Tag Archives: Year of Four Emperors

69 A.D. marked “The Year of Four Emperors” in Rome. Galba started the year as Emperor, and was succeeded by Otho and then Vitellius before Vespasian seized the throne and ended Rome’s civil wars.

April 16, 2022

Apr 2022

Martial’s Epigram on Emperor Otho

Nicholas A. Ferrell

“Grant that Cato, in life, was even greater than Caesar; was he greater in death than Otho?”

April 18, 2021

Apr 2021

The Enigmatic Life and Death of Emperor Otho

Nicholas A. Ferrell

A very long read examining how Suetonius, Tacitus, Plutarch, Cassius Dio, and Martial wrote about the peculiar life and death of Otho, who ruled as Roman Emperor for three months in 69 AD.