Spurinna, who was holding Placentia, had made up his mind that 18 Caecina had not yet arrived, and that, if he should, his troops must be kept within their lines:  he could not pit three cohorts of guards with one detachment a thousand strong,[251] and a few cavalry, against Caecina’s veteran army.  But his men were unruly and ignorant of war.[252] Seizing the standards and colours[253] they broke out, threatening to kill the general who tried to check them and paying no heed to their superior officers.  They even clamoured that Otho was being betrayed, and Caecina had been summoned.[254] Spurinna yielded unwillingly to their folly, at first under compulsion, later with a show of sympathy.  He was anxious to gain weight for his advice, should the mutiny cool.

At nightfall, with the Po in sight, Spurinna decided to entrench 19 his camp.[255] The unaccustomed hard work soon blunted the enthusiasm of his town-bred troops.  The older men began to curse their credulity, and to point out the fearful danger to their small force of being surrounded by Caecina’s army in the open country.  Soon a more sober spirit pervaded the camp.  The tribunes and centurions mingled with the men, and every one talked with admiration of Spurinna’s foresight in selecting a powerful and wealthy colony as a strong base for their operations.  Finally Spurinna himself rather explained his plans than reproached their faults, and, leaving patrols behind, succeeded eventually in leading the rest of the men back to Placentia in a quieter and more submissive frame of mind.  There the walls were repaired, outworks built, and the turrets increased in height and number, while Spurinna provided not only for arms and ammunition but also for obedience and discipline.  This was all his party lacked, for their courage was unimpeachable.

Caecina, on the other hand, seemed to have left his cruelty and 20 profligacy on the other side of the Alps.  He marched through Italy with a well-disciplined force.  The people in the country-towns and colonies took offence at his costume as showing arrogance.  While they wore the plain toga, Caecina addressed them attired in a parti-coloured plaid and trousers.[256] Moreover, his wife Salonina rode on a fine horse with purple trappings, and though this did no one any harm, they grumbled and seemed hurt.  It is an ineradicable human trait to turn critical eyes on new-found fortune, and to insist upon moderation most of all in those who used to be our equals.  Crossing the Po, Caecina tried to undermine the loyalty of the Othonians by negotiations and promises.  They retaliated with the same weapons, and when they had finished bandying empty and fine-sounding phrases about Peace and Union, Caecina devoted all his attention and plans to an assault on Placentia in terrific force.  He knew that his future reputation rested on the issue of his first engagements.[257]