a full gallop into the Forum, scattering the populace and trampling
senators under foot. Neither the sight of the Capitol nor the sanctity
of the temples towering above them, nor the thought of Roman emperors
past and to come, could avail to deter them from committing that crime
which the next successor always avenges.

Seeing the armed ranks now close at hand, the standard-bearer of 41
the cohort on guard over Galba[68]--tradition says his name was
Atilius Vergilio--tore off the medallion of Galba[69] and flung it to
the ground. This signal clearly showed that all the troops were for
Otho: the people fled from the deserted Forum and swords were drawn
against any who lingered. Near 'Lake Curtius'[70] Galba was
precipitated from his chair by the panic-stricken haste of the bearers
and flung to the ground. The accounts of his last words vary according
as they are prompted by hatred or admiration. Some say that he whined
and asked what harm he had deserved, begging for a few days' respite
to pay the troops their largess. The majority say that he offered his
neck to the blow and bade them, 'Come, strike, if it serves the
country's need.' Whatever he said mattered little to his assassins. As
to the actual murderer there is a difference of opinion. Some say it
was Terentius, a reservist,[71] others that his name was Laecanius.
The most common account is that a soldier of the Fifteenth legion, by
name Camurius, pierced his throat with a sword-thrust. The others
foully mangled his arms and legs (his breast was covered) and with
bestial savagery continued to stab the headless corpse. Then they made
for Titus Vinius. Here, too, there is a doubt whether the fear of 42
imminent death strangled his voice, or whether he called out that they
had no mandate from Otho to kill him. He may have invented this in his
terror, or it may have been a confession of his complicity in the
plot. His whole life and reputation give reason to suppose that he was
an accomplice in the crime of which he was the cause. He was brought
to the ground in front of the temple of Julius by a blow on the knee,
and afterwards a common soldier named Julius Carus ran him through
with a sword.

However, Rome found one hero that day. This was Sempronius Densus, 43
a centurion of the Guards, who had been told off by Galba to protect
Piso. Drawing his dagger he faced the armed assassins, flinging their
treason in their teeth, and by his shouts and ges