Romanorum imperator aulus vitellius biography

His brief and tumultuous reign, marked by unparalleled decadence and unbridled gluttony, exposed Rome to the chaos of his disastrous leadership. Ultimately, his ignominious end serves as a powerful testament to the tragic downfall of a man who was consumed with power. The Year of the Four Emperors was marked by political instability, civil war, rebellion, murder and suicide.

Nero left a power vacuum exposing underlying tensions within the empire and four different men were proclaimed emperors — Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian. It was only with the ascension of Vespasian that stability returned. This is the tale of the short and chaotic reign of Aulus Vitellius Germanicus Imperator Augustus, commonly known simply as Vitellius.

His father was a consul under emperor Claudius and the governor of Syria under Tiberius. An engraving by P. Lower classes had positive regard for Vitellius due to his honoring of Nero. Vesparainus commanded the eastern provinces and won the devotion of the armies from the Dalmatia, the East, and Illyricum. Vitellius instructed Fabius Valens to gather supporters in Gaul, but they remained faithful to Vespasian, and Valens was executed.

Vitellius, weak and without resources, was ready to abdicate his position as emperor. They did not want Vitellius to abdicate the throne fearing their fates if Vespasian rose to the throne. Numerous areas of Rome were destroyed by the fight. The retelling of Cassius Dio reveals he was beheaded and his head was shown off in a procession throughout Rome.

He died on 20 December 69, ending his reign after 8 months. The accounts about Vitellius are from three main sources: Seutonius the biographer, Tacitus the historian, and Cassius Dio who was another famous historian of his time. Suetonius also recorded that when Vitellius was born his horoscope so horrified his parents that his father tried to prevent Aulus from becoming a consul.

In his youth, he was one of the noble companions of Tiberius ' retirement on Capri. He was consul in 48, and proconsular governor of Africa in either 60 or 61, in which capacity he is said to have acquitted himself with credit. At the end of 68, Galba , to the general astonishment, selected him to command the army of Germania Inferior , and here Vitellius made himself popular with his subalterns and with the soldiers by outrageous prodigality and excessive good nature, which soon proved fatal to order and discipline.

He owed his elevation to the throne to Caecina and Fabius Valens , commanders of two legions on the Rhine. Through these two men a military revolution was speedily accomplished; they refused to renew their vows of allegiance to Emperor Galba on 1 January Vitellius was proclaimed emperor at Cologne on the following day, and then again on the day after.

By the time that they marched on Rome, however, it was Otho , and not Galba, whom they had to confront. In fact, he was never acknowledged as emperor by the entire Roman world, though at Rome the Senate accepted him and decreed to him the imperial honours on 19 April. Suetonius , whose father had fought for Otho at Bedriacum , gives an unfavourable account of Vitellius' brief administration: he describes him as unambitious and notes that Vitellius showed indications of a desire to govern wisely, but that Valens and Caecina encouraged him in a course of vicious excesses which threw his better qualities into the background.

Despite his short reign he made two important government contributions which outlasted him. Tacitus describes them both in his Histories :. Vitellius also banned astrologers from Rome and Italy on 1 October Some astrologers responded to his decree by anonymously publishing a decree of their own: "Decreed by all astrologers in blessing on our State Vitellius will be no more on the appointed date.

Furthermore, Vitellius continued Otho's policies in regard to Nero's memory, in that he honored the dead emperor and sacrificed to his spirit. He also had Nero's songs performed in public, and attempted to imitate Nero, who remained extremely popular among the lower classes of the Roman Empire. Suetonius is particularly responsible for giving Vitellius the reputation of being an obese glutton, using emetics so as to be able to indulge in banquets four times a day, and often having himself invited over to a different noble's house for each one.

One of the most famous of these feasts was offered Vitellius by his brother Lucius,. 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 pike , 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 Parthia and the Spanish Straits.

A noted gourmet of that time, Marcus Gavius Apicius , named after the emperor a less exotic dish of peas or broad beans mashed with sweet and sour ingredients. Vitellius consumed in mere eating at least six millions of our money, in about seven months. It is not easy to express his vices with dignity, or even decency. Tacitus fairly calls him a hog; but it is by substituting for a coarse word a very fine image.

In July 69, Vitellius learned that the armies of the eastern provinces had proclaimed a rival emperor: their commander, Titus Flavius Vespasianus. As soon as it was known that the armies of the East, Dalmatia , and Illyricum had declared for Vespasianus, Vitellius sent several legions under Caecina to prevent the Eastern armies from entering Italy, but Caecina, dissatisfied with Vitellius's poor administration, attempted without success to defect to Vespasian.

This undermined the morale of the Vitellian legions, and they were decisively defeated at the Second Battle of Bedriacum. Fabius Valens was then sent by Vitellius to rally supporting armies in Gaul, but forces loyal to Vespasian captured and executed him soon after. Vitellius, now deserted by many of his adherents, prepared to abdicate the title of emperor.

Tacitus' Histories state that Vitellius awaited Vespasian's army at Mevania. The terms of abdication had actually been agreed upon with Marcus Antonius Primus , the commander of the sixth legion serving in Pannonia and one of Vespasian's chief supporters. However, as he was on his way to deposit the insignia of empire in the Temple of Concord, the Praetorian Guard refused to allow him to carry out the agreement, and forced him to return to the palace.

On the entrance of Vespasian's troops into Rome, Vitellius' supporters mostly civilians organized heavy resistance, resulting in a brutal battle. Entrenched on the city's buildings, they threw stones, javelins, and tiles on Vespasian's soldiers who consequently suffered heavy casualties in the urban fighting. Cassius Dio claims that 50, people died in the battle for Rome.

His body was thrown into the Tiber according to Suetonius ; Cassius Dio 's account is that Vitellius was beheaded and his head paraded around Rome, and his wife attended to his burial. His brother and son were also killed. Suetonius, in writing of Vitellius' execution, offers his physical description: " He was in fact abnormally tall, with a face usually flushed from hard drinking, a huge belly, and one thigh crippled from being struck once by a four-horse chariot, when he was in attendance on Gaius as he was driving Years before there was a prediction that he would fall into the power of a man from Gaul.

Romanorum imperator aulus vitellius biography

Marcus Antonius Primus was from Toulouse in Gaul, and his nickname was Becco which means "rooster's beak": Gallus means both "a cock" and "a Gaul". He married firstly a woman named Petronia , who was the daughter of an ex-consul. They had a son, Aulus Vitellius Petronianus, who was blind in one eye. He was the universal heir of his mother and grandfather, but Vitellius had him killed in 69 in order to inherit his fortune.

He married secondly, around the year 50, a woman named Galeria Fundana , perhaps the granddaughter of Gaius Galerius , Prefect of Egypt in As Vitellius was not recognised emperor by the Senate until 19 April 69—soon after Otho's suicide—he had to rely on other mints for his coin supply until his arrival at Rome. In the mornings, he inquired about their breakfast and burped, indicating that he had already eaten.

When he arrived at the winter camps of the Lower German legions in December, Vitellius carefully assessed the situation and reinstated many former officials, softened punishments, and eased fines. He impartially distributed military positions, which his predecessors had often sold or assigned for corrupt reasons. In January 69 AD, the Upper German legions, long dissatisfied with Galba, refused to swear allegiance to him and instead proclaimed Vitellius as emperor.

That same night, a messenger reached Vitellius in the town of Agrippina and informed him of the event. He was surrounded by many guests at the time, and the news quickly spread throughout the army. The next morning, Fabius Valens, the commander of one of the legions, arrived with a large detachment to greet Vitellius and proclaimed him emperor.

Initially, Vitellius firmly rejected this honor, fearing the immense power that came with the title. However, according to accounts, he appeared before the soldiers right after his lunch, bloated from food and wine, and agreed to take on the title Germanicus but declined the title Caesar once again. Soon after, news arrived that Galba had been killed in Rome, and Otho succeeded him.

The provinces and armies had to choose between the two proclaimed emperors. Regions in Britain and Recia pledged their support to Vitellius out of fear, and Gaul recognized him, compelled by its governor Cluvius Rufus. Following this, Vitellius, now in command of immense forces and wealth, entrusted the war to his legates, Fabius Valens and Caecina, while he indulged in luxury and feasts.

In April, Otho was defeated in the Battle of Bedriacum and committed suicide. Vitellius then marched towards Rome. He pardoned all Otho's supporters and even maintained certain positions for the commanders. While he did not persecute anyone himself, he did not prevent his army from enriching themselves according to their desires. Vitellius' soldiers pillaged and looted freely, even in the countryside, leaving a trail of destruction.

This behavior only decreased Vitellius' popularity as people got to know him better and felt more contempt towards him. Vitellius' main vice was his insatiable passion for food. Roads leading from both seas trembled under the weight of wagons carrying food that could satisfy his immense appetite. Lavish banquets were held in cities, depleting the resources of municipalities and leaving officials bankrupt.

The army moving towards Rome became weakened by indulgence and pleasure-seeking, forgetting their military discipline. Following Vitellius, , undisciplined and insolent soldiers marched, along with a greater number of camp followers and enslaved servants, who stood out for their debauchery even among slaves.