The Capitol Fire (December 19, AD 69)

When the soldiers and the people would not let Vitellius abdicate, Flavius Sabinus shut himself up on the Capitol with a handful of men and his nephew Domitian. On December 19 the Vitellians attacked; the temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus, built by the kings and rebuilt after the fire of 83 BC, burned down. Who set the fire is not known: Suetonius blames Vitellius, Cassius Dio and Josephus his soldiers, while Tacitus leaves it open and writes that the besieged were more often blamed. Sabinus was killed, Domitian escaped in disguise. The Senate resolved to rebuild the temple.