Translated by J. C. Rolfe.
[Arkenberg Introduction]. Rolfe's annotations appear in
brackets with no attribution; mine are noted. I have also replaced
modern place names, as used by Rolfe, with those in use by the Romans
and Hellenes; thus, for example, Rolfe's "Italy" is now "Italia".
I. THE ancestors of
Otho came from an old and illustrious family in the town of Ferentium
and were descended from the princes of Etruria. His grandfather Marcus
Salvius Otho, whose father was a Roman eques but whose mother was of
lowly origin and perhaps not even free-born, became a senator through
the influence of Livia Augusta, in whose house he was reared; but did
not advance beyond the grade of praetor. His father Lucius Otho was of a
distinguished family on his mother's side, with many powerful
connections, and was so beloved by Tiberius and so like him in
appearance, that he was believed by many to be the emperor's son. In the
regular offices at Rome, the proconsulate of Africa, and several special
military commands, he conducted himself with extreme severity. In
Illyricum he even had the courage to punish some soldiers with death,
because in the rebellion of Camillus [See Claud. xiii and xxxv.2],
repenting of their defection, they had killed their officers on the
ground that they were the ringleaders in the revolt against Claudius;
and they were executed in his presence before his headquarters, although
he knew that they had been promoted to higher positions by Claudius
because of that very act. By this deed, while he increased his
reputation, he lost favor at court; but he speedily regained it by
detecting the treachery of a Roman eques, whose slaves betrayed their
master's design of killing the emperor. For in consequence of this, the
Senate conferred a very unusual honor on him by setting up his statue in
the Palace; and Claudius also enrolled him among the patricians, and
after praising him in the highest terms, added these words: "a man of
greater loyalty than I can even pray for in my own children." By Albia
Terentia, a woman of an illustrious line, he had two sons, Lucius
Titianus, and a younger called Marcus, who had the same surname as
himself; also a daughter, whom he betrothed to Drusus, son of Germanicus,
almost before she was of marriageable age.
II. The emperor Otho
was born on the fourth day before the Kalends of May in the consulate of
Camillus Arruntius and Domitius Ahenobarbus [April 28, 32 C.E.].
From earliest youth he was so extravagant and wild that his father often
flogged him; and they say that he used to rove about at night and lay
hands on anyone whom he met who was feeble or drunk and toss him in a
blanket [Instead of the modern blanket, a "sagum", or military
cloak, was used, whence the operation was called "sagatio"]. After
his father's death he pretended love for an influential freedwoman of
the court, although she was an old woman and almost decrepit, that he
might more effectually win her favor. Having through her wormed his way
into Nero's good graces, he easily held the first place among the
emperor's friends because of the similarity of their characters; but
according to some, also through immoral relations. At any rate his
influence was such, that when he had bargained for a huge sum of money
to procure the pardon of an ex-consul who had been condemned for
extortion, he had no hesitation in bringing him into the Senate to give
thanks, before he had fully secured his restoration [The penalty for
extortion was expulsion from the Senate; see Jul. xliii.1].
III. He was privy to
all the emperor's plans and secrets and on the day which Nero had chosen
for the murder of his mother he gave both of them a most elaborate
banquet, in order to avert suspicion.
Also when Poppaea Sabina, who up to that time had been
Nero's mistress, was separated from her husband and turned over for the
time being to Otho, he pretended marriage with her [According to Tac.,
Ann. 13.45, the marriage was a real one, as is also implied below];
but not content with seducing her, he became so devoted that he could
not endure the thought of having Nero even as a rival. At all events it
is believed that he not only would not admit those whom Nero sent to
fetch her, but that on one occasion he even shut out the emperor
himself, who stood before his door, vainly mingling threats and
entreaties and demanding the return of his trust. Therefore, Nero
annulled the marriage and under color of an appointment as governor
banished Otho to Lusitania, contenting himself with this through fear
that by inflicting a severer punishment he would make the whole farce
public; but even as it was, it was published abroad in this couplet:
"Why, do you ask, in feigned honor does Otho in banishment languish?
With his own wedded wife he had begun an intrigue."
With the rank of quaestor Otho governed the province for
ten years with remarkable moderation and integrity.
IV. When at last an
opportunity for revenge was given him, Otho was the first to espouse
Galba's causes, at the same time conceiving on his own account high
hopes of imperial power, because of the state of the times, but still
more because of a declaration of the astrologer Seleukos [Tacitus
and Plutarch give "Ptolemaios" as the name of the astrologer]. For
he had not only promised Otho some time before that he would survive
Nero, but had at this time unexpectedly appeared unsought and made the
further promise, that he would soon become emperor as well. Accordingly,
Otho let slip no opportunity for flattery or attention to anyone.
Whenever he entertained the princeps at dinner, he gave a gold
piece to each man of the cohort on guard, and put all the soldiers under
obligation in one form or another. Chosen arbiter by a man who was at
law with his neighbor about a part of his estate, he bought the whole
property and presented it to him. As a result there was hardly anyone
who did not both think and openly declare that he alone was worthy to
succeed to the empire.
V. Now he had hoped to
be adopted by Galba, and looked forward to it from day to day. But when
Piso was preferred and he at last lost that hope, he resorted to force,
spurred on not merely by feelings of resentment, but also by the
greatness of his debts. For he flatly declared that he could not keep on
his feet unless he became emperor, and that it made no difference
whether he fell at the hands of the enemy in battle or at those of his
creditors in the Forum. He had extorted a million sesterces from one of
the emperor's slaves a few days before for getting him a stewardship.
This was the entire capital for his great undertaking. At first the
enterprise was entrusted to five of his body-guard, then to ten others,
two being chosen by each of the first five; to all of them ten thousand
sesterces were paid at once and they were promised fifty thousand more.
Through these others were won over, but not so very many, since he had
full confidence that more would join him when the business was afoot.
VI. He had been
inclined to seize the Camp immediately after the adoption, and set upon
Galba as he was dining in the Palace, but had been prevented by
consideration for the cohort which was on guard at the time, and a
reluctance to increase its ill repute; for it was while that same cohort
was at its post that both Galba had been slain and Nero had been
forsaken. The intervening time [Between the adoption and the death
of Galba, a space of five days] was lost owing to bad omens and the
warnings of Seleukos. Accordingly, when the day was set, after
admonishing his confederates to await him in the Forum at the golden
milepost [A pillar covered with gilded bronze, erected by Augustus,
in 20 B.C.E., on which were engraved the names of the principal cities
of the empire and their distance from Rome. The Roman roads were
supposed to converge at that point, but the distances on them were
reckoned from the gates] hard by the Temple of Saturn, he called
upon Galba in the morning and was welcomed as usual with a kiss. He also
attended the emperor as he was offering sacrifice, and heard the
predictions of the soothsayer. Then a freedman announced that the
architects had come, which was the signal agreed on, and going off as if
to inspect a house which was for sale, he rushed from the Palace by a
back door and hastened to the appointed place. Others say that he
feigned an attack of fever and asked those who stood near him to give
that excuse, in case he should be missed. Then hurriedly entering a
closed litter, such as women use, he hurried to the camp, but got out
when the bearers' strength flagged, and started to run. His shoe came
untied and he stopped, whereupon without delay he was at once taken up
on the shoulders of his companions and hailed as emperor. In this way he
arrived at headquarters, amid acclamations and drawn swords, while
everyone whom he met fell in, just as though he were an accomplice and a
participator in the plot. He then sent emissaries to kill Galba and Piso,
and made no further promises in the assembly to win the loyalty of the
soldiers than to declare that he would have that--and only that--which
they should leave to him.
VII. Next, as the day
was drawing to its close, he entered the Senate and after giving a brief
account of himself, alleging that he had been carried off in the streets
and forced to undertake the rule, which he would exercise in accordance
with the general will, he went to the Palace. When in the midst of the
other adulations of those who congratulated and flattered him, he was
hailed by the common herd as Nero, he made no sign of dissent; on the
contrary, according to some writers, he even made use of that surname in
his commissions and his first letters to some of the governors of the
provinces. Certain it is that he suffered Nero's busts and statues to be
set up again, and reinstated his procurators and freedmen in their
former posts, while the first grant that he signed as emperor was one of
fifty million sesterces for finishing the Golden House. It is said that
he had a fearful dream that night, uttered loud groans, and was found by
those who ran to his aid lying on the ground beside his couch; that he
tried by every kind of expiatory rite to propitiate the shade of Galba,
by whom he dreamt that he was ousted and thrown out; and that next day,
as he was taking the auspices, a great storm arose and he had a bad
fall, whereat he muttered from time to time: "With long pipes what
concern have I? [Proverbial of undertaking something beyond one's
powers; cf., Cic. Ad Att. ii.16].
VIII. Now at about this
same time the armies in Germania swore allegiance to Vitellius. When
Otho learned of this, he persuaded the Senate to send a deputation, to
say that an emperor had already been chosen and to counsel peace and
harmony; but in spite of this he offered Vitellius by messengers and
letters a share in the imperial dignity and proposed to become his
son-in-law. But when it became clear that war was inevitable, and the
generals and troops which Vitellius had sent in advance were already
drawing near, he was given a proof of the affection and loyalty of the
Praetorians towards himself which almost resulted in the destruction of
the Senate. It had been resolved that some arms should be removed and
carried back on shipboard by the marines; but as these were being taken
out in the Camp towards nightfall, some suspected treachery and started
a riot; then on a sudden all the soldiers hastened to the Palace without
any particular leader, demanding the death of the Senators. After
putting to flight some of the tribunes who attempted to stop them, and
killing others, just as they were, all blood-stained, they burst right
into the dining-room, demanding to know where the emperor was; and they
could not be quieted until they had seen him. He began his expedition
with energy and in fact too hastily, without any regard even for the
omens, and in spite of the fact that the sacred shields had been taken
out [From the Temple of Mars, to be carried through the streets in
the sacred procession. To begin any enterprise during that time was
considered unlucky, and weddings were avoided; see Ovid, Fasti, iii.393],
but not yet put back, which for ages has been considered unlucky; on the
very day, too, when the worshippers of the Mother of the Gods [Kybele,
whose festival was from March 24 to 30] begin their wailing and
lamentation, and also with most unfavorable auspices. For having offered
up a victim to Dis Pater, he had good omens, whereas in such a sacrifice
adverse indications are more favorable; and when he first left the city,
he was delayed by floods of the Tiber, while at the twentieth milestone
he found the road blocked by fallen buildings.
IX. With like rashness,
although no one doubted that the proper course was to protract the war,
since the enemy were hard pressed by hunger and by the narrowness of
their quarters, he decided to fight a decisive battle as soon as
possible, either because he could not endure the continued worry and
hoped that the war could be ended before the arrival of Vitellius, or
from inability to resist the impetuosity of his soldiers, who clamored
for the fight. He himself did not take part in any of the battles, but
remained behind at Brixellum. He was victorious in three contests, but
they were of little moment: in the Alps, near Placentia, and "at
Castor's," as the place is called. In the final and decisive struggle at
Betriacum he was defeated, but through treachery. For hope of a
conference was offered, and when his soldiers were led out in the belief
that they were to discuss terms of peace, a battle was forced upon them
unexpectedly, just as they were exchanging greetings with the foe. After
the defeat, Otho at once resolved to take his own life, rather from a
feeling of shame, as many have thought with good reason, and an
unwillingness to persist in a struggle for imperial power at the expense
of such danger to life and property, than from any despair of success or
distrust of his troops; for even then he had a fresh and strong force
which he had held in reserve for a second attempt, while others were on
their way from Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Moesia. Even the defeated troops
were not so crushed as not to undergo any danger, and even without
support undertake to avenge their disgrace.
X. My father Suetonius
Laetus took part in that war, as a tribune of the equestrian order in
the Thirteenth legion. He used often to declare afterwards that Otho,
even when he was a private citizen, so loathed civil strife, that at the
mere mention of the fate of Brutus and Cassius at a banquet he
shuddered; that he would not have engaged with Galba, if he had not felt
confident that the affair could be settled peacefully; further, that he
was led to hold his life cheap at that time by the example of a common
soldier. This man, on bringing news of the defeat of the army, was
believed by no one, but was charged by the soldiers now with falsehood
and now with cowardice, and accused of running away; whereupon he fell
on his sword at the emperor's feet. My father used to say that at this
sight Otho cried out that he would no longer endanger the lives of such
brave men, who had deserved so well. Having therefore advised his
brother, his nephew, and his friends one by one to look out each for his
own safety as best they could, he embraced and kissed them all and sent
them off. Then, going to a retired place he wrote two notes, one of
consolation to his sister, and one to Nero's widow Messalina, whom he
had intended to marry, commending to her his corpse and his memory. Then
he burned all his letters, to prevent them from bringing danger or harm
to anyone at the hands of the victor. He also distributed what money he
had with him among his servants
XI. When he had thus
made his preparations and was now resolved upon death, learning from a
disturbance which meantime arose that those who were beginning to depart
and leave the camp were being seized and detained as deserters, he said
"Let us add this one more night to our life" (these were his very
words), and he forbade the offering of violence to anyone. Leaving the
door of his bedroom open until a late hour, he gave the privilege of
speaking with him to all who wished to come in. After that, quenching
his thirst with a draught of cold water, he caught up two daggers, and
having tried the point of both of them, put one under his pillow. Then
closing the doors, he slept very soundly. When he at last woke up at
about daylight, he stabbed himself with a single stroke under the left
breast; and now concealing the wound, and now showing it to those who
rushed in at his first groan, he breathed his last and was hastily
buried (for such were his orders) in the thirty-eighth year of his age
and on the ninety-fifth day of his reign.
XII. Neither Otho's
person nor his bearing suggested such great courage. He is said to have
been of moderate height, splay-footed and bandy-legged, but almost
feminine in his care of his person. He had the hair of his body plucked
out, and because of the thinness of his locks wore a wig so carefully
fashioned and fitted to his head, that no one suspected it. Moreover,
they say that he used to shave every day and smear his face with moist
bread, beginning the practice with the appearance of the first down, so
as never to have a beard; also that he used to celebrate the rites of
Isis publicly in the linen garment prescribed by the cult. I am inclined
to think that it was because of these habits that a death so little in
harmony with his life excited the greater marvel. Many of the soldiers
who were present kissed his hands and feet as he lay dead, weeping
bitterly and calling him the bravest of men and an incomparable emperor,
and then at once slew themselves beside his bier. Many of those who were
absent too, on receiving the news, attacked and killed one another from
sheer grief. In short, the greater part of those who had hated him most
bitterly while he lived lauded him to the skies when he was dead; and it
was even commonly declared that he had put an end to Galba, not so much
for the sake of ruling as of restoring the republic and liberty.