Media Atropatene.

[68] Cp. chap. 29.

[69] Attached to the pole of the standard.

[70] An enclosed pond in the middle of the Forum, supposed to
be the spot where Curtius leapt on horseback into the chasm,
or by others the spot where a Sabine chieftain was engulfed in
the days of Romulus.

[71] The word here used usually means a veteran re-enlisted in
a special corps after his term had expired. It was also
applied at this time in a special sense to a corps of young
knights, who, without losing their status, acted as Galba's
special body-guard in the imperial palace. One of these may
have been the murderer.

OTHO ON THE THRONE

None of his murders pleased Otho so much as this. On Piso's head, 44
as on no other, they say, he gazed with insatiable eyes. This was
possibly the first moment at which he felt relieved of all anxiety,
and free to indulge his glee; or perhaps, in the case of Galba and of
Vinius, the recollection of his treason to the one and of his former
friendship with the other troubled even his unfeeling heart with
gloomy thoughts, whereas, Piso being an enemy and a rival, he
considered it a pious duty to gloat over his murder. Their heads were
fixed on poles and carried along with the standards of the cohorts
side by side with the eagle of the legion.[73] Those who had done the
deed and those who had witnessed it vied with each other in displaying
their bloody hands, all boasting of their share--some falsely, some
truly--as if it were a fine and memorable exploit. Vitellius
subsequently discovered more than 120 petitions demanding rewards for
distinguished services rendered on that day. He gave orders to search
out all the petitioners and put them to death. This was from no
respect for Galba: he merely followed the traditional custom by which
princes secure their present safety and posthumous vengeance.

The senate and people seemed different men. There was a general 45
rush for the camp, every one shouldering his neighbour and trying to
overtake those in front. They heaped insults on Galba, praised the
prudence of the troops, and covered Otho's hand with kisses, their
extravagance varying inversely with their sincerity. Otho rebuffed no
one, and succeeded by his words and looks in moderating the menace of
the soldiers' greed for vengeance. They loudly demanded the execution
of Marius Celsus, the