ὁ δὲ Ὄθων παραγενόμενος εἰς Βητριακὸν εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον ἔστι δὲ πολίχνη πλησίον Κρεμώνης τὸ Βητριακόν ἐβουλεύετο περὶ τῆς μάχης, καὶ Πρόκλῳ μὲν ἐδόκει καὶ Τιτιανῷ, τῶν στρατευμάτων ὄντων προθύμων καὶ προσφάτου τῆς νίκης, διαγωνίσασθαι καὶ μὴ καθῆσθαι τὴν ἀκμὴν ἀμβλύνοντα τῆς δυνάμεως καὶ περιμένοντα Οὐϊτέλλιον αὐτὸν ἐκ Γαλατίας ἐπελθεῖν·
Otho now came to the camp at Bedricum (a little village near Cremona) and held a council of war. Proculus and Titianus were of the opinion that he ought to fight a decisive battle while his armies were flushed with their recent victory, and not sit there dulling the efficiency of his troops and waiting for Vitellius to come in person from Gaul.
Παυλῖνος δὲ τοῖς μὲν πολεμίοις ἔφη πάντα μεθʼ ὧν μαχοῦνται παρεῖναι, καὶ μηδὲν ἐνδεῖν, Ὄθωνι δὲ τῆς ἤδη παρούσης οὐκ ἐλάττονα προσδόκιμον εἶναι δύναμιν ἐκ Μυσίας καὶ Παννονίας, ἂν τὸν αὑτοῦ περιμένῃ καιρόν, ἀλλὰ μὴ στρατηγῇ πρὸς τὸν τῶν πολεμίων.
Paulinus, on the contrary, said that the enemy already had all the resources with which they would give battle, and lacked nothing, whereas, in the case of Otho, a force as large as the one he already had might be expected from Mysia and Pannonia, if he would only wait for his own best opportunity and conduct the campaign to suit that of the enemy.
οὐ γὰρ ἀμβλυτέροις γε χρήσεσθαι τότε τοῖς νῦν θαρροῦσιν ἀπʼ ἐλαττόνων, ἂν πλείονας τοὺς ἀγωνιζομένους προσλάβωσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐκ περιουσίας ἀγωνιεῖσθαι· καὶ χωρὶς δὲ τούτου τὴν διατριβὴν εἶναι πρὸς αὐτῶν ἐν ἀφθόνοις πᾶσιν ὄντων, ἐκείνοις δὲ τὸν χρόνον ἀπορίαν παρέξειν τῶν ἀναγκαίων ἐν πολεμίᾳ καθεζομένοις.
For his men were now confident of success in spite of their inferior numbers, and he would not find them less keen after they had received reinforcements, nay, their superiority would lead them to fight all the better. And besides, delay was to their advantage, since they had everything in abundance, while to the enemy time would bring a scarcity of supplies, since they were occupying a hostile country.
ταῦτα λέγοντι Παυλίνῳ Μάριος Κέλσος ἐγένετο σύμψηφος. Ἄννιος δὲ Γάλλος οὐ παρῆν μέν, ἀλλʼ ἐθεραπεύετο πεπτωκὼς ἀφʼ ἵππου, γράψαντος δὲ Ὄθωνος αὐτῷ συνεβούλευσε μὴ σπεύδειν, ἀλλὰ τὴν ἐκ Μυσίας περιμένειν δύναμιν ἤδη καθʼ ὁδὸν οὖσαν. οὐ μὴν ἐπείθετο τούτοις, ἀλλὰ ἐκράτησαν οἱ πρὸς τὴν μάχην παρορμῶντες.
So Paulinus argued, and Marius Celsus voted with him. Annius Gallus was not present, being under treatment for a fall from his horse, but Otho asked his advice by letter, and his counsel was not to hasten the battle, but to await the forces from Mysia, which were already on the march. Nevertheless, Otho would not listen to these counsels, and the day was carried by those who urged immediate battle.
αἰτίαι δὲ πλείονες ἄλλαι ὑπʼ ἄλλων λέγονται προδήλως δὲ οἱ στρατηγικοὶ προσαγορευόμενοι καὶ τάξιν ἔχοντες δορυφόρων, τότε μᾶλλον ἀληθινῆς γευόμενοι στρατείας καὶ τὰς ἐν Ῥώμῃ διατριβὰς καὶ διαίτας ἀπολέμους καὶ πανηγυρικὰς ποθοῦντες, οὐκ ἦσαν καθεκτοὶ σπεύδοντες ἐπὶ τὴν μάχην, ὡς εὐθὺς ἐξ ἐπιδρομῆς ἀναρπασόμενοι τούς ἐναντίους.
Various other reasons for this are given by various writers; but manifestly the praetorian soldiers, as they were called, who served as the emperor’s guards, since they were now getting a more generous taste of real military service and longed for their accustomed life of diversion at Rome in which festivals abounded and war was unknown, could not be restrained, but were eager for the battle, feeling sure that at the very first onset they would overwhelm their opponents.
δοκεῖ δὲ μηδὲ αὐτὸς Ὄθων ἐξαναφέρειν ἔτι πρὸς τὴν ἀδηλότητα μηδὲ ὑπομένειν ἀηθείᾳ καὶ μαλακότητι τούς περὶ τῶν δεινῶν λογισμούς, ἐκπονούμενος δὲ ταῖς φροντίσι σπεύδειν ἐγκαλυψάμενος, ὥσπερ ἀπὸ κρημνοῦ, μεθεῖναι τὰ πράγματα πρὸς τὸ συντυχόν.
Moreover, it would seem that Otho himself could not longer bear up against the uncertainty of the issue, nor endure (so effeminate was he and so unused to command) his own thoughts of the dire peril confronting him; but worn out by his anxieties, he veiled his eyes, like one about to leap from a precipice, and hastened to commit his cause to fortune.
καὶ τοῦτο μὲν διηγεῖτο Σεκοῦνδος ὁ ῥήτωρ ἐπὶ τῶν ἐπιστολῶν γενόμενος τοῦ Ὄθωνος. ἑτέρων δὲ ἦν ἀκούειν ὅτι τοῖς στρατεύμασιν ἀμφοτέροις παρίσταντο ὁρμαὶ πολλαὶ ὡς εἰς ταὐτὸ συνελθεῖν καὶ μάλιστα μὲν αὐτοὺς ὁμοφρονήσαντας ἐκ τῶν παρόντων ἡγεμονικῶν ἑλέσθαι τὸν ἄριστον, εἰ δὲ μή, τὴν σύγκλητον ὁμοῦ καθίσαντας ἐφεῖναι τὴν αἵρεσιν ἐκείνῃ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος.
And this is the account given by Secundus the rhetorician, who was Otho’s secretary. But others would tell us that both armies were strongly inclined to confer; and above all, if they could agree, to elect as emperor the best of the commanders who were with them, but if not, to convene the senate and commit to it the choice of an emperor.
καὶ οὐκ ἀπεικός ἐστι, μηδετέρου τότε τῶν προσαγορευομένων αὐτοκρατόρων εὐδοκιμοῦντος, ἐπιπίπτειν τοιούτους διαλογισμοὺς τοῖς γνησίοις καὶ διαπόνοις καὶ σωφρονοῦσι τῶν στρατιωτῶν, ὡς ἔχθιστον εἴη καὶ δεινόν, ἃ πάλαι διὰ Σύλλαν καὶ Μάριον, εἶτα Καίσαρα καὶ Πομπήϊον ᾠκτείροντο δρῶντες ἀλλήλους καὶ πάσχοντες οἱ πολῖται, ταῦτα νῦν ὑπομένειν ἢ Οὐϊτελλίῳ λαιμαργίας καὶ οἰνοφλυγίας ἢ τρυφῆς καὶ ἀκολασίας Ὄθωνι τὴν ἡγεμονίαν χορήγημα προθεμένους.
And since neither of the men who then had the title of emperor enjoyed high repute, it is not unlikely that the real soldiers, those who knew what hardship was and had sense, should be led to reflect that it would be a dreadful and most hateful thing if the evils which the citizens had once to their sorrow inflicted upon one another and suffered because of Sulla and Marius, and again because of Caesar and Pompey, should now be endured again only to make the imperial power a means for providing for the gluttony and drunkenness of Vitellius or for the luxury and licentiousness of Otho.
ταῦτʼ οὖν ὑπονοοῦσι τούς τε περὶ τὸν Κέλσον αἰσθανομένους ἐμβαλεῖν διατριβήν, ἐλπίζοντας ἄνευ μάχης καὶ πόνων κριθήσεσθαι τὰ πράγματα, καὶ τούς περὶ τὸν Ὄθωνα φοβουμένους ἐπιταχῦναι τὴν μάχην.
It is suspected, then, that Celsus was aware of these feelings, and therefore tried to interpose delay, hoping that the issue would thus be decided without hardship and battle, and that Otho, fearing this, hastened on the battle.
αὐτὸς δὲ πάλιν εἰς Βρίξιλλον ἀνεχώρησε, καὶ τοῦτο προσεξαμαρτών, οὐχ ὅτι μόνον τὴν ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς αὐτοῦ παρόντος αἰδῶ καὶ φιλοτιμίαν ἀφεῖλε τῶν ἀγωνιζομένων, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐρρωμενεστάτους καὶ προθυμοτάτους διʼ αὐτὸν ἱππεῖς καὶ πεζοὺς ἀπαγαγὼν φυλακὴν τοῦ σώματος ὡσπερεὶ στόμωμα τῆς δυνάμεως ἀπέκοψε.
Otho himself returned to Brixillum, and in this too he made a mistake, not only because he took away from the combatants the respect and ambition which his presence and oversight inspired, but also because, by leading away as his bodyguard of foot and horse the men who were most vigorous and eager to please him, he cut away, as it were, the head and front of his army.
συνέβη δὲ ταῖς ἡμέραις ἐκείναις καὶ περὶ τὸν Ἠριδανὸν ἀγῶνα γενέσθαι, τοῦ μὲν Κεκίνα ζευγνύντος τὴν διάβασιν, τῶν δὲ Ὄθωνος εἰργόντων καὶ προσμαχομένων. ὡς δὲ οὐδὲν ἐπέραινον, ἐνθεμένων εἰς τὰ πλοῖα δᾷδα θείου καὶ πίττης ἀνάπλεων, διὰ τοῦ πόρου πνεῦμα προσπεσὸν ἄφνω τὴν παρεσκευασμένην ὕλην ἐπὶ τοὺς πολεμίους ἐξερρίπιζε.
During this time there was also a conflict at the river Po, where Caecina tried to build a bridge across the stream, and Otho’s soldiers attacked him and tried to prevent it. Not succeeding, Otho’s men loaded their vessels with torchwood full of sulphur and pitch, and began to cross the river; but a blast of wind suddenly smote the material which they had prepared for use against the enemy, and fanned it afire.
καπνοῦ δὲ πρῶτον, εἶτα λαμπρᾶς φλογὸς ἐκπεσούσης, ταραττόμενοι καὶ ἀποπηδῶντες εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν τάς τε ναῦς ἀνέτρεπον καὶ τὰ σώματα τοῖς πολεμίοις μετὰ γέλωτος παρεῖχον. οἱ δὲ Γερμανοὶ τοῖς Ὄθωνος μονομάχοις περὶ νησῖδα τοῦ ποταμοῦ προσμίξαντες ἐκράτησαν καὶ διέφθειραν αὐτῶν οὐκ ὀλίγους.
First smoke arose from it, then bright flames, so that the crews were confounded and leaped overboard into the river, upsetting their boats, and putting themselves at the mercy of a jeering enemy. Moreover, the Germans attacked Otho’s gladiators at an island in the river, overpowered them and slew not a few of them.
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