h was usually determined by an appeal to
arms, and followed by the assassination of the unsuccessful competitor.
Vitellius, by being a parasite of all the emperors from Tiberius to Nero
inclusively, had risen to a high military rank, by which, with a spirit
of enterprise, and large promises to the soldiery, it was not difficult
to snatch the reins of government, while they were yet fluctuating in the
hands of Otho. His ambition prompted to the attempt, and his boldness
was crowned with success. In the service of the four preceding emperors,
Vitellius had imbibed the principal vices of them all: but what chiefly
distinguished him was extreme voraciousness, which, though he usually
pampered it with enormous luxury, could yet be gratified by the vilest
and most offensive garbage. The pusillanimity discovered by this emperor
at his death, forms a striking contrast to the heroic behaviour of Otho.

T. FLAVIUS VESPASIANUS AUGUSTUS.

(441)

I. The empire, which had been long thrown into a disturbed and unsetted
state, by the rebellion and violent death of its three last rulers, was
at length restored to peace and security by the Flavian family, whose
descent was indeed obscure, and which boasted no ancestral honours; but
the public had no cause to regret its elevation; though it is
acknowledged that Domitian met with the just reward of his avarice and
cruelty. Titus Flavius Petro, a townsman of Reate [721], whether a
centurion or an evocatus [722] of Pompey's party in the civil war, is
uncertain, fled out of the battle of Pharsalia and went home; where,
having at last obtained his pardon and discharge, he became a collector
of the money raised by public sales in the way of auction. His son,
surnamed Sabinus, was never engaged in the military service, though some
say he was a centurion of the first order, and others, that whilst he
held that rank, he was discharged on account of his bad state of health:
this Sabinus, I say, was a publican, and received the tax of the fortieth
penny in Asia. And there were remaining, at the time of the advancement
of the family, several statues, which had been erected to him by the
cities of that province, with this inscription: "To the honest
Tax-farmer." [723] He afterwards turned usurer amongst the Helvetii, and
there died, leaving behind him his wife, Vespasia Pella, and two sons by
her; the elder of whom, Sabinus, came to be prefect of the city, and the
younger, Vespasian,