both by word and deed, along the Via Sacra; his head
being held back by the hair, in the manner of condemned
criminals, and the point of a sword put under his
chin, that he might hold up his face to public view;
some of the mob, meanwhile, pelting him with dung
and mud, whilst others called him “an incendiary
and glutton.” They also upbraided him
with the defects of his person, for he was monstrously
tall, and had a face usually very red with hard-drinking,
a large belly, and one thigh weak, occasioned by a
chariot running against him, as he was attending upon
Caius [716], while he was driving. At length,
upon the Scalae Gemoniae, he was tormented and put
to death in lingering tortures, and then dragged by
a hook into the Tiber.
XVIII. He perished with his brother and son
[717], in the fifty-seventh year of his age [718],
and verified the prediction of those who, from the
omen which happened to him at Vienne, as before related
[719], foretold that he would be made prisoner by
some man of Gaul. For he was seized by Antoninus
Primus, a general of the adverse party, who was born
at Toulouse, and, when a boy, had the cognomen of
Becco [720], which signifies a cock’s beak.
* * * * *
*
(440) After the extinction of the race of the Caesars,
the possession of the imperial power became extremely
precarious; and great influence in the army was the
means which now invariably led to the throne.
The soldiers having arrogated to themselves the right
of nomination, they either unanimously elected one
and the same person, or different parties supporting
the interests of their respective favourites, there
arose between them a contention, which was usually
determined by an appeal to arms, and followed by the
assassination of the unsuccessful competitor.
Vitellius, by being a parasite of all the emperors
from Tiberius to Nero inclusively, had risen to a
high military rank, by which, with a spirit of enterprise,
and large promises to the soldiery, it was not difficult
to snatch the reins of government, while they were
yet fluctuating in the hands of Otho. His ambition
prompted to the attempt, and his boldness was crowned
with success. In the service of the four preceding
emperors, Vitellius had imbibed the principal vices
of them all: but what chiefly distinguished him
was extreme voraciousness, which, though he usually
pampered it with enormous luxury, could yet be gratified
by the vilest and most offensive garbage. The
pusillanimity discovered by this emperor at his death,
forms a striking contrast to the heroic behaviour of
Otho.
T. FLAVIUS VESPASIANUS AUGUSTUS.
(441)
Copyrights
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.
