disorder began to die down.  Alfenus Varus, the camp-prefect, then hit upon the plan of forbidding the centurions to go the rounds or to have the bugle sounded to summon the men to their duties.  No one had anything to do:  they eyed each other in astonishment, dismayed above all at having no one to command them.  At first by silent submission, at last with tearful prayers, they sought pardon.  Valens appeared, haggard and in tears, but above all expectation safe and sound,—­joy, sympathy, cheers!  With a wild revulsion of feeling—­mobs are always extravagant—­they made a ring round him with the eagles and standards, and carried him to the Tribunal with loud praises and congratulations.  With wise moderation he demanded no punishment, but, to disarm suspicion of his good faith, he criticized one or two of them severely.[279] He was well aware that in civil war the men are allowed more licence than their officers.

While they were entrenching themselves at Ticinum they heard the 30 news of Caecina’s defeat, and the mutiny nearly broke out afresh:  Valens, they thought, had treacherously delayed in order to keep them out of the battle.  They refused rest, would not wait for the general, marched on in front of the standards, hurrying on the bearers, and by a forced march joined Caecina.  Valens had a bad name with Caecina’s army.  They complained that despite their greatly inferior numbers he had exposed them to the full force of the enemy.  At the same time, for fear of being despised as defeated cowards, they excused themselves by exaggerating the strength of the new arrivals.  In fact, though Valens’ numbers were larger, and he had almost twice as many legionaries and auxiliaries as Caecina,[280] yet it was Caecina who enjoyed the confidence of the men.  Apart from his kindness, in which he seemed much readier than Valens, they admired him for his youthful vigour and commanding stature,[281] and liked him too without exactly knowing why.  So there was rivalry between the generals.  Caecina mocked at Valens for his dirty and dishonest ways:[282] Valens at Caecina’s pompous vanity.  But they smothered their dislike and worked together for a common end, writing frequent letters in which they sacrificed all hope of pardon and heaped abuse on Otho.  Otho’s generals refrained from retaliating upon Vitellius, though his character offered richer scope.  In death Otho earned a noble name and Vitellius infamy, yet 31 at this time people were more afraid of Otho’s burning passions than of Vitellius’ listless luxury.  The murder of Galba had made Otho feared and hated, while no one attributed to Vitellius the outbreak of the war.  It was felt that Vitellius’ gluttony was a personal disgrace:  Otho’s excesses, his cruelty and his daring, spelt more danger to the country.