Otho

Otho was a Roman aristocrat, former companion of Nero and governor of Lusitania who became emperor in January AD 69. He organised the murder of Galba after being passed over in the imperial succession, but almost immediately faced the rival claim of Vitellius and the Rhine armies. Otho’s forces were defeated at the First Battle of Bedriacum. Rather than continue a civil war, he took his own life after a reign of only three months.

Otho appears in Robert Fabbri’s Vespasian series and in other historical novels about the Year of the Four Emperors. Fiction often contrasts the ruthless coup that brought him power with the unexpectedly dignified suicide praised by ancient writers. His short reign allows novelists to question whether one final act can redeem a career shaped by ambition and political violence.

In Kate Quinn’s Daughters of Rome, Successive coups destroy those assumptions as Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian compete for the throne. In M.C. Scott’s Rome: The Art of War, Rome in AD 69 has already recognised Galba, Otho and Vitellius as emperors, while Vespasian is proclaimed in the eastern provinces. Other novels featuring Otho include L. J. Trafford’s Galba’s Men, L. J. Trafford’s Otho’s Regret, Robert Fabbri’s Emperor of Rome, Douglas Jackson’s Sword of Rome, and Margaret George’s Emperor Nero.

In non-fiction, Otho is discussed in Mary Beard’s Twelve Caesars. Mary Beard’s Twelve Caesars approaches the subject through court politics and dynastic power, political ambition and government, and empire, conquest and resistance.