The Empire. R 0 
and even of avarice were observed; and the people, accus¬ 
tomed to partake in the splendid shows and prodigalities of 
their emperors, had neither virtue to admire, nor patience to 
endure the retrenchments of Galba. His popularity was 
slightly retrieved by the public execution of Locusta, and 
various other instruments of Nero’s cruelty, who were 
dragged in fetters through the city; but this act of j ustice 
was again neutralised by the pardon of Tigellinus and He- 
lotus, who are said to have procured it by bribes of enor¬ 
mous magnitude, even though the people cried aloud for 
vengeance upon those atrocious murderers. 
The Roman legions in different provinces of the empire, 
being bound by no tie to the interests of Galba, exhibited 
various symptoms of disaffection. The army commanded 
by Vitellius, an ambitious leader, openly refused to obey any 
other orders than those of the senate, and even sent a request 
to that body that they would choose another emperor. 
When the news of this commotion reached Galba, he 
resolved to adopt an heir to the throne, who should have no 
other claim than his virtues and his talents. Otho urged 
to Galba his claims to this situation; but the emperor wished 
to attend only to merit, and fixed upon Piso Lucinianus as 
his successor. This young man deserved the choice which 
thus fell upon him: but the senate and the army had not 
been accustomed to admire the moral and intellectual qua¬ 
lities which formed the ground of Piso’s appointment. An 
opening was therefore left for the ambition of Otho, who re¬ 
solved to obtain by force that appointment which Galba had 
refused as a reward for his services. By bribes and ha¬ 
rangues and by exaggerating the cruelties and avarice 
of Galba, he succeeded in a few days in gaining the 
affection of the soldiers, who proclaimed him emperor, and 
carried him with their drawn swords into the camp. Galba 
was confounded with this intelligence, but being deceived 
by a rumour of Otho’s death, he rode into the forum, accom¬ 
panied by several of his followers, when a body of Otho’s 
cavalry attacked the imperial party. Though at first irre¬ 
solute from the flight of his adherents, Galba, recovering his 
energy, bent forwards his head on the approach of the assas¬ 
sins, and commanded them to strike it off if it would be of 
advantage to the people. This command was speedily obeyed, 
A. D. 69, and his head, fixed on the point of a lance, was 
carried in triumph round the camp of Otho. The new em¬ 
peror, like all his predecessors, began his reign with acts of 
clemency and justice. Though Marcius Celsus had been 
the favourite of Galba, and had adhered to the cause of his 
master, yet Otho raised him to the highest honours as a re¬ 
ward of his fidelity. He next gratified the just desire of the 
people by putting Tigellinus to death, and by restoring the 
estates of those whom the latter had banished or plundered. 
The legions of Vitellius, whom that general had attached 
to his interests by great promises as well as by actual presents, 
proclaimed him emperor, and spread terror throughout the 
capital. A. D. 77. Valens and Csecina having united their 
forces, attacked Otho’s army near Bedriacutn, and, after a 
well-contested battle, succeeded in putting it to flight, 
when the emperor put an end to his own life. 
After the battle, Vitellius was declared emperor by the 
senate, and having pardoned the adherents of Otho, he tra¬ 
velled to Rome in all the splendour and magnificence which 
he could command. After haranguing the senate and the 
people, and receiving the homage which his liberal pro¬ 
mises had drawn forth, he quietly settled himself in his 
palace, to enjoy his gluttony and luxurious habits. A din¬ 
ner which was given to him by his brother Lucius on his 
arrival in the capital, consisted of 2000 dishes of fish, and 
7000 of fowl. One of the dishes, called the shield of Mi¬ 
nerva, was an olio compounded of the sounds of the fish 
named scarri, the brains of woodcocks and pheasants, the 
tongues of rare birds, and the spawn of lampreys from the 
Caspian. 
Vitellius seems, like his predecessors, to have been a most 
capricious and inhuman barbarian. It is related, that he 
poisoned a friend whom he went to see, that was labouring 
M E. The Empire. n 271 
under a severe fever; that he executed two sons for entreat¬ 
ing him to spare the life of their father; and that once when 
a Roman knight was dragged to execution, and expected to 
ward off the blow by declaring that he had made the em¬ 
peror his heir, Vitellius obtained a sight of the deed, and 
having found that he was only heir with another, he executed 
both the knight and the legatee. 
These deeds at last offended the army; the legions of the east 
began the revolt; and Vespasian, while he was carrying 
on the siege of Jerusalem, was proclaimed emperor of Rome. 
When Vespasian’s army entered Italy under the command 
of Antonius Primus, Vitellius made considerable preparations 
for resistance. His army commanded by Valens and 
Caecina, met the troops of Vespasian near Cremona, but 
when a battle was expected, Caecina went over to Vespasian. 
The army however took and imprisoned Caecina, and 
attacked Antonius; and the battle which lasted all night, 
was renewed in the morning, when Vitellius’s army was 
defeated with a loss of 30,000 men. The routed troops, 
taking refuge in Cremona, liberated Caecina, and, through 
his intercession, were forgiven by the conqueror. The 
approach of Vespasian’s army to Rome was opposed by a 
few troops who guarded the passes of the Appennines; but 
when Vitellius heard of the revolt of his fleet, he offered to 
Vespasian to resign the empire. At this crisis one Sabinus 
seized the capitol ; but Vitellius’s soldiers laid it in ashes. 
Antonius, inattentive to the messages and offers of Vitel¬ 
lius, advanced towards Rome. He attacked it on three 
sides, drove the besieged into the city, and slaughtered them 
in great numbers. 
Vitellius fled to some sequestered hiding-place, from which 
he was soon taken by the victorious enemy. The miserable 
emperor, in the expectation of protracting his existence, 
requested that he might be kept in prison till the arrival of 
Vespasian, as he had important secrets to communicate to 
him. His appeal, however, was in vain. The soldiers 
binding his hands and putting a halter round his neck, led 
him half naked into the forum; loading him with curses 
and reproaches. They tied his hair backwards, and put the 
point of his sword beneath his chin to prevent him from 
hiding his face. Some threw mud upon him, and others 
struck him, while some ridiculed the redness of his face, 
and the magnitude of his belly. Having reached the place 
of execution, they killed him by blows, and, dragging the 
body through the streets, they tossed it into the 'Tiber. 
Thus terminated the eight months’ reign of Vitellius, when 
he had reached the 57th year of his age. 
The senate and the army concurred in declaring Vespasian 
emperor; and messengers w r ere sent to him in Egypt to 
request him to return. In the mean time Claudius Civilis, 
who had a command in Germany, revolted, and after 
maintaining a warlike attitude for some time, and resisting 
the arms of Cerealis, Vespasian’s general, he was at last 
obliged to make peace with his country. These events were 
followed by an irruption of the Sarmatians, who passed the 
Iser, and with the rapidity of a torrent overran the country, 
destroyed several garrisons, and routed an army commanded 
by Fonteius Agrippa. Rubrus Gallus, however, succeeded 
in driving them back into their settlements, in which 
they were for a while retained by forts and garrisons. 
Having intrusted Titus with the siege of Jerusalem, Vespa¬ 
sian set off for Rome; and he was met many miles from "the 
city by the senate, and half of the inhabitants, who for the 
first time expressed a sincere delight in having an emperor of 
tried virtue. While Rome was thus made happy by the 
succession of Vespasian, Titus returned from India in tri¬ 
umph ; and the triumphal arch which was erected at that 
grand celebration exists almost entire in modern Rome. 
Having quieted every commotion, Vespasian had the 
satisfaction of shutting the temple of Janus, which had been 
open for six years; he restored the ancient discipline of the 
army ; he shortened and improved the proceedings in courts 
of justice; and it has been said, that during his long reign, 
no individual suffered from an unjust or severe decree. 
Vespasian 
