Vitellius (Suetonius)

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	Vitellius Author: Suetonius	Translator: Alexander Thomson
13	Sed uel praecipue luxuriae saeuitiaeque deditus epulas trifariam semper , interdum quadrifariam dispertiebat , in iantacula et prandia et cenas comisationesque , facile omnibus sufficiens uomitandi consuetudine . indicebat autem aliud alii eadem die , nec cuiquam minus singuli apparatus quadringenis milibus nummum constiterunt . famosissima super ceteras fuit cena data ei aduenticia a fratre , in qua duo milia lectissimorum piscium , septem auium apposita traduntur . hanc quoque exuperauit ipse dedicatione patinae , quam ob immensam magnitudinem clipeum Mineruae πολιούχου dictitabat . in hac scarorum iocinera , phasianarum et pauonum cerebella , linguas phoenicopterum , murenarum lactes a Parthia usque fretoque Hispanico per nauarchos ac triremes petitarum commiscuit . ut autem homo non profundae modo sed intempestiuae quoque ac sordidae gulae , ne in sacrificio quidem umquam aut itinere ullo temperauit , quin inter altaria ibidem statim uiscus et farris † paene rapta e foco manderet circaque uiarum popinas fumantia obsonia uel pridiana atque semesa .	He was chiefly addicted to the vices of luxury and cruelty. He always made three meals a day, sometimes four; breakfast, dinner, and supper, and a drunken revel after all. This load of victuals he could well enough bear, from a custom to which he had enured himself, of frequently vomiting. For these several meals he would make different appointments at the houses of his friends on the same day. None ever entertained him at less expense than four hundred thousand sesterces. The most famous was a set entertainment given him by his brother, at which, it is said, there were served up no less than two thousand choice fishes, and seven thousand birds. Yet even this supper he himself outdid, at a feast which he gave upon the first use of a dish which had been made for him, and which, for its extraordinary size, he called " The Shield of Minerva." In this dish there were tossed up together the livers of char-fish, the brains of pheasants and peacocks, with the tongues of flamingos, and the entrails of lampreys, which had been brought in ships of war as far as from the Carpathian Sea, and the Spanish Straits. He was not only a man of an insatiable appetite, but would gratify it likewise at unseasonable times, and with any garbage that came in his way; so that, at a sacrifice, he would snatch from the fire flesh and cakes, and eat them upon the spot. When he travelled, he did the same at the inns upon the road, whether the meat was fresh dressed and hot, or what had been left the day before, and was half-eaten.
14	Pronus uero ad cuiuscumque et quacumque de causa necem atque supplicium nobiles uiros , condiscipulos et aequales suos , omnibus blanditiis tantum non ad societatem imperii adlicefactos uario genere fraudis occidit , etiam unum ueneno manu sua porrecto in aquae frigidae potione , quam is adfectus febre poposcerat . tum faeneratorum et stipulatorum publicanorumque , qui umquam se aut Romae debitum aut in uia portorium flagitassent , uix ulli pepercit ; ex quibus quendam in ipsa salutatione supplicio traditum statimque reuocatum , cunctis clementiam laudantibus , coram interfici iussit , uelle se dicens pascere oculos ; alterius poenae duos filios adiecit deprecari pro patre conatos . sed et equitem R . proclamantem , cum raperetur ad poenam : ' heres meus es ,' exhibere testamenti tabulas coegit , utque legit coheredem sibi libertum eius ascriptum , iugulari cum liberto imperauit . quosdam et de plebe ob id ipsum , quod Venetae factioni clare male dixerant , interemit contemptu sui et noua spe id ausos opinatus . nullis tamen infensior quam uernaculis et mathematicis , ut quisque deferretur , inauditum capite puniebat exacerbatus , quod post edictum suum , quo iubebat intra Kal . Oct . urbe Italiaque mathematici excederent , statim libellus propositus est , et Chaldaeos dicere , bonum factum , ne Vitellius Germanicus intra eundem Kalendarum diem usquam esset . suspectus et in morte matris fuit , quasi aegrae praeberi cibum prohibuisset , uaticinante Chatta muliere , cui uelut oraculo adquiescebat , ita demum firmiter ac diutissime imperaturum , si superstes parenti extitisset . alii tradunt ipsam taedio praesentium et imminentium metu uenenum a filio impetrasse , haud sane difficulter .	He delighted in the infliction of punishments, and even those which were capital, without any distinction of persons or occasions. Several noblemen, his schoolfellows and companions, invited by him to court, he treated with such flattering caresses, as seemed to indicate an affection short only of admitting them to share the honours of the imperial dignity; yet he put them all to death by some base means or other. To one he gave poison with his own hand, in a cup of cold water which he called for in a fever. He scarcely spared one of all the usurers, notaries, and publicans, who had ever demanded a debt of him at Rome, or any toll or custom upon the road. One of these, while in the very act of saluting him, he ordered for execution, but immediately sent for him back; upon which all about him applauding his clemency, he commanded him to be slain in his own presence, saying, "I have a mind to feed my eyes." Two sons who interceded for their father, he ordered to be executed with him. A Roman knight, upon his being dragged away for execution, and crying out to him, " You are my heir," he desired to produce his will: and finding that he had made his freedman joint heir with him, he commanded that both he and the freedman should have their throats cut. He put to death some of the common people for cursing aloud the blue party in the Circensian games; supposing it to be done in contempt of himself, and the expectation of a revolution in the government. There were no persons he was more severe against than jugglers and astrologers; and as soon as any one of them was informed against, he put him to death without the formality of a trial. He was enraged against them, because, after his proclamation by which he commanded all astrologers to quit Rome, and Italy also, before the calends [the first] of October, a bill was immediately posted about the city, with the following words :-" TAKE NOTICE: The Chaldaeans also decree that Vitellius Germanicus shall be no more, by the day of the said calends." He was even suspected of being accessary to his mother's death, by forbidding sustenance to be given her when she was unwell; a German witch, whom he held to be oracular, having told him, "That he would long reign in security if he survived his mother." But others say, that being quite weary of the state of affairs, and apprehensive of the future, she obtained without difficulty a dose of poison from her son.
15	Octauo imperii mense desciuerunt ab eo exercitus Moesiarum atque Pannoniae , item ex transmarinis Iudaicus et Syriaticus , ac pars in absentis pars in praesentis Vespasiani uerba iurarunt . ad retinendum ergo ceterorum hominum studium ac fauorem nihil non publice priuatimque nullo adhibito modo largitus est . dilectum quoque ea condicione in urbe egit , ut uoluntariis non modo missionem post uictoriam , sed etiam ueteranorum iustaeque militiae commoda polliceretur . urgenti deinde terra marique hosti hinc fratrem cum classe ac tironibus et gladiatorum manu opposuit , hinc Betriacenses copias et duces ; atque ubique aut superatus aut proditus salutem sibi et milies sestertium a Flauio Sabino Vespasiani fratre pepigit ; statimque pro gradibus Palati apud frequentes milites cedere se imperio quod inuitus recepisset professus , cunctis reclamantibus rem distulit ac nocte interposita primo diluculo sordidatus descendit ad rostra multisque cum lacrimis eadem illa , uerum e libello testatus est . rursus interpellante milite ac populo et ne deficeret hortante omnemque operam suam certatim pollicente , animum resumpsit Sabinumque et reliquos Flauianos nihil iam metuentis ui subita in Capitolium compulit succensoque templo Iouis Optimi Maximi oppressit , cum et proelium et incendium e Tiberiana prospiceret domo inter epulas . non multo post paenitens facti et in alios culpam conferens uocata contione iurauit coegitque iurare et ceteros nihil sibi antiquius quiete publica fore . tunc solutum a latere pugionem consuli primum , deinde illo recusante magistratibus ac mox senatoribus singulis porrigens , nullo recipiente , quasi in aede Concordiae positurus abscessit . sed quibusdam adclamantibus ipsum esse Concordiam , rediit nec solum retinere se ferrum affirmauit , uerum etiam Concordiae recipere cognomen ;	In the eighth month of his reign, the troops both in Moesia and Pannonia revolted from him; as did likewise, of the armies beyond sea, those in Judaea and Syria, some of which swore allegiance to Vespasian as emperor in his own presence, and others in his absence. In order, therefore, to secure the favour and affection of the people, Vitellius lavished on all around whatever he had it in his power to bestow, both publicly and privately, in the most extravagant manner. He also levied soldiers in the city, and promised all who enlisted as volunteers, not only their discharge after the victory was gained, but all the rewards due to veterans who had served their full time in the wars. The enemy now pressing forward both by sea and land, on one hand he opposed against them his brother with a fleet, the new levies, and a body of gladiators, and in another quarter the troops and generals who were engaged at Bedriacum. But being beaten or betrayed in every direction, he agreed with Flavius Sabinus, Vespasian's brother, to abdicate, on condition of having his life spared, and a hundred millions of sesterces granted him; and he immediately, upon the palace-steps, publicly declared to a large body of soldiers there assembled, " that he resigned the government, which he had accepted reluctantly;" but they all remonstrating against it, he deferred the conclusion of the treaty. Next day, early in the morning, he came down to the forum in a very mean habit, and with many tears repeated the declaration from a writing which he held in his hand; but the soldiers and people again interposing, and encouraging him not to give way, but to rely on their zealous support, he recovered his courage, and forced Sabinus, with the rest of the Flavian party, who now thought themselves secure, to retreat into the Capitol, where he destroyed them all by setting fire to the temple of Jupiter, whilst he beheld the contest and the fire from Tiberius's house, where he was feasting. Not long after, repenting of what he had done, and throwing the blame of it upon others, he called a meeting, and swore "that nothing was dearer to him than the public peace;" which oath he also obliged the rest to take. Then drawing a dagger from his side, he presented it first to the consul, and, upon his refusing it, to the magistrates, and then to every one of the senators; but none of them being willing to accept it, he went away, as if he meant to lay it up in the temple of Concord; but some crying out to him, "You are Concord," he came back again, and said that he would not only keep his weapon, but for the future use the cognomen of Concord.
16	suasitque senatui , ut legatos cum uirginibus Vestalibus mitterent pacem aut certe tempus ad consultandum petituros . Postridie responsa opperienti nuntiatum est per exploratorem hostes appropinquare . continuo igitur abstrusus gestatoria sella duobus solis comitibus , pistore et coco , Auentinum et paternam domum clam petit , ut inde in Campaniam fugeret ; mox leui rumore et incerto , tamquam pax impetrata esset , referri se in Palatium passus est . ubi cum deserta omnia repperisset , dilabentibus et qui simul erant , zona se aureorum plena circumdedit confugitque in cellulam ianitoris , religato pro foribus cane lectoque et culcita obiectis .	He advised the senate to send deputies, accompanied by the Vestal Virgins, to desire peace, or, at least, time for consultation. The day after, while he was waiting for an answer, he received intelligence by a scout, that the enemy was advancing. Immediately, therefore, throwing himself into a small litter, borne by hand, with only two attendants, a baker and a cook, he privately withdrew to his father's house, on the Aventine hill, intending to escape thence into Campania. But a groundless report being circulated, that the enemy was willing to come to terms, he suffered himself to be carried back to the palace. Finding, however, nobody there, and those who were with him stealing away, he girded round his waist a belt full of gold pieces, and then ran into the porter's lodge, tying the dog before the door, and piling up against it the bed and bedding.
17	Irruperant iam agminis antecessores ac nemine obuio rimabantur , ut fit , singula . ab his extractus e latebra . sciscitantes , quis esset — nam ignorabatur — et ubi esse Vitellium sciret , mendacio elusit ; deinde agnitus rogare non destitit , quasi quaedam de salute Vespasiani dicturus , ut custodiretur interim uel in carcere , donec religatis post terga manibus , iniecto ceruicibus laqueo , ueste discissa seminudus in forum tractus est inter magna rerum uerborumque ludibria per totum uiae Sacrae spatium , reducto coma capite , ceu noxii solent , atque etiam mento mucrone gladii subrecto , ut uisendam praeberet faciem neue summitteret ; quibusdam stercore et caeno incessentibus , aliis incendiarium et patinarium uociferantibus , parte uulgi etiam corporis uitia exprobrante ; erat enim in eo enormis proceritas , facies rubida plerumque ex uinulentia , uenter obesus , alterum femur subdebile impulsu olim quadrigae , cum auriganti Gaio ministratorem exhiberet . tandem apud Gemonias minutissimis ictibus excarnificatus atque confectus est et inde unco tractus in Tiberim .	By this time the forerunners of the enemy's army had broken into the palace, and meeting with nobody, searched, as was natural, every corner. Being dragged by them out of his cell, and asked " who he was ?" (for they did not recognize him), "and if he knew where Vitellius was ?" he deceived them by a falsehood. But at last being discovered, he begged hard to be detained in custody, even were it in a prison; pretending to have something to say which concerned Vespasian's security. Nevertheless, he was dragged half-naked into the forum, with his hands tied behind him, a rope about his neck, and his clothes torn, amidst the most contemptuous abuse, both by word and deed, along the Via Sacra; his head being held back by the hair, in the manner of condemned criminals, and the point of a sword put under his chin, that he might hold up his face to public view; some of the mob, meanwhile, pelting him with dung and mud, whilst others called him " an incendiary and glutton." They also upbraided him with the defects of his person, for he was monstrously tall, and had a face usually very red with hard-drinking, a large belly, and one thigh weak, occasioned by a chariot running against him, as he was attending upon Caius, while he was driving. At length, upon the Scalae Gemoniae, he was tormented and put to death in lingering tortures, and then dragged by a hook into the Tiber.
18	Periit cum fratre et filio anno uitae septimo quinquagesimo ; nec fefellit coiectura eorum qui augurio , quod factum ei Viennae ostendimus , non aliud portendi praedixerant quam uenturum in alicuius Gallicani hominis potestatem , siquidem ab Antonio Primo aduersarum partium duce oppressus est , cui Tolosae nato cognomen in pueritia Becco fuerat : id ualet gallinacei rostrum .	He perished with his brother and son, in the fifty-seventh year of his age, and verified the prediction of those who, from the omen which happened to him at Vienne, as before related, foretold that he would be made prisoner by some man of Gaul. For he was seized by Antoninus Primus, a general of the adverse party, who was born at Toulouse, and, when a boy, had the cognomon of Becco, which signifies a cock's beak.