However, 64
it was to Flavius Sabinus, the City Prefect, that the leading men at
Rome addressed themselves. They urged him secretly not to lose all
share in the glory of victory. They pointed out that the City Garrison
was under his own command, and that he could count on the police and
their own bands of slaves, to say nothing of the good fortune of the
party and all the advantage that victory gives. He must not leave all
the glory to Antonius and Varus. Vitellius had nothing left but a few
regiments of guards, who were seriously alarmed at the bad news which
came from every quarter. As for the populace, their feelings soon
changed, and if he put himself at their head, they would be just as
loud in their flattery of Vespasian. Vitellius himself could not even
cope with success, and disaster had positively paralysed him. The
credit of ending the war would go to the man who seized the city. It
was eminently fitting that Sabinus should secure the throne for his
brother, and that Vespasian should hold him higher than any one else.
Age had enfeebled Sabinus, and he showed no alacrity to listen to 65
such talk as this. Some people covertly insinuated that he was jealous
of his brother's success and was trying to delay its realization.
Flavius Sabinus was the elder brother and, while they were both
private persons, he had been the richer and more influential. It was
also believed that he had been chary in helping Vespasian to recover
his financial position, and had taken a mortgage on his house and
estates.
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