As he said this, he held out his son to them and commended
him, now to individuals, now to the whole assembly. At last tears
choked his voice. Turning to the consul, Caecilius Simplex,[181] who
was standing by, he unstrapped his sword and offered to surrender it
as a symbol of his power over the life and death of his subjects. The
consul refused. The people in the assembly shouted 'No'. So he left
them with the intention of depositing the regalia in the Temple of
Concord and then going to his brother's house. But he was faced with a
still louder uproar. They refused to let him enter a private house,
and shouted to him to return to the palace. They blocked every other
way and only left the road leading into the Via Sacra open.[182] Not
knowing what else to do, Vitellius returned to the palace.
A rumour of his abdication had preceded him, and Flavius Sabinus 69
had sent written instructions to the Guards'[183] officers to keep the
men in hand. Thus the whole empire seemed to have fallen into
Vespasian's lap. The chief senators, the majority of the knights, and
the whole of the city garrison and the police came flocking to the
house of Flavius Sabinus. There they heard the news of the popular
enthusiasm for Vitellius and the threatening attitude of the German
Guards.[184] But Sabinus had gone too far to draw back, and when he
showed hesitation, they all began to urge him to fight, each being
afraid for his own safety if the Vitellians were to fall on them when
they were disunited and consequently weaker.
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