AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames

AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames (The emperor dines while the Capitol burns. Seven chapters on Vitellius: the feast, the East says no, the night at Cremona, the dagger no one wanted and the Gemonian Stairs. Questions, games and films.) — lesson 11 of the course: 7 parts, about 23 min of reading.

The second episode on the Year of the Four Emperors is about a man to whom the throne fell from the sky. Vitellius, sent to the Rhine out of contempt because Galba did not fear gluttons, becomes emperor after the victory at Bedriacum, disbands Otho’s Praetorian Guard and feasts while in the East the legions swear allegiance to Vespasian. Antonius Primus, without orders, leads the army from the Danube into Italy and in a night battle at Cremona destroys Vitellius’s army. The emperor tries to give up power, but no one will accept it. On December 19 the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol burns, Flavius Sabinus is killed and the next day Vitellius meets his end on the Gemonian Stairs.

Articles

• Fire on the Capitol — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — April, AD 69. Vitellius is still in Gaul.
• In the Good Graces of Four Emperors — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — Why him, of all people? Suetonius has an answer.
• A Feast and a New Guard — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — Vitellius does not intend to wait for the Guard to set its sights on him. While still in Gaul he disbands all the praetorian cohorts with a single edict.
• The East Says “No” — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — In the East stands an army that has not yet known civil war. Vespasian leads it.
• The Night at Cremona — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — Also marching with Primus are the men Vitellius threw out of the Guard. Otho’s disbanded Praetorians carry their own standards.
• The Dagger No One Wanted — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — While his commanders were betraying him, Vitellius was lounging in gardens near Aricia. Tacitus compares him to lazy animals that lie motionless as long as someone feeds them.
• The Gemonian Stairs — AD 69 II: The Capitol in Flames — Vitellius sends Vestal Virgins to Primus with a letter. He asks for a one-day truce.

Films

• The Capitol Burns — Rome, December 19, AD 69: the temple of Jupiter on the Capitol burns while Emperor Vitellius watches the fire over his dinner.
• In the Good Graces of Four Emperors — Lucius Vitellius, a master of flattery at the courts of Caligula and Claudius, and his son Aulus, to whom Galba gave the army on the Rhine.
• The Night at Cremona — Autumn, AD 69: Primus’s legions come down from the Alps and begin a night battle with Vitellius’s army at Cremona.
• Vitellius’s Last Day — December 20, AD 69: Rome falls into Flavian hands, and Vitellius lives through his last day. His route traced on a plan of the city.