52-7 Marcus Salvius Otho

Otho's rule went unrecognized among Roman soldiers in Germany, and they followed the precedent laid down by Galba's troops and hailed as emperor their commander, Vitellius. Vitellius had become popular with his troops by allowing them to bully civilians and take anything they could grab. Vitellius and his army marched toward Rome and battled troops that supported Otho. Vitellius won. Otho committed suicide after only three months in office. It was believed by many that he had done so to save Rome from another civil war, and a few impressed soldiers who considered Otho heroic tried to match his heroism by throwing themselves onto his funeral pyre.

The new emperor by military coup, Vitellius, was unpopular with everyone but his troops. He executed everyone he believed had wronged him. His bloodbath disgusted the Romans. And picking up on his unpopularity, soldiers of another army selected their military commander to put things straight in Rome. That commander was Flavius Vespasian, aged 60, who had led Rome's recent campaign against a the Jewish uprising in 66 in Judea. Vespasian and his army marched on Rome. They found Vitellius hiding in the palace. Vitellius was taken to the Forum, and there the crowds ridiculed him before someone stabbed him to death....

Marcus Salvius Otho

AD32 ~ AD69

Otho’s family descended from princes of Etruria and were an ancient and noble line. Once Nero’s best friend, this friendship was brought to a halt once Otho was to find out about the romantic affair between Nero and Otho’s wife Poppaea.

Poppaea divorced Otho to wed Nero and then had Otho sent away to the remote province of Lusitania where he remained for 10 years.

In 68 Otho accompanied Galba to Rome to form a revolt against Nero, what Galba didn’t know was that after this revolt, Otho intended to succeed his as emperor. When Galba adopted Piso as the future heir to his throne Otho was enraged and bribed 23 soldiers of the Praetorian Guard to help him in his quest. These guards soon influenced the rest of their camp who then returned to the Forum with Otho as their leader and slaughtered Galba, Piso and any supporters.  

Soon Otho found himself preparing for war with rumours of the German population and other regions supporting Vitellius. The Battle of Bedriacum followed. Even though his troops were a formidable force Otho was forced to accept that his army was no match for the combination of Vitellius' supporters. In the early hours of the morning he stabbed himself reportedly saying as his farewell “it is far more just to perish one for all, than many for one”.