Marcus Salvius Otho (AD 32–⁠69)

Otho was one of Nero’s closest companions. He seduced Poppaea, then the wife of Rufrius Crispinus, and persuaded her to leave her husband (Plutarch, Galba 19; Tacitus, Annals 13.45). When the emperor wanted her for himself, Otho became governor of Lusitania, which Suetonius calls exile disguised as an honor. He governed there for ten years with moderation and honesty (Suetonius, Otho 3; Tacitus, Annals 13.46). Dio writes that Otho once told Nero he would see him as Caesar, and Nero replied that he would not see him even as consul (61.11).

In AD 68 he was the first governor to back Galba and counted on adoption. When Galba chose Piso, Otho bribed part of the Guard. On January 15, AD 69, the Praetorians proclaimed him emperor, and Galba and Piso were killed in the Forum.

He allowed himself to be called Nero and restored Poppaea’s statues (Tacitus, Histories 1.78). He lost the war with Vitellius at the Battle of Bedriacum, though he did not fight in it himself. He still had an army but ended the war so that Romans would not die. On April 16, AD 69, he took his own life at Brixellum. Tacitus writes that by two deeds, one shameful and one magnificent, he earned as much infamy as glory (Histories 2.50).