e cravings with blood; then
suddenly the instinct of greed prevailed. On the pretext of hunting
for hidden enemies, they would leave no door unopened and regard no
privacy. Thus they began to rifle private houses or else made
resistance an excuse for murder. There were plenty of needy citizens,
too, and of rascally slaves, who were perfectly ready to betray
wealthy householders: others were indicated by their friends. From all
sides came cries of mourning and misery. Rome was like a captured
city. People even longed to have the insolent soldiery of Otho and
Vitellius back again, much as they had been hated. The Flavian
generals, who had fanned the flame of civil war with such energy, were
incapable of using their victory temperately. In riot and disorder the
worst characters take the lead; peace and quiet call for the highest
qualities.

Domitian having secured the title and the official residence of a 2
Caesar,[229] did not as yet busy himself with serious matters, but in
his character of emperor's son devoted himself to dissolute intrigues.
Arrius Varus[230] took command of the Guards, but the supreme
authority rested with Antonius Primus. He removed money and slaves
from the emperor's house as though he were plundering Cremona. The
other generals, from excess of modesty or lack of spirit, shared
neither the distinctions of the war nor the profits of peace.

People in Rome were now so nervous and so resigned to despotism that
they demanded that Lucius Vitellius and his force of Guards should be
surprised on their way back from Tarracina,[231] and the last sparks
of the war stamped out. Some cavalry were sent forward to Aricia,
while the column of the legions halted short of Bovillae.[232]
Vitellius, however, lost no time in surrendering himself and his
Guards to the conqueror's discretion, and the men flung away their
unlucky swords more in anger than in fear. The long line of prisoners
filed through the city between ranks of armed guards. None looked like
begging for mercy. With sad, set faces they remained sternly
indifferent to the applause or the mockery of the ribald crowd. A few
tried to break away, but were surrounded and overpowered. The rest
were put in prison. Not one of them gave vent to any unseemly
complaint. Through all their misfortunes they preserved their
reputation for courage. Lucius Vitellius was then executed. He was as
weak as his brother, though during the principate he showed himself