87otho had held a purification of the city185 and meditated his plans for the war. recognizing that the pennine and cottian alps and all the other passes into gaul were held by vitellius, he decided to invade narbonese gaul by sea. his fleet was now a strong and reliable arm, devoted to his cause. for he had formed the full strength of a legion out of the survivors of the mulvian bridge massacre,186 whom galba's cruelty had 105kept in prison, and to all the marines he had held out hopes of honourable service.187 to the fleet he attached the cohorts of the city garrison and a large force of guards. these were the flower of the army and its chief strength, well able to advise their own generals and to take good care of them. the command of the expedition was entrusted to antonius novellus and suedius clemens, both senior centurions,188 and to aemilius pacensis, to whom otho had restored his commission,189 of which galba had deprived him. in charge of the fleet he still retained the freedman moschus190 to keep an eye on his betters. in command of the cavalry and infantry he placed suetonius paulinus, marius celsus, and annius gallus, but the man in whom he put most faith was the prefect of the guards, licinius proculus. this officer had shown himself efficient in garrison service, but was without any experience of warfare. he maligned the characteristic virtues of his colleagues, paulinus' power of influence, celsus' energy, gallus' ripe judgement, and being a knave and no fool, he easily got the better of men who were both honest and loyal.
88it was about this time that cornelius dolabella191 was banished to the colony of aquinum,192 though not 106kept in close or dishonourable confinement. there was no charge against him: the stigma upon him was his ancient name and kinship193 to galba. otho issued orders that several of the magistrates and a large number of ex-consuls were to join the expedition, not to take part in the campaign or to assist in any way, but simply as a friendly escort. among these was lucius vitellius, whom he treated neither as an emperor's brother nor as the brother of an enemy, but just like anybody else. much anxiety was aroused for the safety of the city, where all classes feared danger. the leading members of the senate were old and infirm, and enervated by a long period of peace: the aristocracy were inefficient and had forgotten how to fight: the knights knew nothing of military service. the more they all tried to conceal their alarm, the more obvious it became. some of them, on the other hand, went in for senseless display, and purchased beautiful armour and fine horses: others procured as provisions of war elaborate dinner-services or some other contrivance to stimulate a jaded taste. prudent men were concerned for the country's peace: the frivolous, without a thought for the future, were inflated by empty hopes: a good many, whose loss of credit made peace unwelcome, were delighted at the general unrest, feeling safer among uncertainties. 89though the cares of state were too vast to arouse any interest in the masses, yet as the price of food rose, and the whole revenue was devoted to military purposes, the common 107people gradually began to realize the evils of war. during the revolt of they had not suffered so much. being carried on in the provinces between the legionaries and the natives of gaul it was to all intents a foreign war, and the city had not been affected. for from the time when the sainted augustus organized the rule of the caesars the wars of the roman people had been fought in distant countries: all the anxiety and all the glory fell to the emperor alone. under tiberius and caligula the country only suffered from the evils of peace.194 scribonianus' rising against claudius was no sooner heard of than crushed.195 nero had been dethroned more by rumours and dispatches than by force of arms. but now not only the legions and the fleet, but, as had seldom happened before, the guards and the city garrison were called out for the campaign. behind them were the east and the west and all the forces of the empire, material for a long war under any other generals. an attempt was made to delay otho's departure by pointing out the impiety of his not having replaced the sacred shields in the temple of mars.196 but delay had ruined nero: otho would have none of it. and the knowledge that caecina 108had already crossed the alps197 acted as a further stimulus.
90accordingly, on the fourteenth of march he commended the government of the country to the senate, and granted to the restored exiles all the rest of the property confiscated by nero which had not yet been sold for the imperial treasury.198 the gift was a just one, and made a very good impression, but as a matter of fact it was nullified by the haste with which the work of collecting the money had been conducted.199 he then summoned a public meeting, and, after extolling the majesty of rome and praising the wholehearted adherence of the senate and people to his cause, he used very moderate language against the vitellian party, criticizing the legions more for folly than treason, and making no mention of vitellius himself. this may have been due to his own moderation, or it may be that the writer of the speech felt some qualms for his own safety, and therefore refrained from insulting vitellius. for it was generally believed that as in strategy he took the advice of suetonius paulinus and marius celsus, so too in political matters he employed the talents of galerius trachalus.200 some 109people even thought they could recognize trachalus' style of oratory, fluent and sonorous, well adapted to tickle the ears of the crowd: and as he was a popular pleader his style was well known. the crowd's loud shouts of applause were in the best style of flattery, excessive and insincere. men vied with each other in their enthusiasm and prayers for his success, much as though they were sending off the dictator caesar or the emperor augustus. their motive was neither fear nor affection, but a sheer passion for servility. one can see the same in households of slaves, where each obeys his own interest and the common welfare counts for nothing. on his departure otho entrusted the peace of the city and the interests of the empire to his brother salvius titianus.
