§1Maiores Othonis orti sunt oppido Ferentio, familia uetere et honorata atque ex principibus Etruriae.
The ancestors of Otho were descended from the town of Ferentium, of an ancient and honorable family, and of the chief men of Etruria.
auus M. Saluius Otho, patre equite R., matre humili incertum an ingenua, per gratiam Liuiae Augustae, in cuius domo creuerat, senator est factus nec praeturae gradum excessit.
His grandfather, Marcus Salvius Otho, whose father was a Roman knight, and his mother of low birth and it being uncertain whether she was free-born, was made a senator through the favor of Livia Augusta, in whose house he had been brought up, but he did not rise above the rank of praetor.
Pater L. Otho, materno genere praeclaro multarumque et magnarum propinquitatium, tam carus tamque non absimilis facie Tiberio principi fuit, ut plerique procreatum ex eo crederent.
His father, Lucius Otho, was of a distinguished maternal line and had many prominent connections; he was so beloved by the emperor Tiberius and so like him in face, that most people believed him to be his son.
urbanos honores, proconsulatum Africae et extraordinaria imperia seuerissime administrauit.
He administered the urban offices, the proconsulship of Africa, and extraordinary military commands with extreme severity.
ausus etiam est in Illyrico milites quosdam, quod motu Camilli ex paenitentia praepositos suos quasi defectionis aduersus Claudium auctores occiderant, capite punire et quidem ante principia se coram, quamuis ob id ipsum promotos in ampliorem gradum a Claudio sciret.
He even dared in Illyricum to punish with death certain soldiers who, in the insurrection of Camillus, out of repentance had killed their commanders as if they were the authors of defection against Claudius; and he did this indeed before the headquarters in his own presence, although he knew that on that very account they had been promoted to a higher rank by Claudius.
quo facto sicut gloriam auxit, ita gratiam minuit; quam tamen mature reciperauit detecta equitis R. fraude, quem prodentibus seruis necem Claudio parare compererat.
By this action, just as he increased his glory, so he diminished his favor; which, however, he soon recovered by detecting the plot of a Roman knight, whom he had discovered, through the betrayal of slaves, to be preparing the death of Claudius.
namque et senatus honore rarissimo, statua in Palatio posita, prosecutus est eum et Claudius adlectum inter patricios conlaudans amplissimis uerbis hoc quoque adiecit: 'uir, quo meliores liberos habere ne opto quidem. ' ex Albia Terentia splendida femina duos filios tulit, L. Titianum et minorem M. cognominem sibi; tulit et filiam, quam uixdum nubilem Druso Germanici filio despondit.
For the senate honored him with a very rare distinction, by placing his statue in the Palatine, and Claudius, co-opting him among the patricians and praising him with the most ample words, added this also: "A man than whom I do not even wish to have better children." By Albia Terentia, an illustrious woman, he had two sons, Lucius Titianus and the younger, Marcus, who shared his own surname; he also had a daughter, whom, when she was scarcely of marriageable age, he betrothed to Drusus, the son of Germanicus.
§2Otho imperator IIII. Kal. Mai. natus est Camillo Arruntio Domitio Ahenobarbo cons.
The emperor Otho was born on the fourth day before the Kalends of May, in the consulship of Camillus Arruntius and Domitius Ahenobarbus.
a prima adulescentia prodigus ac procax, adeo ut saepe flagris obiurgaretur a patre, ferebatur et uagari noctibus solitus atque inualidum quemque obuiorum uel potulentum corripere ac distento sago impositum in sublime iactare.
From his early youth he was prodigal and wild, so much so that he was often beaten with whips by his father; and he was said to be in the habit of wandering about by night, and of seizing anyone he met who was weak or drunk, and tossing them in the air on a stretched cloak.
post patris deinde mortem libertinam aulicam gratiosam, quo efficacius coleret, etiam diligere simulauit quamuis anum ac paene decrepitam; per hanc insinuatus Neroni facile summum inter amicos locum tenuit congruentia morum, ut uero quidam tradunt, et consuetudine mutui stupri.
After his father's death, in order to cultivate influence more effectively, he pretended to love a freedwoman of the court who was highly favored, although she was an old woman and almost decrepit; through her, having ingratiated himself with Nero, he easily held the highest place among his friends due to the similarity of their characters, or, as some indeed relate, through the habit of mutual unnatural vice.
ac tantum potentia ualuit, ut damnatum repetundis consularem uirum, ingens praemium pactus, prius quam plane restitutionem ei impetrasset, non dubitaret in senatum ad agendas gratias introducere.
And he was so powerful in influence that, having bargained for a huge reward, he did not hesitate to introduce into the senate to return thanks a man of consular rank who had been condemned for extortion, even before he had fully obtained his restitution.
§3omnium autem consiliorum secretorumque particeps die, quem necandae matri Nero destinarat, ad auertendas suspiciones cenam utrique exquisitissimae comitatis dedit;
Being a partner in all his designs and secrets, on the day which Nero had appointed for murdering his mother, he gave to both of them a dinner of the most exquisite politeness, in order to avert suspicion.
item Poppaeam Sabinam tunc adhuc amicam eius, abductam marito demandatamque interim sibi, nuptiarum specie recepit nec corrupisse contentus adeo dilexit, ut ne riualem quidem Neronem aequo tulerit animo creditur certe non modo missos ad arcessendam non recepisse, sed ipsum etiam exclusisse quondam pro foribus astantem miscentemque frustra minas et preces ac depositum reposcentem.
Likewise, he received, under the pretense of marriage, Poppaea Sabina, who was then still Nero's mistress, having been taken from her husband and entrusted in the meantime to him; and not content with having seduced her, he loved her so much that he could not bear even Nero as a rival with an equal mind. Indeed, it is believed not only that he did not admit those sent to fetch her, but that he even shut out Nero himself when he once stood before the door, mixing threats and entreaties in vain, and demanding back what he had deposited.
quare diducto matrimonio sepositus est per causam legationis in Lusitaniam.
Therefore, the marriage being dissolved, he was removed under the pretense of an embassy to Lusitania.
et satis uisum, ne poena acrior mimum omnem diuulgaret, qui tamen sic quoque hoc disticho enotuit:
cur Otho mentito sit, quaeritis, exul honore?
uxoris moechus coeperat esse suae. §4Prouinciam administrauit quaestorius per decem annos, moderatione atque abstinentia singulari.
And this was deemed sufficient, lest a more severe punishment should publish the whole comedy; which, however, even so became known by this distich: "Do you ask why Otho lives an exile under a false honor? He had begun to be the adulterer of his own wife." He governed the province for ten years in the rank of quaestor, with singular moderation and abstinence.
ut tandem occasio ultionis data est, conatibus Galbae primus accessit; eodemque momento et ipse spem imperii cepit magnam quidem et ex condicione temporum, sed aliquanto maiorem ex affirmatione Seleuci mathematici.
When at length an opportunity for revenge was offered, he was the first to join Galba's enterprises; and at the very same moment he himself conceived a great hope of the empire, which was indeed great from the condition of the times, but somewhat greater from the assurance of the mathematician Seleucus.
qui cum eum olim superstitem Neroni fore spopondisset, tunc ultro inopinatus aduenerat imperaturum quoque breui repromittens.
Who, having formerly promised him that he would survive Nero, had then unexpectedly come of his own accord, promising also that he would shortly rule.
nullo igitur officii aut ambitionis in quemquam genere omisso, quotiens cena principem acciperet, aureos excubanti cohorti uiritim diuidebat, nec minus alium alia uia militum demerebatur; cuidam etiam de parte finium cum uicino litiganti adhibitus arbiter totum agrum redemit emancipauitque, ut iam uix ullus esset, qui non et sentiret et praedicaret solum successione imperii dignum.
Omitting, therefore, no kind of duty or ambition toward anyone, as often as he entertained the prince at dinner, he distributed gold pieces to each man of the cohort on guard, and no less did he oblige other soldiers in one way or another; and being called in as an arbiter for a certain man who was disputing with his neighbor about a part of their boundaries, he bought the whole field and gave it to him, so that now there was scarcely anyone who did not both feel and declare that he alone was worthy of the succession to the empire.