Chapters
The despotism of Nero caused growing dissatisfaction. The reign of Nero is stuck in the consciousness of his people today as a period of exceptional decline in morality, the oppression of society, and the eccentric pranks of the emperor. From a person sensitive to beauty, poetry, and theatre, he became a vain lust.
In addition, there was frequent unrest within the borders of the empire. This sentence should be: In March 68 CE in Gaul, Gaius Julius Vindex, governor of the province of Gallia Lugdunensis, who opposed harsh fiscal policy and obeyed him. Other governors called for similar behavior, which also led to another rebellion the same month. However, the rebellion was suppressed by the Rhine legions loyal to the emperor, and Windeks was murdered in May.
Overthrow of Nero
After the outbreak of the uprising in Gaul, he was encouraged, among others by Julius Vindex, Galba, governor of Hispania Citerior, he opposed Nero. Galba came from a very respected family. On April 2, 68 CE, he was proclaimed emperor by the army, but he replied with these words: “Since the homeland was in such danger, I cannot deny its experience, but I consider myself, not an emperor, but only a legate of the senate and people!” (after: Krawczuk). The Senate at that time was concerned about Nero’s despotic authority. Accordingly, he decided to proclaim Emperor Galba in June 68 CE and to recognize Nero as a public enemy. From that moment, every Roman citizen had the main responsibility to kill the former emperor. Abandoned even by the Praetorian guard and betrayed by his closest associates, Neron committed suicide on June 9, 68 CE, being the last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
After the overthrow of Nero, the leader of the anti-Nero rebellion, Galba, became emperor. Galba, who had the support of the senate and faithful troops, set off for Rome.
Galba’s approach to Rome had been slow and bloody: the consul-elect, Cingonius Varro, and Petronius Turpilianus, an ex-consul, had been put to death, Cingonius because he had been an accomplice of Nymphidius, Petronius as one of Nero’s generals: they were killed unheard and undefended, so that men believed them innocent. Galba’s entrance into Rome was ill-omened, because so many thousands of unarmed soldiers had been massacred, and this inspired fear in the very men who had been their murderers.
– Tacitus, Histories, I 6
He got rid of uncomfortable commanders of legions stationed in other Western provinces of the Empire, including Lucius Clodius Macer, commander-in-chief of the African army, who adopted an expectant attitude and even quietly claimed the throne.
However, his joy of having full power was not long. On January 1, 69 CE the legions on the Rhine refused to take the oath of Galbie, and on January 15 Galba fell victim to a plot prepared by his current ally Otho, a pretorian prefect who the praetorian support became the new emperor. Galba was murdered in the Roman Forum, and Otho with the help of “bribed” praetorians forced the Senate to proclaim him emperor.
However, two weeks before the assassination of Otho, on January 2, legions in Germania proclaimed emperor Vitellius, who was now moving with his troops against the new emperor. Vitellius’s army consisted of several legions. Originally, Otho’s head appeared to share power with the two leaders. However, he finally decided to face the rival. Otho could count on legions from Dalmatia, Pannonia and Mysia, the Praetorian Guard and the fleet. After entering Italy, Vitellius divided his army, separating a unit under the command of Caecina who marched on Rome.
On March 14, 69 CE Otho set out from Rome, headed by 25,000 legionaries, to secure Liguria. In the meantime, at the end of March, Caecina’s troops approached Placb, where there were imperial forces commanded by Titus Vestricius Spurinna. The attacks of Caecina’s forces, which had already been carried out on the first day, crashed into a well-organized defence of the imperial forces, which inflicted heavy losses on the opponent. With the morning dawn, Vitellius’s army repeated the assault on the city, digging under the walls and trying to blow up the gates. And this time the attack was repelled, and many soldiers were buried under boulders thrown from the walls. After this defeat, Caecina decided to abandon the siege of the city, heading for Cremona.
Battle of Locus Castorum
Caecina, upon hearing about the troops of General Valens approaching him, decided to speed up his actions by defeating the army of Marcus Salvius Otho. Meanwhile, the commander-in-chief changed in Otho’s camp. The head of infantry was – known from the campaign against Budyce – Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, while the commander of the ride was Marius Celsus. At a distance of 12 kilometres from Cremona in the region of Locus Castorum, Cecyna prepared an ambush by ordering the auxiliary troops to hide in the woods, while driving provoking the enemy to march instead of hiding the troops. However, ambush plans were revealed to Paulinus and Celsus, who set up their army for battle. The battle was started by a fake attack by Cecyna, who did not lure the enemy into the ambush. Instead of pursuing the enemy, Paulinus’s army retreated, provoking Caecina’s remaining units to attack. As a result of the pursuit, these troops were surrounded by Paulinus, who did not send his infantry to completely destroy the enemy. This enabled Caecina’s troops to flee towards the forest, from where they launched another attack on the Praetorian detachment, which suffered significant losses. Then a decisive attack of Paulinus’s infantry occurred, which crashed the enemy, forcing him to flee. Fearful of introducing more of Cecyna’s troops, the victorious Paulinius ordered to stop the pursuit, thus losing the opportunity to destroy the enemy’s army. Thanks to this, Caecina’s troops could unite with the forces of general Valens, and their number increased to 60,000.
Battle of Bedriacum
