Otho, << OH thoh, >> (A.D. 32-69) was emperor of Rome from January to April of A.D. 69. He ruled during a year of instability that is sometimes called the Year of the Four Emperors. At that time, a series of three emperors—Galba, who was emperor during the first part of January; Otho; and Vitellius—briefly ruled Rome before Vespasian took control at the end of the year.
Marcus Salvius Otho was born on April 28, A.D. 32, in Italy. He became a Roman senator and a friend of the emperor Nero. In 58, Nero appointed Otho governor of the Roman province of Lusitania in northwest Spain. Nero then persuaded Otho’s wife, Poppaea, to divorce Otho and marry him instead. Otho was governing Lusitania in 68, when Galba, a senior senator and the governor of Tarraconensis province in northern Spain, began an offensive against Nero. Galba succeeded Nero as emperor in mid-68. Otho supported Galba’s revolt against Nero and accompanied Nero to Rome.
When Galba hastily adopted Lucius Calpurnius Piso Licinianus as his successor on Jan. 10, 69, Otho was offended not to have been chosen. Galba had become so unpopular that Otho was able to bribe the Praetorian Guard (the emperor’s personal bodyguards) to murder Galba and his successor and force the Senate to declare Otho emperor. To please the Roman people, Otho immediately proclaimed his intention to restore Nero’s lavish style of rule.
When Otho became emperor, Roman legions stationed in Germany had begun marching south to Italy. They planned to replace Galba with Vitellius, the governor of the Roman province of Lower Germany. These legions continued to prefer Vitellius even after Otho had seized power in Rome. Otho made energetic preparations to resist the legions’ invasion from Germany. He secured the support of other Roman legions stationed on the Roman Empire’s frontier along the Danube River. However, the German legions crossed the Alps into Italy before Otho could assemble enough forces to block them. A decisive battle occurred in the Po Valley near Cremona, Italy, in mid-April, 69. Both sides suffered heavy casualties. The German legions defeated Otho’s army, and Otho committed suicide two days later.
See also Galba ; Nero ; Rome, Ancient (Imperial Rome) ; Vespasian ; Vitellius .
