Pre-Long Beach Auction #80

Vitellius. Silver Denarius (3.30 g), AD 69. Rome. A VITELLIVS GERM IMP AVG TR P, laureate head of Vitellius right. Reverse PONT MAXIM, Vesta, veiled, seated on throne right, holding patera and scepter. RIC 107; BMC 34; RSC 72. Boldly struck and well centered. Lovely old cabinet toning. Superb Extremely Fine.

Vitellius was made Governor of Lower Germany by Galba. When the legions became disaffected from Galba's austere and strict rule, they renounced their allegiance to him and hailed Vitellius as emperor. Vitellius at first refused the imperial title, but he did take the name Germanicus and pledged to lead the revolt. Shortly thereafter the provinces of Britain, Gaul and Spain defected to him. Meanwhile in Rome Galba had been murdered and Otho installed as the new emperor by the Praetorian Guard.

Otho offered to share the emperorship with Vitellius, but the latter, whose forces were already marching on Rome, refused. A decisive engagement, the Battle of Bedriacum, was fought between the two sides in the vicinity between Cremona and Verona, and Vitellius's forces were victorious. Despite losing at Bedriacum, Otho perhaps could still have won the war - he had the support of the formidable legions of Dalmatia, Moesia and Pannonia, as well as both the Praetorian Guard and the Roman fleet - but instead chose to avoid civil war by committing suicide.

Once in Rome the Senate decreed Vitellius the usual imperial honors. The historians Suetonius, Tacitus and Dio Cassius do not record much positive about Vitellius's short reign, but he did implement some worthwhile and lasting changes (for instance, he accepted equites into the offices of imperial administration whereas before they had been open only to freedmen). Overall, though, his reign was irresolute, and Vitellius himself is described as lazy and self-indulgent.
Estimated Value $7,000 - 8,000.