ancient mystical poet Orpheus, dedicated them- | selves to the worship of Bacchus, in which they hoped to find satisfaction for an ardent longing after the soothing and elevating influences of re ligion. The Dionysus, to whose worship the Orphic and Bacchic rites were annexed (τὰ Ὀρφικὰ Kaλeóμevα κal Вакxikά, Herod. ii. 81), was the Chthonian deity, Dionysus Zagreus, closely connected with Demeter and Cora, who was the personified expression, not only of the most rapturous pleasure, but also of a deep sorrow for the miseries of human life. The Orphic legends and poems related in great part to this Dionysus, who was combined, as an infernal deity, with Hades (a doctrine given by the philosopher Heracleitus as the opinion of a particular sect, ap. Clem. Alex. Protrep. p. 30, Potter); and upon whom the Orphic theologers founded their hopes of the purification and ultimate immortality of the soul. But their mode of celebrating this worship was very different from the popular rites of Bacchus. The Orphic worshippers of Bacchus did not indulge in unrestrained plea ure and frantic enthusiasm, but rather aimed at an ascetic purity of life and manners. (See Lobeck, Aglaoph. p. 244.) The followers of Orpheus, when they had tasted the mystic sacrificial feast of raw flesh torn from the ox of Dionysus (uopayla), partook of no other animal food. They wore white linen garments, like Oriental and Egyptian priests, from whom, as Herodotus remarks (1. c.), much may have been borrowed in the ritual of the Orphic worship." Herodotus not only speaks of these rites as being Egyptian, but also Pythagorean in their character. The explanation of this is that the Pythagorean societies, after their expulsion from Magna Graecia, united themselves with the Orphic societies of the mother country, and of course greatly influenced their character. But before this time the Orphic system had been reduced to a definite form by PHERECYDES and ONOMACRITUS, who stand at the head of a series of writers, in whose works the Orphic theology was embodied; such as Cercops, Brontinus, Orpheus of Camarina, Orpheus of Croton, Arignote, Persinus of Miletus, Timocles of Syracuse, and Zopyrus of Heracleia or Tarentum (Müller, p. 235). Besides these associations there were also an obscure set of mystagogues derived from them, called Orpheotelests (Ορφεοτελεσταί), "who used to come before the doors of the rich, and promise to release them from their own sins and those of their forefathers, by sacrifices and expiatory songs; and they produced at this ceremony a heap of books of Orpheus and Musaeus, upon which they founded their promises" (Plat. Ion, p. 536, b.; Müller, p. 235). The nature of the Orphic theology, and the points of difference between it and that of Homer and Hesiod, are fully discussed by Müller (Hist. Lit. Anc. Gr. pp. 235-238) and Mr. Grote (vol. i. pp. 22, &c.) ; out most fully by Lobeck, in his Aglaophamus. Orphic Literature.-We have seen that many poems ascribed to Orpheus were current as early as the time of the Peisistratids [ONOMACRITUs], and that they are often quoted by Plato. The allusions to them in later writers are very frequent ; for example, Pausanias speaks of hymns of his, which he believed to be still preserved by the Lycomidae (an Athenian family who seem to have been the chief priests of the Orphic worship, as the Eumolpidae were of the Eleusinian), and which, he says, were only inferior in beauty to the poems of Homer, and held even in higher honour, on account of their divine subjects. He also speaks of them as very few in number, and as distinguished by great brevity of style (ix. 30. §§ 5, 6. s. 12). Considering the slight acquaintance which the ancients evidently possessed with these works, it is somewhat surprising that certain extant poems, which bear the name of Orpheus, should have been generally regarded by scholars, until a very recent period, as genuine, that is, as works more ancient than the Homeric poems, if not the productions of Orpheus himself. It is not worth while to repeat here the history of the controversy, which will be found in Bernhardy and the other historians of Greek literature. The result is that it is now fully established that the bulk of these poems are the forgeries of Christian grammarians and philosophers of the Alexandrian school; but that among the fragments, which form a part of the collection, are some genuine remains of that Orphic poetry which was known to Plato, and which must be assigned to the period of Onomacritus, or perhaps a little earlier. The Orphic literature which, in this sense, we may call genuine, seems to have included Hymns, a Theogony, an ancient poem called Minyas or the Descent into Hades, Oracles and Songs for Initiations (Teλeraí), a collection of Sacred Legends ('Iepol Móyot), ascribed to Cercops, and perhaps some other works. The apocryphal productions which have come down to us under the name of Orphica, are the following: 1. 'Aрyovavтikά, an epic poem in 1384 hexameters, giving an account of the expedition of the Argonauts, which is full of indications of its late date. 2. "Turoi, eighty-seven or eighty-eight hymns in hexameters, evidently the productions of the NeoPlatonic school. 3. Aká, the best of the three apocryphal Orphic poems, which treats of properties of stones, both precious and common, and their uses in divination. 4. Fragments, chiefly of the Theogony. It is in this class that we find the genuine remains, above referred to, of the literature of the early Orphic theology, but intermingled with others of a much later date. (Eschenbach, Epigenes, de Poesi Orphica Commentarius, Norimb. 1702-1704; Tiedemann, Griechenlands erste Philosophen, Leipz. 1780; G. H. Bode, de Orpheo Poetarum Graecorum antiquissimo, Gott. 1824; Lobeck, Aglaophamus; Bode, Gesch. d. Hell. Dichtkunst, vols. i. ii.; Ulrici, Gesch. d. Hellen. Dichtkunst, vols. i. ii.; Bernhardy, Grundriss d. Griech. Litt. vol. ii. pp. 266, &c.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec. vol. i. pp. 140, &c.; for a further list of writers on Orpheus, see Hoffmann, Lexicon Bibliographicum Scriptorum Graecorum.) The chief editions of Orpheus, after the early ones of 1517, 1519, 1540, 1543, 1566, and 1606, are those of Eschenbach, Traj. ad Rhen. 1689, 12mo.; Gesner and Hamberger, Lips. 1764, 8vo. and Hermann, Lips. 1805, 8vo., by far the best. There are also small editions, chiefly for the use of schools, by Schaefer, Lips. 1818, 12mo., and in the Tauchnitz Classics, 1824, 16mo. [P.S.] ORPHI'DIUS BENIGNUS, a legate of the emperor Otho, fell in the battle of Bedriacum against the troops of Vitellius, A. D. 69. (Tac. Hist. ii. 43, 45.) ORPHITUS. [ORFITUS.] ORSA BARIS ('Opσábapis), a daughter of Mithridates the Great, who was taken prisoner by ORSI LOCHUS ('Opoiλoxos). 1. A son of the river god Alpheius and Telegone, and the father of Diocles, at Pherae, in Messenia. (Hom. Il. v. 545, Od. iii. 489, xv. 187, xxi. 15; Paus. iv. 30. §2.) 2. A grandson of No. 1, and brother of Crethon, together with whom he was slain by Aeneias, at Troy, (Hom. Il. v. 542, &c.; Paus. iv. i. § 3.) 3. A son of Idomeneus. (Hom. Od. xiii. 259271.) [L. S.] O'RTALUS, or more properly HO'RTALUS, a cognomen of the Hortensii. [HORTENSIUS.] ORTHA'GORAS ('Oplayópas). 1. Of Thebes, mentioned by Socrates in the Protagoras of Plato (p. 318, c.), as one of the most celebrated fluteplayers of his day, and by Athenaeus as one of the instructors of Epaminondas in flute-playing. (Ath. iv. p. 184, e.) 2. A geographer, whose age is unknown, but whose work on India ('Ivdol Xóyo) is quoted both by Aelian (N. A. xvi. 35 ; xvii. 6) and by Strabo (xvi. p. 766). His statements in that work, respecting the Red Sea, are quoted by Philostratus (Fit. Apollon. iii. 53; Phot. Biblioth. cod. ccxli. p. 327, b. 10, Bekker). [P.S.] O'RTHIA ('Opeía, 'Optís, or 'Opowoía), a surname of the Artemis who is also called Iphigeneia or Lygodesma, and must be regarded as the goddess of the moon. Her worship was probably brought to Sparta from Lemnos. It was at the altar of Artemis Orthia that Spartan boys had to undergo the diamastigosis (Schol. ad Pind. Ol. iii. 54; Herod. iv. 87; Xenoph. de Rep. Lac. ii. 10). She also had temples at Brauron, in the Cerameicus at Athens, in Elis, and on the coast of Byzantium. The ancients derived her surname from mount Orthosium or Orthium in Arcadia. [L. S.] ORTHRUS (Oppos), the dog of Geryones, who was begotten by Typhon and Echidna. (Hes. Theog. 293; Apollod. ii. 5. § 10.) [L. S.] ORTIAGON ('Opriάywv), one of the three princes of Galatia, when that country was invaded by the Romans under Cn. Manlius Vulso, in B. C. 189. He was defeated on Mount Olympus by the invaders, and compelled to fly home for refuge. Polybius tells us that he cherished the design of uniting all Galatia under his rule, and that he was well qualified to succeed in the attempt, being liberal, magnanimous, possessed of sagacity and winning manners; and above all, brave and skilful in war. (Polyb. xxii. 21; Liv. xxxviii. 19, &c.) [CHIOMARA] [E. E.] ORTYGIA ('Opruyía), a surname of Artemis, derived from the island of Ortygia, the ancient name for Delos, or an island off Syracuse (Ov. Met. i. 694). The goddess bore this name in various places, but always with reference to the island in which she was born. (Strab. x. p. 486.) [L. S.] ORUS. [HORUS; ORION.] senting a head of Silenus, in the Museum Worsely- ORXINES ('Opčívns), a noble and wealthy O'SIUS. [HOSIUS.] OSROES. [ARSACES XXV., p. 359, a.] OSSA (Ooga), the personification of rumour or report, the Latin Fama. As it is often impossible to trace a report to its source, it is said to come from Zeus, and hence Ossa is called the messenger of Zeus (Hom. Od. i. 282, ii. 216, xxiv. 412, Il. ii. 93). Sophocles (Oed. Tyr. 158) calls her a daughter of Hope, and the poets, both Greek and Latin, have indulged in various imaginary descriptions of Ossa or Fama (Hes. Op. et Dies, 705, &c.; Virg. Aen. iv. 174, &c.; Ov. Met. xii. 39, &c.). At Athens she was honoured with an altar. (Paus. i. 17. § 1.) [L. S.] OSSIPAGA, or OSSIPANGA, also written Ossilago, Ossipagina, was a Roman divinity, who was prayed to, to harden and strengthen the bones of infants. (Arnob. adv. Gent. iii. 30, iv. 7.) [L.S.] OSTO'RIUS SABI'NUS. [SABINUS.] OSTO'RIUS SCA/PULA. [SCAPULA.] OTACILIA SEVERA, MA'RCIA, the wife of the elder M. Julius Philippus, and the mother of the boy who was put to death by the praetorians after the battle of Verona, A. D. 249. She appears to have had a daughter also, since Zosimus speaks of a certain Severianus as the son-in-law of the emperor. No other circumstances are known regarding this princess, except that she was believed by many of the ancients to have been a Christian. ORUS, the engraver of a beautiful gem, repre- | The Alexandrian Chronicle makes a positive asser [W. R.] tion to this effect, and Eusebius (H. E. vi. 36) | plundering the Carthaginian coast round Utica, mentions a letter, said to have been addressed and capturing several corn-vessels in the harbour to her by Origen. (Tillemont, Notes sur l'Em- of the latter city, by means of which he was able pereur Philippe, in his Histoire des Empereurs, vol. to send a supply of corn to the Roman forces, iii. p. 499; Eckhel, vol. vii. p. 332; Zosim. i. which had just taken Syracuse. In the election 19.) of the consuls for the year B. c. 210 Otacilius was again nominated to the consulship by the praerogativa centuria, and again lost his election, when it seemed certain, by the interference of T. Manlius Torquatus. Otacilius, however, never heard of this new affront; for just after the elections were over, word was brought that Otacilius had died in Sicily, B. C. 211. Otacilius was one of the pontifices. (Liv. xxii. 10, 56, xxiii. 21, 31, 32, 41, xxiv. 7-10, xxv. 31, xxvi. 1, 22, 23.) COIN OF OTACILIA. OTACI'LIA, condemned in a judicium by the celebrated jurist C. Aquillius. (Val. Max. viii. 2. § 2.) In the MSS. of Valerius we have ab Otacilia Laterensi, for which we ought perhaps to read ab Otacilia Laterensis, that is, Otacilia, the wife of Laterensis. OTACI'LIA GENS, sometimes written Octacilia, is first mentioned at the commencement of the first Punic war, when two brothers of this name obtained the consulship, M'. Otacilius Crassus in B. C. 263, and T. Otacilius Crassus in B. C. 261; but after this time the Otacilii rarely occur. The only cognomens in this gens are CRASSUS and NASO. One or two persons, who were accidentally omitted under Crassus, are given below. OTACI LIUS. 1. T. OTACILIUS CRASSUS, one of the Roman generals, actively employed during the greater part of the second Punic war, was probably a son of T. Otacilius Crassus, consul in B. C. 261. [CRASSUS, OTACILIUS, No. 2.] He is generally mentioned by Livy without a cognomen, but we learn from two passages (xxiii. 31, xxvi. 33), that he had the surname of Crassus. He was praetor B. c. 217, in which year he vowed a temple to Mens, and is mentioned next year, B. c. 216, as pro-praetor, when he brought a letter to the senate from Hieron in Sicily, imploring the assistance of the Romans against the Carthaginian fleet. In B. C. 215 Otacilius and Q. Fabius Maximus were created duumviri for dedicating the temples they had vowed; and after consecrating the temple of Mens, Otacilius was sent with the imperium into Sicily to take the command of the fleet. From Lilybaeum he crossed over into Africa, and after laying waste the Carthaginian coast fell in with the Punic fleet, as he was making for Sardinia, and captured a few of their ships. On his return to Rome Otacilius became a candidate for the consulship for the year B. c. 214, and would certainly have been elected but for Q. Fabius Maximus, the daughter of whose sister was the wife of Otacilius. The praerogativa centuria had already given their votes in favour of Otacilius, when Fabius dissuaded the people from nominating him to the consulship on the ground that he had not sufficient military abilities to cope with Hannibal. Fabius Maximus and Claudius Marcellus were accordingly appointed consuls; but as some compensation to Otacilius, he was elected praetor for the second time, B. C. 214, and the command of the same fleet was entrusted to him which he had had in the previous year. His command was prolonged during the next three years; and in B. C. 212 he did good service by 2. OTACILIUS CRASSUS, one of Pompey's officers, had the command of the town of Lissus in Illyria, and cruelly butchered 220 of Caesar's soldiers, who had surrendered to him on the promise that they should be uninjured. Shortly after this he abandoned Lissus, and joined the main body of the Pompeian army. (Caes. B. C. iii. 28, 29.) L. OTACI'LIUS PILITUS, a Roman rhetorician, who opened a school at Rome B. c. 81 (Hieronym. in Euseb. Chron. Olymp. 174. 4.) The cognomen of Otacilius is uncertain. Suetonius calls him Pilitus (in some manuscripts Pilutus), Eusebius Plotus, and Macrobius (Saturn. ii. 2) Pitholaus. He had been formerly a slave, and while in that condition acted as door-keeper (ostiarius), being chained, as was customary, to his post. But having exhibited talent, and a love of literature, he was manumitted by his master, and became a teacher of rhetoric. Cn. Pompeius Magnus was one of his pupils, and he wrote the history of Pompey, and of his father likewise, in several books, being the first instance, according to Cornelius Nepos, in which a history was written by a freedman. (Suet. de Ill. Rhet. 3; Voss. de Hist. Lat. i. 9. p. 40.) OTA'NES ('Orávns). 1. A noble and wealthy Persian, son of Pharnaspes. He was the first who suspected the imposture of Smerdis the Magian, and, when his suspicion was confirmed by the report of his daughter PHAEDIMA (one of the royal wives), he took the chief part in organizing the conspiracy against the pretender and his faction (B. c. 521). After the slaughter of the Magians, Otanes, according to the statement in Herodotus, recommended the establishment of democracy, and, when his fellow-conspirators came to the resolution of retaining monarchy, he abandoned all pretensions to the throne on condition that himself and his descendants should be exempted from the royal authority. At the same time it was decreed that to him and his posterity for ever a Median dress and other gifts of honour should be annually presented. Not long after this, Otanes was placed in command of the Persian force which invaded Samos for the purpose of placing Syloson, brother of Polycrates, in the government; and the act of the madman Charilaus in murdering a number of the most distinguished Persians provoked him to order an indiscriminate massacre of the Samians. Afterwards, however, in obedience to the warning of a dream, he repeopled the island which he had thus desolated. (Herod. iii. 68-84, 141-149; comp. Strab. xiv. p. 638.) 2. A Persian, son of Sisamnes. His father, one of the royal judges, was put to death by | 18). This law soon became very unpopular; the Cambyses for an unjust sentence, and his skin people, who were excluded from the seats which was stripped off and stretched on the judicial they had formerly occupied in common with the seat which he had occupied. To this same seat, equites, thought themselves insulted; and in thus covered, Otanes was advanced as his suc- Cicero's consulship (B. c. 63) there was such a riot cessor, and was compelled to exercise his func- occasioned by the obnoxious measure, that it retions with a constant memento beneath him of his quired all his eloquence to allay the agitation. father's fate. About B. c. 506, being appointed (Cic. ad Att. ii. 1). to succeed Megabyzus in the command of the forces on the sea-coast, he took Byzantium, Chalcedon, Antandrus, and Lamponium, as well as the islands of Lemnos and Imbros. (Herod. v. 2527; Larch. and Schweigh. ad loc.) He was probably the same Otanes who is mentioned as a sonin-law of Dareius Hystaspis, and as one of the generals employed against the revolted Ionians in B. C. 499. He joined in defeating the rebels near Ephesus, and, in conjunction with Artaphernes, satrap of Sardis, he took Clazomenae, belonging to the lonians, and the Aeolian town of Cume. He is not again mentioned by name in Herodotus, but appears to have taken part in the subsequent operations of the war till the final reduction of Ionia. (Herod. v. 102, 116, 123, vi. 6, &c.) It seems doubtful whether we should identify either of the two above persons with the father of Patiramphes, the charioteer of Xerxes (Herod. vii. 40), or again with the father of Amastris [No. 1]. (Herod. vii. 61.) [E. E.] OTHO, JU'NIUS. 1. A rhetorician frequently mentioned by the elder Seneca. He was the author of a work on that branch of rhetoric entitled colores (respecting the meaning of which see Quintil. iv. 2. § 88). Through the influence of Sejanus, Otho was made a senator, and by due subservience to the ruling powers, he obtained the praetorship in A. D. 22, in which year he is mentioned as one of the accusers of C. Silanus, proconsul of Asia. (Senec. Controv. i. 3, Declam. ii. 1, &c.; Tac. Ann. iii. 66.) This L. Roscius Otho must not be confounded, as he has frequently been, with the L. Roscius who was praetor in B. c. 49. The latter had the cognomen of Fabatus [FABATUS]. The Otho spoken of by Cicero in B. c. 45, may be the same as the tribune. (Cic. ad Att. xiii. 29, comp. xii. 37. § 2, 38. § 4, 42. § 1.) he 2. Tribune of the plebs, A. D. 37, the last year of the reign of Tiberius. He was banished for putting his intercessio upon the question of the reward that was to be given to the accuser of Acutia. (Tac. Ann. vi. 47.) OTHO, SA'LVIUS. 1. M. SALVIUS OTHO, the grandfather of the emperor Otho, was descended from an ancient and noble family of the town of Ferentinum, in Etruria. His father was a Roman eques, his mother was of low origin, perhaps even a freed woman. Through the influence of Livia Augusta, in whose house he had been brought up, Otho was made a Roman senator, and eventually obtained the praetorship, but was not advanced to any higher honour. (Suet. Otho, 1; Tac. Hist. ii. 50.) 2. L. SALVIUS OTHо, the son of the preceding, and the father of the emperor Otho, was connected on his mother's side with many of the most distinguished Roman families, and stood so high in the favour of Tiberius and resembled this emperor so strongly in person, that it was supposed by most that he was his son. He discharged the various public offices at Rome, was consul suffectus in A. D. 33 (Suet. Galb. 6), obtained the proconsulate of Africa, and administered the affairs of this province, as well as of other extraordinary commands which he held, with great diligence and energy. In A. D. 42 he was sent into Illyricum, where the Roman army had lately rebelled against Claudius. On his arrival he put to death several of the soldiers, who had killed their own officers under the pretext that they had excited them to rebellion, and who had even been rewarded by Claudius for this very act. Such a proceeding, though it might have been necessary to restore the discipline of the troops, gave great umbrage at the imperial court; but Otho soon afterwards regained the favour of Claudius by detecting a conspiracy which had been formed against his life by a Roman eques. The senate conferred upon him the extraordinary honour of erecting his statue on the Palatine, and Claudius enrolled him among the patricians, adding that he did not wish better children than Otho. By his wife Albia Terentina he had two sons and one daughter. The elder of his sons, Lucius, bore, says Suetonius, the surname of Titianus, but we may conclude from Tacitus (Ann. xii. 52) and Frontinus (Aquaed. 13), that he had the cognomen of Otho as well [see below, No. 3]. His younger son, Marcus, was the emperor Otho. His daughter was betrothed, when quite young, to Drusus, the son of OTHO, L. RO'SCIUS, tribune of the plebs B. C. 67, was a warm supporter of the aristocratical party. When Gabinius proposed in this year to bestow upon Pompey the command of the war against the pirates, Otho and his colleague L. Trebellius were the only two of the tribunes that offered any decided opposition. It is related that, when Otho, afraid of speaking, after the way in which Trebellius had been dealt with [TREBELLIUS], held up two of his fingers to show that a colleague ought to be given to Pompey, the people set up such a shout that a crow that was flying over the forum was stunned, and fell down among them (Dion Cass. xxxvi. 7, 13; Plut. Pomp. 25). In the same year Otho proposed and carried the law which gave to the equites and to those persons who possessed the equestrian census, a special place at the public spectacles, in fourteen rows or seats (in quat-Germanicus. (Suet. Otho, 1; Tac. Hist. ii. 50.) tuordecim gradibus sive ordinibus), next to the place of the senators, which was in the orchestra (Vell. Pat. ii. 32; Liv. Epit. 99; Dion Cass. xxxvi. 25; Cic. Mur. 19; Tac. Ann. xv. 32; Hor. Epod. iv. 15, Ep. i. 1. 62; Juv. iii. 159, xiv. 324). For those equites who had lost their rank by not possessing the proper equestrian census, there was a special place assigned (inter decoctores, Cic. Phil. ii. pro VOL. III 3. L. SALVIUS OTHO TITIANUS, was the son of No. 2, and the elder brother of the emperor Otho. He was consul A. D. 52, with Faustus Cornelius Sulla (Tac. Ann. xii. 52; Frontin. Aquaed. 13). In A. D. 63 Titianus was proconsul in Asia, and had Agricola for his quaestor. It is related to the honour of the latter that he was not corrupted by the example of his superior officer, who indulged in every kind of rapacity (Tac. Agric. 6). On the death of Galba in January A. D. 69, Titianus was a second time made consul, with his brother Otho, the emperor. When the latter set out from Rome against the generals of Vitellius, he left Titianus in charge of the city, but he soon afterwards sent for him and gave him the chief command in the war. It was partly through his eagerness to engage with the Vitellian troops, that his brother lost the empire; and on the downfall of the latter Titianus was so little dreaded, that he was pardoned by Vitellius-pietate et ignavia excusatus, says Tacitus. (Tac. Hist. i. 75, 77. ii. 23, 33, 39, 60.) OTHO, M. SA'LVIUS, Roman emperor A. D. 69, was descended from an ancient Etruscan family. His father L. Otho, who was consul in A. D. 33, had two sons, Marcus and L. Salvius Titianus. [See above, No. 2.] Marcus Otho was born in the early part of A. D. 32. He was of moderate stature, ill-made in the legs, and had an effeminate appearance. He was one of the companions of Nero in his debaucheries, till he was sent as governor to Lusitania, which he administered with credit during the last ten years of Nero's life [NERO, p. 1163, a.]. Otho attached himself to Galba when he revolted against Nero, in the hope of being adopted by him and succeeding to the empire. But Galba, who knew Otho's character, and wished to have a worthy successor, adopted L. Piso, on the tenth of January, A. D. 69, and designated him as the future emperor. (Tacit. Hist. i. 15.) towards those who were his personal enemies, and the change in his habits shown by devoting himself to the administration of affairs, gave people hopes that the emperor would turn out better than was expected. Still these appearances were by many considered deceptive, and there was little confidence in a man who owed his elevation to the murder of Galba, and the violence of the soldiers, whom he was compelled to keep in good humour. Otho was acknowledged emperor by Luceius Albinus, governor of Mauritania (Tacit. Hist. ii. 58), and by Carthage and the rest of Africa. The legions in Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Maesia took the oath of fidelity to the emperor. He was also recognised by Egypt, by Mucianus in Syria, and by Vespasian in Palestine; by Gallia Narbonensis, Aquitania, and by Spain. But he had a formidable opposition in the legions stationed in Germany on the Rhine, whither Vitellius had been sent to take the command by Galba, in the month of December, a. D. 68. Vitellius was a glutton, a drunkard, and a man of no capacity, but by his affable manners and his liberality he gained the good will of the soldiers who were dissatisfied with Galba. Vitellius had the command of four legions on the Lower Rhine, and two other legions on the upper course of the river were under Hordeonius Flaccus. Some of the Gallic towns also were ill disposed to Galba. Neither Flaccus nor Vitellius had energy enough to commence a movement: it was begun by Fabius Valens, who commanded a legion in Lower Otho thus saw his hopes disappointed. His Germany, and stimulated Vitellius to aim at the private affairs also were in a ruinous condition, and supreme power. Alienus Caecina, who also comhe resolved to seize the power which an astrologer manded a legion in Upper Germany, and was an had foretold him that he would one day possess. officer of ability, hated Galba; and thus, before He enlisted in his design a few soldiers, and on the the murder of the aged emperor, every thing was fifteenth of January he was proclaimed emperor by ripe for a revolt in Germany. a mere handful of men, who, with their swords drawn, carried him in a litter to the camp, where he was saluted emperor. Otho was ready to promise any thing and to stoop to any thing to extricate himself from his dangerous position, and to receive the prize at which he aimed (Tacit. Hist. i. 36). A little vigour and decision on the part of Galba might have checked the rising. The matter was at last decided by Otho and the soldiers making their way into the forum, upon which the standardbearer of the cohort that accompanied Galba snatched from it the emperor's effigy, and threw it on the ground. This was the signal for deserting Galba, who received his death-blow from a common soldier. The soldiers showed they were the masters of the emperor by choosing as praefecti praetorio, Plotius Firmus and Licinius Proculus; Flavius Sabinus, the brother of Vespasian, was made praefectus urbi. On the evening of the day in which Galba was murdered the senate took the oath of fidelity to Otho, who afterwards offered a sacrifice in the Capitol, with no favourable omens. The new emperor showed his moderation or his prudence by protecting against the fury of the soldiers, Marius Celsus, who had maintained his fidelity to Galba, and who showed the same devotion afterwards to the cause of Otho. The punishment of Tigellinus, the guilty encourager of Nero's crimes, and the first to desert him, was demanded by the people, and granted. This abominable wretch received the news of his death being required while he was enjoying the waters of Sinuessae, and he cut his throat with a razor. The indulgence of Otho Vitellius, who was in the town of Cologne (colonia Agrippinensis), was greeted with the title of imperator, on the third of January, A. D. 69. He accepted the title of Germanicus, but he would not assume that of Caesar. There was a striking contrast between the ardour of the soldiers, who wished to march for Italy in the midst of the winter, and the sluggishness of their newly-elected emperor, who even by midday was drunk and stupified with his gluttonous excesses. But every thing favoured Vitellius. Valerius Asiaticus, governor of Belgica, declared for him, and Junius Blaesus, governor of Gallia Lugdunensis. The troops in Rhaetia and Britain were also on his side. Valens and Caecina were sent forward, each at the head of a large army. The lazy emperor followed at his leisure. Valens had advanced as far as Toul (civitas Leucorum, Tacit. Hist. i. 64 ; D'Anville, Notice de la Gaule, "Tullum"), when he heard of Galba's death, the news of which determined Gallia Narbonensis and Aquitania to declare for Vitellius, though they had taken the oath to Otho. Cluvius Rufus, the governor of Spain, did the same. Valens advanced by the route of Autun, Lyon, Vienne, and Lucus (Luc), to the foot of the Alps, plundering, and robbing all the way. The march of Caecina was still more disastrous to the country through which he made his way. He readily picked a quarrel with the Helvetii, many of whom were slaughtered, and others were sold as slaves. Aventicum (Avenche), their capital, surrendered, and its fate was left to the mercy of Vitellius, who yielded to the eloquent entreaty of Claudius Cossus, one of the legati who were sent to mollify the |