The Histories

Vitellius hid his worries about the civil war by continuing to live luxuriously and hiding from the public eye. He made himself unpopular in Rome through ruling tyrannically, apparently committing offenses such as poisoning a man who held a banquet while he was ill.

Valens’s army marched north to confront the Flavians, but this was slow, encumbered by the large amount of sex workers and entertainers that followed it. Tacitus records that rumors of Valens’s immorality spread even on this march. When he heard about the defeat at Bedriacum, he decided on sailing to Gaul to raise a new army, but by the time he arrived, most were too afraid to side with Vitellius. Valens was soon captured. At the same time, rebellions were breaking out across the empire, with a rebellion in Germany (the Batavian revolt) becoming very serious.

When Vespasian heard about the victory, he hurried to the Egyptian city of Alexandria, where he hoped to stop any further resistance by stopping Rome’s grain imports.

Tacitus states that “in a convulsion felt around the world, imperial power changed hands” (153). Following Primus’s victory, his behavior deteriorated sharply as his greed and pride became revealed. As he moved through Italy, he allowed his soldiers too much freedom, potentially in the hopes that they would be loyal enough to support him as the new emperor. Tacitus claims that there was a general deterioration of morals in this era, exemplified by a story he tells of a cavalry soldier who killed his brother in battle and demanded a reward for it. In earlier civil wars, kin killing was a cause for suicide, but now people sought to profit from it. Mucianus urged the generals in Italy to delay their march on Rome, hoping to enter Rome first himself. Primus ignored this and wrote a boastful letter to Vespasian in which he criticized Mucianus and spoke extensively of his own achievements. Mucianus learned of this, and it caused a serious rift between them.

Vitellius tried to keep the news of the defeat quiet, but he was eventually forced to admit what had happened. While he sent generals to organize defenses for the remaining parts of Italy he owned, he did not give up any of his luxuries. Tacitus lays the blame for the Vitellian defeat squarely at Vitellius’s feet. He claims that an effective counterattack might have halted the Flavian advance, but Vitellius was clueless about military service.

Domitian, Vespasian’s younger son, was imprisoned by Vitellius but wasn’t killed in case this prompted Vespasian to take revenge. Meanwhile, at Carsulae, the main body of the remaining Vitellian resistance defected or fled, and Valens was put to death. Primus sent Vitellius a letter, offering him his life if he gave up his position. Vitellius considered the offer seriously and got in contact with Flavius Sabinus, Vespasian’s elder brother. They worked out peace terms, but Vitellius’s followers refused to allow him to accept these. Soon, a skirmish broke out in Rome between Flavian and Vitellian supporters. The Flavians (including Sabinus) were trapped on the Capitoline Hill, which Vitellians assaulted the next morning. In the fighting, a fire broke out, destroying many monuments and temples, which Tacitus describes as the worst disaster of the period. After the fire, the Vitellians stormed the hill and killed Sabinus, while Domitian (who had been among the besieged) hid in the house of a temple caretaker until he could escape.

The Flavian approach to the city was slow, ostensibly because they were meant to wait for Mucianus, but Tacitus raises other theories. Primus may have been secretly negotiating with Vitellius, and the Flavian generals did not see the need for haste since they considered the war won already. When they heard about the death of Sabinus, they marched more quickly to Rome. The people in the city began to rally firmly around Vitellius and were able to defeat a hasty Flavian attack on its walls. Vitellius tried to send more envoys, but with the murder of Sabinus and the destruction of the Capitoline Hill, the Flavians were committed to war. They assaulted the city while its citizens descended into anarchy. As the city was being captured, Vitellius was found while trying to escape. He was beaten to death by a crowd.

Tacitus briefly summarizes Vitellius’s life. He was 57 when he died, owed his standing to his family name rather than personal effort, was popular in the army despite his lack of skills, and showed unchecked generosity. Tacitus says that it was in the public interest that Vitellius was killed, but the people of Rome could not claim credit for this, as they simply sided with whoever was winning.

After the death of Vitellius, Domitian was located and brought out to the Flavian army, where he was acclaimed Caesar.