After discussion it was decided
that the temper of the cohort on guard in the palace should be tested,
but not by Galba himself. His authority was held in reserve for more
heroic remedies. The troops were summoned. Piso, standing out on the
steps of the palace, addressed them as follows:
'Fellow soldiers, it is now five days since I was made a Caesar. I
knew nothing of the future nor whether the name was more to be desired
or feared. It now lies with you to decide whether or no my adoption is
to prove a calamity for my house and for my country. In saying this, I
do not dread disaster on my own account. I have known misfortune, and
I am now discovering to the full that prosperity is just as dangerous.
But for the sake of my adoptive father, of the senate, and of the
whole empire, I deplore the thought that we may have to-day either to
die or--what for good men is as wretched--to kill. In the recent
revolution our comfort was that Rome was spared the sight of blood,
and the transfer was effected without disturbance. We thought that my
adoption would be a safeguard against an outbreak of civil war even
after Galba's death.
'I will make no claims to rank or respectability. To compare 30
myself with Otho, I need not recite my virtues. His vices are all he
has to be proud of. They ruined the empire, even when he was only
playing the part of an emperor's friend. Why should he deserve to be
emperor? For his swaggering demeanour? For his effeminate costume?
Extravagance imposes on some people.
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