was absurd for the
one to insult the other with what might with equal
justice be objected to both: for their charges consisted
of prodigality, effeminacy, incapacity for war, their
former poverty and immense debts; such articles, that
it is hard to say which of them had the advantage.
As to the stories of prodigies and apparitions at that
time, many of them were founded on vague reports
that could not be traced to their author: but in the
capitol there was a Victory mounted on a chariot, and
numbers of people saw her let the reins fall out of her
hands, as if she had lost the power to hold them: and
in the island of the Tiber, the statue of Julius Caesar
turned from west to east, without either earthquake or
whirlwind to move it; a circumstance which is said
likewise to have happened when Vespasian openly
took on him the direction of affairs. The inundation
of the Tiber, too, was considered by the populace as a
bad omen. It was at a time, indeed, when rivers usu-
ally overflow their banks; but the flood never rose so
high before, nor was so ruinous in its effects; for now
it laid great part of the city under water, particularly
the corn-market, and caused a famine which continued
for some days.
About this time news was brought that Cecina and
Valens, who acted for Vitellins, had seized the passes
of the Alps. And in Rome, Dolabella, who was of an
illustrious family, was suspected by the guards of some
disloyal design. Otho, either fearing him, or some
other whom he could influence, sent him to Aquinum,
with assurances of friendly treatment. When the em-
peror came to select the officers that were to attend
him on his march, he appointed Lucius, the brother of
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? oTHo.
Vitellius, to be of the number, without either pro-
moting or lowering him in point of rank. He took
also particular care of the mother and wife of Vitel-
lius, and endeavored to put them in a situation where
they had nothing to fear. The government of Rome
he gave to Flavius Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian;
either with an intention to do honor to Nero, (for he
had formerly given him that appointment, and Galba
had deprived him of it,) or else to show his affection to
Vespasian by promoting his brother.
Otho himself stopped at Brixellum, a town in Italy,
near the Po, and ordered the army to march on under
the conduct of his lieutenants, Marius Celsus, Sueto-
nius Paulinus, Gallus and Spurina, officers of great
reputation. But they could not pursue the plan of
operations they had formed, by reason of the obstinacy
and disorderly behavior of the soldiers, who declared
that they had made the emperor, and they would be
commanded by him only. . The enemy's troops were
not under much better discipline: they, too, were re-
fractory and disobedient to their officers, and on the
same account. Yet they had seen service, and were
accustomed to fatigue: whereas Otho's men had been
used to idleness, and their manner of living was quite
different from that in the field. Indeed they had spent
most of their time at public spectacles and the enter-
tainments of the theatre, and were come to that degree
of insolence, that they did not pretend to be unable to
perform the services they were ordered on, but affected
to be above them. Spurina, who attempted to use com-
pulsion, was in danger of being killed by them. They
spared no manner of abuse, calling him traitor, and
telling him that it was he who ruined the affairs of
Caesar, and purposely missed the fairest opportunities.
Some of them came in the night intoxicated with liquor
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? PLUTARCH.
to his tent, and demanded their discharge; 'for they
had to go,' they said, 'to Caesar, to accuse him/
The cause, however, and Spurina with it, received
some benefit from the insult which these troops met
with at Placentia. Those of Vitellius came Up to the
walls, and ridiculed Otho's men, who were appointed
to defend them; calling them players and dancers, fit
only to attend the Pythian and Olympic games; fel-
lows who knew nothing of war, who had not even
made one campaign, who were swoln up with pride
merely because they had cut off the head of a poor un-
armed old man (meaning Galba); wretches that durst
not look men in the face, or stand any thing like a fair
and open battle. They were so cut with these re-
proaches, and so desirous of revenge, that they threw
themselves at Spurina's feet, and begged of him to
command and employ them on whatever service he
thought proper, assuring him that there was neither
danger nor labor which they would decline. After
this the enemy made a vigorous attack on the town,
and plied their battering-engines with all their force j
but Spurina's men repulsed them with great slaughter,
and by that means kept possession of one of the most
respectable and most florishing towns in Italy.
It must be observed of Otho's officers in genera],
that they were more obliging in their behavior both to
cities and private persons than those of Vitellius. Ce-
cilia, one of the latter, had nothing popular either in
his address or his figure. He was of a gigantic size,
and most uncouth appearance; for he wore breeches
and long sleeves in the manner of the Gauls, even
while his standard was Roman, and whilst he gave his
instructions to Roman officers. His wife followed him
on horseback, in a rich dress, and was attended by a
select party of cavalry.
? 306
PLUTARCH.
From this time the most moderate of Galba's pro-
ceedings were misrepresented: for instance, his lenity
to the Gauls, who had conspired with Vindex, did not
escape censure: for it was believed that they had not
gained a remission of tribute and the freedom of Rome
from the emperor's indulgence, but that they purchased
them of Vinius. Hence the people had a general aver-
sion to Galba's administration. As for the soldiers,
though they did not receive what had been promised
them, they let it pass, hoping that, if they had not that
gratuity, they should certainly have as much as Nero
had given them. But when they began to murmur,
and their complaints were brought to Galba, he said,
what well became a great prince, ' That it was his cus-
tom to choose, not to buy his soldiers. ' This saying,
however, being reported to the troops, filled them with
the most deadly and irreconcileable hatred to Galba:
for it seemed to them that he not only wanted to de-
prive them of the gratuity himself, but to set a prece-
dent for future emperors.
The disaffection to the government that prevailed in
Rome was as yet kept secret in some measure, partly
because some remaining reverence for the presence of
the emperor prevented the flame of sedition from break-
ing out, and partly for want of an open occasion to at-
tempt a change. But the troops which served under
Virginhis, and were now commanded by Flaccus in
Germany, thinking they deserved great things for the
battle which they fought with Vindex, and finding that
they obtained nothing, began to behave in a very re-
fractory manner, and could not be appeased by their
officers. Their general himself they utterly despised,
as well on account of his inactivity (for he had the gout
in a violent manner), as his want of experience in mili-
tary affairs. One day, at some public games, when the
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? GALBA.
307
tribunes and centurions, according to custom, made
vows for the happiness of the emperor, the common
soldiers murmured; and when the officers repeated
their good wishes, they answered, ' if he is worthy. '
The legions that were under the command of Tigel-
linus behaved with equal insolence; of which Galba's
agents wrote him an account. He was now appre-
hensive that it was not only his age, but his want of
children, that brought him into contempt; and therefore
he formed a design to adopt some young man of noble
birth, and declare him his successor. Marcus Otho
was of a family by no means obscure ; but, at the same
time, he was more remarkable from his infancy for
luxury and love of pleasure than most of the Roman
youth. And, as Homer often calls Paris the husband
of the beauteous Helen, because he had nothing else to
distinguish him, so Otho was noted in Rome as the
husband of Poppaea. This was the lady whom Nero
fell in love with while she was wife to Crispinus; but
retaining as yet some respect for his own wife, and
some reverence for his mother, he privately employed
Otho to solicit her: for Otho's debauchery had recom-
mended him to Nero as a friend and companion, and
he had an agreeable way of rallying him on what he
called his avarice and sordid manner of living.
We are told, that one day when Nero was perfuming
himself with a very rich essence, he sprinkled a little
of it on Otho. Otho invited the emperor the day fol-
lowing, when suddenly gold and silver pipes opened
on all sides of the apartment, and poured out essences
for them in as much plenty as if it had been water. He
applied to Poppa? a according to Nero's desire, and first
seduced her for him, with the flattering idea of having
an emperor for her lover: after which he persuaded
her to leave her husband. But when he took her
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? PLUTARGH.
home as his own wife, he was not so happy in having
her, as miserable in the thought of her being loved by
another. And Poppaea is said not to have been dis-
pleased with this jealousy; for it seems she refused
to admit Nero when Otho was absent; whether it was
that she studied to keep Nero's love from decaying, or
whether, (as some say,) she did not choose to receive
the emperor as a husband, but, in her playful way,
took more pleasure in having him approach her as a
gallant. Otho's life therefore was in great danger on
account of that, marriage; and it is. astonishing, that
the man who could sacrifice his wife and sister for the
sake of Poppaea should afterwards spare Otho.
But Otho had a friend in Seneca ; and it was he who
persuaded Nero to send him out governor of Lusitania,
on the borders of the ocean. Otho made himself agree-
able to the inhabitants by his lenity; for he knew that
this command was given him only as a more honorable
exile. On Galba's revolt, he was the first governor of
a province that came over to him, and he carried with
him all the gold and silver vessels he had, to be melted
down and coined for his use. He likewise presented
him with such of his servants as knew best how to wait
on an emperor. He behaved to him, indeed, in all re-
spects with great fidelity; and it appeared from the
specimen he gave, that there was no department in the
government for which he had not talents. He accom-
panied him in his whole journey, and was many days
in the same carriage with him; during all which time
he lost no opportunity to pay his court to Vinius,
either by assiduities or presents: and as he always
took care to leave him the first place, he was secure by
his means of having the second. Besides that there
was nothing invidious in this station, he recommended
himself by granting his favors and services without re-
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? GALEA.
309
ward, and by his general affability and politeness. He
took most pleasure in serving the officers of the army,
and obtained governments for many of them, partly by
applications to the emperor, and partly to Vinius and
his freedmen, Icelns and Asiaticus, for these had the
chief influence at court.
Whenever Galba visited him, he complimented the
company of guards that was on duty with a piece of
gold for each man; thus practising on and gaining the
soldiers, while he seemed only to be doing honor to
their master. When Galba was deliberating on the
choice of a successor, Vinius proposed Otho. Nor
was this a disinterested overture, for Otho had pro-
mised to marry Vinius' daughter, after Galba had
adopted him, and appointed him his successor. But
Galba always showed that he preferred the good of the
public to any private considerations; and in this case
he sought not for the man who might be most agree-
able to himself, but one who promised to be the great-
est blessing to the Romans. Indeed it can hardly be
supposed that he would have appointed Otho heir even
to his private patrimony, when he knew how expensive
and profuse he was, and that he was loaded with a debt
of five millions of drachmas. He therefore gave Vi-
nius a patient hearing, without returning him any an-
swer, and put off the affair to another time. However,
as he declared himself consul, and chose Vinius for
his colleague, it was supposed that he would appoint a
successor at the beginning of the next year, and the
soldiers wished that Otho might be the man.
But while Galba delayed the appointment, and con-
tinued deliberating, the army mutinied in Germany.
All the troops throughout the empire hated Galba, be-
cause they had not received the promised donations,
but those in Germany had a particular apology for
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? 310
PLUTARCH.
their aversion. They alleged 'that Virginias Rufus,
their general, had been removed with ignominy, and
that the Gauls, who had fought against them, were the
only people that were rewarded; whilst all who had
not joined Vindex were punished; and Galba, as if he
had obligations to none but him for the imperial dia-
dem, honored his memory with sacrifices and public
libations. '
Such speeches as this were common in the camp,
when the calends of January were at hand, and Flaccus
assembled the soldiers, that they might take tjje custo-
mary oath of fealty to the emperor. But, instead of
that, they overturned and broke to pieces the statues
of Galba; and, having taken an oath of allegiance to
the senate and people of Rome, they retired to their
tents. Their officers were now as apprehensive of
anarchy as rebellion, and the following speech is said
to have been made on the occasion: 'What are we
doing; my fellow-soldiers? We neither appoint ano-
ther emperor, nor keep our allegiance to the present,
as if we had renounced not only Galba, but every other
sovereign, and all manner of obedience. It is true,
Hordeonius Flaccus is no more than the shadow of
Galba. Let us quit him. But at the distance of one
day's march only, there is Vitellius, who commands
in the lower Germany, whose father was censor, and
thrice consul, and in a manner colleague to the empe-
ror Claudius. And though his poverty be a circum-
stance for which some people may despise him, it is a
strong proof of his probity and greatness of mind.
Let us go and declare him emperor, and show the
world that we know how to choose a person for that
high dignity better than the Spaniards and Lusita-
nians. ' ?
Some approved, and others rejected this motion*
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? GALBA.
One of the standard-bearers, however, marched off
privately, and carried the news to Vitellius that night.
He found him at table, for he was giving a great en-
tertainment to his officers. The news soon spread
through the army, and Fabius Valens, who commanded
one of the legions, went next day, at the head of a
considerable party of horse, and saluted Vitellius em-
peror. For some days before he seemed to dread the
weight of sovereign power, and totally to decline it;
but now being fortified with the indulgences of the
table, to which he had sat down at mid-day, he went
out, and accepted the title of Germanicus, which the
army conferred on him, though he refused that of Cae-
sar. Soon after, Flaccus' troops forgot the republican
oaths they had taken to the senate and the people, and
swore allegiance to Vitellius. Thus Vitellius was pro-
claimed emperor in Germany.
As soon as Galba was informed of the insurrection
there, he resolved, without farther delay, to proceed
to the adoption. He knew some of his friends were
for Dolabella, and a still greater number for Otho;
but without being guided by the judgment of either
party, or making the least mention of his design, he
sent suddenly for Piso, the son of Crassus and Scri-
bonia, who were put to death by Nero; a young man
formed by nature for every virtue, and distinguished
for his modesty and sobriety of manners. In pursu-
ance of his intentions, he went down with him to the
camp, to give him the title of Caesar, and declare him
his successor. But he was no sooner out of his palace
than very inauspicious presages appeared: and in the
camp, when he delivered a speech to the army, read-
ing some parts, and pronouncing others from memory,
the many claps of thunder and flashes of lightning, the
violent rain that fell, and the darkness that covered
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? PLUTARCH.
both the camp and the city, plainly announced that the
gods did not admit of the adoption, and that the issue
would be unfortunate. The countenances of the sol-
diers, too, were black and lowering, because there was
no donation even on that occasion.
As to Piso, all that were present could not but won-
der that, so fair as they could conjecture from his voice
and look, he was not disconcerted with so great an ho-
nor, though he did not receive it without sensibility.
On the contrary, in Otho's countenance there appeared
strong marks of resentment, and of the impatience with
which he bore the disappointment of his hopes: for his
failing of that honor which he had been thought worthy
to aspire to, and which he lately believed himself very
near attaining, seemed a proof of Galba's hatred and
ill intentions to him. He was not therefore without
apprehensions of what might befall him afterwards;
and dreading Galba, execrating Piso, and full of in-
dignation against Vinius, he retired with this confusion
of passions in his heart. But the Chaldaeans and other
diviners, whom he had always about him, would not
suffer him intirely to give up his hopes or abandon his
design. In particular, he relied on Ptolemy, because
he had formerly predicted that he should not fall by
the hand of Nero, but survive him, and live to ascend
the imperial throne: for, as the former part of the
prophecy proved true, he thought he had no reason to
despair of the latter. None however exasperated him
more against Galba than those who condoled with him
in private, and pretended that he had been treated
with great ingratitude. Besides, there was a number
of people that had florished under Tigellinus and Nym-
phidius, and now lived in poverty and disgrace, who,
to recommend themselves to Otho, expressed great in-
dignation at the slight he had suffered, and urged him
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? GALEA.
313
to revenge it. Amongst these were Veturius, who was
optio, or centurion's deputy, and Barbius, who was
tesserarius, or one of those that carry the word from
the tribunes to the centurions. Onomastus, one of
Otho's freedmen, joined them, and went from troop to
troop, corrupting some with money, and others with
promises. Indeed, they were corrupt enough already,
and wanted only an opportunity to put their designs in
execution. If they had not been extremely disaffected,
they could not have been prepared for a revolt in so
short a space of time as that of four days, which was
all that passed between the adoption and the assassina-
tion ; for Piso and Galba were both slain the sixth day
after, which was the fifteenth of January. Early in
the morning Galba sacrificed in the palace in presence
of his friends. Umbricius the diviner no sooner took
the entrails in his hands than he declared, not in enig-
matical expressions, but plainly, that there were signs
of great troubles, and of treason that threatened imme-
diate danger to the emperor. Thus Otho was almost
delivered up to Galba by the hand of the gods; for he
stood behind the emperor, listening with great atten-
tion to the observations made by Umbricius. These
put him in great confusion, and his fears were disco-
vered by his change of color, when his freedman Ono-
mastus came and told him that the architects were
come, and waited for him at his house. This was the
signal for Otho's meeting the soldiers. He pretended
therefore that he had bought an old house which these
architects were to examine; and, going down by what
is called Tiberius' palace, went to that part of the fo-
rum where stands the gilded pillar which terminates
all the great roads in Italy.
The soldiers who received him, and saluted him em-
peror, are said not to have been more than twenty-
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? 314
PLUTARCH.
three: so that, though he had nothing of that dastardly
spirit which the delicacy of his constitution, and the
effeminacy of his life, seemed to declare, but, on the
contrary, was firm and resolute in time of danger; yet,
on this occasion, he was intimidated, and wanted to
retire; but the soldiers would not suffer it. They sur-
rounded the chair with drawn swords, and insisted on
its proceeding to the camp. Meantime Otho desired
the bearers to make haste, often declaring that he was
a lost man. There were some who overheard him,
and they rather wondered at the hardiness of the at-
tempt with so small a party, than disturbed themselves
about the consequences. As he was carried through
the forum, about the same number as the first joined
him, and others afterwards by three or four at a
time. The whole party then saluted him Caesar, and
conducted him to the camp, fiorishing their swords
before him. Martialis, the tribune who kept guard
that day, knowing nothing (as they tell us) of the con-
spiracy, was surprised and terrified at so unexpected
a sight, and suffered them to enter. When Otho was
within the camp, he met with no resistance, for the
conspirators gathered about such as were strangers to
the design, and made it their business to explain it to
them; on which, they joined them by one or two at a
time, at first out of fear, and afterwards out of choice.
The news was immediately carried to Galba, while
the diviner yet attended, and had the entrails in his
hands: so that they who had been most incredulous in
matters of divination, and even held it in contempt
before, were astonished at the divine interposition in
the accomplishment of this presage. People of all
sorts now orowding from the forum to the palace, Vi-
nius and Laco, with some of the emperor's freedmen,
stood before him with drawn swords to defend him.
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? GALEA.
Piso went out to speak to the life-guards, and Marius
Celsus, a man of great courage and honor, was sent to
secure the Illyrian legion, which lay in Vipsanius'
portico.
Galba was inclined to go out to the people. Vinius
endeavored to dissuade him from it; but Celsus and
Laco encouraged him to go, and expressed themselves
with some sharpness against Vinius. Meantime a strong
report prevailed that Otho was slain in the camp; soon
after which, Julius Atticus, a soldier of some note
amongst the guards, came up, and crying he was the
man that had killed Caesar's enemy, made his way
through the crowd, and showed his bloody sword to
Galba. The emperor fixing his eye on him, said,
'Who gave you orders V He answered, 'My alle-
giance, and the oath I had taken;' and the people ex-
pressed their approbation in loud plaudits. Galba
then went out in a sedan-chair, with a design to sacri-
fice to Jupiter, and show himself to the people. But
he had no sooner reached the forum than the rumor
changed like the wind, and news met him that Otho
was master of the camp. On this occasion, as it was
natural amongst a multitude of people, some called out
to him to advance, and some to retire; some to take
courage, and some to be cautious. His chair was
tossed backward and forward, as in a tempest, and
ready to be overset, when there appeared first a party
of horse, and then another of foot, issuing from the
Basilica of Paulus, and crying out, 'Away with this
private man! ' Numbers were then running about, not
to separate by flight, but to possess themselves of the
porticos and eminences about the forum, as it were to
enjoy some public spectacle. Atilius Virgilio beat
down one of Galba's statues, which served as a signal
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? 316
PLUTARCH.
for hostilities, and they attacked the chair on all sides
with javelins. As those did not despatch him, they
advanced sword in hand. In this time of trial none
stood up in his defence hut one' man, who, indeed,
amongst so many millions, was the only one that did
honor to the Roman empire. This was Sempronius
Densus, a centurion, who, without any particular obli-
gations to Galha, and only from a regard to honor and
the law, stood forth to defend the chair. First of all
he lifted up the vine-branch with which the centurions
chastise such as deserve stripes, and then called out to
the soldiers who were pressing on, and commanded
them to spare the emperor. They fell on him notwith-
standing, and he drew his sword and fought a long
time, till he received a stroke in the ham, which brought
him to the ground.
The chair was overturned at what is called the Cur-
tian lake, and Galba tumbling out of it, they ran to de-
spatch him.
At the same time he presented his throat,
and said, ' Strike, if it be for the good of Rome. ' He
received many strokes on his arms and legs, for he
had a coat of mail on his body. According to most
accounts, it was Camurius, a soldier of the fifteenth
legion, that despatched him; though some say it was
Terentius, some Arcadius, and others Fabius Fabulus.
They add, that when Fabius had cut off his head, he
wrapped it up in the skirt of his garment, because it
was so bald that he could take no hold of it. His asso-
ciates, however, would not suffer him to conceal it, but
insisted that he should let the world see what an ex-
ploit he had performed; he therefore fixed it on the
point of his spear, and swinging about the head of a
venerable old man, and a mild prince, who was both
pontifex maximus and consul, he ran on, (like the
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? GALBA.
317
Bacchanals with the head of Pentheus,) brandishing
his spear, that was dyed with the blood that trickled
from it.
When the head was presented to Otho, he cried out,
'This is nothing, my fellow-soldiers; show me the
head of Piso. ' It was brought not long after; for that
young prince being wounded, and pursued by one
Murcus, was killed by him at the gates of the temple
of Vesta. Vinius also was put to the sword, though he
declared himself an accomplice in the conspiracy, and
protested that it was against Otho's orders that he suf-
fered. However, they cut off his head, and that of
Laco, and carrying them to Otho, demanded their re-
ward: for, as Archilochus says,
We bring seven warriors only to your tent,
Yet thousands of us kill'd them.
So in this case many who had no share in the action
bathed their hands and swords in the blood, and show-
ing them to Otho, petitioned for their reward. It ap-
peared afterwards from the petitions given in, that the
number of them was a hundred and twenty; and
Vitellius having searched them out, put them all to
death. Marius Celsus also coming to the camp, many
accused him of having exhorted the soldiers to stand
by Galba, and the bulk of the army insisted that he
should suffer. But Otho being desirous to save him,
and yet afraid of contradicting them, told them, 'he
did not choose to have him executed so soon, because
he had several important questions to put to him. '
He ordered him therefore to be kept in chains, and
delivered him to persons in whom he could best con-
fide.
The senate was immediately assembled; and as if
they were become different men, or had other gods to
swear by, they took the oath to Otho, which he had
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? PLUTARCH.
before taken to Galba, but had not kept; and they
gave him the titles of Caesar and Augustus, while the
bodies of those that had been beheaded lay in their
consular robes in the forum. As for the heads, the
soldiers, after they had no farther use for them, sold
that of Vinius to his daughter for two thousand five
hundred drachmas. Piso's was given to his wife Ve-
rania, at her request; and Galba's to the servants of
Patrobius and Vitellius, who, after they had treated it
with the utmost insolence and outrage, threw it into a
place called Sestertium, where the bodies of those are
cast that are put to death by the emperors. Galba's
corpse was carried away by Helvidius Priscus, with
Otho's permission, and buried in the night by his freed-
man Argius.
Such is the history of Galba; a man who, in the
points of family and fortune distinctly considered, was
exceeded by few of the Romans, and who, in the union
of both, was superior to all. He had lived, too, in great
honor, and with the best reputation, under five empe-
rors; and it was rather by his character than by force
of arms that he deposed Nero. As to the rest who
conspired against the tyrant, some of them were thought
unworthy of the imperial diadem by the people, and
others thought themselves unworthy. But Galba was
invited to accept it, and only followed the sense of
those who called him to that high dignity. Nay, when
he gave the sanction of his name to Vindex, that which
before was called rebellion, was considered only as a
civil war, because a man of princely talents was then
at the head of it. So that he did not so much want
the empire, as the empire wanted him: and with these
principles he attempted to govern a people corrupted
by Tigellinus and Nymphidius, as Scipio, Fabricius,
and Camillus, governed the Romans of their times.
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? OALBA.
319
Notwithstanding his great age, he showed himself a
chief worthy of ancient Rome through all the military
department. But, in the civil administration, he de-
livered himself up to Vinius, to Laco, and to his en-
franchised slaves, who sold every thing, in the same
manner as Nero had left all to his insatiable vermin.
The consequence of this was, that no man regretted
him as an emperor, though almost all were moved with
pity at his miserable fate.
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? OTHO.
The new emperor went early in the morning to the
capitol, and sacrificed; after which he ordered Marius
Celsus to be brought before him. He received that
officer with great marks of his regard, and desired him
rather to forget the cause of his confinement, than to
remember his release. Celsus neither showed any
meanness in his acknowlegements, nor any want of
gratitude. He said, ' The very charge brought against
him bore witness to his character; since he was ac-
cused only of having been faithful to Galba, from
whom he had never received any personal obligations. '
All who were present at the audience admired both the
emperor and Celsus, and the soldiers in particular tes-
tified their approbation.
Otho made a mild and gracious speech to the senate.
The remaining time of his consulship he divided with
Virginius Rufus, and he left those who had been ap-
pointed to that dignity by Nero and Galba to enjoy it
in their course. Such as were respectable for their
age and character he promoted to the priesthood; and
to those senators who had been banished by Nero, and
recalled by Galba, he restored all their goods and
estates that he found unsold. So that the first and best
of the citizens, who had before not considered him as
a man, but dreaded him as a fury or destroying demon,
that had suddenly seized the seat of government, now
entertained more pleasing hopes from so promising a
beginning.
But nothing gave the people in general so high a
pleasure, or contributed so much to gain him their af-
fections, as his punishing Tigelliuus. It is true he had
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? oTHo.
long suffered under the fear of punishment, which the
Romans demanded as a public debt, and under a com-
plication of incurable distempers. These, together with
his infamous connexions with the worst of women, into
which his passions drew him, though almost in the
arms of death, were considered by the thinking part of
mankind as the greatest of punishments, and worse
than many deaths. Yet it was a pain to the common
people, that he should see the light of the sun, after
so many excellent men had been deprived of it through
his means. He was then at his, country-house near
Sinuessa, and had vessels at anchor, ready to carry
him on occasion to some distant country. Otho sent
to him there; and he first attempted to bribe the mes-
senger with large sums to suffer him to escape. When
he found that did not take effect, he gave him the mo-
ney notwithstanding; and desiring only to be indulged
a few moments till he had shaved himself, he took the
razor and cut his own throat.
Besides this just satisfaction that Otho gave the peo-
ple, it was a most agreeable circumstance that he re-
membered none of his private quarrels. To gratify the
populace, he suffered them also at first to give him in
the theatres the name of Nero, and he made no oppo-
sition to those who erected publicly the statues of that
emperor. Nay, Claudius Rufus tells us, that in the
letters with which the couriers were sent to Spain, he
joined the name of Nero to that of Otho. But per-
ceiving that the nobility were offended, he made use of
it no more.
After his government was thus established, the pre-
torian cohorts gave him no small trouble, by exhorting
him to beware of many persons of rank, and to forbid
them the court; whether it was that their affection
made them really apprehensive for him, or whether it
PLUT. VoL. VII. X
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? PLUTARCH.
was only a color for raising commotions and wars.
One day the emperor himself had sent Crispinus orders
to bring the seventeenth cohort from Ostia; and in
order to do it without interruption, that officer began
to prepare for it as soon as it grew dark, and to pack
up the arms in waggons. On which some of the most
turbulent cried out, that Crispinus 'was come with no
good intention ; that the senate had some design against
the government; and that the arms he was going to
carry were to be made use of against Caesar, not for
him. This notion soon spread, and exasperated num-
bers; some laid hold on the waggons, while others
killed two centurions who endeavored to quell the
mutiny, and Crispinus himself. Then the whole party
armed, and exhorting each other to go to the emperor's
assistance, they marched straight to Rome. Being in-
formed there that eighty senators supped with him that
evening, they hastened to the palace, saying,' Then was
the time to crush all Caesar's enemies at once. ' The
city was greatly alarmed, expecting to be plundered
immediately. The palace, too, was in the utmost con-
fusion, and Otho himself in unspeakable distress: for
he was under fear and concern for the senators, while
they were afraid of him; and he saw they kept their
eyes fixed on him in silence and extreme consternation;
some having even brought their wives with them to
supper. He therefore ordered the principal officers of
the guards to go and speak to the soldiers, and endeavor
to appease them, and at the same time sent out his
guests at another door. They had scarce made their
escape when the soldiers rushed into the room, and
asked what was become of the enemies of Caesar. The
emperor then rising from his couch, used many argu-
ments to satisfy them, and by intreaties and tears at
last prevailed on them with much difficulty to desist.
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? oTHo.
323
Next day, having presented the soldiers with twelve
hundred and fifty drachmas a man, he entered the
camp. On this occasion he commended the troops as
in general well-affected to his government; but at the
same time he told them there were some designing men
amongst them, who by their cabals brought his mode-
ration and their fidelity both into question: these, he
said, deserved their resentment, and he hoped they
would assist him in punishing them. They applauded
his speech, and desired him to chastise whatever per-
sons he thought proper; but he pitched on two only
for capital punishment, whom no man could possibly
regret, and then returned to his palace.
Those who had conceived an affection for Otho and
placed a confidence in him, admired this change in his
conduct. But others thought it was no more than a
piece of policy which the times necessarily required,
and that he assumed a popular behavior on account of
the impending war; for now he had undoubted intelli-
gence that Vitellius had taken the title of emperor and
all the ensigns of supreme power, and couriers daily
arrived with news of continual additions to his party.
Other messengers also arrived with accounts that the
forces in Pannonia, Dalmatia, and Mysia, with their
generals, had declared for Otho. And a few days
after, he received obliging letters from Mucianus and
Vespasian, who both commanded numerous armies, the
one in Syria, and the other in Judea.
Elated with its intelligence, he wrote to Vitellius,
advising him not to aspire to things above his rank,
and promised, in case he desisted, to supply him libe-
rally with money, and gave him a city in which he
might spend his days in pleasure and repose. Vitel-
lius at first gave him an answer, in which ridicule was
tempered with civility; but afterwards, being both
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? 324 PLUTARCH.
thoroughly exasperated, they wrote to each other in a
style of the hitterest invective; not that their mutual
reproaches were groundless, but it was absurd for the
one to insult the other with what might with equal
justice be objected to both: for their charges consisted
of prodigality, effeminacy, incapacity for war, their
former poverty and immense debts; such articles, that
it is hard to say which of them had the advantage.
As to the stories of prodigies and apparitions at that
time, many of them were founded on vague reports
that could not be traced to their author: but in the
capitol there was a Victory mounted on a chariot, and
numbers of people saw her let the reins fall out of her
hands, as if she had lost the power to hold them: and
in the island of the Tiber, the statue of Julius Caesar
turned from west to east, without either earthquake or
whirlwind to move it; a circumstance which is said
likewise to have happened when Vespasian openly
took on him the direction of affairs. The inundation
of the Tiber, too, was considered by the populace as a
bad omen. It was at a time, indeed, when rivers usu-
ally overflow their banks; but the flood never rose so
high before, nor was so ruinous in its effects; for now
it laid great part of the city under water, particularly
the corn-market, and caused a famine which continued
for some days.
About this time news was brought that Cecina and
Valens, who acted for Vitellins, had seized the passes
of the Alps. And in Rome, Dolabella, who was of an
illustrious family, was suspected by the guards of some
disloyal design. Otho, either fearing him, or some
other whom he could influence, sent him to Aquinum,
with assurances of friendly treatment. When the em-
peror came to select the officers that were to attend
him on his march, he appointed Lucius, the brother of
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? oTHo.
Vitellius, to be of the number, without either pro-
moting or lowering him in point of rank. He took
also particular care of the mother and wife of Vitel-
lius, and endeavored to put them in a situation where
they had nothing to fear. The government of Rome
he gave to Flavius Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian;
either with an intention to do honor to Nero, (for he
had formerly given him that appointment, and Galba
had deprived him of it,) or else to show his affection to
Vespasian by promoting his brother.
Otho himself stopped at Brixellum, a town in Italy,
near the Po, and ordered the army to march on under
the conduct of his lieutenants, Marius Celsus, Sueto-
nius Paulinus, Gallus and Spurina, officers of great
reputation. But they could not pursue the plan of
operations they had formed, by reason of the obstinacy
and disorderly behavior of the soldiers, who declared
that they had made the emperor, and they would be
commanded by him only. . The enemy's troops were
not under much better discipline: they, too, were re-
fractory and disobedient to their officers, and on the
same account. Yet they had seen service, and were
accustomed to fatigue: whereas Otho's men had been
used to idleness, and their manner of living was quite
different from that in the field. Indeed they had spent
most of their time at public spectacles and the enter-
tainments of the theatre, and were come to that degree
of insolence, that they did not pretend to be unable to
perform the services they were ordered on, but affected
to be above them. Spurina, who attempted to use com-
pulsion, was in danger of being killed by them. They
spared no manner of abuse, calling him traitor, and
telling him that it was he who ruined the affairs of
Caesar, and purposely missed the fairest opportunities.
Some of them came in the night intoxicated with liquor
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? PLUTARCH.
to his tent, and demanded their discharge; 'for they
had to go,' they said, 'to Caesar, to accuse him/
The cause, however, and Spurina with it, received
some benefit from the insult which these troops met
with at Placentia. Those of Vitellius came Up to the
walls, and ridiculed Otho's men, who were appointed
to defend them; calling them players and dancers, fit
only to attend the Pythian and Olympic games; fel-
lows who knew nothing of war, who had not even
made one campaign, who were swoln up with pride
merely because they had cut off the head of a poor un-
armed old man (meaning Galba); wretches that durst
not look men in the face, or stand any thing like a fair
and open battle. They were so cut with these re-
proaches, and so desirous of revenge, that they threw
themselves at Spurina's feet, and begged of him to
command and employ them on whatever service he
thought proper, assuring him that there was neither
danger nor labor which they would decline. After
this the enemy made a vigorous attack on the town,
and plied their battering-engines with all their force j
but Spurina's men repulsed them with great slaughter,
and by that means kept possession of one of the most
respectable and most florishing towns in Italy.
It must be observed of Otho's officers in genera],
that they were more obliging in their behavior both to
cities and private persons than those of Vitellius. Ce-
cilia, one of the latter, had nothing popular either in
his address or his figure. He was of a gigantic size,
and most uncouth appearance; for he wore breeches
and long sleeves in the manner of the Gauls, even
while his standard was Roman, and whilst he gave his
instructions to Roman officers. His wife followed him
on horseback, in a rich dress, and was attended by a
select party of cavalry.
