Galba (3 BCE – 69 CE) became famous as one of the “four emperors of 69 CE” who assumed power in Rome after his death Nero. For the first half of Nero’s reign, he retired until 61 CE. Later, the ruler of Rome commissioned him to lead the province of Hispania Tarraconensis, where he “governed the provinces in a variable and capricious manner,” as Suetonius told us. However, what is worth emphasizing, he was extremely strict in his rule.
Suetonius says, for example, that a certain banker who exchanged money dishonestly was punished by cutting off his hands and nailing them to the banker’s table.
Another time, Galba ordered a certain guardian to be crucified for poisoning his protégé, who was to take a large inheritance. When the man asked for some consideration in the sentence, citing Roman citizenship, the generous Galba had another cross set up for him – a taller one painted white.
