In the Year of the four emperors (69 C.E.), Marcus Salvius Otho, with the support and aid of the Praetorian Guard, had his predecessor Galba murdered in January and claimed the throne for himself. However, legate Aulus Vitellius, governor of the province of Germania Inferior, had also claimed the throne earlier in the month and marched on Rome with his troops. Otho marched north to meet him, but on 14 April he was defeated at the First Battle Of Bedriacum (near Cremona). Otho committed suicide and Vitellius continued his march on Rome, where he was recognized as emperor by the Senate. The forced suicide of emperor Nero, in 68 AD, was followed by a brief period of civil war (the first Roman civil war since Antonys death in 31 BC) known as the Year of the four emperors. ... ... Emperor Otho. ... The Praetorian Guard of Augustus - 1st century A.D. Depicted in a marble bas-relief. ... Head of Galba at the Louvre. ... Vitellius, Museo Nazionale della Cività Romana, Rome Aulus Vitellius Germanicus (September 24 AD 15–December 22, 69) was Roman Emperor from April 17 69 to December 22 of the same year, one of the emperors in the Year of the four emperors. He was the son of Lucius Vitellius, who... The Roman province of Germania Inferior, 120 AD Germania Inferior (in English: Lower Germany) was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in todays southern Netherlands and western Germany. ... April 14 is the 104th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (105th in leap years). ... Cremona, cathedral Cremona (45°08′ N 10°01′ E) is a city in Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left shore of Po river in the middle of Pianura padana (Po valley). ...

Meanwhile, Pannonia legate Antonius Primus, along with the legates of Aegyptus and Syria, claimed the commander of the easter legions, Vespasian, emperor. Antonius invaded Italy, and defeated Vitellius at the Second Battle Of Bedriacum, on 24 October, destroying much of the city in the process. Vitellius withdrew to Rome where he was slain in street fighting in December. The way was thus cleared for Vespasian to ascend the throne near the end of this bloody year of crisis. Position of the Roman province of Pannonia Pannonia is an ancient country bounded north and east by the Danube, conterminous westward with Noricum and upper Italy, and southward with Dalmatia and upper Moesia. ... Marcus Antonius Primus, Roman general, was born at Tolosa in Gaul (nowadays Toulouse in south_west France) about A.D. 30_35. ... The Roman Empire ca. ... Emperor Vespasian Caesar Vespasianus Augustus (November 18, 9 – June 23, 79), originally known as Titus Flavius Vespasianus and best known as Vespasian, was the emperor of Rome from 69 to 79. ... October 24 is the 297th day of the year (298th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 68 days remaining. ...

References

• The Encyclopedia Of Military History: From 3500 B.C. To The Present. (2nd Revised Edition 1986), R. Ernest Dupuy, and Trevor N. Dupuy. pp. 127-128

Otho was emperor for only two months.