The senate was still respectable enough to abhor this election; but yet nothing better was to be looked for from Vitellius, whom the troops on the German frontier had proclaimed: he was by far the more vulgar and worthless of the two. His beastly gluttony alone distinguished him; and it is quite inconceivable, how Galba could have given him the chief command of the troops in Germany. He had a sort of popularity from his father, who had been thrice consul and likewise censor: the latter must have been a goodnatured man; for though he disgraced himself by the most abject flattery to Claudius, he was an enemy to no one, and therefore enjoyed the favour of the people. This favour passed on to the son, who, however, spent the whole of his life in brutal sensuality and vulgarity. He was at that time already fifty-seven years old, nor could he be said to have made a better use of his youth: it is very likely that Cæcina and Valens merely wished to put him forward for the moment, as, they might afterwards get him out of the way, and decide which of them should succeed to the throne. Vitellius was profusely liberal to the soldiers: he flattered them by granting them everything, while old Galba wanted to allow them nothing but what was absolutely necessary. He marched forth against Italy; the quickness with which he approached shows the readiness with which the Roman soldiers could move, and also the excellence of the high roads. Otho raised an army; Vitellius met with resistance on the frontiers from the legions in Mœsia and Pannonia, who thought it presumptuous in the German troops to try and force an emperor upon them. On these therefore Otho could rely, and likewise on the armies in the East, where at that time there had been as yet no rising. Italy was then the most defenceless part of the whole empire, there being hardly any troops there but the prætorians: with these Otho took the field. Cæcina and Valens had already passed the Alps, before Otho with his hastily collected force had reached the Po. The first battle was in favour of his cause. Otho ought now to have protracted the war, as he had much greater resources and far more money, and he could also reckon on getting reinforcements; but to his misfortune, he resolved upon giving battle near Bedriacum, in the neighbourhood of Cremona, and there he was worsted. All was not, however, lost; yet Otho made up his mind to put an end to his life, telling those who survived him, to make their peace with the conqueror as they best could. People generally look upon this as the act of a noble-minded man, who does not wish blood to be shed for his honour; which is the view which Tacitus also seems to take: I cannot see anything in it but the act of a most effeminate soul, for which the effort of a long struggle, the suspense between fear and hope, is the hardest lot to bear. Such characters are not unseldom met with: as, for instance, persons who are very fond of money, will often