*Galba, 68 A. D.* Galba, who succeeded Nero, was a man of good family but moderate attainments and soon showed himself unable to maintain his authority. That he would have been held “fit to rule, had he not ruled,” is the judgment of Tacitus. He had never been enthusiastically supported by the Rhine legions nor the praetorians, and his severity in maintaining discipline, added to his failure to pay the promised donative, completely alienated the loyalty of the guards. At the news that the troops in Upper and Lower Germany had declared for Aulus Vitellius, legate of the latter province (1 Jan., 69), Galba sought to strengthen his position by adopting as his son and destined successor, Lucius Calpurnius Piso, a young man of high birth but no experience. By this step he offended Marcus Salvius Otho, the onetime husband of Nero’s wife Poppaea Sabina, who had been one of Galba’s staunch adherents and hoped to succeed him. Otho now won over the disgruntled praetorian guards who slew Galba and Piso, and proclaimed Otho Imperator. *Otho, Jan.–April, 69.* The Senate acquiesced in their decision but not so the legions of Vitellius which were already on the march to Italy. They crossed the Alps without opposition but were checked by the forces of Otho at Bedriacum, north of the Po. Without waiting for the arrival of reinforcements from the Danubian army, Otho ordered an attack upon the Vitellians at Cremona. His army was defeated and he took his own life. *Vitellius, April–December, 69 A. D.* Thereupon Vitellius was recognized as princeps by the Senate and his forces occupied Rome. Vitellius owed his nomination to the energy of the legates Valens and Caecina, and, although well-meaning and by no means tyrannical, showed himself lacking in energy and force of character. He was unable to control the license of his soldiery who plundered the Italian towns or his officers who enriched themselves at the public expense, while he devoted himself to the pleasures of the table. Meanwhile the army of the East, which had recognized Galba, Otho and, at first, Vitellius also, set up its own Imperator, Titus Flavius Vespasianus, who as legate of Judaea was conducting a war against the Jews. Vespasian himself proceeded to occupy Egypt and thus cut off the grain supply of Rome while his ablest lieutenant, Mucianus, set out for Italy. The Danubian legions, who had supported Otho, now declared themselves for Vespasian and, led by Antonius Primus, marched at once upon Italy. The fleet at Ravenna espoused Vespasian’s cause, and Caecina, who led the Vitellians against Primus, contemplated treachery. His troops, however, were loyal, but were defeated in a bloody night battle at Cremona and the way lay open to Rome. Vitellius then opened negotiations and offered to abdicate, but his soldiers would not let him and suppressed a rising in Rome led by the brother of Vespasian. Thereupon the city was stormed and sacked by the army of Primus. Vitellius himself was slain.